Need more info. Exactly where were these polished areas (in front of struts, aft of struts, where shafts emerge from shaft logs, etc)? I've seen polished areas where shaft zincs were before they were thrown off, as well. These are normally well forward of the struts. Also the shafts can be quite close to the hull just aft of the shaft logs (about 1/4" on my 31' EC which has prop tunnels). I have a hard time seeing 1" to 2" of fore/aft movement in the mounts. I think there would be signs of damage to the mounts if this were the case.
Gary