Coping With Golfer's Elbow

[EmperorPenguin]

In the past couple months I grew into the habit of hitting balls on the range mats at the local muni, which is close to my home unlike the grass range which is a few miles away..  I have been working on preshot routine, positioning, tempo and on short-game fundamentals like bunker, chipping, pitching and putting.  My overall game has improved, but at a cost.  I developed a pain on my left elbow, which is consistent with other periods of excessive golf.  I do not know enough human anatomy to identify exactly which muscle is affected, but I took a picture of my left arm and drew where the pain is most intense.  I watch various videos on YouTube on golfer's elbow and tennis elbow, but the muscles specified in the videos are not where my pain is located.  The pain is such that at the gym I cannot lift as much weight with my left arm when doing dumbell curls.  Lately I have been using an Izzo Sweetspot Mini Massage Gun which helps with the pain, but I am hoping that the pain will eventually go away.  Now that I am practicing more regularly, my hope is that maybe the muscles will develop and my arm will adapt and eventually feel the pain anymore.  My fear, on the other hand, is that the pain will remain indefinitely as long as I keep hitting balls on the range mat; for the pain to go away, I must stop practicing hitting balls, which is what I do not want to do.  Even with the pain when I arrive at the range, when warming up and starting gradually, the pain goes away and I can hit balls no problem, but at night and the next morning the pain returns and I must keep massaging it again.  This is frustrating.  I remember back when I was younger and practicing and playing more often I rarely had this problem, but now I suppose that this is simply a matter of just getting older?

 

Some of you may assume that I am hitting down on the ball too sharply.  I know that I am not, because on the course my divots are shallow and anywhere from 6"  to the length of a dollar bill, which is what they should be.  Still, even with that angle of approach I know I am certainly not picking the ball off the range mat.  Is the pain coming from the angle of descent, or simply because of how I am releasing the club (i.e., even if I picked the ball I would still get the pain)?  Some of you may also assume that I am hitting too many balls, which I attest is not the case: I hit about twenty balls per hour.  This is because I am working on quality practice, not quantity.  I work on positioning and preshot routine, and each ball takes me about three minutes before I strike it.  Of course, on the course I take about 26 seconds to hit each shot, so I am not taking too long or slowing down the course--far from it!

 

For now I am continuing my practice sessions (maybe three or four times per week) and hoping that my pain will go away, and if any of you guys have pointers to help I would gladly appreciate.

[RichieHunt]

Hitting down on the ball too sharply isn't likely to cause the elbow pain.  It's the constant gripping of the club and just hitting that ball that weighs 50 grams that's the bigger issue.  And hitting off mats doesn't help.

I have my elbow issues on the opposite side of the elbow and it usually radiates to the scapula.  It really sucks.

You may want to look into those flexbar aids that can help with your issues.  If it still persists, then you may want to look into a local pain clinic and see if they can take a look.  Mine ordered an MRI and they found I have bulging discs in my neck.  They eventually put lidocaine injections in my neck and that really did a good job that lasted for about 18 months.  



RH

 

[Wardonation]

That is tennis elbow not golfers elbow. I have a stretch that will hurt like hell but fix it. Too tuff to explain here. send me a dm and I can take a video later today and show you.

[vandyfan]

I have the same pain but it is in my right arm (trail arm). It is right where the forearm muscle attaches just below the crook of the arm. From what I can tell it seems like Tennis Elbow is said to be on the outside of the elbow and golfer's elbow is the inside of the elbow. Mine is like the top of my forearm?

 

Seems like it may be radial or nerve more so than golfers/tennis elbow since it is in the forearm?

 

Edited July 10 by vandyfan

[absoludicrous]

Pretty sure that is tennis elbow. I have the same issues. Flexbar has helped. Massaging and Flexbar helped the most. 
 

Unfortunately my pain is not completely gone from just those two things. I am pretty certain that massaging, stretching, and the exercises to help strengthen those muscles with the Flexbar will help me if I could take some time off. 
 

