I have dislocated my shoulder in the past, and it can still easily slip out if I play tennis or squash. I have never had a single problem with it kiting, even doing unhooked tricks. I would recommend doing some sort of exercises to strengthen the muscles around the shoulder though.

A mate of mine who has been kiteboarding for about 4 years has had dislocated shoulder problems and recently had a situation in the surf where the shoulder popped out again. The risk is when you extend your arm and land in the water or get pummelled around in the surf.

So it all depends on how you do the sport. If your friend is happy to just cruise around on flat water then there should be no problems. If she starts to get more extreme then there could be a problem.

walshd said...

Yep i aggree with sunseeker. Flying the kite and cruising around shouldnt hurt it if the kite has light bar pressure.

What kills my shoulder is my stupid habbit to put my right arm out before a wipeout. Most of the time it saves me from slipping the board out and crashing but it just about rips my arm out of its socket.

Yeah, I do that sometimes as well, can't stop myself.

Any kiteflying will help, so will exercises targeted at the rotator cuff - keeping those muscles strong is the key to holding the shoulder in its socket while kiteboarding. A physio can give you a list of good ones, I find the stretchy band ones good because you can do them every night and every morning in the bedroom - I have a stretchy band tied to the door handle.

Flat water riding will be fine and I have had almost no problems with mine in gusty 25+ knots and storm swell either - only once when I'd been neglecting my exercises for a few months beforehand. I have subluxated both shoulders multiple times and the joints are as sloppy as the steering in my mate's 1967 XR Falcon was, but while it's rusting on the side of the Nullarbor somewhere I'm still kiting unhooked and wakeboarding 4 years on.

KitePower has nailed it...

Controlled weight or resistance style rehab exercises MUST always follow this type of trauma to the joint. More specifically as others have expressed there is a time factor (if rehabed) before full rotational use MAY be regained without discomfort on certain angles..

Essentially the new 1 day old nerve endings that grow & control muscle / joint movement, will not know how to stabilise properly unless trained (This is why a rolled ankle wants to keep rolling for a while)

It is the nature of our sport that we fly in gusty (not constant) winds - getting used to bending the knees to "instinctively" absorb this effect will further reduce the Shoulder strain tendancy.

It is also true that younger people (u18) will normally recover faster,
and also true
after the third Dislocation - the joint will never quite work the same again !!!

So the questions she should consider are:

1. How long since injury - more the better..
2. Physio or rehab training - without the joint will be quite weak
3. Kiteboarding is fun and will always be there for her - if she needs more time.
4. Please take advice from QUALIFIED rehab people - its preventative medicine

It is a nice gesture to look after your friends, without saying

.............................She'll be right mate............................

Cheersz

Thanks everyone. I think she will be pleased with very helpful feedback.