Fix Your Shoulders, Increase Spinal Rotation, Paddle Pain Free
I put up blog posts in the hope that people out in internet land will read it, use it, improve their surfing, and build a stronger more mobile body. And I hope that at least one person who reads this post actually tries this movement to fix their shoulder.
I use it nearly every day, and have about 90% of my clients use it too. This movement is going to help increase ease of movement through your spine, help your scapula move on your ribcage, increase shoulder range of motion, decrease neck tension, allow for deeper breaths, and quite possibly help to alleviate your shoulder problems…..
Holy Shit!!! Yes, those are all very great things, and can massively contribute to better surfing, and a better body! So give this a try.
Surfer Shoulders – Feldenkrais Shoulder/Spine Integrator
This movement, along with many others, was developed by Moshe Feldenkrais to address movement restrictions by re-teaching the nervous system. It aims to establish proper movement patterns and fluidity and ease of those movements.
The move in particular that I demonstrate is allowing your nervous system to relax, release muscle tensions, and realize that it can move into a rotated position without restriction.
If you can more easily and efficiently rotate your head, neck, arms, torso, and spine… think of how much that could benefit your turns in the surf!
For massive, powerful, fast turns, you must be able to efficiently, and separately, rotate your head, neck, shoulders, torso, and rib cage. If your body is restricited in those movements, you can bet your ass you won’t turn like Tom Curren. So get yourself mobile.
Some other great movements that I’ve written about in the past to help increase torso and thoracic spine mobility and are quite similar…. Check out these posts!
Surfing- Spinal Rotation (It’s an older post, so don’t hate!!! but it’s a damn good movement)
Fix Your Own Surf Shoulders (This is some really good tissue work you can do on your own to increase rotation and shoulder range of motion)
When To Use This Movement
You’ve got a couple of choices. I personally use it before a surf, and especially before bed. Before a surf, it’s really just helping to get some tissue moving, increasing mobility, and warming up the torso and shoulders.
Follow it up with a dynamic warmup, or something similar to the movements shown in the FREE Surf Exercise and Mobility Program on this site. Like I said, I also like to use this movement before bed.
It’s a really calming movement, and the coordinated movement with breathing really promotes relaxation of the body. Use it at night, and get Zen before going to sleep.
Give this a try and see if you can improve your rotational capacity and fix your shoulder. Let me know what you think about it in the comments below.
DO YOU WANT A FULL PROGRAM OF STRETCHES, FLEXIBILITY DRILLS, JOINT HEALTH, AND IMPROVING FLEXIBILITY….CHECK OUT STRETCHES FOR SURFERS.
-cris
Improve the Way You Move
Eliminate Pain, Prevent Injury, and Move Better in the Water.
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