Arm friendly racquets the only option for tennis elbow?

[Stretchy Man]

Any players out there with tennis elbow who still use a stiff racquet? Can soft strings and low tensions compensate for the stiff frame or are flexible racquets the only option?

I've been playing the last 3 years with a Yonex Ezone Xi 98. I've been happy with it but recently I've started to become curious about other racquets just in case I might be missing out on something. I'm quickly becoming a bit obsessed with finding a better racquet, but by reading this forum, it looks like I'm not the only one.

I tried the following:

Prince Tour 100 - Beautiful racquet but far too flexible. Felt like a piece of cardboard.
Head Radical MP - Too stiff, small sweetspot and horrible tinny sound.
Boris Becker London - No power. Launch angle very low. Felt very head light even though the specs say otherwise.

So it seemed to me that my trusty Yonex was actually pretty good after all and I've been wasting time and money. That is until I tried a Pure Strike 16x19. This racquet looks amazing and more importantly, I can play better than with my Yonex. Unfortunately my tennis elbow doesn't like it.

I only bought it because the Tennis Warehouse specs said it had a medium stiffness rating, but I've since discovered that this differs from the Babolat website and what other people on this forum are saying about it.

I tried going back to my Yonex today but I really noticed the lack of control on my ground strokes and bite on my serve.

The Pure Strike is strung with Head Sonic 17 at 52lbs which is meant to be a fairly soft poly. Is lowering the tension or changing string type an option, or do I really need a more flexible racquet?

Any advice much appreciated as I really don't want to sell this great racquet. Thanks.

 

[BillKid]

The Pure strike is not a very arm friendly racquet.
Never tried the Xi98 but I found the Ai98 (very similar probably) relatively soft in the arm. So it may be a better choice for you.
But what may help you a lot is using multi strings, not poly. Or at least try an hybrid at low tension. I don't know your string but 52lbs in relatively high for a poly. Many people reported very positive experiences with poly at low or even very low tension.

 

[Karma Tennis]

Try adding weight to the handle of the racquet. We have experimented quite a bit with adding Bostik Blu-Tack inside the handles of stiff racquets.

The extra mass helps provide additional impact shock absorption and frame vibration dampening often increasing the comfort level.

I suggest you start with about 10g under the butt-cap. Doing this will change the Balance of the racquet and make it a little more Head Light. It will also increase the SwingWeight of the racquet a little bit. But the racquet should feel a little more comfortable to hit with.

Everyone tells me that Head Sonic is a soft Poly. I don't agree. It might be soft when it's fresh but it seems to stiffen up pretty quickly. There are much better options out there in the string department. Just trawl the threads and see what you find. Try something like Volkl Cyclone Tour 17 at 50lbs as a starting point if you want to go full bed of Poly. Otherwise, look at Poly / SynGut hybrids.

I think you can make the PS more comfortable. Try adding the weight to the handle first. You might be surprised at the result.

 

[Moveforwardalways]

OP try the Yonex Ezone Ai98 and see what you think.

As posted above, adding weight to the handle will help, but be careful. If you are worried about bite on your serve, a heavier racquet may decrease this, depending on what you mean by bite. For flat serves, a heavier racquet will help. But if you are looking for spin and bite on a kick serve, for example, a heavier racquet will require more effort to generate enough racquet head speed to get a good kick. If you are used to head high kick serves, a heavier racquet may bring it down to chest high for the same amount of effort.

 

[BounceHitBounceHit]

If you love tennis, don't mess around with Tennis elbow. It can become chronic. And when it does, no racket will bring you joy!

 

[sma1001]

OP try the Yonex Ezone Ai98 and see what you think.

As posted above, adding weight to the handle will help, but be careful. If you are worried about bite on your serve, a heavier racquet may decrease this, depending on what you mean by bite. For flat serves, a heavier racquet will help. But if you are looking for spin and bite on a kick serve, for example, a heavier racquet will require more effort to generate enough racquet head speed to get a good kick. If you are used to head high kick serves, a heavier racquet may bring it down to chest high for the same amount of effort.

