Grip styles and elbow pain. ( golfers or tennis elbow)

[bladehunter]

I know there are many grip threads here. But I searched and haven’t seen one on this exactly.  
 

 

 

backstory. - couple months ago I injured my elbow on a wedge swing that just sucked into the ground and stopped ( wet red clay ) .  Felt instant shooting pain on inside of right elbow.  I tried to finish that 9 and after 3 more holes I couldn’t.  And I never quit mid round.  But this was bad.  
 

went to sports orthopedic doc , all scans exams done snd no tear.  Prescribed me a strict stretching routine with a theraband and ice.     Inside of a few days it felt 95% again.  But I continued to rest it.  4 weeks off with only small chips and putting , and it was good to go .   It would be tight  in the morning , but stretching and 10-15 balls at half speed and it loosened up.  
 

during all this my swing went from a fade to a draw on its own ,   Mainly because the draw is more neutral and shallow , and honestly caused no pain.  It’s as if my body was rejecting the fade.  As a beginner I hit a draw so it didn’t surprise me.  I swapped to a fade for control.     This part I’ve played with for a couple months now. No Problem.  With one exception.   Somewhere in this I has a flare up and started to associate my elbow pain with my right pinky finger and the connection to that , that runs up your arm to your elbow.  This caused me to change my grip from interlock to vardon to see what happened.  . not a huge deal.  Played with it for 4 weeks now.   No real score change etc. 
 

now on to this Saturday.   Frost delay for 2 hours .  Finally get on the range and start warming up.  Notice I’m really in a groove.  Fade is working , etc. go out and play and make it through 5 holes before I notice the elbow tightening up.  I spent the rest of the front 9 stretching it between shots , fighting off the pain.  This isn’t shooting pain like the injury. It’s more of a low twinge.  Then it hit me.  I was interlocking.  Lol.  That grip feels so natural that I had started doing it in the morning and not even realized it.  That’s how little I think about my setup or swing.  
 

 I immediately swapped mid round to the overlap , and inside of 4 swings the pain went away.  Draw came back , etc.  went out 4 over came back even.  
 

now.   Go to Monday.  I’m currently testing drivers , just for kicks I hit one ball after warmup with interlock.  Immediately feel a twinge.  Proceed to hit 60 balls overlap over the next 2 hours ( with breaks , I’m at home and have room to hit driver ) and zero issues.  Again yesterday, 60 drivers. Overlap. No issues. 
 

Now the obvious answer is “ use the overlap “.   But my brain wants to know why ?  Both grips put the pinky in a weird spot.  It’s just crazy to me that one vs the other is so different.  But I suspect I know Why.  Could it be that I use the right hand to hold the face off on a fade , therefore straining the inside of the arm/elbow doing that ?  I don’t feel as of my right hand has much control of the club with overlap. It feels like a left hand swing.  Which is fine in a way since I’m not right hand dominant.  But I’m having to relearn the fade with overlap because I can’t just hold onto the face like I did before.  
 

 

anybody else ever experienced elbow pain and  tied it to their grip ??

Edited December 22, 2020 by bladehunter

[Socrates]

Kinda related to this since it involves both my pinkie (and ring) finger and golfer's elbow.  Was getting treated for golfer elbow and one of the things that I noticed was that my two fingers were affected.  Initial injury was from using a hammer and pinkie and ring finger (right hand) had contracted after a long bout of hammering on siding.  Kinda weird, but subsided and later turned into golfer's elbow which got my attention.  Fast forward a few months and I had a cortisone shot in the elbow.  Golfer's elbow seems to be gone (2+ weeks later), but I still have a problem with tingling in the 2 fingers. 

 

Minor concern, but no biggie.  Right up until I tried to grip a club last night in my basement. Overlap grip.  It was really awkward and uncomfortable.  Doing some quick internet searches and keep coming back to some form of Ulnar Nerve Entrapment (Cubital Tunnel Syndrome?).  Kind of making me think that the elbow pain was just a symptom of something else.  I'll be calling my MD.

