Intro - and Question re G-Form protective clothing

Hi, I James, a former skier and now once a year snowboarder. I am not a beginner but I would not class myself as even intermediate on a board.

Last year I managed to fall just in the wrong way and break my collar bone ... as per the image below. Many thanks to the ski patrol at Buller for the rescue !

I am 45, so it was a painful 10 weeks before the ends formed a union, followed by another 6 weeks of rehab for the poor old wasted shoulder and arm.

Anyway I don’t want to to that again. I have been trying to strengthen my shoulders with resistance training, but am also looking to wear some protective clothing. I am looking for some advice about armour .. in particular the G-Form protective clothing. Does anyone here have experience with it ?

Welcome to Boardworld, James.

Sorry to hear about your injury. Did you do any damage besides for the break? Obviously you would have lost strength in your shoulder etc., but any damage to the joint/ligaments?

I’m no expert but I’ll pass this thread on to Becky, our resident physiotherapist.

Hi James,

That’s one neat looking break. Glad to hear you’re doing strength training on your shoulder. On a positive note, I’ve seen many cases like this, where the injured side has ended up stronger than the uninjured side, thanks to rebab. What’s your range of movement like? Hoping you’re pain free by now….?!?

I’ve actually not heard of G- form protective garments before but I’ve looked up images and looks great to me. I can see how it would be useful to help prevent further injuries from falls onto your shoulder. I’m a big fan of Skins and compressive clothing as well. Can anyone else give some personal feedback on G-form garments to James? I’m curious to hear myself….

All the best. Any other physio related questions let me know!

Thanks rider26 and Becky.

The rehab has gone better than I expected. After a slow painful (10 week) wait for a union to form (including the doctor accidentally breaking it a second time while checking the strength of the first union) it took about two weeks for me to regain a full range of movement in the shoulder. I commenced resistance exercise with it at about week 16.

I have kept going with body weight exercises now for 6 months. Pullups and all sorts of pushups, plus the occasional gym session. That was going really well until just a couple of weeks ago when I pulled something doing tricep dips and attempting one armed pushups… Physio said infraspinatus (one of the rotator cuff muscles). It was only a minor strain that has settle down a lot in two weeks, but at present the whole shoulder seems a little “off”, with some nerve symptoms (burning and tingling in the shoulder and collar bone when worked in certain directions) plus felling a little unstable under load. Very little actual pain now after a couple of weeks ... but the two week layouff cost me 3 pullups from my previous maximum of 11 in a set.

Anyway I try the G-form this weekend at Falls Creek… so fingers and collar bones crossed.

James

Let us know how you go, James. Enjoy your time at Falls Creek!

Two days done at Falls Creek. G-Form may well have saved the day.

I had seriously lost my mojo after the fall last year. Took a two hour lesson and most a day to get back a decent ability to turn onto my toe-side. It was turning onto my toeside that did the bone breaking tumble roll last year.

Nearly all my falls were silly little things like heel side bail-outs or low speed trip-ups. All except one. One was a photocopy of the fall that broke my collarbone last year. I seem to have a knack for falling right on the end of my shoulder ... probably good to avoid wrist and arm breaks I guess.

It gave the shoulder a solid whack ... but this time the shoulder padding in the jacket and the G-form shock absorbing pads under that seemed to spread the impact over a larger area. Result was I still felt it ... right through to the bone ... but did not break it. Only the slightest of tenderness to help me work out where the forces were distributed.

That’s good news! Stoked to hear the G-Form is working for you and no damage was done during your recent falls. I’m not a physio, but I hope I can help you with your riding so you aren’t having these violent falls on your shoulder.

Can you explain your falls in more detail? What’s happening exactly? Where in the turn? What edge are you catching? I’m confident we can progress you quickly and safely past this. I don’t like hearing that you keep falling on your shoulder. Truth be told, it shouldn’t be happening. Prevention is the best medicine.