Playing Golf After Rotator Cuff Surgery

Your rotator cuff is a key part of your shoulder's flexibility. Located on the back side of your shoulder, the rotator cuff is made up of muscles and tendons that connect the bone in your upper arm with your shoulder blade and keep your arm bone in the shoulder socket.

Because the golf game requires arm and shoulder movement, playing golf after going through rotator cuff surgery requires a number of things, chief among them time. Even with today's arthoscopic surgery advances, recovering sufficiently for playing a game of golf requires roughly six months of rest and rehabilitation.

1. Keep the shoulder immobilized for anywhere from one to two weeks after surgery. A heavy-duty sling will allow the shoulder to stay in place while the sutures heal.

1. Start doing light range of motion exercises after a month to a month and a half.

2. Because the arm has been supported by a sling, you'll have most likely lost a lot of flexibility in the shoulder. Don't push it.

1. Move to light resistance bands after two months of recuperation time. Your inner sutures should be healed by now and it's just a matter of building back the muscle.

1. Increase your muscle strength to help support the shoulder. Resistance bands, weights and isometrics will help in this process.