 

In your case your grip seems to be causing the pain.  Mine seems to be the other way around with an elbow (nerve issue) causing problems with my grip.  I haven't tried a full swing yet since it is we are in both a lockdown and knee deep in snow.  Do not like where any of this is heading.

[bladehunter]

26 minutes ago, Socrates said:

Kinda related to this since it involves both my pinkie (and ring) finger and golfer's elbow.  Was getting treated for golfer elbow and one of the things that I noticed was that my two fingers were affected.  Initial injury was from using a hammer and pinkie and ring finger (right hand) had contracted after a long bout of hammering on siding.  Kinda weird, but subsided and later turned into golfer's elbow which got my attention.  Fast forward a few months and I had a cortisone shot in the elbow.  Golfer's elbow seems to be gone (2+ weeks later), but I still have a problem with tingling in the 2 fingers. 

 

Minor concern, but no biggie.  Right up until I tried to grip a club last night in my basement. Overlap grip.  It was really awkward and uncomfortable.  Doing some quick internet searches and keep coming back to some form of Ulnar Nerve Entrapment (Cubital Tunnel Syndrome?).  Kind of making me think that the elbow pain was just a symptom of something else.  I'll be calling my MD.

 

In your case your grip seems to be causing the pain.  Mine seems to be the other way around with an elbow (nerve issue) causing problems with my grip.  I haven't tried a full swing yet since it is we are in both a lockdown and knee deep in snow.  Do not like where any of this is heading.

Wow.  Yep.  Best wishes for sure on that. But I agree.  It sounds familiar.  There’s no doubt that the pinky especially is connected right down to the inside or the elbow.  Wiggle the pinky slowly and you can watch your lower forearm move as your pinky moves. All the way to the elbow.  It aligns with my pain point perfectly. 
 

im right there with you on the MD part.  My next  stop was back to the doc.  For now I’ll ride this grip change and see.  It’s literally like flipping a switch.  From pain to no pain. And I’m a guy who has a high pain tolerance and resistance to pain meds. Which is why I don’t take any above ibuprofen.  This is just annoying enough to make you worry.  

[Socrates]

Prior to the cortisone, the two fingers were a little sore.  Kind of hard to explain other than like an overused muscle.  Thought it was related to too much computer use since I'm on a laptop a lot.  Post injection is when the tingling started.  I'm hoping that it is just the nerve being affected by the cortisone and is giving me grief while it "heals."  Hopefully time will help, but if it were to be more than that, it could get a whole lot worse.  Nothing better than getting older and checking off a new body part that has decided to become obsolete. 

[Ri_Redneck]

For me, my RH pinky gets WAY more involved with the swing when using the Interlock grip than with the Overlap grip. I can feel it applying pressure during the swing for some reason. Don't know why. It's just what my hands want to do. I haven't had the same pain as the OP, but I find my hands work together better when I use the Overlap grip, so that's the way I go.

 

Food for thought.

 

BT

[bladehunter]

2 hours ago, Ri_Redneck said:

For me, my RH pinky gets WAY more involved with the swing when using the Interlock grip than with the Overlap grip. I can feel it applying pressure during the swing for some reason. Don't know why. It's just what my hands want to do. I haven't had the same pain as the OP, but I find my hands work together better when I use the Overlap grip, so that's the way I go.

 

Food for thought.

 

BT

Probably on to something there.  I got in a last driver session today before the cold rain storm arrives , and not a hint of pain with the overlap grip.  Although I caught myself on a practice swing interlocking.  Lol. It’s such a habit as it feels so natural at rest to do it.  I’d bet I’m clamping done with my pinky too if I’m using interlock.  