I don’t want to take an extended break for my mental health, so I’m willing to sacrifice some of my physical health to keep me sane. My issues are definitely from overuse. 

[Mike_C]

I've had it in both elbows, really bad, about 6-7 years ago.  Flexbar is a great place to start, as is massaging the muscles. The thing about the flexbar is, it works the forearms, which you need, but don't forget the upper arms.   It wasn't until I really started working my upper arms did it seem to get better.  But be careful, more reps at lower weights, both biceps and triceps and also forarms.  I tried rushing it by upping weight too much and reinjured my elbow doing too much weight. 

 

My feeling is that my arms just got weaker as I got older, and the simple stress of swinging a club put extra burden on the tendons in and around my elbow.   Overall strength training in the arms is what I needed. But it may be a slow process, be patient.   Also, consider going graphite with your shafts, I had too, and have stayed with them.....

[Pepperturbo]

That's more than likely "Tennis Elbow."  My 3.0 Tennis player wife has been coping with it for years.  It developed long ago playing tennis and later showed up after lots of golf.  Usually, it's in the power arm.  The only real solution is not play golf for a while, or in her case, tennis and golf. 

 

Usually, people that develop it have weak forearms.  Once developed, it is like arthritis, always there.  It does subside as long as she doesn't play either sport.   Unfortunately, for now, she's given up tennis but not golf.  So far, as long as she does forearm exercises, and doesn't swing really hard, she's ok.

Edited July 10 by Pepperturbo

[Wardonation]

2 hours ago, Pepperturbo said:

That's more than likely "Tennis Elbow."  My 3.0 Tennis player wife has been coping with it for years.  It developed long ago playing tennis and later showed up after lots of golf.  Usually, it's in the power arm.  The only real solution is not play golf for a while, or in her case, tennis and golf. 

 

Usually, people that develop it have weak forearms.  Once developed, it is like arthritis, always there.  It does subside as long as she doesn't play either sport.   Unfortunately, for now, she's given up tennis but not golf.  So far, as long as she does forearm exercises, and doesn't swing really hard, she's ok.

I have a great stretch that a PGA pro showed last year at my club. It works great... I went through 3 cortizone shots flexbar and even bought that dudes $350 dollar machine for it. This stretch fixed it. I dont know how to post videos on here or I would film myself and do it.

[BeenWild]

Eccentric only wrist curls works wonders on both golfers and tennis elbow.

 

To perform, help the weight up with your opposite hand then lower to a 3-5 second count. That's 1 rep...3 sets 12-15 reps both side of the forearm.

 

Quick search on YouTube and you'll find videos.

[Hawkeye77]

If you have tennis elbow (it’s not golfer’s elbow just because you think golf is the cause) and hitting balls is the cause, it’s not wise just to keep doing it hoping it will go away. 
 

There is only one answer - get it diagnosed by a medical professional and go from there. 

[EmperorPenguin]

Thanks for the feedback, guys.  I will consider every option.  I suppose that the goal is to strengthen the pertinent muscles so that the tennis elbow no longer becomes a factor.  After all, the pros practice and play nearly every day when they are not traveling, so I assume that they developed those muscles and they do not have the pain I am having now.

 

I am researching tennis elbow solutions and I will look into this Flex Bar.

[dwboston]

12 minutes ago, EmperorPenguin said:

Thanks for the feedback, guys.  I will consider every option.  I suppose that the goal is to strengthen the pertinent muscles so that the tennis elbow no longer becomes a factor.  After all, the pros practice and play nearly every day when they are not traveling, so I assume that they developed those muscles and they do not have the pain I am having now.

 

I am researching tennis elbow solutions and I will look into this Flex Bar.

