Physiotherapy For Surfers
Summer is upon us, meaning novice and experienced surfers alike will be hitting beaches all over Australia. There are approximately 37 million surfers worldwide, with 2.5 million calling Australia home. Unfortunately, the research shows that 1 in 3 of these surfers are likely to sustain an injury while surfing.
There are several risk factors that have been identified in research that increase your risk of a surfing injury. These include surfing for more than 7 hours per week, competitive and aerial surfing, being over the age of 39yrs (higher risk of chronic injury), larger wave size of 5-6 foot swell, riding a short board compared to a long board, and surfing over a hard bottom or reef opposed to over sand.
When it comes to acute injuries, about 50% of these occur from duck diving and paddling, and the other 50% occur from direct trauma such as falling and hitting the surface of the water.
For chronic surfing injuries, 70% are associated with prolonged paddling. When surfing we are paddling for approximately 50% of the time, no wonder paddling accounts for such a high number of chronic surfing injuries.
So, what’s going wrong with the body to cause injuries while surfing? Various mechanisms have been proposed, such as muscle imbalances between shoulder internal and external rotators, poor endurance, fatigue, and reduced mobility of the shoulder, knee, neck and back.
There are a few things you can do to help reduce your injury risk and improve your surfing performance.
Warm up! This will help to prepare your muscles and your cardiovascular system for the demands of surfing.
Understand your body. Everyone’s body is unique with its own set of strengths and weaknesses. A physiotherapy assessment can help to identify any impairments that you may need to focus on.
Keep mobile. Participating in activities such as yoga or Pilates, a physio prescribed mobility program, and performing strengthening exercises through your full range of motion.
Improve your strength and stability! Focus on strengthening your back extensors, shoulder and knee stabilisers, deep neck flexors and core muscles. A physiotherapist can help design a surf-specific home or gym exercise program to target these areas.
Evaluate your paddling and surfing technique – We don’t always realise what we are doing wrong, so have a more experienced surfer or surfing coach advise you on ways to improve your surfing technique and efficiency.
If you or someone you know currently has a surfing-related injury, consult your local physiotherapist who can help you get back out in the water, doing what you love!