[jsn]

3 hours ago, Ri_Redneck said:

For me, my RH pinky gets WAY more involved with the swing when using the Interlock grip than with the Overlap grip. I can feel it applying pressure during the swing for some reason. Don't know why. It's just what my hands want to do. I haven't had the same pain as the OP, but I find my hands work together better when I use the Overlap grip, so that's the way I go.

 

Food for thought.

 

BT

 

I've always been an interlock player but lately noticed the same thing - when I interlock my RH pinky and LH index finger they tend to form a vice grip on the club, and I've started to get soreness / aching in the pinky. I view this as a bad omen for the future.

For some reason I just have never felt comfortable with where my pinky wants to sit naturally with an overlap grip.

When I first went interlock it was because I grabbed Greg Norman's book from the library as a kid and taught myself from there. I went back over his stuff and realized his intermesh method is not the same as the interlock I've been using nowadays. I probably unconsciously moved from the intermesh to interlock at some point and have been using it ever since.

I've given the intermesh another shot lately and it definitely feels closer to an overlap where my pinky does not need to exert as much force to hold the club. Going to give it a run and see how well it performs over the long run.

[Socrates]

If I went back to an interlock grip (I switched in about '85), I might snap off a pinkie.  Really awkward now when I've tried for fun in the past.

[YMark]

I've been battling golfer's elbow (right elbow) the last 4 months. It's gradually getting better with theraband and some stretching. Wonder if I should try the overlap grip as I'm currently using interlock. How hard is it to convert and if it promotes a draw, all the better?

[jsn]

20 hours ago, YMark said:

I've been battling golfer's elbow (right elbow) the last 4 months. It's gradually getting better with theraband and some stretching. Wonder if I should try the overlap grip as I'm currently using interlock. How hard is it to convert and if it promotes a draw, all the better?

All depends on you personally. I can hit good shots with any grip I've tried but it's very hard for me to retrain the subconscious act of gripping the club in my routine. Even if I set out to use overlap for a day I'll invariably catch myself using interlock - but only after hitting a shot.

[Soloman1]

I think of five grips:

1. 2-hand - good for people with sore fingers! Ha! should match one-hand (either) dominant at impact.

2. trail pinkie resting on top of lead index finger - matches players who are lead hand dominant at release with trail hand is more on top. Players using more vertical forces.

3. trail pinkie overlapping and hooking around lead index finger - matches players who may use both hands at release with trail hand on the side or more under the grip, some vertical forces.

4. Same as 3 except lead index finger is popped up between trail ring and pinkie fingers - matches trail hand at side of grip so trail palm is aligned with clubface. Player with more aggressive rotation and a hitter, extension release.

5. interlock - matches trail hand more on top, vertical forces, more handle rotation and both hands active at impact, corner release.

 

 I have incredibly bad, painful hands from being a geezer and hitting 4 gazillion balls in my life. I think my hands now form a golf grip just standing around. I have to down Ibuprofen, put on some stinky menthol stuff then put on tape with a pre-preg prescription medicine in it about an hour before I play.

 

I'm weird. I will use interlock if I need to hit a big fade with any club. Use number 2 for a stock shot.

 

Good luck with the hand pain...

[Murdock]

On 12/22/2020 at 9:02 AM, bladehunter said:

I know there are many grip threads here. But I searched and haven’t seen one on this exactly.  
 

 

 

backstory. - couple months ago I injured my elbow on a wedge swing that just sucked into the ground and stopped ( wet red clay ) .  Felt instant shooting pain on inside of right elbow.  I tried to finish that 9 and after 3 more holes I couldn’t.  And I never quit mid round.  But this was bad.  
 

went to sports orthopedic doc , all scans exams done snd no tear.  Prescribed me a strict stretching routine with a theraband and ice.     Inside of a few days it felt 95% again.  But I continued to rest it.  4 weeks off with only small chips and putting , and it was good to go .   It would be tight  in the morning , but stretching and 10-15 balls at half speed and it loosened up.  
 

