how to get rid of tennis elbow this is possibly the most requested video topic that i've received
over the past three years since i started my youtube channel and the reason why i haven't
made this video is because i really don't like giving medical advice since i'm obviously not
a doctor so the first thing that i want you to do if you have elbow pain is go see your doctor but
having said that i've been teaching tennis for the last 30 years and many of my students are at the
recreational level and of course many of them have had elbow problems so i can give you some
anecdotal evidence on how you can prevent tennis elbow so one possible cause of tennis
elbow is your technique and interestingly i find that the one-handed backhand executed
incorrectly will give players a lot of trouble with their elbow so if you are hitting a backhand
obviously all the impact on your arm is going to be on the outside of the arm see the forehand and
the serve is protected when it comes to tennis elbow of course you can get pain in the elbow
on this side on the forehand and the serve as well but most commonly players experience
pain on the outside of the arm when striking a one-handed backhand or a backhand volley
or a slice backhand it is of course less frequent with the two-handed backhand however
most of the recreational players on the male side will use a one-handed backhand this is where i see
a lot of problems so it's of the utmost importance that you learn the proper one-handed backhand
technique if you're more interested in finding out what that is check out my lesson with shamir
one of the most popular videos on my channel where i teach Shamir the proper one-handed backhand
but generally speaking whichever shot you're executing with improper technique that's lacking
the fundamentals it's usually going to result in a shot where the arm is used in isolation where the
body is not helping the arm and what happens then the arm gets worked overtime and this can cause
pain and different parts of the arm it can be in your wrist it can be in your shoulder
but it is very often on the outside of the elbow i have seen some players also with golfer's elbow
in tennis and if you execute the proper fundamentals on all your strokes and also use
your body to accommodate the arm this can make it easier to hit the ball it's going to result in a
more effortless swing and can therefore be easier on your arm so the second way you can get problems
with your elbow is if you have a grip size that's either too small or too big so if the grip size
is too big you're going to have to hold the racket a little bit tighter because the fingers are not
going around the racket usually there's going to be a gap between the palm of your hand and your
fingers so if you place your finger in that gap if there's too much room your grip size is too
big and therefore when you're hitting all your shots you're going to be gripping the racket
a little bit too tight and this can cause pain but interestingly also if the grip size is too
small if you ever pick up a kids racquet and try to play with it and if your hand is completely
over lapping the grip and if the fingers are over your palm this can also cause some pain so
the best way to check for the proper grip size is if you are holding the racket and you stick
your non-dominant hands index finger in this gap and if it's snuggly fitting in here that is the
correct grip size now the next thing is a super complicated thing to explain but i'm going to
do my best job to explain it so it makes sense to you guys so obviously if you play with the wrong
racket this can cause pain in the arm but since we all have different bodies we're going to be
able to play with different rackets so somebody for example that's a very strong might be able
to play with a racket that's very heavy and this might not have any effect on this type of player's
arm but someone that's maybe a little bit weaker who doesn't have as much strength maybe an elderly
player is going to have a really hard time with a heavy racket and and those type of players are going
to be better off playing with a lighter racquet when it comes to racket stiffness this is where
it gets really complex because a stiff racket that's also light this might be a good choice for
some players who are not very strong for example elderly players this is exactly how these rackets
are made usually there are oversized rackets with a bigger head size they're very light usually
around 260 270 grams and they're also very stiff so in other words that type of racket is going to
be very responsive it's not going to require a lot of strength to swing the racket on the other hand
there's going to be some stiff rackets that are more for the advanced level and these might be
a little bit more difficult to play with if you're a recreational player so you have to be careful
if you play with a babolat racket for example the pure drive or the aero this is a racket that
a lot of juniors use this is a racket that a lot of professional players use but i have seen
some players at the recreational level struggle with these type of racquets especially if they're
strung tight so you have to take different factors into consideration when you're talking about a
stiff racket and make sure that you're looking at the rackets weight make sure that you're looking
at the rackets head size before deciding whether you should play with it or not interestingly if
you get a softer frame a very flexible frame this is often marketed as a racket that's good for the
arm but i have seen a lot of players struggle with these type of rackets as well as well
and get tennis elbow as a result of it so there you have to be careful as well usually if you
play with a racket that's softer it's going to be less responsive you're going to have to swing a
lot harder at the ball and this might be tough on the arm however there's a lot of players even at
the recreational level who are very comfortable playing with a softer frame such as the wilson
blade for example these are softer rackets they're more flexible and players are usually
quite comfortable with those rackets as well so it gets really complex when you're talking
about rackets the best thing that you can do is test different rackets out and see how your arm
responds to them and now let's get to the number one culprit when it comes to pain in your elbow
and that is the way the rackets are strung so let me get something real quick i'll be right back
all right guys so here's what happens when you send your racket over to get strung
and this only applies to polyester strings which happens to be the most popular string
even at the recreational level so this does not apply to synthetic gut or natural gut this only
applies to polyester so here we have a spring from a pen if i pull on the string lightly
you can see it snaps back in place right so this is the same way the strings are going to behave
if they're strung properly however what happens with most string jobs is that the strings get over
stretched and you can see here that this spring does not snap back in place this
is exactly what's happening to your strings when they get strung too tight or when they
get over stretched the string is therefore dead it will play dead you will not get enough power
and this is the major cause for tennis elbow all across the globe so the best thing you can do to
prevent tennis elbow or if you already have it to make it go away is start stringing your rackets
looser do not string the racket over 52 pounds if you have regular polyester string if you play
with the professional grade polyester the copolymers i would even go below 45 pounds
do not be afraid the racket is not going to be too loose personally i string my rackets at 36 pounds
if i'm playing a match i might string it a little bit tighter at 40 and i play with a monofilament
polyester string which is a little bit more old school if you're more interested in finding out
what type of polyester strings exist on the market check out my video titled my string guide
now when you walk into the pro shop to get your racket strung you're going to have to be brave
when you tell them to string it at 35 pounds because i guarantee you they're going to come
back at you saying it's going to be too loose but the best thing you can do is try it out
i can tell you that these type of strings perform really well when they're strung loosely so the
best thing you can do is give it a shot so guys the first thing you got to do when you have
pain in your elbow is consult with your doctor there's certain remedies that they're going to
prescribe maybe you're going to take some medications maybe you're going to get a bandage
for your arm all these things are very helpful but it doesn't hurt to try some of the things
that i suggested in this video make sure that you work hard on your technique so it's fundamentally
sound make sure you're playing with the correct grip size make sure the racket feels comfortable
you're not playing with a racket that's wrong for you and most importantly don't be afraid
to play with polyester strings these strings are okay but only if they're strung correctly
do not be afraid to string your racket loosely i know my evidence is anecdotal but
many of the students that i teach in person have received the same recommendations that
i just gave to you and these players were able to get rid of their pain so in addition
to doing everything you need to do to get rid of your arm pain that's prescribed by a doctor
give some of these things a try and hopefully you'll get to play tennis pain-free