Excellent advice here. There are many more arm friendly racquets and strings than what you have. But you need to narrow the search, and starting with the next generation of a racquet you like is not a bad place to start. As for strings - and the Ai98 in particular - my feeling is that with poly it needs a low tension - 45 or below - to open up the sweetspot. That will make it more arm friendly too. Several string choices are possible, but Tour Bite Soft 16L is a good place to start.

 

[phanker]

Just a hunch based on my similar issue. Could your ball contact on the stringbed be a bit higher up? Check your stringbed wear pattern to see.
For this reason, I prefer a stiffer frame too but its difficult to find ones that are elbow friendly.

The Pure strike definitely has a higher sweetspot due to its stiffness and tip weighting. I rather enjoyed it too but my elbow didn't appreciate it too much.
Because of this, I too find frames like the Prince Tour 100 way too flexy as a result. You will find the Ai98 to be way too flexy too like I did.

Try the Ai100 instead. It's my current frame right now as it has more forgiveness up top. Better yet, it's quite comfortable given its stiffness even with poly.
I also use a softer cross, thinner gauge poly or syngut, to soften the frame further. Slapping on a shock absorbing grip, like a Wilson Shockshield, helps also.

 

[n8dawg6]

put 17 g synthetic gut in your frame and it will help a lot. it does not bite as well as poly, and it will take a little adjustment. the strings will move. it is not a perfect solution, but i guarantee it will keep you on the court. there have been times my elbow is so fired up that i naturally recoil even LOOKING at poly strings. getting the racquet restrung with a cheap syn gut changes everything immediately. this is true even with harsh stiff racquets, like the speed or radical.

 

[movdqa]

Recovery from TE can be 6-12 months and the pain of that and not being able to play isn't worth thinking about what you're missing with stiffer racquets. I'm using 62 RA frames and will likely stay with that number or lower for the rest of my life.

Adding mass can help reduce shock and vibration and the Radical PM is really a platform racquet that begs for lead tape.

 

[pc2016]

The Prince Tour 100 got me through a tough battle with tennis elbow. The Volkl V1 Pro is a close second. The Tour 100 is slightly better because of its lower flex, greater weight and more head light design but is very soft, muted and low powered with a full bed of multifilament. I prefer the feel and maneuverability of the Volkl V1 Pro but will immediately switch to the Tour 100 at the first sign of discomfort.

 

[BillKid]

this is true even with harsh stiff racquets, like the speed or radical.

Do you really think the Radical mp is stiff? I understand that previous generations of Radical were softer but the GRad mp RA is 64. That's much lower than many racquets! According to TW the GRad pro is stiffer (RA 68).
Let me tell you my story about the Rad mp.
The first time I tried the GRad mp it was strung with SG and I really liked it although it felt a tad light for me. I bought two frames on a whim and strung them with poly (adrenaline rough). Big disapointment. The two sticks were on the lower range of weight and one had a balance that was out of spec, very head heavy. The latter one produced a pingy noise and horrible vibrations. It felt more like a jackhammer than a tennis racquet. Very frustrated I returned them to the shop and got my money back (I think I was lucky!). At this time I swore I would never buy a Head racquet again.
However, a couple of months later, after a new try, I liked it again. After all, I knew that I could have had a bad experience with another big brand and I changed my mind about Head...
Taking advantage of TW matching service, I ordered two GRad mp LTD on the higher range of weight and they send me two beautiful 300g babies. Now playing with cyclone 17G, I had absolutely no problem with comfort. After experiencing a little bit with lead tape, I have now +4g at 3/9 and +6g in the handle. It feels very solid with a "modern" (but not too stiff) feel. It feels much more flexy than any stiff tweener that I tried recently (PD APD, instinct).
I would be curious to hear some feedback about comfort issues with the GRad mp.
By the way I think that most if not all racquets lighter than 300g may feel uncomfortable when strung with poly.

 

[n8dawg6]

Do you really think the Radical mp is stiff?

