Racquet help for tennis elbow.

[menko2]

Hi.

I have been suffering tennis elbow for the last year even with a stop of a couple months of playing and trying different racquets.

I have tried Prince Tour 100 18X16 (David Ferrer), Wilson Burn 100, Prince Phantom 100P Pro.

I was thinking in getting something totally different like the new Babolat Pure Aero since it's less stiffer but still a tweener raquet. Even that it's still a stiff raquet but I don't want to stop playing.

I have tried multifilament strings in the stiff Wilson Burn and soft-polys in the soft prince raquets so the strings and raquets work not too extreme in softeness of stiffness.

I'm 6.1 tall, 42 years, strong build and 4.5 level player with a extreme grip (Alberto Berasategui) style. I use lots of spin in my shots.
I tried but I can't change my grip at my age

Do you have any recommendations for me? Raquet wise specially?

Maybe Babolat Pure Aero + Multifilament will help? My only worry is that I might lose spin power due the multifilament string.

I also heard about the Wilson Clash 100 but looks very similar to the Prince racquets I tried? Anyone used it?

Thank you very much.

Alberto

 

[dman34]

For me Multifilament was the most comfortable string, also opened a thread for more or less the same reason.
With poly i could get hand (in my case it was the upper hand, not wrist) pains with Babolat pure drive, with the Multifilament even after hard-hitting games, I feel pretty good on the hand/arm.
yes, you will lose power/spin with a full bed Multifilament, at least from what I have tried, but on the other hand, you will get another day to play tennis
Also noticed with Multifilament you improve your technique and strategic gameplay to compensate for your lack of power.
Personally I am thinking to try a hybrid with Multifilament to see if it gives more power/spin access without compromising too much comfort. You might also try that.

 

[menko2]

Thank you dman34.

I want to try with strings but first I would like to chose the right racquet and then play with strings. Even trying a larger grip (I use a L2 cause I feel more confort but I just read that bigger grip is easier for the elbow problems).

Let's see if other members can help with the raquet choice considering my type of game.

 

[esm]

I’d avoid Pure Aero and poly if you have a TE. I’d recommend Angell TC100 63RA.

edit - if you can demo, check out the new Dunlop SX 300 Tour. It is supposed to be similar to the PA but less stiffness

 

[25-TENNIS]

Don't use Babolat rackets if you have elbow/arm pains. You can try the new Yonex Ezone or the older DR.

 

[tennistiger]

Wilson XP 5

 

[pastashop42]

ProKennex with their kinetic technology, open string pattern, and a roll of lead tape to play with racquet balance and weight to maximize a neutral wrist. Kirschbaum Evolution or Hawk Touch would be good polys.

 

[menko2]

Ok I will drop the Babolat then.

Looks like my best options are:

- Wilson Clash 100 Tour.
- One of the Prince Phantom line.
- Keep the Prince Tour 100 (David Ferrer).

Which of the Phantom and strings are recommend?

 

[25-TENNIS]

Wilson XP 5

It's 103sq and too light I think. Also very expensive...

 

[E46luver]

I have been suffering tennis elbow for the last year even with a stop of a couple months of playing and trying different racquets.

if you've been playing with te for 6 months or more, you have done serious damage to your tendons.
you will be needing over 1 year of no tennis, bad news. but you will learn this the hard way

 

[SJSA]

Ok I will drop the Babolat then.

Looks like my best options are:

- Wilson Clash 100 Tour.
- One of the Prince Phantom line.
- Keep the Prince Tour 100 (David Ferrer).

Which of the Phantom and strings are recommend?

O port racquets are more arm friendly. Go for Phantom 100 not X version.
For strings, I recomm"end natural gut or Ashaway Monogut ZX.

 

[AverageForehand]

Had the same elbow issues as you after using Pure Aero and poly for 10+ years. Switched to Prokennex Ki Q+ Tour (325) with natural gut in mains and syn gut in crosses. Now playing pain-free but it was a 2+ year process to get ride of the pain.

