Elbow and shoulder pain- Is loose tension the culprit?

[roundiesee]

Recently played with a Fischer Pro No 1 with new strings, about 46 pounds mains with Lux XP 16L, and Pacific multi 16L for the crosses at around 44 pounds. This is very low as I usually play with rackets around 58-60 pounds tension. The racket feels like a trampoline and strangely there is a lot of vibration felt because of this trampolining effect. (I did not seem to notice this when I used the same racket strung at a higher tension with synthetic gut). I'm starting to feel pain in the elbow and shoulder, though I have to say that my play has not been compromised by this loose tension. I've always thought that too high a tension can cause tennis elbow; now it seems that the "vibration" and the "trampoline" effect of this loose tension may also be the cause of elbow problems. Or it it the racket? I've never used a Fischer before and it could be that the frame is too stiff. Hope some one can help, thanks!

[christo]

Havin been down this road, I personally believe that some racquets just create more havoc with elbows than others. For example I now use the Slaz Pro Braided with some lead tape on the HANDLE, weighs about 12 ozs and is about 10 pts headlight. Strung with Poly at 60lbs. Supposedly a stiffness rating of about 71. Sounds like an elbow killer, right? Never have a problem and I play about 3 x week. This racquet just has very little vibration even on offcenter hits and I think that is key. Other racquets will just hum if you don't hit the sweet spot. Try some of your other frames, it could be your stick that's the problem.

[andirez]

I have had a more or less similar experience. Played with a Yonex RD Ti-50 for about a year, looking at it flex rating (59) it can be considered as very arm friendly. However, it vibrated a lot, giving me all sorts of discomfort (especially on off-center hits). Tried everything, played with natural gut for about 6 months but nothing seemed to work. I now have two PK 5Gs with a flex rating of 65 and they are as good as vibrationless and feel *much* more comfortable.

[roundiesee]

Thanks guys. So it's probably the racket. Think I might have to sell this and get one which vibrates less. Trouble is most specs are geared towards telling us the "stiffness" rather than how much dampening the racket has, so as you pointed out, the rackets with highest RDC rating may not necessarily be the one to kill your arm. Thanks and cheers!