Hi,

I haven't been paddling in a few years, and now I'm getting back
into taking a kayak out. Not far, just a half mille or so now. It
feels hard on my shoulders. I dislocated my left one a few years
ago in some fairly fast water. It doesn't really feel much different
from the way the other one feels due to recent paddling though.

Is it hard on the rotator cuff just doing basic paddling in a lake?
Are there excersises I can do to make the shoulders stronger?
If I just paddle and don't do anything else, can it do more harm
than good? So far I don't even stretch out before or after, how
important is that and what/how to stretch?

Thanks for any help!
David

wrote in :

Hi,

I haven't been paddling in a few years, and now I'm getting back
into taking a kayak out. Not far, just a half mille or so now. It
feels hard on my shoulders. I dislocated my left one a few years
ago in some fairly fast water. It doesn't really feel much different
from the way the other one feels due to recent paddling though.

Is it hard on the rotator cuff just doing basic paddling in a lake?
Are there excersises I can do to make the shoulders stronger?
If I just paddle and don't do anything else, can it do more harm
than good? So far I don't even stretch out before or after, how
important is that and what/how to stretch?

It's always ago idea to stretch before and after any exercise.

My first thought regarding your shoulder soreness is that your technique may
have something to do with it. Next time you're out pay attention to your
upper hand as you're taking a stroke. Try to avoid letting it go above your
eyes. I've seen lots of beginner that tend to let their upper hand go up
real high, thus opening up their shoulder and putting a lot of stress on the
joint. It also sounds like you may be paddling too much with your arms and
not enough with your torso.

Try this: Starting on the right side, when you place your right paddle in
the water rotate your torso so that your chest is facing to the left, then
unwind your body so that your chest is facing forward at the end of the
stroke. Now do it with the paddle on the left. Try to exaggerate the
motion by keeping your arms from moving as little as possible and perform
the stroke just by winding and unwinding your body.

On 26-Feb-2005, wrote:

Is it hard on the rotator cuff just doing basic paddling in a lake?

Not if your technique is good and your shoulders are not completely
trashed.

Are there excersises I can do to make the shoulders stronger?

Yes - do a google search. There are some that are very specific
to rotator cuff problems.

Mike