Tennis Elbow When Switching to Dunlop SX300 Tour 16x19 from Blade Pro 98 v8 18x20

ressling

New User
Just like title says, first time in my recreational playing career (4.0 player) that I've ever gotten tennis elbow. I've been experimenting like crazy the last few years with sticks and strings setups to understand what I like and don't like.

99% of the time I'm playing doubles. I grew up playing with all types of Wilson Pro Staff rackets, with my preferred stick of choice at the time being the HPS 6.1 95 18x20 Mid-Plus stretch (del Potro racket). Never played with polys or multifilaments at that time (20-25 yrs ago). Was always a net player and heavy server with aggressive style by putting away points as quickly as possible. Hard, flat serves and volleys have been and continue to be the strongest parts of my game.

Sometime in the last 2.5 years I discovered the Blade Pro 98 v8 18x20 with a preferred hybrid string setup of Yonex Polytour Rev 16L/Rexis Speed 16 at 52/55. Really loved the move from ProStaff to Blade mostly on the fact that the two sticks play similarly, with the Blade being more forgiving. Loved this setup and worked great for me in consistent competitive recreational play, and I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to get as much spin as I was able to given the 18x20. That stated, I have come to find that I crave more easy access to spin, particularly for my 2HBH and believe 16x19 can only help in this goal.

And now for the past 1.5 months I've been playing with the Dunlop SX300 Tour with full Black Widow and wow... major tennis elbow. Tried it with Black Widow and Wilson multifilament hybrid and still elbow issues.

I'm an idiot and didn't realize the RA on my blade is 60 and the SX300 Tour RA is 66. I strictly focused on the unstrung weight and balance. At this point, I'm really trying to figure out which variable(s) are contributing to my tennis elbow. Is +6 RA the bigger issue, or is it the string? For comparison, I also have been recently playing with a Dunlop FX500 Tour with a full bed of Explosive Tour 17/1.25 and did not seem to experience nearly as much tennis elbow, if any. In the past, I experimented with an RF97 v13 which I loved, but the swingweight led to shoulder issues.

So how do I "reset" all this crazy stuff I have going on? Surprisingly, I am less concerned about my shoulder as I feel I am getting that under control. My bigger goal is avoiding tennis elbow.

Thanks in advance...
 

Dunlop300g

Rookie
Just demo'd this racquet and have two on order; on for me and one for a friend. Ok here's what we found on the demo; strung up with Dunlop Explosive Speed at 50 lbs (we think) black color. Racquet has great plow thru as you already know; if you didn't know better you'd probably think it was head heavy; it's just that solid on contact. Try varying your string and string tension; use TW university maybe to find a softer poly or go hybrid with a poly/multi combo; maybe one different than what you've already tried. If you have to; try a nice full bed of multi. In this past year on our string reviews here on the forum we've had good luck with Babolat XALT and there are so many others like NXT, Head Velocity MLT (I like this one), and Dunlop Silk Pro or Iconic All. This frame is just too good to give up on; ya maybe you found the answer with Explosive Tour and put this in the SX 300? And then there's the move to a lower tension with any poly.

Hope you find the combo out there that give you the relief you're look for. Best wishes!
 

ressling

New User
Thanks for your response and I definitely agree... the CX300 Tour is a SUPER solid frame and I'm loving it! Can't beat the price either.
 

emhtennis

Hall of Fame
Holding your palm up, is the pain on your thumb side or pinky side? If it's pinky side it is golfer's elbow and your serve could be the contributing factor. It could also be ulnar ligament irritation which is more serious and requires specific rehab to prevent further damage.

What is your tension on the new setup? Every racket is different, and I would suggest dropping tension by at least 5lbs and see what happens.
 

Tao69

Semi-Pro
I’d take a break and do the physio/rehab before you go down the path of trying to manage the injury via equipment/string changes. Second I’d look at your technique, make sure it’s sound and not causing the injury. Age is also a consideration, the older you are the slower the body heals, so you need more time between hits, I know few people over 50 who can play multiple times a week without carrying niggling injuries. Lastly I’d look at your equipment and string set up, it won’t actually fix your problem (though it may have caused it), you try to reduce the risk of re-injury or minimize aggravation of the injury. Best of luck with it.
 

AmericanTwist

Professional
tennis elbow is caused by combo of bad technique, too stiff a frame, too stiff string bed (stiff string and/or very high tensions). Try hybriding black widow (if you like it) with a solid core syn gut either on the crosses or making it even softer, syn gut on the mains. I see the benefits of full poly, but syn gut on the crosses really helps with pocketing and power.
 

tele

Hall of Fame
There are so many.variables that could be causing your problem, but as a first step, I would switch back to your blade pro with your old setup and see how your arm feels.

