'golfers elbow' returns

[topsltennis]

Ok, here is the background. I am around a 5.0; back to being just a part time pro as of the last couple of months. Basically I teach about 2 to 3 hours a day and have 'hitting lessons' essentially 7 days a week. I have had flare ups with tendonitis in the elbow a few times previously, but it always eventually goes away. The latest flare up is interesting. For the past couple of years I used the BLX Six One Team; full polly. Have not had any noticeable arm problems. My frames were getting pretty beat up, so I went back to K Factor six one 95 team that i had sold to one of my students and then got back from him. He had lead taped the frames, and since I had been told I should probably be using a heavier frame, I kept the tape on and have been very pleased with the results... feel as if I'm hitting a heavier ball, etc.

However, almost instantly, my arm inner elblow (some pain on the outer side as well) started hurting. The pain on the FH side the first few balls is very instense, but lessens and basically goes away once I get warmed up.

My main question is; would the K Factor with lead tape be more likely to cause arm pain vs. the BLX w/o tape? I thought the frames were fairly similar to begin with. I guess the pain could just be a coencidence, but the timing of it seems pretty suspicious.

[LuckyR]

I share your suspicions. I have never used either frame (and don't use poly), but it would be the unusual person hearing your story who would not immediately ditch either the lead or the whole stick, and pony up for a new racquet. The real questions are two:

1) Assuming that you will feel better when you stop using the painstick, will your pain return with your old setup?

2) Does the fact that tennis is paying your bills and that you hit way, way more balls than anyone else on these Boards, is it a good idea to back off even further than your old setup (which was not "arm friendly") into a new setup specifically to lower arm stress?

Only you know for sure.

As an aside, I would question your diagnosis of GE since tendonitis should not get better with more use/stress as you "warm up".

[topsltennis]

Originally Posted by LuckyR

I share your suspicions. I have never used either frame (and don't use poly), but it would be the unusual person hearing your story who would not immediately ditch either the lead or the whole stick, and pony up for a new racquet. The real questions are two:

1) Assuming that you will feel better when you stop using the painstick, will your pain return with your old setup?

2) Does the fact that tennis is paying your bills and that you hit way, way more balls than anyone else on these Boards, is it a good idea to back off even further than your old setup (which was not "arm friendly") into a new setup specifically to lower arm stress?

Only you know for sure.

As an aside, I would question your diagnosis of GE since tendonitis should not get better with more use/stress as you "warm up".

Good points... tennis is now only partially paying the bills, as my latest gig, my employer could no longer pay my salary, so I'm only getting lesson revenue- office job during the day, tennis in the late anoon, evening.

I'm not sure what to think about the fact that the pain does decrease once I warm up, doesn't go away completey- particularly if I catch a ball late. But the pain on warmup which is usually just mini tennis or feeding balls is pretty damn bad. I had just always heard that a heavier frame was better for your arm.

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by topsltennis

Good points... tennis is now only partially paying the bills, as my latest gig, my employer could no longer pay my salary, so I'm only getting lesson revenue- office job during the day, tennis in the late anoon, evening.

I'm not sure what to think about the fact that the pain does decrease once I warm up, doesn't go away completey- particularly if I catch a ball late. But the pain on warmup which is usually just mini tennis or feeding balls is pretty damn bad. I had just always heard that a heavier frame was better for your arm.

As a former GE sufferer, I'd say you are just in the early stages of it. Ditch the new racket and go back to your old one (or a softer one) and put some natural gut in it or a soft multifilament:

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=352048

Put a heating pad on that area before you go out to hit. That will get you warmed up quicker and lessen that initial pain. Consider buying a theraband flexbar to strengthen the area with the reverse tyler twist.

[topsltennis]

Originally Posted by mikeler

As a former GE sufferer, I'd say you are just in the early stages of it. Ditch the new racket and go back to your old one (or a softer one) and put some natural gut in it or a soft multifilament:

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=352048

Put a heating pad on that area before you go out to hit. That will get you warmed up quicker and lessen that initial pain. Consider buying a theraband flexbar to strengthen the area with the reverse tyler twist.

thanks for the info

[LuckyR]

Originally Posted by topsltennis

Good points... tennis is now only partially paying the bills, as my latest gig, my employer could no longer pay my salary, so I'm only getting lesson revenue- office job during the day, tennis in the late anoon, evening.

I'm not sure what to think about the fact that the pain does decrease once I warm up, doesn't go away completey- particularly if I catch a ball late. But the pain on warmup which is usually just mini tennis or feeding balls is pretty damn bad. I had just always heard that a heavier frame was better for your arm.

You don't mention your age, but I can tell you what I would do:

1- I would get the most arm friendly set up possible, since I want to be able to play for several more decades, minimum.

2- Since you hit practically 100% FHs (while feeding balls), I would choke up while feeding, I would use a higher racquethead speed and put a high percentage of that energy into spin. In addition I would hit a percentage of feeding balls w/ my BH.

As to your real diagnosis, based on the additional information in your second post, my guess is you have a partially healed GE (from the past). The percentage of your pain that improves is likely not from injury but from scar tissue from prior injury. The percentage that persists or gets worse, is likely the part of the picture that is unhealed GE from before.

I would rest and weight train to get rid of the residual injury, that is until 100% pain free either during and/or after warming up.

After that, pain that goes away with warm up, is not current injury.

[The Dampener]

I feel for ya. I went through 18 months of GE.

It could be your frame. But, honestly, it could be anything. As one poster above implied, GE has any number of causes.

You could start by switching back to your old frame and see if you improve. If that doesn't work, consider examining what you're doing on court. As a 5.0, its unlikely you have a glaring technique flaw. But since you instruct, you could be doing something that's just slightly off in terms of mechanics and doing it over and over again.

Keep in mind, tendonitis is an over-use injury—meaning you're putting undue stress on that tendon either by using it too much or using it in the wrong way.

Just try to be methodical in your search for relief. Consider your frame, your strings, your swing habits, your recovery periods, and so on.

And the very best of luck to you. I know what a trial GE can be.

[Chas Tennis]

There are several recent threads on tennis elbow and golfer's elbow. Search TW - golfer's elbow & tennis elbow.

Stressing an acutely injured tendon takes on a high risk of tendinosis (defective healing) and continued tendinitis (inflammation). If you have been stressing it for some weeks you probably have tendinosis and maybe also tendinitis.

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=442912

[topsltennis]

Very informative, thanks everyone. I do hit a with quite a bit of topspin on both wings. It's clearly overuse, even though I don't put nearly as many hours on the court as I have before, there is at least one 'hitting lesson' everyday. I'd say I'm on court hitting/feeding an avg. of about 15-20 hrs a week; I've certainly done more in the past, but I'm guessing it's cumulative as well.