Is this the beginning of tennis elbow?

[Philip J]

I'm concerned that I may be experiencing the beginnings of tennis elbow. What concerns me is that I'm only 20 years old, and I don't feel like I'm doing anything to contribute to tennis elbow.

I usually play two to three times a week, and after every playing session for the past week I have had slight pain just above my right elbow. It doesn't hurt while I'm playing; it only hurts once I cool down.

I can't think of anything that could cause this pain. I would consider myself to be in good shape--I lift weights and do some running several times a week. I think my equipment is arm-friendly. My racquet is a Volkl C10, and I string it at 58lbs with Gosen synthetic gut. The only possible thing that I've changed recently is that about four weeks ago I changed from a eastern grip to a western grip, but many of the pros play with a western grip, so I wouldn't think that would cause tennis elbow.

Is this the beginning of tennis elbow? Is there anything I should change that might help me?

Thanks for listening.

 

[Marius_Hancu]

very probably you're getting TE. age doesn't matter.

racket and strings seem OK.

it might well be that you're not locking your wrist and are wristing your ball, which would stress the elbow tendons too.
I also assume you're "scooping" the ball, or "windshield wiping." that's esp valid for Western grip, as it allows more wrist mobility.

take an hour with a very good coach for evaluating your FH technique.

also, are you conditioning your body?

check other threads on "elbow" and "wrist" here.

check the links under Elbow and Wrist in my signature here:

 

[hifi heretic]

Yes, I would definitely say that this is the beginning of Tennis Elbow (I've had it in both arms and needed surgery in each case). The swing changes you described present new stresses to your body. ..If you proceed slowly, I'm betting you can continue to play with them provided you give your body time to adapt.

If it's just beginning, you should be fine provided you put the racquet down for a few weeks and simply allow your arm to heal (something that I did NOT do). This "soreness" could well grow into a chronic problem if you stubbornly refuse to rest the arm and continue playing. ...And don't simply drop a few Advil, ice it before/after you play, and call it "solved". ..These treatments will ease the pain, but they will do NOTHING to heal the underlying injury. In fact, they could well make it worse by reducing blood flow to the injury.

The key is to not pick the racquet up again until you feel absolutely no pain