 

Thera Band Flex Bar on Amazon.  There are different color-coded bars based on torsional strength of the flex bar.  If your elbow is really painful (like you can barely tighten your belt without a lot of pain), start with the red one, otherwise start with the green one.  Do the Tyler Twist exercise - this video gives you the general idea.  You hold the bar with the hand/arm that hurts, cup that wrist, grasp the top of the bar as shown with the opposite hand, turn the bar horizontal, extend the arms, and release the cup in the affected wrist.  You'll feel the elbow tendon stretch.  Do a set of 12-15 reps a few times a day - after a few weeks it should start to feel better.

 

I had really severe tennis elbow is each arm in successive years around 10 years ago - the Flex Bar and Tyler Twist solved it and it hasn't come back.  I also switched to graphite shafts in my irons and wedges.

 

 

Edited July 11 by dwboston

[EmperorPenguin]

I was just about to pull the trigger on buying one when I read your message.  I did not know there is a difference between red and green.  I see other flex bars in different colors, like blue or yellow, and I thought the colors are all cosmetic.

 

I forgot to tell you guys that I grew up a tennis player and played a lot when I was a kid, but never had tennis elbow.  It is odd that I developed tennis elbow over thirty years after I quit tennis to play golf, and even in my early years of golf I did not have tennis elbow when I practiced and played a lot.

[absoludicrous]

I don’t have large hands. Typically wear a cadet medium glove. The green flexbar is perfect for my hands, but over the years it got pretty flexible.

 

I bought the blue one recently and it’s a little on the larger side, which makes sense since it’s more stiffer and there is more material.

 

Just a warning for those looking to pick one up. I switch between the two as the blue bar can get painful at times. If I had to pick one, I’d only use the green.

[absoludicrous]

17 minutes ago, EmperorPenguin said:

I was just about to pull the trigger on buying one when I read your message.  I did not know there is a difference between red and green.  I see other flex bars in different colors, like blue or yellow, and I thought the colors are all cosmetic.

 

I forgot to tell you guys that I grew up a tennis player and played a lot when I was a kid, but never had tennis elbow.  It is odd that I developed tennis elbow over thirty years after I quit tennis to play golf, and even in my early years of golf I did not have tennis elbow when I practiced and played a lot.

 

I grew up playing as well. I played the most throughout high school and still play at times into my 40’s. Never had tennis elbow from playing tennis.

 

I fought tennis elbow from golf in my early 30’s and again in my 40’s. It’s a funny thing, but I know what recently triggered it and it was definitely overuse. I went from playing once a week to playing 4-6 times a week for 6 weeks straight and I didn’t listen to my body when the pain started to appear.  

 

The first time I got it, the flexbar was all I needed. This time it’s helping, but it’s not completely going away. I’ve also had it go away in one area of my forearm and started to get sore in another location that started to cause pain around my elbow. Maybe I’m getting older, but I definitely overdid it this time. Good luck and hope you don’t need to miss too much time to recover.

[dwboston]

45 minutes ago, EmperorPenguin said:

I was just about to pull the trigger on buying one when I read your message.  I did not know there is a difference between red and green.  I see other flex bars in different colors, like blue or yellow, and I thought the colors are all cosmetic.

 

I forgot to tell you guys that I grew up a tennis player and played a lot when I was a kid, but never had tennis elbow.  It is odd that I developed tennis elbow over thirty years after I quit tennis to play golf, and even in my early years of golf I did not have tennis elbow when I practiced and played a lot.

 

The red one is pretty easy to twist - I used it for a week or two initially when the pain was bad, then progressed to green and never went back to the red one.  I'd start with the green one and go from there, unless the pain is almost unbearable.  The blue one is advanced.  I still use the green and blue ones from time to time whenever I get a twinge in the elbow - use it for a day or so and I'm all set.

 

I played a lot of tennis when I was younger and never had tennis elbow then.  I had to start playing golf to get a tennis injury.  Graphite shafts and the correct size grips have helped me a lot.  I'm using MCC+4 now and they are perfect for me.

