Shoulder replacement for low handicapper?

[Yuck]

I know the have been a few shoulder replacement threads in the past, but I am looking for any recent, 1st hand feedback.  My trail shoulder can only be “fixed” with replacement at this point.  Being my trail shoulder, golfwise it is not too problematic except pulling club from bag.  Most issues are only if I attempt to raise arm up or back past a certain point.  So things like putting on a belt, sleeping with arm under pillow, Archery, overhand throwing etc. are not possible anymore.  If I behave, pain is manageable OTC.  This has been several years now, so I am used to my limitations.

 

My concern is that if I get the shoulder replaced, I will become unable to get back to a low handicap.  At one point, ages ago I was a plus 2, but in recent years more like a 4-7 range.  I would like to get back to the 0-2 range and I would be interested if anyone on the board had a reverse shoulder replacement and returned to near scratch levels of Play.  If I found the pain unbearable, or life tasks too difficult to do, I would proceed.  But since I still have decent elbow down functionality, I wonder if it is worth it at this point.

 

Any informed thoughts are welcome.

 

 

[Warrior42111]

14 minutes ago, Yuck said:

I know the have been a few shoulder replacement threads in the past, but I am looking for any recent, 1st hand feedback.  My trail shoulder can only be “fixed” with replacement at this point.  Being my trail shoulder, golfwise it is not too problematic except pulling club from bag.  Most issues are only if I attempt to raise arm up or back past a certain point.  So things like putting on a belt, sleeping with arm under pillow, Archery, overhand throwing etc. are not possible anymore.  If I behave, pain is manageable OTC.  This has been several years now, so I am used to my limitations.

 

My concern is that if I get the shoulder replaced, I will become unable to get back to a low handicap.  At one point, ages ago I was a plus 2, but in recent years more like a 4-7 range.  I would like to get back to the 0-2 range and I would be interested if anyone on the board had a reverse shoulder replacement and returned to near scratch levels of Play.  If I found the pain unbearable, or life tasks too difficult to do, I would proceed.  But since I still have decent elbow down functionality, I wonder if it is worth it at this point.

 

Any informed thoughts are welcome.

 

 

So I can't speak for returning to a low handicap. My experience is with retuning to high level football (American) after multiple shoulder injuries leading to surgery.

 

Assuming the procedure itself is fine, which is a majority of the case it really falls the person to find good PT and rehabilitate religiously to return proper range of movement, strength, flexibility etc. I was lucky in that  my dad was a surgical tech who worked a lot with a top ortho in the area. The ortho was great but he really hammered the following things to me.

 

In the rest period (after the operation) do not do anything not approved, it will feel good, you'll think you can, but you can cause microtears and damage you don't feel. Let your body heal/

 

Once in rehab follow it religiously. If you skip out or half effort it, you'll never get back to proper range of motion or strength potential. 

 

Have good communication, especially on pain, how bad and what it feel likes with your PT. A good PT will be able to tell you what's normal as you re-tear muscle intentionally to gain range of movement, and what might be pushing it too far and causing damage again. 

 

Last piece of advice I have is don't neglect the possible and probable mental effects. Mayne not so much with golf, but there was a huge issue myself returning to football about slightly hesitate and subconsciously protect my repaired shoulder with contact, moved etc. Even when I felt like I was doing ok, film showed I wasn't there compared to prior the injury. It took time to adjust, and get to the point to rewire the brain that I am healed and don't need to protect myself. So have film of your swing before to compare too. 

[Yuck]

Thank you for responding.

 

So you had a shoulder replacement?  Did you play football with the artificial joint?  Was it the reverse replacement?  (An artificial cup is screwed on the trimmed Humerus bone, and the ball is placed on the scapula, kinda reversing the natural set-up.)   I have had a couple surgical repairs in the past.  I am bone on bone now, so Dr. says only a replacement will make it better at this point.

[Warrior42111]

7 minutes ago, Yuck said:

Thank you for responding.

 

So you had a shoulder replacement?  Did you play football with the artificial joint?  Was it the reverse replacement?  (An artificial cup is screwed on the trimmed Humerus bone, and the ball is placed on the scapula, kinda reversing the natural set-up.)   I have had a couple surgical repairs in the past.  I am bone on bone now, so Dr. says only a replacement will make it better at this point.

not replacement but labrum, AC joint, rotator cuff and bicep all repaired. Rotator cuff is probably most similar since that type of injury can lead to the reverse replacement. Couldn't play with a replacement like that. A bad hit moving all the metal around would be no bueno.

