LOL, PetDen, you were probably under Dr. Woodward's knife the same day he did my 2nd shoulder. My first shoulder was done in early March; the only work was clearing out a bone spur and some adhesive tissue, but the recovery hurt like hell, probably because I couldn't use that shoulder for 4 months before the surgery.

I got a cortisone shot about 3 months after the surgery, and that reduced the pain enough to get past a plateau in PT. After about 5 months, I started to feel OK paddling slowly on a long board, but duck-diving and even popping up on a shortboard put some painful pressure on the shoulder joint. Time in the swimming pool was huge as far as PT goes. By 7 months I'd say I've gotten back >90% range of motion and about 70% strength (w/o working too hard at it).

2nd shoulder had 2 bone spurs, some adhesive tissue cut away, and a torn labrum fixed with two anchors. It's been kinda tough with this recovery too (in part because I normally sleep on that shoulder, so I'm sleep deprived), and I'm bummed because this shoulder was not in as much pain (despite the need for more repair) beforehand... Realistically, I'm hoping to be doing breaststrokes in a heated swimming pool by Christmas (~3-month mark), freestyle strokes about 3 weeks after that, and longboarding shortly after. So yeah, 4-6 months basic recovery, then 1-2 months getting the surfing under control again.

P.S. I'm 51 and a desk jockey w/o enough time for proper PT, so your mileage may vary.

Good luck with it all.


EDIT: Bozeman, if you don't mind, please post what you can about the "surfer's paddle" here so you don't have to repeat it for every PM request. Thanks!