paddling

[erickrout]

i am brand new. have a lesson Saturday. My problem is i have a shoulder injury, intense pain with certain movements. My question is this:
i know that free style is best way of paddling, apparently gets you more speed to catch the wave, but would i be able to make it doing a breast stroke motion? any help would be appreciated, i can't wait to start but worry about my shoulder pain

[oldmansurfer]

There are different causes of sore shoulders and you should get a diagnosis (if you haven't already). If you are getting pain when you paddle you will need to do something to fix it. If you are having pain freestyle then try breaststroke and see what you can do but my guess is you will have to fix/rehab your shoulder problem. I have a rotator cuff problem along with arthritis in my claviculohumeral joint. I do a series of exercises to control and strengthen those muscles and stretch out the shoulder.

[Geezer]

What is the obvious answer to your dilemma? (No, not the question about breast stroke which isn’t going to work anyway).

Can you swim a few hundred meters? If you can’t you’re at risk. If something happens to your board and you become separated from it in the water and you can’t save yourself due to the bum shoulder, you are dead unless someone else rescues you.

Dead.


Do yourself a favor and cancel the lesson, go see a doctor and address your mobility and or injury issues as your first step. The rest will fall into place but ignoring the shoulder could end your surfing career (and possibly you) before you even get it started.

[waikikikichan]

Above and beyond what others have advised, you need to worry about things other than the paddle.

Just the board getting ripped out of your hands or getting pushed into you, ripping back your shoulder going over a wave or getting hit by the whitewash.

Does your shoulder injury hurt when you do push ups ? During your lesson, you're going to be doing A LOT of push ups. And one of those times you will miss, and a hand will slip off slamming down your chest and jacking up one arm.

[erickrout]

Geezer you make a good point, i said i never surfed before and i obviously didnt think the swimming part through. as a beginner iwas thinking i would only be waist high. but what if i got pulled out farther. yes i could swim 100 meters if my life depended on it but it would hurt like hell. i am 60 years old and have wanted to do this all my life, i guess i am not being realistic about it though. thanks for the good advise

[jaffa1949]

i am 73 and still surfing, from the age of 8 but before my father would allow me a board, I had to swim a mile>
Being a capable swimmer meant I could swim in after any wipeout, leashes had not been invented in 1958.
Leashes break, means a swim!
next 90% or more in surfing is paddling, most surfers end up with niggling shoulder injuries just from over use.
SO! Get your shoulder checked out, get a regime of treatment and develop a strength and flexibility habit that supports your shoulder, then add surfing by progressively gaining paddle ability.

You also have to be able to pop up, so capability i n push ups and burpees at a 60 year pace would be an indicator of whether you can become surf fit!

For me now regaining that level after serious health issues is quite a hard task so all I have offer holds true for me!

But it is a great thing to do persevere !