Caloundra is a surf town, from Happy Valley and Kings Beach to Moffat and Dicky, and surfers break in predictable ways: paddling shoulders, wrenched necks from hold-downs, lower backs from arching through sections, and knees from modern fin-out surfing. Sportscare Caloundra has treated this coast's surfers for more than three decades, and the clinic's water pedigree runs to the very top: principal physiotherapist Russell Smallwood was lead physiotherapist to the Australian swimming team at the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Shoulders that propel a body through water are this clinic's home ground.
The injuries surfing produces
- Paddling shoulder. The surfer's version of swimmer's shoulder: rotator cuff overload from thousands of strokes, worse after a swell run or a surf trip. Managed like the overhead athlete problem it is, with cuff and scapular loading. See our rotator cuff page for the deeper dive.
- Lower back pain. The extended paddling posture plus explosive pop-ups load the lumbar spine in ways few other sports do. Hip mobility and trunk strength carry most of the fix.
- Knee injuries. MCL sprains and meniscus irritation from torqued landings and tweaked snaps, and the occasional ACL from airs. Rehab is tuned to surfing's demands: deep flexion, rotation and single-leg landing control.
- Neck and whiplash-type injuries from heavy wipeouts and board strikes.
- Rib and chest wall pain from the board, the bottom or a solid lip.
Return to water, not just return to land
Standard rehab finishes at gym strength. Surf rehab finishes in the water, so we stage it: pain-free paddling volume first, then pop-ups and small-wave surfing, then progressively fuller surfing. For competitive surfers we plan around events, and for the daily paddler we aim to keep you in the water in some capacity throughout rehab wherever the injury allows, because we know exactly how fun it is to be dry-docked.
Surf fitness and injury prevention
Most surf injuries trace back to the same gaps: paddling endurance, shoulder strength through range, and hip mobility for the pop-up. A short targeted program closes them, and it is the closest thing to wax for your joints.
Shoulder cooked after the last swell?
Call the clinic and tell reception it is a surf injury. Paddling shoulders are our home ground.
Call (07) 5221 5254Can I keep surfing with paddling shoulder?
Often yes, with managed volume while the rehab loads the cuff back up. Pushing through a full swell season on an irritated cuff is how tendinopathy becomes a tear.
How long after a knee injury can I surf?
Small-wave surfing often returns surprisingly early for mid-grade sprains because surfing is low impact, but twisting and compression in the pop-up is the limiter. It is injury-specific, so get it assessed rather than testing it on a closeout.
Do you treat groms?
Yes, including growth-related problems unique to teenagers, and part of our team's background is managing injured youth athletes.