Why is my arm hurting?
 

Hi,

Slightly obscure title I know.

I play once or twice a week and played yesterday for nearly 3 hours. During the evening and today, my shoulder, wrist and hand really ache. I noticed this a bit last week as well.

The only difference I have made is that I have gone back to using my lighter racket (300g) as I love the head speed and mobility I get.

I'm wincing slightly as I ask this, but could going back to a lighter racket be the problem? I don't recall getting this pain or any pain when I used my Exo3 Graphite 93 (345g).

Or is the fact that I am using an alloy racket one of the reasons? I'm thinking a lack of forgiveness on vibration here.

Any thoughts, or advice? What sort of weight training exercises should I add to combat this sort of situation?

Many thanks

hard to tell obviously.
could be the weight, could be the alloy
300g isn´t that light though
for someone who plays once or twice a week, three hours playing sounds like a lot. you´ve probably been fatigued at the end of it.
also, if the arm hurt last week, and more so this week, i´d highly recommend a break:)

A break??? Are you mad!!! NEVER!

I wasnt sure if I was over-swinging or trying to swing too hard to generate power. Down the side of my back feels strained too. I know my technique is not perfect, but it has got a lot better in recent months, so I dont think its that.

I think I will rest during the week and do a few light weights, then see what happens if I use the 93.

I'm wondering whether the feel of the racket on impact with the ball is having an effect, with the fact that the better quality graphite in the 93 is dampening the vibrations I'm getting with the alloy.

Even tho' your lighter frame is not ultra-light at 300 grams, it still could be generating quite a bit of frame shock if you are hitting somewhat hard (or playing against others who hit fairly hard). It is frame shock (not vibrations) that results in shoulder crunch and wrist crunch from repeated ball impacts.

Try the Racquets forum if you want more info on the inherent shock potential of your lighter frame. And try the Health & Fitness forum for more about exercises for the shoulder and forearm.

Process of elimination. If nothing has changed in your gear then playing for 3 hours was your problem. Especially if you only play 1-2 days a week. Its hard for most to accept that as you grow older, the body just doesnt recuperate as fast.

Yes I guess its kind of inbetween the light power rackets and the heavier control, so maybe trying to generate power is causing me to aggrevate my shoulder and wrist, and it is exactly the shoulder and wrist that I am feeling today, not the elbow.

I will look up some decent weight training exercises, perhaps not to combat potential shoulder and wrist strains but to get a bit of strength to weild the 93 with the same ease as the alloy.

welcome to the club:)i don´t take breaks myself, regardless of the pain.
just trying to give good advice though, getting others to do the sensible things i don´t do myself

Any change in a racquet can cause pain or ache just because the arm, hand, wrist, etc, are going to experience a change in torque, weight, stiffness, etc.

Also, you didn't mention string but that is often as big if not bigger factor as tension, string type, and an open or closed string pattern can create changes that cause pain or discomfort.

Dampeners, grips, and even ball type or court type can cause something if those are changes in your situation.

Answer: let yourself get some rest and then either go back to your old stick or make sure your string and other variables are the same as they were before the pain issue.

One other note: age is a big factor and quite frankly, you may have simply done something on a particular shot that strained something in your arm and playing is simply making that chronic inflamation noticiable.

The first thing to do is, restring your racquet. Sometimes string that is old/worn out can be the culprit.

Nothing was different except the racket weight. I know I was trying to get the same penetration with my shots as I can with the 93, so maybe I have over strained a bit.

I have the week to rest it but I might go back to the 93, I dont want to injure myself and I just cant take a break lol, I did that when I ruptured my calf muscles and it was horrible.

Either that or get a nice arm friendly racket thats around the 300-310g mark.

improving technique is first though.

What is this alloy racquet?

I think Ive realised what Ive done wrong here. (the alloy racket is a Prince Titan, one up from a recreational racket. Decent, but of alloy composition).

Because I like a leather grip, I added one to this racket and I think by taking off the synth grip I have removed any remote part that provided a little shock absorbtion and the racket has just rattled my wrist and shoulder.

Time to upgrade to a racket that has decent control and of moderate weight, I think I'm going to try the Dunlop 300.

Tried the leather, Balmforth with an overgrip for a more solid feel before only to have the same arm pain, hand, wrist, elbow, and shoulder. Have no pain w/Radical mp.

Yeah I think thats my mistake, because I never had this pain when I used this racket before so I do think I took away what little shock resistance there was. My 93 has leather, but being made of a quality graphite makes the difference.

I can get a Bio 300 for a good price, it looks a decent racket and seems to suit my style pretty well, so I might as well do the sensible thing and get one.

Yeah I think thats my mistake, because I never had this pain when I used this racket before so I do think I took away what little shock resistance there was. My 93 has leather, but being made of a quality graphite makes the difference.

I can get a Bio 300 for a good price, it looks a decent racket and seems to suit my style pretty well, so I might as well do the sensible thing and get one.

The first thing you should do is change your technique! I had arm pain for a whole year playing tennis but this year I switched technique for my groundstrokes and serve so now I don't have any pain from tennis (unless I play waay too much).
Experiment with different techniques and find which one doesn't hurt the arm or which one does the least damage to the arm. THEN think about switching racquets, strings, dampeners...

What change did you make in technique?

I havent changed anything with my technique, the only change was the leather grip.

Meant petter's technique

yea... what did he mean- technique?? in what way?
improving or changing the whole way he hits?