By the way I think that most if not all racquets lighter than 300g may feel uncomfortable when strung with poly.

i actually agree with you 100% here. with poly, yes, the speed and the rad are hard on the arm. unless you string them pretty low.

with synthetic gut, theyre both easy peasy. the rad has got the advantage in my mind just because it has a little more closed string pattern.

ive got the g rad mp, g xt rad mpa, and g xt rad pro. theyre all pretty uncomfortable with poly.

 

[TinTin 1]

Donnay
Prokennex
Volkl
Angell
Prince Textreme
All these are arm friendly.

 

[Bogdan_TT]

I had tennis elbow and I did a combination of all of these to get rid of it within 2 months:
- anti-inflamatory cream massage every evening before sleep
- increased the racquet weight from 330g to 380g, around 7 points HL
- learn to change stroke by using the SW of the new heavy racquet, instead of goong through the shot with a stiff arm
- softening the strings, using gut/poly hybrid at medium tensions
- optional - getting a softer frame

 

[movdqa]

I had tennis elbow and I did a combination of all of these to get rid of it within 2 months:
- anti-inflamatory cream massage every evening before sleep
- increased the racquet weight from 330g to 380g, around 7 points HL
- learn to change stroke by using the SW of the new heavy racquet, instead of goong through the shot with a stiff arm
- softening the strings, using gut/poly hybrid at medium tensions
- optional - getting a softer frame

The higher SW really helped me and I'm using full poly at 50 right now though I'd probably prefer 52 or 53. I've been using the same frames for several years too and I do think that they are getting softer with use.

 

[joohan]

Donnay
Prokennex
Volkl
Angell
Prince Textreme
All these are arm friendly.

Adding Fischer/Pacific to the mix.

 

[TinTin 1]

Adding Fischer/Pacific to the mix.

Agreed

 

[vandre]

put 17 g synthetic gut in your frame and it will help a lot. it does not bite as well as poly, and it will take a little adjustment. the strings will move. it is not a perfect solution, but i guarantee it will keep you on the court. there have been times my elbow is so fired up that i naturally recoil even LOOKING at poly strings. getting the racquet restrung with a cheap syn gut changes everything immediately. this is true even with harsh stiff racquets, like the speed or radical.

in addition to te, my wife has all sorts of other arm and shoulder issues. she has always used stiff (ra 70ish rackets). as soon as i started using 17 ga. syn gut in her rackets and dropped her tension, she stopped having problems and can hit for hours.

 

[gino]

Try the Youtek IG Speed 300. You can still find them floating on flea bay. Really awesome arm-friendly frame with a modern feel.

Specs:

100 sq inches
16x19
20mm beam
60 RA

Good luck @Stretchy Man

 

[Stretchy Man]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll try some lower tension synthetic gut and the "blue-tac in the butt" trick. If that fails, its back to trying even more racquets.

Unfortunately, buying a racquet here in New Zealand is rather frustrating. Very poor selection - especially demo racquets, and racquets generally cost US$300! I'm not paying that sort of money so I've been buying racquets from TW Australia when they're on special. Then when I've discovered I don't like them, I sell them on E-bay for a slight loss or occasional profit. My wife thinks I'm crazy.

I don't understand why Babolat only sell stiff racquets. Surely they're missing out on a large market.

 

[roger presley]

Try adding weight to the handle of the racquet. We have experimented quite a bit with adding Bostik Blu-Tack inside the handles of stiff racquets.

The extra mass helps provide additional impact shock absorption and frame vibration dampening often increasing the comfort level.

I suggest you start with about 10g under the butt-cap. Doing this will change the Balance of the racquet and make it a little more Head Light. It will also increase the SwingWeight of the racquet a little bit. But the racquet should feel a little more comfortable to hit with.

Everyone tells me that Head Sonic is a soft Poly. I don't agree. It might be soft when it's fresh but it seems to stiffen up pretty quickly. There are much better options out there in the string department. Just trawl the threads and see what you find. Try something like Volkl Cyclone Tour 17 at 50lbs as a starting point if you want to go full bed of Poly. Otherwise, look at Poly / SynGut hybrids.

I think you can make the PS more comfortable. Try adding the weight to the handle first. You might be surprised at the result.

