Hi , Anyone got any tips / advice on this ... months ago started supping 7'0's and 95 ltr boards ... My paddle at just over head was forcing me too upright on paddling for waves / on the wave etc ... so I shortened it to mid forehead - and on the water was much much better ... but now , in consecutive weeks , I seem to have torn a muscle in my upper back ... maybe its because the top of the paddle is so low and away from the body now when paddling hard into waves early ... and hacking away .... or maybe Im not bending enough in the legs etc ??

ANyone else had similar problems , got any advice how to change paddling technique etc - dont really want to go longer on paddle length ... my back upto now has always been fine and strong from other sports ...

weve just had solid head & half , and I was fine , then day after was chest hi hard to catch - and that seems to be when damage done (awake alot of the night in pain !) ,... I try and warm up a bit with rotating arms etc ... twisting at the waist etc , a few really light stretches (as Ive read stretching can also be bad before action , and best after as cool down...) , and I also tyr and paddle out prone , then go to knees , to try and warm up a little before straight into dodgy balancing and paddling .... what sort of back stretches ? , like pulling yr shoulder around with yr other arm behind elbow etc , suppose bending at waist and arms to alternate feet etc ?

The only recommendation I would give is seek professional help, maybe a good sports physio.
Rest
Ice
Compression
Elevation
Referral

I'm guessing it's come about from hunching your back slightly to get your shorter paddle fully dipped rather than bending/pivoting more from your hips and sticking your butt out as you lean forward..

I too have a rather short paddle which I find much better for the waves. Interestingly though, I've been surfing from *lower* back pain. So maybe another data point, that its unrelated to your paddle length. For me, I noticed that the harder I tried to get paddle straight in water, the more I'd counter balance with hips, which physio has identified as source of my pain. I don't seem to have as much power now, but at least less pain.

Interesting. . I have been lucky not to have such pain but I am at 3 above
But I know it's the tend to go short for surfing but the shorter I go the more I bend at the knees and thrust the hips but the less reach I get .

I think 3 to 4 above is best for most as a compromise
To long the shoulders wrench out other joint
Going to short back pain and loss of reach

I'm not saying this is all true but it's my observations from my own paddling

I too thought same going to shorter paddle.

learn to hinge at the hips. lock the core, chest out, abs in, strong.
check this guy out, i cannot recommend more for posture, strength, stretching, flexibility. with better posture and a correctly aligned spine better blood flow and less chance of tearing muscles.
www.foundationtraining.com/
get into a good chiro
buy a roller
mix with some stretches such as surfstretch (FB & youtube) recommends and you will benefit.

Another thing i have found is harder days to get onto waves the old technique goes a bit out the window.
you are paddling like hell up the nose of the board come on we are on we are on then twerk, muscles start twinging.

cheers for replys / feedback - that vid seems to be saying 'dont hinge' too much DJ ...

Not sure if mine is a torn muscle , or maybe a slight 'ping' of a back ribcage bone meeting the spine .... just remembering now I did something maybe similar a few years ago , and the chiro snapped it back in by rolling me backwards over his fist ... maybe its the same problem (before was caused by a twisting rotation crash in windsurfing ) , and the shorter paddle in say an awkward split second overreach or something is aggravating it ...

Brings me to another question - if one of the benefits of short paddle are also rapid switch side to side without hands changing (and by doing so mimicking surfing hands to help change direction - why arent we seeing some of the top guys surfing with a choke top hand (instead of t-bar) , to get the hands further down the paddle and effectively shorten it more depth wise over the deck of board .... and shorten radius's of turns with less paddle length under hands