I had an interesting conversation with a massage therapist today about golfer’s elbow. It had me curious: If this is something you have struggled with, which arm is affected and are you right or left handed?
Question re golfer’s elbow
Both lol
Started with the right arm first from a really bad fat shot that left a bruise from my elbow to my wrist. (I was a beginner at the time) I now wear a compression sleeve (copper fit) on both elbows and it helps a lot. Making the switch back to graphite in the new irons coming in and that was a bit relief before so that is why switching back.
I had it in both elbows when I first picked up golf. I wore some compressions sleeves and they did help. Did a lot of stretching exercises as well. It rarely flares up for me now unless I do a ton of hitting.
It’s funny. When I play well and I’m compressing the ball well it tends to hurt more. Right elbow mostly. Price of taking a good divot I suppose. I practice a lot at home and I invested in a really good hitting mat. That helped a lot as well. Cheap harder mats will kill your elbows. Hate em.
Right handed and it was in my right arm. Hurt like crazy for the first week. Rest and LOTS of stretches helped. In graphite shafts now and I have a sleeve to wear.
I'm a range junkie and only able to practice off mats and used to get really bad golfer's elbow (mostly right elbow) when I was REALLY steep on the ball. I also used to hit almost 200 balls 3-4x a week...not advisable by any means, lmao.
rollin
"Just playin golf pally"
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right handed and suffered mildly(thankfully) through it last year on my right arm. . A strap around upper forearm close to elbow helped for my "mild" condition. thankfully it didn't come back this past season.
My golf sucks for a hundred other reasons....lol
My golf sucks for a hundred other reasons....lol
Mark_UK
Legal Alien
Currently got tennis elbow in both arms. Had it for about 2 months now. It sucks.
Currently have tennis elbow in my right arm. Wear a band when I hit now and use heat most days on hit to help with the healing process. I would stop hitting completely if I knew it would go away quickly, but based on my reading that is unlikely the case.
I’m right handed and get occasional tennis elbow in my left arm and constant golfers elbow in my right. I have it to a manageable point right now through graphite shafts, theragun, ice, and stretching. I tried taking a couple months off last year and it came right back first session back. One of my swing flaws is really tight wrists and not letting them release which I think is the major cause for me. I also have a pretty steep swing and take large divots which can’t help either.
I am a right handed golfer
Tennis elbow in left arm
Went away when I went to Nippon Shafts and then Graphite.
My range went to mats while overseeding for 6 weeks and it recurred.
It's going away gradually now that we're back on grass.
I use a Band-It available on Amazon and it helps while playing. 10 yrs ago, it was the only thing available. More options now.
Use a Theragun Mini on the arm before the elbow
Tennis elbow in left arm
Went away when I went to Nippon Shafts and then Graphite.
My range went to mats while overseeding for 6 weeks and it recurred.
It's going away gradually now that we're back on grass.
I use a Band-It available on Amazon and it helps while playing. 10 yrs ago, it was the only thing available. More options now.
Use a Theragun Mini on the arm before the elbow
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I am right handed and have had tennis elbow (outside of left elbow) multiple times one time severe, had cortisone shot (80% successful). Best treatment I have had and you can play while receiving treatment was “Shockwave” , once a week, take about 5 minutes each treatment. Last time took 4 treatments to eliminate. Works awesome as well on rotator cuff issues/bursitis/inflammation….at least it did for me.
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Right-handed, right arm, throughout the round the pain in the elbow will get worse. Even off the course I can't straighten my arm out all the way due to it.
No epicondylitis issues at the moment. Some brachioradialis issues though.
Right handed and I had it in my right elbow. I tried everything: stretching, braces, KT Tape, physical therapy, active release chiropractor, and a whole lot of alcohol. I ended up having carpal tunnel surgery on my right wrist and the elbow pain went away. Apparently, your elbow and wrist bones really are connected. The song was right.
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Left handed and experienced it in my right (lead) arm. I haven't had an issue since I scaled back the 200 ball range sessions and switched to Elevate shafts. Graphite shafts will be the next move.
Golfer’s elbow/medial epicondylitis (aka the inside of my elbow hurts) is almost always going to affect your dominant hand in the golf swing (right handed = right elbow) because those are the muscles responsible for releasing the club head on the follow through.
Tennis elbow/lateral epicondylitis on the other hand affects the outside of your elbow and is more likely to cause pain in your non-dominant arm. This is because the muscles attached to that point are responsible for the backhand movement that tennis players often make. You can still get this in golf though.
More important answer for the OP is treatment. Option 1: rest. Middle of golf season and don’t want to take time off? Totally understand! Option 2: use one of the forearm bands already posted in this thread to offload the stress from the tender part of the bone while you’re golfing and ice/NSAIDs when you’re not. If your doc has told you not to take NSAIDs (ibuprofen, aleve, etc), Tylenol is a good alternative.
Hope this helps @McLovin!
Tennis elbow/lateral epicondylitis on the other hand affects the outside of your elbow and is more likely to cause pain in your non-dominant arm. This is because the muscles attached to that point are responsible for the backhand movement that tennis players often make. You can still get this in golf though.
More important answer for the OP is treatment. Option 1: rest. Middle of golf season and don’t want to take time off? Totally understand! Option 2: use one of the forearm bands already posted in this thread to offload the stress from the tender part of the bone while you’re golfing and ice/NSAIDs when you’re not. If your doc has told you not to take NSAIDs (ibuprofen, aleve, etc), Tylenol is a good alternative.
Hope this helps @McLovin!
Right elbow most of this year. Toughed it out. I hope to work on it over the winter.
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really good stuff here.
my question was more because the therapist said golfers elbow happens in the dominant/trail arm. my issues (not the reason i went to him, but we discussed all my aches and pains) are in my non dominant/lead arm.
he posited that it was a through swing issue. the said those muscles in the lead arm are responsible for slowing the club down after impact. so if i have an issue with my follow through that is causing me to be inefficient in the motion, i may be placing undue stress on those muscles.
it was an interesting discussion and something i hadn’t really heard before.
Interesting. It’s not unheard of to have golfers elbow in your lead elbow, but it’s not common either. Without knowing your golf game, do you have a tendency to try to hold off the club face on the follow through to prevent a left miss? That eccentric force on your left elbow to keep the club from over rotating on the follow through could definitely cause the same issues. I bet that was a fun discussion
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he said he’s not a doctor so he can’t diagnose, but in his opinion he doesn’t think i have golfers elbow in either arm. he said the location, type and amount of pressure he was putting would have sent me through the rough. he said it seemed more like scar tissue and inflammation.
i went in for a totally different soreness, but the conversation veered into golf.
MrBlast
Well-known member
Ice, massage, Rock Sauce and stretching. I sprained/strained tendons in both elbows getting a large dock out of the water during a flood, 6 years ago. It's been a constant struggle. For whatever reason, it hasn't really effected my golf game. I think my pain tolerance exceeds the effects of the golf swing on my elbows. I do tend to feel them when I chunk a shot really bad.
rRight arm and right handed