Stand Up Paddle Boarding Injuries - Part 1

Stand up paddle boarding has really boomed on the Gold Coast over the past couple of years. If you drive past Tallebudgera or Currumbin Creek’s on the weekend, you’re hard pressed to find the water for the stand-up paddlers. With the increase in the popularity of this sport so too is there a sharp increase in the number of injuries and dysfunctions related to stand up paddle boarding. This week, I’m going to start at the top and work my way down on giving you a physio perspective on the injuries encountered in this exciting sport.

Shoulders –

Just cruisin'

Ah yes, best not to give this area the cold shoulder! Shoulder pain is a very common occurrence in stand-up paddle boarding. Of course there are a plethora of reasons why an individual may have shoulder pain and I’m not going to cover all of these here, but more give you a heads up on when it might be best to pop off and see the physio.

Let’s think about when we all first started paddling – our arms got pretty sore! This is a sure fire way to know if you’re paddling technique is up to scratch or not. A SUP stroke should come from the hips and core with the arms merely an extension of this. If your arms are getting tired – you’re not driving through your body in the stroke. Quite often we see stand up paddlers, either novices or fatigued athletes, using their bottom arm to pull their paddle through the stroke. This not only is an in-efficient stroke, but loads up structures such as your forearm muscles (those commonly effected by tennis and golfers elbow) and also your biceps tendon at the front of the shoulder. If one is to keep paddling in this way, by pulling the paddle through the stroke with the bottom arm, sooner rather than later your shoulder or forearms will give out.

What to look out for –

Quite often biceps tendinopathy will present as an aching pain and stiffness in the front of the shoulder that actually improves once you warm up and get into a bit of activity. Once you stop and rest however, it will tend to return as an ache in the shoulder that may come into the upper arm. Exactly when and where you feel your pain will determine what stage of tendinopathy you’re in, but it’s best to get your biomechanics checked (technique) by someone who is familiar with SUP and also put on to a tendon loading program from the physio.

In regards to the forearm, tennis elbow (outside of the elbow) or golfers elbow (inside of the elbow) pain is associated with painful gripping, tension through the forearm muscles and tenderness over the outside bony bump or inside bony bump of the elbow. Quite often there is a dull ache in these parts of your arm during and after activity.

If you’re experiencing these symptoms or any pain in these areas, it’s a good time to pop in and see a physio who is experienced in helping stand up paddlers, to get you back on the water. Stay tuned as next week I'll take a look at some more common injuries seen in SUP!

- Josh Carter

BExSSc (Clinical Exercise Physiology), DPhty APAM