Surfer’s Shoulder & Lower Back Pain | Burleigh Heads Osteo

If you surf regularly around Burleigh, Kirra or Snapper, chances are you’ve dealt with a sore shoulder, a tight lower back, or both — often the day after a solid session, sometimes creeping in gradually over a season. It’s one of the most common things we see in anyone who surfs consistently, and it usually comes down to a handful of predictable strain patterns.

Here’s what’s actually going on, and what tends to help.

Why Surfing Is Tougher on the Body Than It Looks

From the outside, surfing looks fluid and low-impact. From a biomechanics point of view, it’s actually a demanding combination of two very different physical positions repeated for long, sustained periods:

Paddling puts your shoulders through a repetitive overhead-style motion, hundreds of times per session, while your lower back and neck stay extended to keep your head up and watching the horizon. That extended, arched position is not one the spine is designed to hold for long stretches.

Popping up asks your body to go from lying flat to a loaded, rotated athletic stance in a fraction of a second, repeatedly, often on a moving, unstable surface. That’s a lot of sudden force running through the shoulders, spine and hips.

Do that a few times a week, for years, and it’s easy to see why shoulders and lower backs are the two areas surfers complain about most.

Shoulder Pain: What’s Usually Behind It

The repetitive overhead nature of paddling puts a lot of load through the front of the shoulder and the rotator cuff — the small muscles responsible for stabilising the joint. Common contributors include:

• Paddling technique — reaching too wide, or rotating the trunk less than the shoulder needs, can shift extra strain onto the joint itself.
• Rotator cuff fatigue — these are small, endurance-limited muscles being asked to do a lot of repetitive work; when they fatigue, larger muscles compensate in ways that aren’t ideal long-term.
• Reduced shoulder blade mobility — if the shoulder blade isn’t moving freely, the ball-and-socket joint often takes on load it shouldn’t have to.
• Simply paddling more than the body has adapted to — a common story after a few big surf days in a row, or after time off followed by jumping straight back into a full session.

Lower Back Pain: What’s Usually Behind It

The extended “watching the horizon” position during paddling, combined with the explosive rotation of popping up, is a demanding combination for the lower back specifically:

• Prolonged spinal extension while paddling can create compressive strain through the lower back, especially if hip and thoracic (mid-back) mobility are limited and the lower back ends up doing more of the work.
• The pop-up itself is a fast, loaded, rotational movement — if it’s happening from a position where the spine isn’t well supported, that force has to go somewhere.
• Limited hip mobility is a big one — if the hips can’t rotate freely, the lower back often compensates during the twisting and turning that surfing demands.

The Surfer Habit of Pushing Through It

Something we see often: surfers tend to keep paddling out through low-grade shoulder or back pain far longer than they would with almost any other activity — partly because the ocean and conditions don’t wait, and partly because the pain often eases once you’re moving. The trouble is that ignoring a nagging issue for months usually means it’s had months to become a bigger, more established problem by the time it’s finally addressed.

It’s worth getting looked at earlier rather than later if you notice:

• Shoulder pain that’s present at rest, not just during paddling
• Pain, weakness or a “catching” feeling during specific arm positions
• Lower back stiffness that’s not easing between sessions
• Pain that’s changing how you’re paddling or popping up
• Any pins and needles or radiating pain down an arm or leg

What Actually Helps

Assessing shoulder blade and hip mobility, not just the sore spot itself — since both areas commonly contribute to shoulder and back strain in surfers, even when they’re not where the pain is felt.

Hands-on treatment for the affected area — this might include soft tissue work, joint mobilisation, dry needling or manipulation, depending on what’s actually driving the issue.

Addressing rotator cuff and core endurance, since these are the muscle groups most responsible for holding up under the repetitive nature of paddling and popping up.

A realistic plan around your surf schedule — not “stop surfing,” but understanding what’s driving the issue so it’s less likely to keep coming back every time the swell picks up.

The Bottom Line

Shoulder and lower back pain are almost a rite of passage for regular surfers, but “common” doesn’t mean it has to be something you just live with. Most of the time there’s a clear, identifiable pattern behind it — paddling technique, mobility somewhere else in the body, or simply doing more than the body’s currently adapted to — and addressing that tends to make a real difference to how your body holds up, session after session.

If shoulders or your lower back have been nagging at you after surfing, it’s worth getting it properly looked at rather than just stretching it out and hoping it settles.