I would drop ALL poly for now and switch to a heavier and flexible frame. My choices would be (in no particular order):
Prokennex Ki Q+ Tour 325
Prokennex Redondo 98
Volkl C10 Pro
Yonex Ezone DR 98
Head PT630
Prince Phantom Line

Good luck!

 

[menko2]

I think I'll go for the Phantom Line.

I already own a Phantom 100 Pro and a Phantom 100P Pro.

The P100PPro felt better than the P100Pro but not for the elbow (maybe because it's stiffer).

The only one I don't have is the Phantom 100 with the O3 ports.

Is it much different than the other two I have?

 

[Ruvi the Kruv]

I use YONEX DR EZONE 100. Specs are very stiff, and I use stiff poly at high tension, bot no pain! You should not use Babolat I think. It destroyed my arm!

 

[menko2]

I use YONEX DR EZONE 100. Specs are very stiff, and I use stiff poly at high tension, bot no pain! You should not use Babolat I think. It destroyed my arm!

A few people recommend me this YONEX DR EZONE 100, but for the specs and stiffness I wonder it doesn't hurt the elbow.

Any idea why?

 

[25-TENNIS]

A few people recommend me this YONEX DR EZONE 100, but for the specs and stiffness I wonder it doesn't hurt the elbow.

Any idea why?

It has Quake Shut Gel in the handle, which makes it really comfortable.

I had arm pain with Blade 98L and then switched to the DR Lite. No arm pain anymore.

 

[MikeStrike98]

I have been using a grip size 3 for 2 years with arm pain, trying new strings all the time. Switched to L4 and comfort is much better so maybe you try a size up too.

On another note, pre-play physio and ice afterwards also helped.

 

[braxeyez]

I also had TE problems in the past, Berastegui style forehand as well, extreme topspin attacking baseliner...

I recommend changing strings to extremely soft polyesters and hybriding them with synthetic gut. My favourite combo is Dunlop Black Widow mains/Volkl synthetic gut, 23/24kg (50lb?) or lower. For years I tried lots of strings but this one makes me almost pain-free even playing a tournament (6-7 matches in 2 days cca). With this setup I have no trouble hitting hard, the only bad thing that the strings last me 3-4 hours before they go dead (and break). So go soft and cheap.

I play with RF97 (before I played with PS 6.1 85, than PS95, later KFactor 90 and from 2016 with RF97 - so basically a same racquet last 20-something years) because I like heavy racquets. Most of my friends that play with Babolat have elbow problems, especially with stiffer strings.

 

[menko2]

The strangest thing is that I have the pain when I hit the backhand slice (and off-court when I shake hands for example).

I have a two hand backhand but when I can't reach the ball I slice a lot. That's when the pain becomes more aparent. With forehand seems to be ok.

Is it normal?

 

[MikeStrike98]

Yeah that's using the rear tendon in your elbow. If it was the inside it would be called golfers elbow.
Honestly I would get a theraband for example and start doing physio. You'll be surprised how fast it feels better. Then ice cycle after playing. Lower string tension & try focus to hit the ball in the centre so it doesn't jarr up for arm.

 

[TagUrIt]

Highly recommend the Wilson Clash Tour, very arm friendly racquet. My current string setup is Gut/Poly. I’m a 4.0 and I play with 4.0-4.5 players. I ended up added a little weight with tungsten tape to the 12/3/9 o’clock positions. Demo the Clash Tour, the key to success with this racquet is to find the right string setup for your game.

 

[FuzzyYellowBalls]

The Yonex technology in the new Vcore works, you can also see the vibration statistics on tennis warehouse if you look at the stats on each racket. I've had tennis elbow reactions to RF Wilson and the old K88 Wilson Sampras racket with full poly. Also had reactions to poly that was "dead" and it can go dead in 2-3 sessions. Another time I realized my TE was being caused by my grip, I was gripping the racket literally too hard, don't overlook this possible cause. The grip issue was I was death gripping the racket through the entire stroke and serve instead of lessening my grip at the end of the strokes which is a good technique.