Strengthening shoulder

[the invisible tree]

This may be out of your area but since you've had the answer to every other disc golf question I'll put it out there. I tore my rotator cuff about 5 years ago and I don't believe it ever healed properly. As a result I can't really put much power on overhand type shots. I can throw a pretty mean short tomahawk that dives right and lands flat but if I throw with any force overhand it absolutely kills my shoulder for several hours afterwards.

[Mark56]

you might want to try swimming. then again im no physical therapist.

[kvanorsdel]

Or stop throwing Tomahawks

[roadkill]

The rotator cuff is made up four small stabilizing muscles.

You need to do rotator cuff specific exercises with resistance bands or very light (1-6 lbs depending on the movement) weights. Movements need to be made very slowly to engage these muscles (or else the larger deltoid muscles take over).

Here's a few resources for you:

http://www.aafp.org/afp/20030315/1315ph.html

http://familydoctor.org/268.xml

I've had rotator cuff problems that led to shoulder instability and inflammation of my supraspinatus tendon. Another therapy that helped me was low intensity gyro therapy (powerball). I spun my exercise gyroscope at moderate speeds (2000-4000rpm) with my arm extended while I watched TV in the evening.

I would reccommend avoiding overhead arm movements until you restore strength in your shoulder as these movements are likely to cause inflammation and hinder your rehab.

[the invisible tree]

Or stop throwing Tomahawks

I only throw short finesse overhands as I was saying above. Those don't bother me.

[JoelDogg]

I spent a few years in college as a sports medicine major, and am in the human performance realm as of now. basically an overhand type shot is going to wreak havoc on a lot of people's shoulders sooner or later. ask a disc golfer who has been around the game a while and they will tell you, but aside from that, rotator cuffs can be a rough thing to rehab properly.

like posted before, doing rotator cuff circuits with bands.......internal and external rotations with the arm 90 degrees from the body and tucked against the body, as well as various lateral and anterior raises....all this will help somewhat. unfortunately, since overhead shots is a relatively "violent" movement, exercises done at a slow rate will only help so much.

basically the reason that your rotator cuff hurts so bad a few hours after throwing is because when throwing, the rotator cuff must slow down the arm to protect the joint. often the arm is moving at hundreds or thousands of degrees per second, and the force that the rotator cuff must produce must be applied very rapidly. this can produce extreme soreness, and even tearing forces (hence why many baseball players tear their rotator cuffs)

so in conclusion, do the band stuff, but once you become proficient at it (could take 4-8 months), you need to attempt to emulate the higher decleration speeds with the bands, or find a cable machine at the gym that will replicate the higher velocities. until you can do this variation of the exercise effectively, i would try to stay away from overhead shots unless they are absolutely necessary.

any q's just message me,

Joel

[Solty]

i tore my RC back in 2001 as well...as a result of throwing baseballs @ a pitching speed game at the shore. I went to the Dr...and he said...good job kid..lol... when i first started golfing 2 years ago.....i never dared throwing a thumber/t-hawk....now...i through them only if i need it. The best advice i can give....and what the Dr told me...stretch....stretch, stretch... Even throwing a driving shot without stretching could really screw up your shoulder.

Mike

[Blake_T]

getting those big rubber bands is the usual rehab for a rotator cuff. there's about 15 exercises that are pretty easy with those.

[TexasOutlaw]

If I have (or had) a rc injury years ago and am still bothered by it, can I still rehab it? Mine still gives me problems.

[roadkill]

Strengthen the muscles through RC exercises, warm up and stretch properly before activity and avoid the motions (ie overhand) that aggravate it.

That's your best bet.

Nearly everyone ignores the small stabilizing muscles (like the RC's). Instead we bench, squat and do other pressing or rowing exercises that only benefit the larger muscles.

I used to always do one armed rows with a 50lb dumbell (10-14 reps). You should have seen the look on my face when the therapist showed me the same exercise with 3 lbs dumbells. I'm like that's not going to do anything. And she said it will if you do them at a pace of 5 seconds up 5 seconds down and do 3 sets of 25 in the morning and 3 more sets in the evening. She was right!