Golfer’s elbow
More golfers suffer in fact from tennis elbow than golfer’s elbow, although both can affect how your right elbow works in the golf swing. Both are forms of tendonitis, but tennis elbow, lateral epicondylitis, is an irritation and inflammation of the outer tendon; golfer’s elbow or medial epicondylitis, of the inner tendon.
Symptoms usually develop gradually as an uncomfortable niggle with the pain increasing when attempting to grip things.
These are repetitive strain injuries, which can be caused by overusing muscles in the forearm and repetitive flexing, gripping, or swinging can cause pulls or tiny tears in the tendons.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that long sessions involving repeated impacts on driving range mats can be a trigger. So when practising, rotate your drills and do not overdo any particular exercise.
If you get golfer’s elbow, you can employ the RICE treatment method:
- Rest: Avoid using your elbow as much as possible while it heals.
- Ice: Apply a cold compress, ice pack, or just a bag of frozen peas or equivalent to your elbow for about quarter of an hour a few times a day.
- Compression: Wrap a compression bandage around your elbow.
- Elevation: Keep your elbow above the level of your heart as much as possible.
To prevent golfer’s elbow, stretch and strengthen the muscles. A simple way to strengthen the muscles is to squeeze a tennis or squash ball, or something similar.
An exercise to help with tennis elbow
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Stretching before any activity is always recommended (see these ten best golf stretch exercises) In this case, a simple stretch is to put you hand out fully extended, palm away from you, fingers pointing upwards, as if signalling to stop traffic.
Then, with the other hand, pull your fingers back and hold this position for 30 seconds, and repeat three times. For tennis elbow, point the hand downwards and then with you other hand curl the fingers under the wrist.
Back
The rotation involved in a golf swing puts a lot of strain on the back and playing a lot of golf may induce some stiffness or soreness. This is natural, and need not necessarily be something to worry about. Again, exercises to stretch and strengthen the back may help. A simple back exercise before a round is called the Scarecrow.
You place a club across your…
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