TE moments frame!

[adso1973]

Well, today my dr told me to take care of my arm as the TE doesn't get better. The best thing I can do is stop playing, at least for a month and go to the kinesiologist.

And look for an Arm friendly frame.. so that's the first thing a racketaholic would do!!

Reading some post my list include these ones:
- EXO Tour 100 16x18 or 18x20
- PK Ki5
- RDIS200 T

These are still players frames with some good reviews on confort.. what do you think about them?

Thanks!

 

[ced]

PK 7G or 5G if you must have a standard length. Tho the 7G is the best playing stick in the PK line IMHO.

 

[Bas]

PK, string them with gut.

 

[mikeler]

PK 7G or 5G if you must have a standard length. Tho the 7G is the best playing stick in the PK line IMHO.

7G has been a dream on my arm. It also plays (not feels) like a stiffer racket and is very head light. The extra length is great on the serve.

 

[JonnyAbs]

I was reading today that the exo3 100 tour has a 52 flex rating. that should be pretty comfortable. it's also a little on the heavy side at 11.6 oz strung, which should also help since the ball won't jar the racquet as much.

Dunlop 200's are heavy and flexible frames if you havent looked into them yet.

 

[Teski]

I was reading today that the exo3 100 tour has a 52 flex rating. that should be pretty comfortable. it's also a little on the heavy side at 11.6 oz strung, which should also help since the ball won't jar the racquet as much.

Dunlop 200's are heavy and flexible frames if you havent looked into them yet.

The EXO3 Tour is very comfortable on the arm. I've even hit with a co-poly or hybrid setup without issue.

 

[tennis-kid]

PK 7G will do job you need. It is comfortable for your arm. Prince EXO3 tour is also good one. Try to demo them. I had wrist problem so I demoed many arm friendly racquets and came to conclusion with Volkl x10 (295), prince exo3 tour, pk 7G. And make sure your string is softest or natural gut and tension is lower than what you used to play.

 

[fuzz nation]

Just in case you were using a poly (even in a hybrid) when the affliction set in, you could consider keeping whatever frame you were using, but string it with natural gut once your break is over. That should give you a much more arm-friendly rig without the tricky adjustment period of moving to a different racquet.

A pal of mine had serious TE while he was playing with PD Roddicks, but his arm blew up after he switched to a poly hybrid. He took a break, did some therapy and rehab, then got back into the game with the same racquets. He switched to full nat'l gut and hasn't seen any new symptoms since returning to a rather busy schedule of tennis.

Just an option to consider if you'd rather not dump your current racquets right away. There are certainly some arm-friendly frames around, including ProKennex, but strings seem to be at least as significant a contributor to the arm-friendly equation.

 

[mikeler]

Just in case you were using a poly (even in a hybrid) when the affliction set in, you could consider keeping whatever frame you were using, but string it with natural gut once your break is over. That should give you a much more arm-friendly rig without the tricky adjustment period of moving to a different racquet.

A pal of mine had serious TE while he was playing with PD Roddicks, but his arm blew up after he switched to a poly hybrid. He took a break, did some therapy and rehab, then got back into the game with the same racquets. He switched to full nat'l gut and hasn't seen any new symptoms since returning to a rather busy schedule of tennis.

Just an option to consider if you'd rather not dump your current racquets right away. There are certainly some arm-friendly frames around, including ProKennex, but strings seem to be at least as significant a contributor to the arm-friendly equation.

Strings and rackets are close to 50/50 when it came to my elbow. I noticed a large improvement once I changed to a softer racket and another equally large improvement when I changed to softer strings.

 

[tennis-kid]

Just in case you were using a poly (even in a hybrid) when the affliction set in, you could consider keeping whatever frame you were using, but string it with natural gut once your break is over. That should give you a much more arm-friendly rig without the tricky adjustment period of moving to a different racquet.

A pal of mine had serious TE while he was playing with PD Roddicks, but his arm blew up after he switched to a poly hybrid. He took a break, did some therapy and rehab, then got back into the game with the same racquets. He switched to full nat'l gut and hasn't seen any new symptoms since returning to a rather busy schedule of tennis.

Just an option to consider if you'd rather not dump your current racquets right away. There are certainly some arm-friendly frames around, including ProKennex, but strings seem to be at least as significant a contributor to the arm-friendly equation.

Why would someone use same racquet which gave arm problem. It might work with natural gut but imagine if you use arm friendly racquet with soft string, how much better that can be for your arm. You might not make shots you used to make by changing racquet but who cares. you are not living by playing tennis like pros. Choose best scenario for your body. period.

 

[fuzz nation]

Okay, I'll play along... why?

How 'bout because this guy didn't have elbow problems with those frames until he switched to the harsh string. The racquets, stiff as they are, were fine for him before the poly hybrid went in. He's still using familiar racquets and with the natural gut in them, it's proven to be his best case scenario. The racquets weren't his problem.