You should of course check for flaws in your technique, but IME, some racquets do not work well with some arms. You might find a good setup with the sx300, but If your blade.pro feels like heaven when you hit with it again, you might want to consider whether experimenting with strings in the sx300 is worth the potential cost to your arm.

If it is indeed TE, I recommend the green flexbar

edit: if blade pro 18x20 is still comfy and you just want a little more spin, the 16x19 bp seems like a logical choice.
 
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Tao69

Semi-Pro
Agree on the Green Flexbar, used one to rehab my ECU wrist injury and manage my golfers elbow.
I got the golfers elbow from a Head Prestige Youtek IG I bought on a whim, haven't been able to shake it since, no matter what racquet/string combo I use; some are better than others. Agree that sometimes your arm just doesn't like a particular racquet/string set up.
I've had tennis elbow before, came after an experiment with full poly on a racquet that never bothered me before (Prince 97P), managed to get that to heal. I fixed my technique and stay away from stiff strings now.
Listen to your body and stay healthy, we don't play tennis to make our lives more painful.
 

Notorious_Junkballer

Hall of Fame
Just like title says, first time in my recreational playing career (4.0 player) that I've ever gotten tennis elbow. I've been experimenting like crazy the last few years with sticks and strings setups to understand what I like and don't like.

99% of the time I'm playing doubles. I grew up playing with all types of Wilson Pro Staff rackets, with my preferred stick of choice at the time being the HPS 6.1 95 18x20 Mid-Plus stretch (del Potro racket). Never played with polys or multifilaments at that time (20-25 yrs ago). Was always a net player and heavy server with aggressive style by putting away points as quickly as possible. Hard, flat serves and volleys have been and continue to be the strongest parts of my game.

Sometime in the last 2.5 years I discovered the Blade Pro 98 v8 18x20 with a preferred hybrid string setup of Yonex Polytour Rev 16L/Rexis Speed 16 at 52/55. Really loved the move from ProStaff to Blade mostly on the fact that the two sticks play similarly, with the Blade being more forgiving. Loved this setup and worked great for me in consistent competitive recreational play, and I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to get as much spin as I was able to given the 18x20. That stated, I have come to find that I crave more easy access to spin, particularly for my 2HBH and believe 16x19 can only help in this goal.

And now for the past 1.5 months I've been playing with the Dunlop SX300 Tour with full Black Widow and wow... major tennis elbow. Tried it with Black Widow and Wilson multifilament hybrid and still elbow issues.

I'm an idiot and didn't realize the RA on my blade is 60 and the SX300 Tour RA is 66. I strictly focused on the unstrung weight and balance. At this point, I'm really trying to figure out which variable(s) are contributing to my tennis elbow. Is +6 RA the bigger issue, or is it the string? For comparison, I also have been recently playing with a Dunlop FX500 Tour with a full bed of Explosive Tour 17/1.25 and did not seem to experience nearly as much tennis elbow, if any. In the past, I experimented with an RF97 v13 which I loved, but the swingweight led to shoulder issues.

So how do I "reset" all this crazy stuff I have going on? Surprisingly, I am less concerned about my shoulder as I feel I am getting that under control. My bigger goal is avoiding tennis elbow.

Thanks in advance...
I've got both the FX500 Tour and SX300 Tour. On paper they're supposed to have the same RA but in reality the SX feels like a board compared to the FX. The FX flexies nicely in the throat and feels even flexier than my CX200. The SX, on the other hand, feels really stiff and that's why I'm not using it.
 

gfwp

Rookie
Just like title says, first time in my recreational playing career (4.0 player) that I've ever gotten tennis elbow. I've been experimenting like crazy the last few years with sticks and strings setups to understand what I like and don't like.

99% of the time I'm playing doubles. I grew up playing with all types of Wilson Pro Staff rackets, with my preferred stick of choice at the time being the HPS 6.1 95 18x20 Mid-Plus stretch (del Potro racket). Never played with polys or multifilaments at that time (20-25 yrs ago). Was always a net player and heavy server with aggressive style by putting away points as quickly as possible. Hard, flat serves and volleys have been and continue to be the strongest parts of my game.

Sometime in the last 2.5 years I discovered the Blade Pro 98 v8 18x20 with a preferred hybrid string setup of Yonex Polytour Rev 16L/Rexis Speed 16 at 52/55. Really loved the move from ProStaff to Blade mostly on the fact that the two sticks play similarly, with the Blade being more forgiving. Loved this setup and worked great for me in consistent competitive recreational play, and I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to get as much spin as I was able to given the 18x20. That stated, I have come to find that I crave more easy access to spin, particularly for my 2HBH and believe 16x19 can only help in this goal.