during all this my swing went from a fade to a draw on its own ,   Mainly because the draw is more neutral and shallow , and honestly caused no pain.  It’s as if my body was rejecting the fade.  As a beginner I hit a draw so it didn’t surprise me.  I swapped to a fade for control.     This part I’ve played with for a couple months now. No Problem.  With one exception.   Somewhere in this I has a flare up and started to associate my elbow pain with my right pinky finger and the connection to that , that runs up your arm to your elbow.  This caused me to change my grip from interlock to vardon to see what happened.  . not a huge deal.  Played with it for 4 weeks now.   No real score change etc. 
 

now on to this Saturday.   Frost delay for 2 hours .  Finally get on the range and start warming up.  Notice I’m really in a groove.  Fade is working , etc. go out and play and make it through 5 holes before I notice the elbow tightening up.  I spent the rest of the front 9 stretching it between shots , fighting off the pain.  This isn’t shooting pain like the injury. It’s more of a low twinge.  Then it hit me.  I was interlocking.  Lol.  That grip feels so natural that I had started doing it in the morning and not even realized it.  That’s how little I think about my setup or swing.  
 

 I immediately swapped mid round to the overlap , and inside of 4 swings the pain went away.  Draw came back , etc.  went out 4 over came back even.  
 

now.   Go to Monday.  I’m currently testing drivers , just for kicks I hit one ball after warmup with interlock.  Immediately feel a twinge.  Proceed to hit 60 balls overlap over the next 2 hours ( with breaks , I’m at home and have room to hit driver ) and zero issues.  Again yesterday, 60 drivers. Overlap. No issues. 
 

Now the obvious answer is “ use the overlap “.   But my brain wants to know why ?  Both grips put the pinky in a weird spot.  It’s just crazy to me that one vs the other is so different.  But I suspect I know Why.  Could it be that I use the right hand to hold the face off on a fade , therefore straining the inside of the arm/elbow doing that ?  I don’t feel as of my right hand has much control of the club with overlap. It feels like a left hand swing.  Which is fine in a way since I’m not right hand dominant.  But I’m having to relearn the fade with overlap because I can’t just hold onto the face like I did before.  
 

 

anybody else ever experienced elbow pain and  tied it to their grip ??

 

Sorry to rehash a semi-old thread, but I've spent the last 2 nights looking for anecdotal evidence on the same exact thing you are mentioning.  I've went back and forth between interlocking and overlapping (my overlap isn't a 'true' overlap, my pinky sits in the crease between my index and ring finger and not on top of index finger) for years.  

 

I've been dealing with a pretty bad bout of golfers elbow and during this time, my instructor told me to get my trail hand (right hand) more on top of the grip (neutral/weak).  So I was using various training aides to 'force' me to do this.  During this time, it seemed to me that if I went back to an interlock grip, I was able to keep my hand more neutral and prevent it from slipping/sliding to a strong position.  Fast forward, and my elbow hurts like h*ll.  In addition, I was testing new shafts at PGASS and Edwin Watts, hitting off mats, and at that same time I went from having a draw to a pure block.  One of the instructors there (that I know) said "you just have to rotate and close the face more".  Doing this seemed to REALLY hurt the elbow.  

 

So, I tried to just do practice swings and see what may have been causing the tension in the elbow.  Seemed to me that the over rotation of my trail hand near the top of my swing and more so on the downswing (to close the face - for reference), put my arm/wrist in a stressed position, and it seemed even worse with the interlock grip as it makes me inadvertently grip the club harder with that hand.  I read on another post that someone's PT said that the interlock grip pulls on the pinky finger and thus, can cause/aggravate golfers elbow.  Haven't hit a ton of balls going back to the overlap grip, but did seem to allow me to have less pressure/grip force on my right hand, which in turn should help golfers elbow?

