Tennis Elbow is a frustrating and painful injury. The causes are many and we will look at the top 5 tennis causes of Tennis Elbow.
Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis) is a painful condition that occurs when tendons in your elbow are overloaded, usually by repetitive motions of the wrist and arm.
Despite its name, athletes aren’t the only people who develop tennis elbow. People whose jobs feature the types of motions that can lead to tennis elbow include plumbers, painters, carpenters and butchers.
The pain of tennis elbow occurs primarily where the tendons of your forearm muscles attach to a bony bump on the outside of your elbow. Pain can also spread into your forearm and wrist.
Rest and over-the-counter pain relievers often help relieve tennis elbow. If conservative treatments don’t help or if symptoms are disabling, your doctor might suggest surgery.
I have suffered this injury several times and I can state several causes from my own experience as well as multiple players complaining of this injury.
Cause #1: Wrong type of strings. I was playing maybe 4 or 5 times a week and NTRP tournaments once a month. The commitment you make preparing for tournaments is grand, but the strain on your equipment is also very large. I was using a polyester string that had sharp edges that would literally cut into the ball and create some amazing top spin. Of course my favorite professional player was using this same string and so I had to use the same. Plus the string was pure black and it looked awesome with my yellow Babolat frame. To gain even more spin I went with a 17 gauge string and the ball would just pop off my racquet with crazy spin. Of course I was breaking strings often, but I didn’t really care, I was hammering that forehand all over the court with some awesome spin.
Then one day it happened. I noticed a large bump on top of my outer elbow and it hurt to touch it. I started noticing the pain in my elbow more pronounced while playing. I would come home from playing and take a few aspirin and put some frozen vegetables on top of my elbow. After some time the pain and swelling just wouldn’t go away. I decided to take some time off. I took a few weeks off, picked up the racquet and within a few days the pain was back. I started reading articles on my strings and found that many other players suffered from tennis elbow with the same string I was using. I was not happy, but I knew I had to change strings. I went to a pro stringer and discussed the problems I was having. He also said he had many players complain about the string. He switched me over to a blended string of Babolat VS gut on the mains and Babolat RPM on the crosses. I noticed the difference right way. The strings were smooth and I could instantly feel the difference. I also didn’t have that crazy spin on the ball, but at least I was playing pain free.
Cause #2 String tension was wrong. The other string related cause to tennis elbow was the string tension. I had my strings strung around 63 pounds. The added tension certainly added some control with spin, but at what price? I had the tension reduced to 57 pounds and with the new string combination, I was back to playing painless tennis.
Cause # 3. Wrong Grip Size. I had never really measured my hand for proper grip size, but I was mostly using a 4 5/8 grip which is pretty large. As I was converting to more of a semi western grip on the forehand, that grip just became too large and caused extra strain on my wrist and forearm causing discomfort once again on the elbow. I changed the grip to 4 1/2 and noticed immediate improvements. Today I still play with 4 1/2 but I have been experimenting with an even smaller 4 3/8 grip. I will make sure there is no elbow pain if I make that change.
Cause # 4. In-correct form. I was in the middle of converting my two handed backhand to a one handed backhand. This was.a year long effort, but through the process I was not using good form on the one hander and started to develop elbow pain. I was in the middle now. I was no longer using the two hander, and my one handed backhand hurt. I almost went exclusively with the slice backhand during this transition period. The good part about using the slice backhand, there was no pain, good control and the ball stayed nice and low for my opponents. The other good part is that I have now developed a very good one handed backhand and if I want to mix in some variety, I have the consistent slice backhand to keep my opponents off balance.
Cause # 5. Wrong racquet for your style of play. I was demo testing another racquet and within 15 minutes of play my elbow started to hurt. Instantly started to hurt. I put the demo racquet away and used my normal racquet and no pain. From my pro stringer and others, they say the swing style of the racquet did not match up with my swing style and therefore caused me pain. I had to agree with them, because as soon as I changed to my racquet the pain went away.
These are certainly some causes and cures, but if you are experiencing continued pain, I would recommend seeking out a doctor who can correctly diagnose your causes.
See you on the courts.
