The Surfer's Shoulder
“The surfer’s shoulder is characterised by external rotation deficit, as opposed to internal rotation deficit in the thrower’s shoulder, and it differs substantially from shoulder complaints in swimmers. Therefore, a specific prevention or rehabilitation protocol for surfers is required.”
Prevention or rehabilitation protocol for surfer’s needs to include:
~ stretching of the internal rotators (front of shoulders)
~ strengthening of the external rotators (back of shoulders)
~ combination of thoracic extension & scapulathoracic movement (trunk of body movement)
*Scapularthoracic dyskinesis or “winged scapula” is subtle, as you can see in the image.
What’s happening is, the strong internal rotators of the shoulder are pulling the scapula forward causing it to poke out in the back.
Not enough research has been done on surfing for most professionals to know this is the root cause of the shoulder pain. Please, I beg you, before getting shoulder surgery, find a physical therapist that specializes in surfers.
Photo: orthobullets.com
"Field studies performed in competitive and recreational surfers showed that the majority of the time (44– 61%) in the water is spent paddling, consisting of many repetitive overhead movements [2–9].
Given this, injury due to shoulder overload seems probable. However, research regarding chronic shoulder complaints in surfers is scarce.
The reported incidence of chronic shoulder injuries in surfers in literature is 10–27%. Most authors emphasise that these injuries were not caused by a former acute injury."
Surfing is mostly paddling. It's incredible how many times the body will paddle to catch that one golden wave.
Check out this image from the literature that shows what's going on in each phase of paddling. Having it broken down this way, really gives us a good idea of how we get so out of balance.
Swell, LLC recommends having an image of the muscular system handy while looking at this.
Front of Shoulder (Internal Rotator) Stretches
Notice how this exercise is very fluid and dynamic, taking into account all the tiny movements that make up a full paddle motion.
Further explanation for this stretch can be found at the end of the surfer's shoulder review.
Back of the shoulder (External Rotator) Strengthening Exercises
SOURCE: The Surfer's Shoulder: A Systematic Review of Current Literature and Potential Pathophysiological Explanations of Chronic Shoulder Complaints in Wave Surfers. Sports Med Open. 2021 Dec.
LINK: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7788157/
LIMITATIONS: A common limitation found in scholarly surf articles, such as this one, is the studies are done in a very controlled environment like lap or wave pools. They don't take into account factors like: ocean conditions, swell size, time of day and wind speed/direction, all of which affect the intensity level of a surf session.
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