Surfing Waves

Hi, I'm surfing about 6 months. I have developed right frontal shoulder pain, not from paddling, but from holding and also climbing up on board (say after turtle roll). I use a CBC 9"" foamy, which is bulky to say the least and probably partly the problem. Any advice would be great. Cheers David

How old are you? I guess that a doctor visit would be the way to figure out exactly what is going on. I have a problem in my right shoulder also. It has pain in the front part from time to time and also here and there. There are a variety of things that can happen to shoulders for me it seems to be a rotator cuff problem and coracoclavicular arthritis. A great amount of force is put on the shoulder when a wave grabs they board and pulls it away from your grip. It can tear things. Lots of things to tear. If you can get it diagnosed so that you know what is happening then it might be easier to figure out what to do medically or not some shoulder problems seem to have no real solutions. Something that seems to help for many is just to strengthen the muscles to help lower the amount of trauma from a specific source of strain. Foam boards are safer for you and for others around you. Depending on where you surf it might be better to continue with the foam board till you are a better surfer. If you an control your board mostly then perhaps a switch to a solid board might be good. In which case you might learn to do a duck dip instead of a turtle roll which is like a duck dive on a shortboard but on bigger board you can only get the nose under the wave and the wave hits you and you pull the nose up and the wave pushes the rest of you under the wave. It helps to keep me from getting my shoulder yanked by waves trying to rip it out of my hands because my legs at still around the board and helping to hold it.

Thanks for that. I'm 42 yo. I think building up strenght over time is the answer.

oldmansurfer wrote:How old are you? I guess that a doctor visit would be the way to figure out exactly what is going on. I have a problem in my right shoulder also. It has pain in the front part from time to time and also here and there. There are a variety of things that can happen to shoulders for me it seems to be a rotator cuff problem and coracoclavicular arthritis. A great amount of force is put on the shoulder when a wave grabs they board and pulls it away from your grip. It can tear things. Lots of things to tear. If you can get it diagnosed so that you know what is happening then it might be easier to figure out what to do medically or not some shoulder problems seem to have no real solutions. Something that seems to help for many is just to strengthen the muscles to help lower the amount of trauma from a specific source of strain. Foam boards are safer for you and for others around you. Depending on where you surf it might be better to continue with the foam board till you are a better surfer. If you an control your board mostly then perhaps a switch to a solid board might be good. In which case you might learn to do a duck dip instead of a turtle roll which is like a duck dive on a shortboard but on bigger board you can only get the nose under the wave and the wave hits you and you pull the nose up and the wave pushes the rest of you under the wave. It helps to keep me from getting my shoulder yanked by waves trying to rip it out of my hands because my legs at still around the board and helping to hold it.

Yes - I have a shoulder injury from holding on to my board after a wipeout too. Reefed my arm right back and now I've had a rotator cuff issue for several months and it's persistent. I'm just hoping it will just heal on its own.

Real advice: See a doc. Probably will order an x-ray to be safe.

Shoulders are complex and probably need a MRI to figure out it definitely see a doctor

Thank you gents. Frustrating as hell though.

When I was surfing a lot twelve years ago, I had plenty of shoulder pain (mine was from paddling, are you sure that that's not what's causing yours?). I used to take three Advil before and three after surfing. It was the kind of thing that caused pain when reaching up for anything. Probably a rotator cuff thing. Doc didn't have any good advice.

I've gotten back into surfing this year, I've had no shoulder pain. I think it's because I arch my back up more now when paddling.

Once those things start, it's real hard to get rid of them (besides taking years off). I feel your pain.

Good luck!

Let me elaborate on that: INAD, but,

A video explained that when you exert your arm when it's straight up, that's very hard on the shoulder. That would explain why now that I arch my back more, I don't get shoulder pain. I recall that I used to paddle with my head right down on the board.

I tried some resistance band exercises starting with my arm straight up, and soon got a little sore.

Three quick paddling ‘tips’ to minimise shoulder pain

1. Don’t paddle wide. Your hands should track down the sides of the board (or even slightly under) not wide. Wide straight arm paddling is death to shoulders.

2. Bend your elbows. Elbows should be bent at around 100/120 deg ie not right angle but a bit straighter, but still bent. Bending elbows means you use your lats (back muscles) more than your shoulders

3. Don’t start putting effort into the paddle until your forearm is almost 90deg /hand pointing straight down. Think of the paddle as like an upside down half circle - hand starts at the top, goes down and up at the back. What is the point of paddling - to go forward. What happens if you spend effort at the start of the paddle (as your hand is going from the top of the arc downwards)?

You are pushing water down. Which Newton helpfully points out means you are pushed up. But you don’t want to come up, you want to go forwards

So only push when you are pushing backwards. Not only does this increase efficiency (less effort for same result), but as pointed out by banana, at the start of the stroke your arm is straight and you are unable to really use your lats, only your shoulder and hence shoulder pain

Bending your back allows you to use yours lats more as well; of itself bending doesn’t necessarily help paddling (swimmers don’t bend, for example) but it helps you engage the big back muscles and not use the small shoulder muscles (most of which are stabiliser muscles, not power/strength muscles)

When you paddle try to feel your back engaged and working. It can help to visualise pulling your elbows back, not your hands (although keep your hands below your elbow - don’t let your hands end up in front of your elbow)

Oh, tip 4: when your hand enters the water right at the start, make sure your hand is below your wrist height (ie there is a slight bend and fingers are pointing down). Lots of people let their fingers drift upwards, and apart from creating drag, it puts a lot of pressure on your shoulders - arms is straight and you start putting weight on your finger tips, it goes straight through to the shoulder

When I too faced a similar shoulder problem, a year before, I consulted a doctor. But there were no significant issues found by him for my pain. The X-ray results were normal. I then changed my old mattresses and bought a new mattress as per my aunt's suggestion. Afterwards, there was a significant difference in my pain. The reasons for the pain are different for each person.

for many shoulder problems the way you sleep affects the amount of pain you feel from it.

A physiotherapist fixed my rotator when I thought it was hooped.

Also, fantastic post dtc. Very well laid out. This proper paddling technique is the key for good shoulder health and as well as getting around in the water efficiently.