Agree.

 

[Alien]

Blade 98s cured my TE.

 

[Karma Tennis]

As posted above, adding weight to the handle will help, but be careful. If you are worried about bite on your serve, a heavier racquet may decrease this, depending on what you mean by bite. For flat serves, a heavier racquet will help. But if you are looking for spin and bite on a kick serve, for example, a heavier racquet will require more effort to generate enough racquet head speed to get a good kick. If you are used to head high kick serves, a heavier racquet may bring it down to chest high for the same amount of effort.

This is less of an issue when mass is added to the handle end of a racquet. Adding mass there will only increase the SW by a small amount and in many cases make the racquet feel more whippy. In my experience, adding up to 20g to the handle will not have a significant impact on racquet head speed for a player with a good stroke-technique. In fact the additional weight and corresponding increase in plow-through may well make it easier to put more "work" on the ball and increase the effectiveness of a good kick serve.

Of course, everything does depend on the individual and I would not wish to make a generalisation in this instance.

 

[leejayh]

ProKenex Ki5, klip main, revolve cross - for great comfort, but less crispness.

ProKennex Q5, klip main, revolve cross - for the crisp PDR feel.

Grip less tightly

 

[tmc5005]

My most current list of arm elbow friendly racquets include
Yonex EZone DR 98 (
HEAD XT Graphene MP
PACIFIC BXT X Tour Pro 97
Wilson Ultra Tour
Volkl Vsense 10 325g
Pro Kennex Kinetic KI Q Tour (
Pro Kennex QI K5 315
Head Graphene Touch Speed Pro
Wilson Countervale Blade 98 18×20
WILSON Pro Staff 97S

The racquet you use really does make a big difference when it comes to tennis elbow

 

[mixtape]

I've been using the Pro Kennex Q+5 Pro (310) for the last 6 months and it's been the most comfortable racquet for my TE.

 

[leejayh]

I would add Donnay Pentacore Pro 1 and the new Pro Staff Countervail 97 to this list.

 

[Crocodile]

Volkl SG 9 and has a 70 RA but still has a comfortable feel.

 

[fed1]

Dunlop/Srixon 2.0 Tour, I would also add another vote for the Yonex DR 98.

 

[esgee48]

Get rid of the poly. Poly lacks enough elasticity to make any sensitive elbow hurt. Go to SG, thick multi or NG. There's also the Velocity/Cream thread to look at. If you want spin, use Zyex as a cross.

More mass helps to absorb shock. It can be added to the handle or you could also use the Wilson Shock Shield grip or Sorbothane strips. Both will increase grip size. You can also add low density foam or silicone cubes inside the handle.

Racquets with proven technology that protects the arm/elbow are Pro Kennex and Volkl. They should be used if nothing else works and you still want to play.

 

[Stretchy Man]

I got rid of the Pure Strike and poly thanks to the advice in this thread and used Prince racquets instead. Completely pain free. Thanks guys.

 

[tennisBIEST]

For years the Prince Exo3 Tour 100’s(16x18 &18x20) would come up in these same type of arm friendly racquet threads as one of if not THE most arm friendly racquets around. Good news is the Prince Phantom series( Phantom 100, Phantom Pro 100 and Prince Phantom Pro 100p) are the reincarnated Exo3’s but only better IMO! Check out the TW Learning Center >TW University >Racquets >Tools>Vibration and investigate the vibration frequency and racquet stiffness numbers(lower the better) for any racquet that you’re looking to play.

 

[ShahofTennis]

I use the ancient Cambodian remedy of Tek-Neek. You'll have to get a certified instructor to help you, preferably someone certified by the Yoo-Es-Te-Ay.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

 

[Moveforwardalways]

I use the ancient Cambodian remedy of Tek-Neek. You'll have to get a certified instructor to help you, preferably someone certified by the Yoo-Es-Te-Ay.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

^^^ becoming my fav poster ^^^

 

[Imago]

I use the ancient Cambodian remedy of Tek-Neek.

You mean this one?

 

[ShahofTennis]

You mean this one?

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