 

In any event, OP, have you seen a difference in your elbow pain since switching?  I don't really want to reinvent the wheel with my swing/grip and I did switch back to SteelFibers, but that didn't seem to cure things 'overnight' while still using the interlock grip.  Time will tell about graphite/vardon grip combination.  

 

[Rbsiedsc]

I am struggling with this too. Any consistency of no pain still with the Vardon grip? I am looking into switching. 

[bladehunter]

On 9/15/2021 at 11:07 PM, Murdock said:

 

Sorry to rehash a semi-old thread, but I've spent the last 2 nights looking for anecdotal evidence on the same exact thing you are mentioning.  I've went back and forth between interlocking and overlapping (my overlap isn't a 'true' overlap, my pinky sits in the crease between my index and ring finger and not on top of index finger) for years.  

 

I've been dealing with a pretty bad bout of golfers elbow and during this time, my instructor told me to get my trail hand (right hand) more on top of the grip (neutral/weak).  So I was using various training aides to 'force' me to do this.  During this time, it seemed to me that if I went back to an interlock grip, I was able to keep my hand more neutral and prevent it from slipping/sliding to a strong position.  Fast forward, and my elbow hurts like h*ll.  In addition, I was testing new shafts at PGASS and Edwin Watts, hitting off mats, and at that same time I went from having a draw to a pure block.  One of the instructors there (that I know) said "you just have to rotate and close the face more".  Doing this seemed to REALLY hurt the elbow.  

 

So, I tried to just do practice swings and see what may have been causing the tension in the elbow.  Seemed to me that the over rotation of my trail hand near the top of my swing and more so on the downswing (to close the face - for reference), put my arm/wrist in a stressed position, and it seemed even worse with the interlock grip as it makes me inadvertently grip the club harder with that hand.  I read on another post that someone's PT said that the interlock grip pulls on the pinky finger and thus, can cause/aggravate golfers elbow.  Haven't hit a ton of balls going back to the overlap grip, but did seem to allow me to have less pressure/grip force on my right hand, which in turn should help golfers elbow?

 

In any event, OP, have you seen a difference in your elbow pain since switching?  I don't really want to reinvent the wheel with my swing/grip and I did switch back to SteelFibers, but that didn't seem to cure things 'overnight' while still using the interlock grip.  Time will tell about graphite/vardon grip combination.  

 

Short answer is. The graphite move seems to have made the biggest difference.  But it did take 3 months to be pain free.  But I also am one who hits a lot of balls due to my ability to hit balls at home ( farm ) . So I’d say cold turkey no swings you can be pain free in a month or two tops with a swap to graphite.    
 

I also still stretch with the theraband daily , and now use their resistance bands for more stretching and exercises.  I added in a 1 lb jump rope regimen last week which I can already tell is strengthening the area more. It’s a combo of things I guess is the point.  But no mats , and no steel for me since December.  I’ve played a full tournament schedule and have had no pain.  I’m tempted to go back to steel. But am hesitant because of the pain I had.  
 

steel is still king on one category. Spin.  I was a fairly high spin player.  And it’s been hard to adjust to alot less spin. I can hold greens. But I mostly mean shortgame.  I have had to figure out how to chip , pitch and play from sand again.  Which I have mastered. But not having that pull back shot or the checker from a bunker hurts sometimes. To combat this   I’ve adjusted to a great in between ball that adds some spin to irons and wedges and yet not to driver. Or not much. Tour B x fits that bill. 

Edited September 21, 2021 by bladehunter

[Hawkeye77]

I still use steel in my wedges, but graphite in my irons and that's the way it was before my elbow surgery February of 2020.  Last year was okay, this year has been tons better, but I won't go back to steel in my irons and will switch to graphite in the wedges when I need new ones.  I don't practice as much as I should, lol, so not a problem and wedge practice is strictly less than full shots and typically just 60 yards and in.

 

I'm one who needed surgery and still have twinges, but nothing that stops me playing or requires attention so far.  Not sure it will ever be 100%, but it's probably 90-95% and playing doesn't cause problems.  

