Old age
Discussion
James Cowperthwaite Asked 8 years ago
Hi Alois,
I restarted table tennis about 7 months ago, playing/practicing pretty much every day on our table at home and at other's, at age 63 having not played since jr. high school. There has been some wear and tear since then, and the minor chronic pain in my right shoulder is now unbearable following a small town local tourney here. I took third, not too bad. This venue just started, and I was playing folks I have not seen in years. Was a riot! However, in order to play and/or practice, I am having to revert to my left for awhile, possibly permanently, I don't know yet. I am working with a Robo, and doing my usual involvement, lefty. It's not too bad, but frustrating a bit, having to retrain with hopes of being reasonably effective. Any suggestions?
Great Site,
Jim
Alois Rosario Answered 8 years ago
Hi James,
Firstly it is great that you are back into the game and that you did well in the tournament. It is a great way to meet people as well... and reacquaint yourself.
Not so good about the pain. I think it is a really good idea to get it checked out properly.
I would go down that path first. Learning with the left will have some short cuts because you have learned strokes before but it could be frustrating too.
Perhaps some others with similar experiences can help out here.
Thoughts on this question
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Chris Roe Posted 8 years ago
Hello Jim, I am interested in your situation because I have been recovering from something similar in my playing shoulder and I too am in the same age group as you. It is now five months since I hurt my shoulder while warming up before a match and I am happy to say that my shoulder does seem to have completely recovered. What happened in between involved working with a sports physiotherapist and doing lots of exercises. The exercises are not hard to do, but I think the secret is that they have to be the right ones. That's why I think the right physiotherapist is essential. The routine of exercises that helped me took about 15 minutes each day. They involved a sequence of actions which first warmed up the shoulder, then stretched the affected tendon, then exercised the muscle and tendon, then repeated the stretching of the tendon and finally finished with five minutes of using an ice-pack on the shoulder. The tendon stretching and the muscle strengthening was achieved using hand-held weights which were gradually increased over the course of about six weeks. I was initially doing general exercises for the shoulder without much improvement, but it was not until the exercise program was changed to be directed to the specific muscle and tendon that was damaged, that my shoulder finally improved.
So Jim, my situation may be different to yours, but it might still be worth working with a sports physiotherapist who has experience in managing shoulder injuries.
Good luck and maybe one day well will find ourselves competing against each other at some future tournament.
Regards, Chris.
Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 8 years ago
Thanks Chris, that is very helpful.