 

Really the point I was getting at was the range of motion. I know it's big on this type of repair as well, and was really just making sure readers understood that it's a crappy but needed part of recovery. 

 

 

[Yuck]

5 hours ago, Warrior42111 said:

So I can't speak for returning to a low handicap. My experience is with retuning to high level football (American) after multiple shoulder injuries leading to surgery.

 

Assuming the procedure itself is fine, which is a majority of the case it really falls the person to find good PT and rehabilitate religiously to return proper range of movement, strength, flexibility etc. I was lucky in that  my dad was a surgical tech who worked a lot with a top ortho in the area. The ortho was great but he really hammered the following things to me.

 

In the rest period (after the operation) do not do anything not approved, it will feel good, you'll think you can, but you can cause microtears and damage you don't feel. Let your body heal/

 

Once in rehab follow it religiously. If you skip out or half effort it, you'll never get back to proper range of motion or strength potential. 

 

Have good communication, especially on pain, how bad and what it feel likes with your PT. A good PT will be able to tell you what's normal as you re-tear muscle intentionally to gain range of movement, and what might be pushing it too far and causing damage again. 

 

Last piece of advice I have is don't neglect the possible and probable mental effects. Mayne not so much with golf, but there was a huge issue myself returning to football about slightly hesitate and subconsciously protect my repaired shoulder with contact, moved etc. Even when I felt like I was doing ok, film showed I wasn't there compared to prior the injury. It took time to adjust, and get to the point to rewire the brain that I am healed and don't need to protect myself. So have film of your swing before to compare too. 

 

56 minutes ago, Warrior42111 said:

not replacement but labrum, AC joint, rotator cuff and bicep all repaired. Rotator cuff is probably most similar since that type of injury can lead to the reverse replacement. Couldn't play with a replacement like that. A bad hit moving all the metal around would be no bueno.

 

Really the point I was getting at was the range of motion. I know it's big on this type of repair as well, and was really just making sure readers understood that it's a crappy but needed part of recovery. 

 

 

THank you

 

 

[rmv]

I need my left shoulder replaced and while my handicap is not low (yet) I am very interested in what people’s experiences have been with a reverse shoulder replacement of their lead shoulder. Thanks in advance.

[Ripper212]

You should be able to return to golf but will need to temper your expectations. Or as my wife would say, just be happy you're out here playing!

This article should be of some interest to you

 

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8221441/

[Yuck]

55 minutes ago, Ripper212 said:

You should be able to return to golf but will need to temper your expectations. Or as my wife would say, just be happy you're out here playing!

This article should be of some interest to you

 

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8221441/

Interesting Article.  It would lead me to believe high level golf is less likely with a reverse shoulder replacement as compared to a traditional shoulder replacement.  The drop in distance for the Reverse was substantial as compared to no loss of distance for the Standard procedure.  I appreciate the info.  My next appointment I was ask some questions as to why the reverse replacement was the only option offered to me.

 

 

[Ripper212]

As my Orthopod explained to me, reverse shoulder is necessary if you don't have a functional rotator cuff to hold the standard in place. Mine is long gone so eventually will need reverse if I ever agree to surgery. Return to golf is obviously possible but significantly limited. Doubt you'll get back to scratch again. I have enough limitation WITHOUT surgery that my hcp has basically doubled. Golfers are a strange addicted breed and we'll do anything to keep playing. Good luck 

[rmv]

13 hours ago, Yuck said:

“The drop in distance for the Reverse was substantial as compared to no loss of distance for the Standard procedure.”

Could you please explain what you mean by “drop in distance”? Thanks

I asked my future surgeon at Georgetown if he could do a standard rather than a reverse since my rotator cuff is still intact and he said no because of the bone loss I’ve sustained to my glenoid such that a standard would not be stable and would more likely need revised later. 🙁

 

13 hours ago, Yuck said:

 

[iacas]

38 minutes ago, rmv said:

Could you please explain what you mean by “drop in distance”? Thanks

 

He means this:

 

Quote

A total of 586 patients who underwent shoulder arthroplasty were sent the online survey via email. Of those patients, 33 identified themselves as golfers and who responded to the survey, resulting in an overall response rate of 5.6%. Twenty-three of 31 (74%) patients were able to return to golf following their procedure. Overall, the respondents who reported pain associated with golfing activity had significantly decreased pain after undergoing either TSA or RTSA. The RTSA group had a significant drop in driving distance following the procedure and this was significantly lower than the postoperative driving distance in the TSA group, despite an insignificant preoperative difference.