 

I've actually found that learning proper wrist movements in transition has been a big factor in pain not coming back, so don't discount that.  

Edited September 20, 2021 by Hawkeye77

[Murdock]

On 9/19/2021 at 12:59 PM, Rbsiedsc said:

I am struggling with this too. Any consistency of no pain still with the Vardon grip? I am looking into switching. 

It's hard for me to tell, because I've also switched to graphite shafts, so I've changed 2 variables.  I hit maybe 40 balls the other night at the range with overlap grip and then played 18 holes the following day with an interlock, and I didn't see a ton of difference.  YMMV though.  

 

4 hours ago, Hawkeye77 said:

 

 

I've actually found that learning proper wrist movements in transition has been a big factor in pain not coming back, so don't discount that.  

Could you elaborate a little more on the wrist movements you're referencing @Hawkeye77?  I'm thinking this route, along with switching to graphite, would be a logical approach since golfer's elbow stems from the wrist/hand/finger....so would be useful for many of us (including me).   

[Hawkeye77]

37 minutes ago, Murdock said:

It's hard for me to tell, because I've also switched to graphite shafts, so I've changed 2 variables.  I hit maybe 40 balls the other night at the range with overlap grip and then played 18 holes the following day with an interlock, and I didn't see a ton of difference.  YMMV though.  

 

Could you elaborate a little more on the wrist movements you're referencing @Hawkeye77?  I'm thinking this route, along with switching to graphite, would be a logical approach since golfer's elbow stems from the wrist/hand/finger....so would be useful for many of us (including me).   

I've been a lead with the right shoulder, early release, sort of hold on, etc. my whole life - working on ideas ala Monte re using my wrists properly in transition I found that when I'm gripping my club and my wrists are being used correctly there seemed to be less stress on my elbow.  I guess that's the best way to put it.  I'm pretty sure a lot of my elbow issues over time developed from years of doing it wrong, at least for me.  Whether that does help anyone else, I can't say, but trying to explain what I used to do vs. what I try to do now.  I noticed it more last year coming off surgery and though the season - gripping my club in certain positions hurt, gripping it in others really didn't as I found out.  First started noticing when I was given clearance for little wedge swings around the green about 6 weeks post-surgery and then confirmed as summer moved on with practicing movements on the range.  That's just my experience.  Unfortunately I can't say it has been medically verified, so take it for what it is worth and always rely on your own medical professionals, I'm not trying to give medical advice just explaining my observations.  Mine isn't verified because my surgery left me with some numbness in my thumb and first two and one-half fingers of my left hand which after 19 months I'm assuming is permanent but who knows - doctor first ducked in an obvious way any questions about it a week after surgery and then at a follow up visit tried to tell me that magically and overnight from the time I had surgery until the nerve block wore off the next day that I developed carpal tunnel syndrome.  Never went back to see him.  

[Haroputt]

I have similar issues with my right hand grip . I used interlock primarily , but lately I like to have my right pinkie on the grip , I have to move my left hand to baseball style  Notice that I have been doing this with the wedges.

With my right pinkie on the grip handle I feel I can get my right arm in proper position for the irons   Sometimes my right elbow "flys"  when I interlock and when I use baselball  right elbow is more "tucked"    There nothing wrong with flying elbow as Nicklaus had this , but for me I cant hit my wedges and short irons as crispy without a "tucked" elbow 

I been using both grips in my round  without really thinking about it . As my clubs get longer shaft I use my right arm less for the follow thru and my left arm dominant , For the driver it seems like my left side side body dominant more that the right arm for the followthrough.  I tried the Varnum grip but it felt like to was all left arm without other parts of the body involved  to power the swing

[Murdock]

On 9/20/2021 at 10:06 PM, Hawkeye77 said:

