Greetings from the Albion Grill at Alta Ski Area. I’m golf blogging today from a ski resort, waiting for the lifts to open. Had an hour to kill so thought it would be a good time to do a shoulder update.
Yesterday, Valentine’s Day, was the one year anniversary of my surgery for torn rotator cuff, torn bicep tendon, torn labrum and bone spurs in my right shoulder. My recovery has gone slower than I’d hoped, and it has now been about one month that I’ve not had nagging pain or soreness. I was in pain for a solid year and a half including pre-surgery. During my rehab I developed “frozen shoulder” which was a total pain in the ass. Scar tissue and inflammation built up, restricting my range of motion and increasing the pain. It took about six months to shake that.
It has now been a year and three months since I last played golf. My last round was at TPC Danzante Bay, and I have the fond memory of making birdie on the stunning par-3 17th hole. Picture below for fun.
My shoulder is about 85% I would say at this point. I don’t get sore when I do regular activities, or even do heavy skiing. I can now do some shoulder exercises in the gym and it doesn’t get mad at me. I’m not pushing it though. I’ve tested out a golf swing without a club, just to see how the shoulder reacts. The backswing is probably 90% but the followthrough is probably only 75%. That’s the killer. I don’t think I’ll really be able to generate much swing speed yet because of lack of flexibility and fear of pain at the end of the swing. No high finishes for me. I may have to develop a 100% punch shot game if I’m going to play any serious golf. I’m sure the shoulder still has more healing to go as some say the frozen shoulder can take years to completely go away.
For now I’m in ski mode here in northern Utah. Spring is around the corner and it is going to be interesting to see not only how my shoulder situation unfolds, but how my mental situation unfolds as well. I haven’t missed playing like I thought I would. I’ve used my time to pursue other interests, like building and flying drones, skiing, hiking and so forth. I wonder how I had the time, the money, and the patience to golf in the first place. Perhaps that part of my psyche will come around when the snow melts and I see green grass and hear some birds chirping.
What I miss the most about not playing golf isn’t the game itself or the golf courses or anything like that. I miss competing. I miss my buddies…. I miss taking money from my buddies. That’s probably what I miss most… LOL.
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