hyper extended elbow pain on 1hbh and sometimes serve

[autumn_leaf]

i'm extra flexible in my elbow. when fully extended it looks like my arm is broken at the elbow... yea... it grosses people out but it's not as extreme as my sister's.

anyways, to the point. i went back to the 1hbh since i'm not going to be playing competitive tennis anymore and always found the stroke more fun to hit with. i originally stopped using the stroke because it started hurting my elbow (you know, other than the horrendous amount of shanks). so hitting late was prolly the cause of the elbow pain. i'm doing a lot better now with hitting on time and it's becoming a fairly reliable stroke now, but i'm still experiencing soreness and pain.

for example when i do kick backs with a resistance band afterwards the weakness in the elbow is obvious and causes a dull ache.

so doe anyone know if having an extra flexible elbow makes me more vulnerable to elbow pains? and is there a way to strengthen it to prevent such pains (i will be googling this as well, just want to pick the brains of some knowledgable people here as well).

 

[charliefedererer]

The excessive elbow hyperextension seems to indicate that your lower arm bone (ulna) can rock back further than normal due to the shape of the area where the two bones meet allows for greater than the normal arm straightening. It would seem that you are more dependent on your musculature and ligaments to stop you from hyperextending on every one hand backhnand. I think this could lead to more stress on both the medial and lateral ligaments at the elbow, putting you at greater risk for both golfer's elbow and tennis elbow.
In any event, strengthening your forearm and upper arm muscles so that there are not muscle imbalances would seem to be especially important to you. The thrower's ten exercises are designed to do just that. www.asmi.org/SportsMed/throwing/thrower10.PDF
I also think that you may be someone who is better off with a two handed backhand to lessen the potential for repeated hyperextension at the elbow.


I hope you get some other replys because I am not really familiar with an elbow that hyperextends such as yours, and am basing this on how I understand the elbow to work, and not from actual experience.

 

[larry10s]

i think you really need to talk to a sports medicine ortho pod or physical therapist.
you increased flexibility means your "lock out" point is different then most. therefore your muscles are working at differnet stresses based on how "stretched" they are when you make contact. whether that is isgnificant or not i dont know but its something to think about.
if you do seek a professional opinion please repost so we can learn . thanks and good luck

 

[autumn_leaf]

well for this weekend i had to go to pre-deployment seminar for my sis in the national guard. today one of the seminar classes was on physical health with a physical therapist. after the class i came to him with my rotator cuff injury (popping sound i had for 6 years or so and am doing throwers 10 for) and my hyper extension problem.

1. the rotator cuff - after i showed him twice my popping sound he told me to try to never do that again. stupid me of course did it many times when it first happened years ago... he said that it's basically dislocating and relocating the the shoulder in the socket everytime it pops. everytime i do this it puts other parts of my shoulder at risk overtime.

during the class he also mentioned not doing military presses because it pinches muscles and bone and can cause more of a risk to the rotator cuff.

2. hyper extension - says that it puts a greater strain on my ligaments/tendons. advice was to keep hitting backhands, but not to practice getting the ball in, but to repeat the motion with a bent elbow instead until i don't extend my elbow anymore on a backhand. don't think this is very possible for me so i'm gonna keep the 2hbh instead.

 

[charliefedererer]

Thanks for your follow up.

It sounds like you have made some good choices for your shoulder and elbow health.