How to Avoid Getting Tennis Elbow

Tennis elbow (Lateral Epicondylitis) is caused by repetitive movements that strain the elbow tendon. The elbow tendon becomes inflamed or damaged and feels like an ache along the elbow. Sometimes the pain shoots down your forearm. Many tennis students get it as they are learning the sport. For some, tennis elbow becomes a long ordeal, comes back after periods of recovery, and makes playing tennis less pleasurable. I had it a few times, but after I began understanding technical fundamentals better, elbow pain never came back to haunt me.

There may be several factors that explain why you are getting tennis elbow and one root cause underneath all the other reasons. If you are straining your arm repetitively, then it means your body is not supporting your swing.

Let’s break down what it means to use your arm versus using your body to hit a ball. It is trivial to state, but you’re hitting a tennis ball that is traveling with some force. The ball is stiff and does not weigh much but it can feel heavy if your opponent or training partner hits with lots of spin and speed. If you hit the tennis ball without transferring your bodyweight, then you’re making your arm work alone. One arm weighs about 5 to 6 percent of the average person’s total body weight. That is a significant difference in how much mass will travel against the ball. If you can play tennis without making your arm absorb the impact of the ball alone, you will give your elbow more support and make it less likely to inflame your tendon.

But you should also pay attention to other factors that may aggravate your elbow tendon. First, be loose. If you are tense, your arm will not handle the impact of a heavy shot well. If you’re tense for 10,000 shots per month, then trouble will follow you to your elbow. Is rubber or a stiff stick more likely to snap under pressure? Better yet, think of Roger Federer. Is he loose or tense when he swings?  

Second, strengthen your tendons and ligaments by doing (negative) resistance training. Typically, people exercise by contracting muscles and then letting go. You work to lift a weight up and then bring it down quickly. In negative resistance training, you want to bring that weight down slowly with lots of resistance. Feel the weight as you bring it down. You can do that with any exercise. I like to do resistance training with push-ups. I push my body up, then I count three to four seconds as I bring my body down.

If you use your bodyweight to hit the ball, keep your arm relaxed, and invest your time in resistance training, then you are unlikely to ever get tennis elbow. If you already have tennis elbow, then consult with professionals on how to get your elbow back in shape. And I don’t only mean visit a physician. Work with a physical therapist as well to learn what exercises will help you strengthen your arm and tendons. Take tennis lessons to improve your technical skills because injuries usually come from using arms and body in the wrong way. A coach will see what you’re doing and can steer you in the right direction.

Author: Leo Rosenberg.