I'm a lot more down on harsh string than I am on stiff racquets because I've also seen a couple of very solid players blow up their arms after switching into poly (or a poly hybrid) in their heavy, head-light, flexible racquets that we'd expect to be rather arm friendly. Anyone who needs to take every measure to protect a healed elbow is smart to use soft string in an arm-friendly racquet, but switching to an unfamiliar racquet usually includes and adjustment period with lots of extra mis-hits. That in itself is irritating.

I say there's a reasonable argument for using a familiar racquet that a player is most likely to find the sweet-spot with, but setting it up with the kindest, gentlest string they can get.

 

[Don't Let It Bounce]

I'm working with a young player with a TE problem now. Nat gut has given some relief (as an adjunct to more longterm rehab- and technique-related approaches). This week we found a EXO3 Tour demo for him to try, to see if he'd like an arm-friendlier frame than his APDC. The demo, unavoidably, had a stiff poly in it, and he reported that the soft Prince with the stiff poly hurt, while the stiff Bab with the soft Pacific Classic did not.

One case does not establish a principle, of course, and using an unfamiliar frame may be a factor here, and certainly it's best if you can optimize both frame and string... but this does add to my perception that the difference in arm-friendliness between stiff poly and nat gut is greater than the difference between most (but presumably not all*) current frames.

 

[carlos djackal]

My experience confuses me also, I have used Fischer Mpro No 1(No tol) with stiffness listed at 58(supposedly arm friendly) and strung with a synthetic gut yet I suffered from a TE for the 1st time. I rested for about 2 weeks and tried my old AG 100 w/ RA 61 strung with the same strings and it felt fine. Anyway, my TE would only hurt much on slice shots especially on my backhand, while on other strokes the pain is manageable. I am now using the LM RAdical MP which is listed at RA 64 but I would still avoid hitting with my bh slice shot if possible and my arm is getting better....

 

[mikeler]

My experience confuses me also, I have used Fischer Mpro No 1(No tol) with stiffness listed at 58(supposedly arm friendly) and strung with a synthetic gut yet I suffered from a TE for the 1st time. I rested for about 2 weeks and tried my old AG 100 w/ RA 61 strung with the same strings and it felt fine. Anyway, my TE would only hurt much on slice shots especially on my backhand, while on other strokes the pain is manageable. I am now using the LM RAdical MP which is listed at RA 64 but I would still avoid hitting with my bh slice shot if possible and my arm is getting better....

Keep in mind that stiffness is only measured at the throat. It does not tell you anything about the entire hoop. Sounds like you are hitting your slice backhand late. Get that contact point further in front and I suspect it won't hurt.

 

[adso1973]

Thanks for your answers.

Why changing a racquet and not strings? because during my last years I discovered that once your arm developed TE with a racquet, changind strings helps but seems like my arm developes some memory on the frame and keep on hurting.

My first serious TE was with HPS6.1 and kirshb competition, once I recovered from it, changed to Syn Gut, W Sensation both at low tensions, very soft but hurt on some special shots (1HBH & Serve). So I moved to a FXP Radical and my arm got well and didn't have any problem even playing with polys.

As I didn't like the rads I started playing with yonex (RQIS1T, RDIS100mid and RDIS100MP)

A couple of months ago, playing with RDIS100MP did the same mistake, add a leather grip and competition, played great for 2 weeks but once again TE, stopped playing for 3 weeks and went to rehab, added the original grip again, changed to a soft multi and the frame felt very very soft, too soft for my game, but still hurt on 1HBH and serve. Now can't play with it, got a BLX Blade 98 and I don't feel much pain when playing, but I feel it the day after.

So after my experience I would like to go to an Arm friendly frame with soft strings, best of both worlds?.

 

[Power Player]

The 7G and the EXO are 2 sticks I have used a lot and you can not go wrong with either. You just need to demo them and pick what you prefer. I love the older prince open pattern spin sticks, and they finally returned to that feel with the EXOs. The 7G to me is more like a Pure Storm Tour, pattern is much more closed and the racquet rewards flatter hitting.

I'd recommend against leather as well. As nice as it is, it can cause problems if you aren't healthy.

 

[adso1973]

Sounds like you are hitting your slice backhand late. Get that contact point further in front and I suspect it won't hurt.

Very true, I believe I mentioned in other post that I ussually have this problem with the RDIS100 (resolved making it more HL).
I don't have it with the Blade, but still hurts!

 

[verite]

My (not very fun) experiences with TE have led me to believe that it can also be caused by either bad serving technique or lack of strength in the rest.

Only way to really know is to rest until you feel better, keep doing wrist exercises (red flexbar), and then switch to a soft racquet and string setup.

The Prince Tour with a set of gut strings will be very arm friendly and shouldn't hold your game back.

Of course, if your TE hurts don't play through the pain! Otherwise, you could shut yourself down for a year.

 

[KenC]

There are actually 3 factors that can lead to TE and any one can lead to it by itself, but combinations are probably even more likely to lead to TE. The racquet and strings are already mentioned, the third is technique. It could be something not even realized, like the upward swing of the serve, that really irritates the tendons. For someone with chronic TE, it would be useful to get a qualified Pro to examine your strokes and see if there is anything that maybe puts undue stress of the elbow. It could be just a slight modification of a certain stroke and all is well again.