I've been a lead with the right shoulder, early release, sort of hold on, etc. my whole life - working on ideas ala Monte re using my wrists properly in transition I found that when I'm gripping my club and my wrists are being used correctly there seemed to be less stress on my elbow.  I guess that's the best way to put it.  I'm pretty sure a lot of my elbow issues over time developed from years of doing it wrong, at least for me.  Whether that does help anyone else, I can't say, but trying to explain what I used to do vs. what I try to do now.  I noticed it more last year coming off surgery and though the season - gripping my club in certain positions hurt, gripping it in others really didn't as I found out.  First started noticing when I was given clearance for little wedge swings around the green about 6 weeks post-surgery and then confirmed as summer moved on with practicing movements on the range.  That's just my experience.  Unfortunately I can't say it has been medically verified, so take it for what it is worth and always rely on your own medical professionals, I'm not trying to give medical advice just explaining my observations.  Mine isn't verified because my surgery left me with some numbness in my thumb and first two and one-half fingers of my left hand which after 19 months I'm assuming is permanent but who knows - doctor first ducked in an obvious way any questions about it a week after surgery and then at a follow up visit tried to tell me that magically and overnight from the time I had surgery until the nerve block wore off the next day that I developed carpal tunnel syndrome.  Never went back to see him.  

 

No worries, I understand you don't want to take the liability for someone else's issues, or cause theirs to be worse.  I was never looking for that, more so just your personal experience. Because you never know if what you have implemented might help me.  

 

But, based on what you've said I have a similar swing, although over the last year or so I've been really trying to eliminate the right shoulder lead (or over the top move, if I'm hearing you correctly).  I have purchased and watched a bunch of Monte's stuff, but I'm curious what exactly are you referring to when he's referencing the wrist position?  The no-turn cast?  Or the wedge series?  Or something else entirely?

 

I was applying the no turn cast approach, in general, along with some other info I've read, to try and bow the lead/left wrist more at varying times during the swing (i.e. sometimes at takeaway by using a stronger grip, other times at transition...I've never been good at bowing it on downswing) and I'm wondering if this might be causing some of my issues...especially with the interlock.  When I try and bow the lead/left wrist, and I'm using an interlock with a neutral to semi-strong grip, that's what seems to torque my elbow, but on the flip side it surely shortens the swing (I had and probably still do to a certain extent have an overswing at times) which in turn makes my irons more crisp.  All anecdotal on my part, and what I feel may not be exactly what's occuring...I need to take some more video and LM data to determine.  

[Hawkeye77]

It’s getting cast A correct and then down and through for me with a good release. 

[gator022]

Has anyone totally figured out the variables here causing the issue?

 

At 38, never in my life did I think I'd be considering graphite iron shafts and wearing a "tennis" elbow brace from CVS.  But I am.

 

I'm trying the overlap v. interlock.  I do think that has an effect on it as @bladehunter initially suggested.  I also think the actual grips on the clubs help.  I've been using GP CP2 Pro's for years now and it's clear I can feel the vibrations on iron shots without those grips.

 

Also, has anyone tried only hitting practice balls off a tee?  Teeing it way down, likley below where you would on a par 3?  Wondering if that would help with the range sessions and the impact with the gruond?

 

Re-ordering irons right now is not the highest things on my "to buy" list, but it's looking more and more like that may be the case.  I was looking into a re-shaft but it's almost cheaper to buy a brand new set given the value of the used set plus the shafts, grips, & install.  Did you all re-shaft or re-order a fresh set?

[Murdock]

On 7/23/2022 at 10:34 PM, gator022 said:

Has anyone totally figured out the variables here causing the issue?

 

At 38, never in my life did I think I'd be considering graphite iron shafts and wearing a "tennis" elbow brace from CVS.  But I am.

 

I'm trying the overlap v. interlock.  I do think that has an effect on it as @bladehunter initially suggested.  I also think the actual grips on the clubs help.  I've been using GP CP2 Pro's for years now and it's clear I can feel the vibrations on iron shots without those grips.

