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What casting tips / technique with a bad sholder?

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Great Egg

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What can you suggest for a right hander when his rigtht shoulder will no longer tolerate the stress of a typical overhead casting motion?   I have been using 11.5 and 12" rods coupled with medium quality spinners, 30# braid and 4-5 oz lead plus bait.

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Jug fishing and trot lines for you J/K. No but really, I have shoulder issues from my early days as a Baseball pitcher (before I threw my shoulder out and tore a Lat muscle), so know where you are coming from. My shoulder is not so bad off and I am still pretty young, but know I will have arthritis, pain & swelling, rotator issues in my golden future. Couple things you could try: learn to cast left handed. Will it be awkward, not cast as far, and have a steep learning curve, sure, but with regular practice is plausible. Fish with lighter rods and reels, try to get the weight down on your rig so more manageable. Do physical therapy/exercise your shoulder (yeah those stupid Dr. & therapists actually do know what they are talking about) buy a couple of door mount to rubber bands and get to stretching and working out the shoulder (of course refer to your Dr. and or physical therapist) before starting a regiment, but with regular stretching and building up your shoulder will help. Also try Icing your arm after fishing, I do this after almost every session of plug casting in the peak of the season. I freeze a few Styrofoam cups of water and them peel back the Styrofoam and give my shoulder and arm ice massages with a towel under my arm while watching TV after cleaning up all my fishing gear along with popping a few Advil or Aleve will do wonders for your shoulder and arm the next day. When I don't ice my arm and shoulder I am very sorry I didn't the next day. Hope this helps.

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I've got the same problems you do at the age of 58 and still use an Penn Battalion 10'6 and 11' rods in spinning or St. Croix 11' baitcasting (Penn Conquest 5000 and Clash 5000 or Penn 525 mag and Avet 5.3 mag) gear without too much post fishing discomfort. My gear is pretty light for me. I try to warm the joint up with Aspercream before I go and when I return, take an ibuprofen or Alleve and put Thermal patches (Thermacare) or medicated patches like Lindacaine 5% (from my doctor) around my shoulder. Usually works like a charm if I care for it right away. I also try not to get too nuts with fishing a lot of weight (not more than 4oz.) for very long and make sure my cast is technically as good as possible with an easy, progressive load up before I punch it to the horizon!!! I also like to use wooden egg floats with bait or small lures, and balloons with bait basically rigged the same way, when my shoulder starts to object and I need to take a rest for a while before going at it for a while longer, making sure not to overdue it, listening to my body before it starts to scream at me with pain. I also try to rest my shoulder for a minimum of three days between fishing excursions. It works for me. And hopefully will permit me to continue fishing this way for a long time without having surgery forced upon me to continue. 

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Line / Swim,

Thanks for the suggestions.  I have tendonits from a ancient football shoulder separation, not bone-on-bone arthritis.  A therapist,  pre & post acetominaphen and less total weight, post icing sound like best options.  Regards,  GE

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I am going to go out on a limb here to suggest off the ground cast. Find how much pressure and how height you right shoulder can take. Your right hand only acts as a fulcrum. Use your body twist to power the cast and your left hand to follow through.  Modify the swing arc to your shoulder condition. Go to youtube and search for John holden off the ground cast or easy cast.  Work on your release timing when no body is around. lol

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This is a good opportunity to apply more "pull" than 'push". Focus on getting the left arm fully extended and PULL with it to the chest. Keep the right as straight as possible, thinking about it as a fulcrum point to bend the rod around.

 

You may even pick up distance...

 

Tommy 

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  • 1 month later...

For bait you might want to try a----back cast ---.  If your right handed and your right shoulder herts than turn your back to the water,place the rod but on your right  hip ,leg joint,hold line with right hand,place left hand well above the reel and with the sinker on the ground swing the rod and lift at the same time over your left shoulder(as if you were pitching hay into a hayloft) and let her go.  This backcast is used in noreast England. try it.

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  • 4 weeks later...

If you're chunking bait  try coming over in a 45 degree angle pulling your left hand into your rib cage while pushing the right hand  maintaining good posture and balance all help I'm 60 myself and as I age I've had to change my casting style and use a lighter setup for me it's all about weight I've gone to a daiwa 12' mission x 3.5 test curve rated 1-4 paired with an ultegra 5500 ci4 or a saragosa 6000 both loaded with 30 braid I'm assuming your current setup is a  1 piece fiberglass rod with maybe a penn 750 this was my old setup and also way beyond my abilities now it's a great setup but the weight is too much for me

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4 hours ago, oldgoat said:

I just remembered that cast is called --a Norfolk back cast.

 

Goat, any idea where the specifics for making that cast might be? I see a lot of back casts on YouTube, especially from a Greek individual but really haven’t been able to find anything identified by the cast you named. TIA!

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1 put your back toward the water.2place the rod butt on your right leg (the top at the joint) 3 hold the rod with your left hand and tilt it away from you.4swing the rod over your left shoulder as you turn your body toward the left and let er go.

the same motion as pitching hay over your left shoulder.

any farm guy should catch right on. think pitching hay. good luck.

PS no pressure on your right shoulder.

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