Edited July 11 by dwboston

[Archimedes65]

I get it once in a while on the outside of the elbow, kinda from the joint down into the forearm, which I always understood was what was called tennis elbow.  My tennis playing buddies showed me two stretches that help with that muscle/tendon (forward bent wrist stretch, and the backward wrist stretch with the elbow bent 90 degrees).  Works like a charm for me.

 

Also, a little rest goes a long way.

 

 

Edited July 11 by Archimedes65

[Pepperturbo]

14 hours ago, EmperorPenguin said:

Thanks for the feedback, guys.  I will consider every option.  I suppose that the goal is to strengthen the pertinent muscles so that the tennis elbow no longer becomes a factor.  After all, the pros practice and play nearly every day when they are not traveling, so I assume that they developed those muscles and they do not have the pain I am having now.

 

I am researching tennis elbow solutions and I will look into this Flex Bar.

I suggest watching videos of pros practicing or playing and NOTE their forearms.  Lucas Glover is a good example.  

[me05501]

I fight these symptoms off and on. The only permanent solution I've found is sticking with graphite shafts in my irons. 

[Albatross Dreamer]

On 7/10/2024 at 2:19 PM, Pepperturbo said:

That's more than likely "Tennis Elbow."  My 3.0 Tennis player wife has been coping with it for years.  It developed long ago playing tennis and later showed up after lots of golf.  Usually, it's in the power arm.  The only real solution is not play golf for a while, or in her case, tennis and golf. 

 

Usually, people that develop it have weak forearms.  Once developed, it is like arthritis, always there.  It does subside as long as she doesn't play either sport.   Unfortunately, for now, she's given up tennis but not golf.  So far, as long as she does forearm exercises, and doesn't swing really hard, she's ok.

It's possible to heal tendons, just requires a different approach. The research into connective tissue is much newer then that of muscles. Taking a break might help with the pain, but won't solve the issue in most cases. Would recommend this podcast as a starting point. @EmperorPenguin or anyone else- might be worth taking a look at as well. Can skip early part if want, but does give some good information that's worth listening to. 

 

Note: there is a part where he specifically talks about golf and tennis elbow

 

https://www.just-fly-sports.com/podcast-392/

Edited July 12 by Albatross Dreamer

[dcmidnight]

Have had this on and off for a couple years and tried everything. Only thing for me thats worked is rest and this weird looking massage roller thing I bought off Amazon and I tried...a lot of them lol.

 

Sorry if this doesnt embed, Amazon links dont always work great, just search for tennis elbow, it looks like this.

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Rolflex-PRO-Leverage-Foam-Roller/dp/B07H14X98W/ref=sr_1_24?crid=2TROWUAN13VO8&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.WJLkPI63hxs8QmzxBZrFgEd6EwRV28UnfdcQznpbs2XwZuTcN7G3PAnxP6lnM0JcgUE5oIF-kRben2wRWZtQ9QSpBYZjZ8GT-wa2qSdp6Ve6xorx05C5biJ5QKFXy7tWYmCNbBWVrhowFInX5gsbOluaqVLahAWQS8d14ZeeJkw2ouLQoodA0EZeG5MOx_-gpLQJLmPBfTYiRW-AlG4dms-Fp6XcN141eeFMHUAITuEP9xndmUJcuULnwDEIeX24j3YekPnBYPne2K0lL1S4ct6B0e_rKU2-waQ8W9J6JGo.F7kG5BRTQ6RC5ZFnBZp-N0sVJvT2rKC5qCnhMhlKa-E&dib_tag=se&keywords=tennis+elbow&qid=1720796406&sprefix=tennis+elbow%2Caps%2C186&sr=8-24

Edited July 12 by dcmidnight

[ShortGolfer]

I felt it coming on after playing winter golf.  Ball first contact doesn't stop the ground from hurting the elbows.

It never got to the lingering pain stage, but I could tell there was a problem.

I took a break for two months, as the it was the dead of winter in Connecticut.

I also changed my practice, reducing the number of reps.

I continued to use the elbows with different physical gardening and home cleaning tasks.

