Does over pronating on serves cause tennis elbow?

[TooMuchFun13]

Recently my elbow has been hurting from serving. I'm not sure if it tennis elbow or something from improper technique. I find it strange because I am using the same technique as I've used before. Then I read somewhere that over pronating can cause tennis elbow and in my serve motion I like to emphasize pronation to make sure I do it. Is over pronating a factor that causes TE?

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

Are you also forcibly snapping your wrist on the serve. Passive wrist action is ok, but forced wrist snap can result in excessive wrist flexion. This exaggerated flexion of the wrist combined combined with an aggressive forearm pronation can possibly lead to TE (lateral epicondylitis).

www.nismat.org/ptcor/tennis_elbow

WheelessOnline.com/ortho/tennis_elbow_lateral_epicondylitis

Note that your wrist should not flex much past the neutral position when serving. If your wrist is bent forward after contact, then this could be the primary factor resulting in your TE.

 

[matchmaker]

To answer your question: yes it can because the tendon will find itself completely streched on ball contact, thus taking a heavy impact in its weakest position. Try to adjust timing to create spin with the most economic movement possible.

 

[volusiano]

Clarify what you mean by "OVER" pronating.

Are you saying you're pronating your wrist in a deeper turn than normal (for example, instead of 1/4 of a circle, you do 1/2 a circle)?

Or are you saying you're just serving too many times and therefore just doing too many repetitions of the pronation?

I don't see how you can turn your wrist more than normal because that would have caused the racket face to be at the wrong angle and in turn caused the ball to be placed outside the service box.

On the other hand, if you're just doing too many repetitions of pronation just because you're doing too many serves, maybe it's not because of the pronation per se causing TE, but just because you're doing too many serves per se. Too much of anything will end up causing pain somewhere.

 

[DarthCow]

I would imagine over pronating would be trying to hit a flat serve with a EBH grip

 

[volusiano]

I would imagine over pronating would be trying to hit a flat serve with a EBH grip

Very good point. That would be another scenario to consider and fix (change to a continental grip from the EHB grip to avoid overpronating, IF you're indeed using an EHB grip).

I was practicing serve a little too much the other night, and I felt a little sore on my tricep muscles. But mostly due to repeatedly extending out the arm from the takeback position on each serve. But I don't feel any TE problem at all.

I don't think pronation (from a continental grip) would exert stress on the ligaments of your elbow, causing TE. I only feel the pronation flexing my forearm muscles and my deltoid muscles only.

 

[tennisdad65]

Yes.. it can cause tennis elbow.
It depends on when you pronate?
a) early pronation before contact for a flat serve
b) over pronation around contact for a topspin or slice serve.

I rarely hit flat serves, so a) never bothers me, but I found that b) aggravated my tennis elbow. It was not worth it, since I have wimpy 80mph topspin/slice serves anyway.. lol.. I am mostly a slicer/volleyer (rarely hit flat or topspin groundstrokes), so the serve is pretty much the only way I get TE.

I now let my natural follow through lead to pronation and I have no problem. i.e. I do not force pronation around contact.

 

[Number1BallBoy]

I've been having some problems as well with my elbow due to serving. What I have found out is that I am using too much elbow, meaning that instead of using my shoulder to rotate and hit the ball, I am using the power from by elbow. I am now in training mode to reprogram my service motion. I found out that having your shoulder as the foundation of your serves is essential. Using your shoulders should somewhat start a "chain" that should greatly reduce the stress on your elbow. Just my 2 cents.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

Don't overlook the exaggerated flexion I mentioned previously. Normal pronation, by itself, will not result in TE for most people. However if you combine an aggressive pronation with an excess of flexion, this might very well cause TE.