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[kage]

shoulders actually. I am getting a recurring pain in the shoulder from paipo riding I think . I am almost always on rights and my left shoulder, when I tuck it in, especially when I am taking off is beggining to show the wear. Achy! Especially when lying down.
Does anyone else get that? If so what do you do?
Theres not too much complaining on this site about sport related injuries. Is paipo riding more healthy or are you guys just more stoic?
What are common paipo related injuries, aside form hitting your head on slow standups?

[Nels]

[PaipoJim]

As I said here, I suffer similar pains but it is in my right shoulder when going right and it seems to help if I angle my takeoffs in larger surf. Not the most satisfying solution but my style is to lead with my right hand on the nose and my forearm and elbow planted along the top of the deck on the inside rail. I keep my outside hand further back and pull up or down on that rail to control the board.

Maybe keeping the leading hand farther down the inside rail during the drop so the elbow isn't on the board and moving it up after landing would help. I dunno though, I like to have control on the way down. Of course it's the out of control late takeoff freefalls that really slam that humerous up into the shoulder when I land.

It sounds like I am having problems going right but in the opposite shoulder than you are. I paipoed a bunch this winter and had a goodly number if aches and pains to go along with it. I'm getting a trifle aged for this sort of stuff I guess. My doctor just shakes his head with disbelief when I was in to see him with back spasms from a truly epic "sucked up the face backwards over the falls" incident I had a few weeks ago.

I got tubed twice though (not counting the wipeout). Here's a shot I took after getting out of the water. Some times you just gotta go right even if it hurts!

[rodndtube]

Sweet pic, Jim!

Paipo-related injuries: nothing specific for me other than the usual freak waveriding with a hard board type injuiries that can happen.

I don't ride day-to-day, but do a fair amount of surf tripping where I might surf regularly for 7-14 days. When I am getting one of two sessions of 2-3 hrs each a day in decent Puerto Rico surf, even in some smaller 3' tubey surf, a couple of stress points start to show up: my shoulders and my elbows. The shoulder condition is largely a function of the additional stress and motion they are not accustomed to and the fact that I use paddling gloves. The elbows is simple a bruising from the elbow bone resting on the board - two hard points. Elbow pads help when the going gets bad!
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rodNDtube
"Prone to ride"
I love my papa li`ili`i

[tumak]

In my opinion, resting elbows on a paipo in flight is like shuffling on a longboard instead of cross-stepping. IT'S AGAINST THE LAW! Placing elbows on the board restricts turning and causes qi stagnation in the neck and shoulders!
I employ what I call the "Mighty Mouse" pose while riding paipo. Here, the inside arm doesn't touch the board, and points down the line ahead of you, while the shoreward arm grabs the outside rail. This means that only the torso and one hand connect to the board. In cutbacks, one just reverses this setup.
My worst injury from riding paipo came last Thanksgiving morning on a tiny little wave, when I went over the falls on a left, somehow twisted my body, and came down on the sand bottom like a piledriver right square on my butt. I thought my back was broken; the pain was beyond excruciating! I was shaking in pain when I got back home, and connected (shamefully) with my MD bro-in-law for some Lortab.
Cutting to the chase, in the long run this strange wipeout ENDED (knock on wood) about 25 years of chronic back pain I'd been experiencing.
Now, I have a problem with my right knee, and I'm working on figuring that out; is it from kicking with flippers, or is it due to years or hardcore longboarding? I just don't know...
Stoic? Hmmmm... I suspect that pain is a way of life as long as one ages in a human body and continues with self-abuse.

I just try very seriously to soften my body while riding; there's really no need for a lot of stress, if you really look at it. I call it being in the flow of the Dao.

[rodndtube]

Ahh... clarification needed: the stress points on the elbows isn't caused from *riding* the paipo, but is incurred during the long paddle outs (I mostly use my flippers for paddling out, my arms play a larger role in wave catching).
_________________
rodNDtube
"Prone to ride"
I love my papa li`ili`i

[AM_Glass]

Most of my pain comes from my feet cramping in my flippers. I've decided that this isn't the fins being too tight, rather my feet being too weak. When I kick my foot rolls, my little toe and big toe are forced down and together by the pressure of the fin. I can paddle with my arms more or sprint kick less. The pain is less the more often I surf.

To deal with your inside shoulder hurting, try riding off the back of the board more in slower waves. The extra drag keeps you in the curl better and you aren't putting as much (or any) weight on your shoulder. For really racy waves pull yourself further forward so that your shoulder is further forward than your elbow. This puts your weight over your entire arm which is flexed and better able to absorbe shock which means less goes to your shoulder.

Another thing, even the thinest layer of foam protecting you from your board, and vise-versa, makes a huge difference. I don't remember the formula off hand but it has to do with the force of an impact is reduced if you can slow the decelleration. A fraction of a second longer to go from 60 to 0 can save lives, and elbows/knees/pelvises.