I didn't play my first round until June but played another a week later.

Six months later it isnt an issue.

Edited July 12 by ShortGolfer

[NoTalentLefty]

Glad this topic was posted. Having this problem in my trailing elbow. Ordered the flexbar. 

[dwboston]

1 hour ago, dcmidnight said:

Have had this on and off for a couple years and tried everything. Only thing for me thats worked is rest and this weird looking massage roller thing I bought off Amazon and I tried...a lot of them lol.

 

I know that @MonteScheinblum has mentioned in the past that he had some success with deep tissue massage of the forearms in alleviating elbow tendon pain.  

[dwboston]

On 7/11/2024 at 12:24 AM, EmperorPenguin said:

I was just about to pull the trigger on buying one when I read your message.  I did not know there is a difference between red and green.  I see other flex bars in different colors, like blue or yellow, and I thought the colors are all cosmetic.

 

I forgot to tell you guys that I grew up a tennis player and played a lot when I was a kid, but never had tennis elbow.  It is odd that I developed tennis elbow over thirty years after I quit tennis to play golf, and even in my early years of golf I did not have tennis elbow when I practiced and played a lot.

 

One thing about the Tyler Twist exercise.  Release the cupped wrist slowly - in the demonstration video she does it quickly, but I found that doing it more deliberately gets a better stretch on the tendon.

[Hawkeye77]

On 7/10/2024 at 11:24 PM, EmperorPenguin said:

I was just about to pull the trigger on buying one when I read your message.  I did not know there is a difference between red and green.  I see other flex bars in different colors, like blue or yellow, and I thought the colors are all cosmetic.

 

I forgot to tell you guys that I grew up a tennis player and played a lot when I was a kid, but never had tennis elbow.  It is odd that I developed tennis elbow over thirty years after I quit tennis to play golf, and even in my early years of golf I did not have tennis elbow when I practiced and played a lot.

 

Again pointing out the issues with jumping to conclusions.

 

I played tennis my whole life until a knee said "no".  The tennis elbow I developed was in my left elbow - my left arm had zero to do with playing tennis.

 

That's what it is called, but it doesn't have to be associated with tennis, so not odd.

 

See a doctor.

[Pepperturbo]

4 hours ago, Albatross Dreamer said:

It's possible to heal tendons, just requires a different approach. The research into connective tissue is much newer then that of muscles. Taking a break might help with the pain, but won't solve the issue in most cases. Would recommend this podcast as a starting point. @EmperorPenguin or anyone else- might be worth taking a look at as well. Can skip early part if want, but does give some good information that's worth listening to. 

 

Note: there is a part where he specifically talks about golf and tennis elbow

 

https://www.just-fly-sports.com/podcast-392/

Thanks. 

 

As valuable as that information is, from what I briefly heard, it evolves around serious athletes.  IMO, most of the people on Golfwrx are NOT serious athletes, heck, most don't even exercise, much less possess the needed dedication to excel at golf and do what's necessary to prevent injury. 

 

Edited July 12 by Pepperturbo

[ahelix]

once you recover from this, i'm a big believer in the "movement vault" app. it's reduced my random little joint aches/pains tremendously. also prob the single best thing that's improved my golf swing apart from actual golf practice.

 

https://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/best-online-workout-programs

[absoludicrous]

3 hours ago, dwboston said:

 

One thing about the Tyler Twist exercise.  Release the cupped wrist slowly - in the demonstration video she does it quickly, but I found that doing it more deliberately gets a better stretch on the tendon.

I agree with this one.
 

i got lazy and did it pretty fast over time. I thought that I wasn’t seeing improvement because my body was getting used to it. But slowing things down and being deliberate made it much more difficult and my pain improved over time.  

[eht8266]

There are definitely strengthening and other exercises that help relieve golfers/tennis elbow, but one of the other contributors to this that I dealt with in the past was based on technique. I was able to correct an early cast / early extension in the downswing which helped rid me of elbow problems.