And now for the past 1.5 months I've been playing with the Dunlop SX300 Tour with full Black Widow and wow... major tennis elbow. Tried it with Black Widow and Wilson multifilament hybrid and still elbow issues.

I'm an idiot and didn't realize the RA on my blade is 60 and the SX300 Tour RA is 66. I strictly focused on the unstrung weight and balance. At this point, I'm really trying to figure out which variable(s) are contributing to my tennis elbow. Is +6 RA the bigger issue, or is it the string? For comparison, I also have been recently playing with a Dunlop FX500 Tour with a full bed of Explosive Tour 17/1.25 and did not seem to experience nearly as much tennis elbow, if any. In the past, I experimented with an RF97 v13 which I loved, but the swingweight led to shoulder issues.

So how do I "reset" all this crazy stuff I have going on? Surprisingly, I am less concerned about my shoulder as I feel I am getting that under control. My bigger goal is avoiding tennis elbow.

Thanks in advance...
C10 Pro and natgut. C10 Pro has a very very special vibration absorption system. It's a kind of holy Graal for TE.
 
I have very sensitive arm and I also think vibrations are more responsible than stiffness itself. The reason why stiff racquets cause more problems is because they usually, but not always, vibrate more. I have 70RA racquet that feels stiff but super comfortable at the same time, it weights 332g unstrung and that weight together with box beam design dampens everything very well.
 

toby55555

Hall of Fame
Heal with a Pro Kennex, you might even stick with it. Black Ace 315 is similar weight and 56 RA although more head light.
 

ressling

New User
Played four sets with friends today and agree with several comments that it is a combination of things, but my technique is a HUGE contributing factor. We recorded our practice match.

Check out 4:41 and 5:49 and slow down playback to 0.25%. I'm a bit off frame but this was our first time recording anything.


I think the logical thing for now is to:

Rehab & rest (I've been going to PT for the past month for my shoulder, but now I might need to include my elbow)
Switch back to either my BP or FX500 Tour, consider a BP 16x19
Go with a hybrid soft poly/multifilament and/or synthetic gut combo
Work on fixing technique

Very much appreciate the comments all. My friend is telling me I'm "pancaking" on the serve and that is really what is putting the strain on my inside elbow of my right arm, thus technically causing "golfer's elbow"
 

ressling

New User
I've got both the FX500 Tour and SX300 Tour. On paper they're supposed to have the same RA but in reality the SX feels like a board compared to the FX. The FX flexies nicely in the throat and feels even flexier than my CX200. The SX, on the other hand, feels really stiff and that's why I'm not using it.
Only played in a competitive rec match with the FX500 Tour once; it was a 3 setter and gave me no arm or elbow issues. I think our experiences are the same in this regard.
 

ressling

New User
Holding your palm up, is the pain on your thumb side or pinky side? If it's pinky side it is golfer's elbow and your serve could be the contributing factor. It could also be ulnar ligament irritation which is more serious and requires specific rehab to prevent further damage.

What is your tension on the new setup? Every racket is different, and I would suggest dropping tension by at least 5lbs and see what happens.
Definitely think it's golfer's elbow. I had no idea that was a thing, so thank you very much!

I don't think it's ulnar ligament irritation but will keep a watchful eye on it, especially since I used to play competitive junior baseball and I was a pitcher from a young age. From quick research, there's a pretty distinctive correlation between ulnar ligament irritation and the need for Tommy John's surgery.
 

emhtennis

Hall of Fame
Definitely think it's golfer's elbow. I had no idea that was a thing, so thank you very much!

I don't think it's ulnar ligament irritation but will keep a watchful eye on it, especially since I used to play competitive junior baseball and I was a pitcher from a young age. From quick research, there's a pretty distinctive correlation between ulnar ligament irritation and the need for Tommy John's surgery.
One of the ways my occupational therapist diagnosed it was having me place my hand on the back of my head (palm on head) so elbow ends up being bent around 45 degrees and then applying pressure like I'm trying to push thru my head to my face.

If it hurts to put pressure on the elbow while it is bent it could easily be the ligament and not the tendon. Only way to really know is to go to a specialist.

You are correct that if I had waited longer (9 months trying to self diagnose and treat) that I could have needed Tommy John surgery.

Luckily I wasn't at that point and was able to heal with targeted physical therapy (lots of 'upstream' upper back exercises) and some rest. And no serving for almost 3 months. Lots of groundstroke games over the summer.
 
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