 

[Nard_S]

Lost labium 100%, bicep torn, two rotator cuff tendons damaged  and a couple spurs. Doc said, i'm a replacement candidate. Said, no way. He did do the repairs and 8 months on the recovery is decent. But he says, it if fails, i have no choice. The interesting part was he said the technology to replace & fix this stuff in a better fashion is 10 years off. They can use pig ligaments now but that's dicey. My plan is to keep it healthy for a decade or more. So i believe you ought to get a 2nd opinion, or even a 3rd.

[rmv]

34 minutes ago, iacas said:

 

He means this:

 

 

Okay, thanks a lot. Since it’s my lead shoulder, I mistakenly thought the comment was referring to dropping the club into the slot from the backswing. 🙄

[Ripper212]

47 minutes ago, rmv said:

Okay, thanks a lot. Since it’s my lead shoulder, I mistakenly thought the comment was referring to dropping the club into the slot from the backswing. 🙄

Would have been interesting if they had done a breakdown of the results of lead vs trail shoulder but I didn't see that - only in the patient selection

[mrgimmemonster]

As the above posts alluded to, a reverse TSA is substantially different than a standard TSA (both of which are significantly different from rotator cuff/labral repairs, biceps tenodesis, etc.). The kinematics of the shoulder are altered due to essentially switching the ball and socket components (which fundamentally alters the center of rotation of shoulder joint). Reverse TSA's are typically indicated when the rotator cuff is deficient. This allows the deltoid to take over as the primary elevator of the arm.

 

The expectations for range of motion after a reverse TSA is lower than a standard TSA and much lower than a typical cuff/labral repair (where we would expect full if not near full motion and strength for most patients, assuming they rehab properly). With reverse TSA's, it's also very difficult to restore rotational range of motion. A lot of people fail to even achieve 30 degrees of external rotation post-surgery (depending on ROM prior to surgery and the condition of the teres minor and infraspinatus, the rotator cuff muscles predominantly responsible for external rotation). For comparison, normal shoulders typically have 90-100 degrees external rotation. There are newer procedures (like ones involving a lat dorsi transfer) that are meant to address this issue, but they are still unlikely to significantly improve your ER to much more than 30 degrees. 

 

 

Everyone swings differently, but I imagine it would make it difficult for most high level players to play with 30 degrees or less of trailing shoulder ER. On top of range of motion deficits, strength deficits also tend to be worse with reverse TSAs (so even if you have a functional amount of ER, it may be hard to maintain your shoulder in ER as you elevate the arm and swing, etc.). 

 

That being said, there's always exceptions and people who far exceed normal expectations. 

 

Hope this helps!

 

 

[rmv]

Anyone have any data or experience with a reverse on the lead shoulder? Also, I’ve been reading about a new replacement technique called “stemless”? Thanks all!

[jacko999]

There’s actually a growing body of research suggesting that reverse shoulder replacements can restore a surprising amount of function for golfers, especially if the trail shoulder is involved. The key is a combination of precise surgical technique and post-op physical therapy focused on golf-specific mobility.

 

If you haven’t already, you might want to explore providers who specialize in trauma and fracture care and have experience with athletes: https://www.lancastershoulder.com/service/trauma-and-fracture-care

Edited July 1 by jacko999

[Yuck]

On 6/26/2025 at 3:37 PM, jacko999 said:

There’s actually a growing body of research suggesting that reverse shoulder replacements can restore a surprising amount of function for golfers, especially if the trail shoulder is involved. The key is a combination of precise surgical technique and post-op physical therapy focused on golf-specific mobility.

 

If you haven’t already, you might want to explore providers who specialize in trauma and fracture care and have experience with athletes: https://www.lancastershoulder.com/service/trauma-and-fracture-care

Thanks for that.  The fact that it is my trail shoulder has allowed me to continue to golf for a couple years beyond what a lead shoulder would have.  I cannot throw a ball overhand, put on a belt or sleep with my arm under my pillow, but I can still golf somewhat.  Since external rotation of my trail shoulder is comprised, I do have too much lift / across the line in my current swing.

 

After reading too much about reverse shoulder replacement and the odds being pretty low getting back near scratch, I was discouraged.  My shoulder is bad enough now, this year, for the first time in decades I did not play any USGA qualifiers.   If there is evidence that there are those with a full reverse shoulder replacement who have maintained an index less than two or so, I will be encouraged.  I have a follow-up appointment in August and will ask plenty of questions.