So I'm in a bit of a difficult situation. About 2.5 years ago I injured my right arm pretty badly, I had both golfers and tennis elbow, problems with the shoulder joint - problems that would cause my pain in my lower ribs, neck, and even give me headaches. Eventually the injury got bad enough that I had some numbness in my hand, couldn't clench properly etc, so I had to make a tough choice. I chose to retrain left handed, and while I sort of mm'd and aa'd for a while between the two (up until about January almost 2 years ago), before switching over completely and dedicating myself to it. So what's the dilemma? I've met two new specialists (who primarily work with boxers) who are going to work together, and they believe they can correct the primary issues. Those being: - Childhood injury caused scarring around the scapula that didn't heal properly - A combination of factors exacerbated that scarring, meaning it ended up with adhesions to the ribs - This scarring around the ribs and scapula pulled on back and neck muscles significantly I've had one appointment so far and the difference was crazy. Arms at my side lifting up, my right arm was inhibited at about 140 degrees, my left arm could touch my ear. By the end of it, my right arm could do the same. They believe they can get me back to playing right handed, and better than ever as some of these injuries existed prior to me taking the sport back up a few years ago. I tried playing again tonight for the full duration right handed, and I'm still able to hit powerfully and accurately. My footwork is all there, the movement all works, it's all autonomous and fluid. I still had some inhibition, and a little pain from where I'm still breaking down scar tissue, but nothing close to before. When everything connected I could hit very powerful accurate shots, far more powerful than I'd been able to before right handed, or currently left handed. The biggest difference I noticed was in flat game, my left handed flat game sucks. It's not that I can't do the shots, I can in drills, it's like there's no autonomy there, it's not instinctive play. I don't know whether I should aim to play right handed fully again, at some level it feels like the relearning process would've been wasted, but in others it feels like if my right hand becomes viable again I'm just sort of playing a martyr by refusing to use it. It also feels like, if that right arm goes wrong again, I could've spent that time refining my left further.
Glad to hear that your recovery is going well! If I were you, I'd try to switch back to the right hand, but do it very slowly and carefully. Should something happen again, you might be restricted to the left hand for good.
If there was no risk of serious damage, it makes sense to try to revert to your more natural right-handedness. But are the scar tissue and adhesions truly re-mobilized? Is there tethering of nerves or shortened tendons that could be at risk? Definitely you are the only one who can make the decision, on consultation with your medical advisors. So impressive that you could convert so well to lefty. What a testament to your character and grit. Good luck , however you proceed.
Deep tissue massage? By physio or massage therapists? If you were to pit your left handed self playing against your right handed self, who would win? Sounds like your right handed one. Continue with the treatments and you will be well on your way to full recovery for your right hand to play. No dilemma at all!
Massage therapist, one is a sports injury specialist who does the massage side of things, the other a chiropractor to manipulate things back into position. @Fidget There’s no tendon shortening, I’m hyper mobile in quite a few places. It’s just gonna be a case of breaking down the adhesions and scarring, which given isn’t an easy job when it’s attached to the rib cage, and then rehabilitating the shoulder into a better position, something I’m doing continually. Well if this all gets sorted I’ll have to post a video or two for comparison
Well, you can still use your left hand at some occasions, that is to distract your opponent if you play at some tournament against new players. Just to do it for 2-3 points and then get back to right hand That certainly will confuse your opponent especially in choosing the corner to be utilized