 

Also, has anyone tried only hitting practice balls off a tee?  Teeing it way down, likley below where you would on a par 3?  Wondering if that would help with the range sessions and the impact with the gruond?

 

Re-ordering irons right now is not the highest things on my "to buy" list, but it's looking more and more like that may be the case.  I was looking into a re-shaft but it's almost cheaper to buy a brand new set given the value of the used set plus the shafts, grips, & install.  Did you all re-shaft or re-order a fresh set?

 

Hey, I feel you.  I am an otherwise very healthy and athletic 44 year old man, but this elbow issue has been haunting me.  

 

Here's what I have learned, this is just me personally, so YMMV.  I believe that the primary cause of the elbow pain for me was poor keyboard/mouse ergonomics.  I switched offices a few months before this began, and the pain would continue doing daily stuff, even if I wasn't hitting balls.  I ended up going to an orthopedic sports doctor, that suggested that I use Voltaren gel on the area, and let me tell you...that stuff WORKS.  It didn't beat the elbow pain by itself, but it really helps with inflammation (the source of the pain).  

 

I switched my desk/chair ergonomics, and also went to a vertical mouse and a tented keyboard.  Didn't seem to do anything at first, but over time it has helped (I'm assuming this was the case, as nothing else I did seemed to help).  I'm probably at 85% now, but still using Steelfiber shafts, because I thought I was 'healed' and got a set with steel shafts, and after about 5 swings my elbow was as worse as it ever had been.  This was after taking 3 months off after seeing the doctor...so you can imagine how frustrated I was.  

 

When it was at its worst, no brace would do anything, especially during play.  I tried all sorts of braces and the best one I found was from Bauerfeld.  I think the reason this worked so well was there is a semi-rigid plastic part on the opposite side of the brace, so the brace has something rigid to counterforce off of.  All the other braces, there is nothing hard to push off of on the other side.   I did also hear some good things about another brace from a company called Flexxline, but they didn't have my size in stock so I never tried it.  

 

Shafts definitely do play a big part, at least until you are fully healed.  Also I do agree with grips, I found that certain grips reduced vibration and helped quite a bit.  I've settled on the Lamkin ST+2 hybrid grips and they seem to be a sweet spot between too soft and too firm.  

 

I messed around with overlap versus interlock, and honestly didn't see a big difference.  Slightly less pain with overlap, since your pinky finger isn't engaged.  But it wasn't the end all, be all, that's for sure.

 

All the exercises with the theraband are inconclusive for me.  At first, they hurt, so I knew it was doing something...but after several months, the pain during exercise (where it's stretching it out) stopped and I basically stopped as well.  One thing that did help, was an exercise that I found on plugged in golf, where the therapist said to engage the tendon and stress it isometrically.  So what you would do is hold a club (or piece of PVC, etc) and brace the outer end (head end) beneath a countertop or something and try and twist your hand until you feel the pain.  Then hold it there for up to 2 minutes.  Do this once or twice a day.  This seemed to help, as my pain came mostly from rotating my hand/wrist, rather than pronating it.   You can find the golfers elbow article on their website for more info.  

 

I did a ton of research on different methods to rehab and strengthen, when searching I'd look for 'climbers elbow', as there are many more videos and articles on that as opposed to golfers elbow.  Same exact thing though.  One climber who did a ton of research actually found it best to just push through the pain and keep doing whatever it is that hurts...as that strengthens the tendon.  You'll have to make your own determination on that.  

 

So in summary:

- get a good brace

- use voltren gel to reduce initial inflammation

- find some combination of exercises that helps YOU

- use graphite shafts and soft(er) grips until you're 110% healed

 

Hope this helps!

 

 

 

 

 

[kenstl]

found this thread while searching with my elbow issues.   I am living this right now although mine is a post elbow surgery situation.  Daunting to know that the elbows can prevent you from playing golf, always thought it would be my knee or back!