I want to add to the conversation on avoiding elbow pain. I have been dealing with tennis elbow pain for the first time since I started playing. It's had me a little freaked out since I am hooked on the game.
It's to the point where i can barely complete 18 holes without going home with elbow pain. I almost always throw backhand. I noticed it was mostly happening on upshots where I am throwing my putter far. Searching the forums for help, my theory was that as I fatigued toward the end of the round, I would fail to follow through, causing my elbow to stop and take a hit. It started to hurt and be hard to pick up the beer after the round, so I knew I had to do something.
Today I hit the field determined to find a stroke that would work. I found the only way I could make these 150' putter shots without the elbow hit was to keep my arm relaxed throughout the entire throwing motion. This seems to work- with a fully relaxed arm it seems effortless to have a natural follow through after the disc is gone.
I think I have been muscling the putter trying to throw it far. Gripping it with pressure throughout the stroke, activated my forearm muscles for the whole motion and did contribute to the stop of the elbow. And probably contributed to the fatigue!
With everything limber, it seemed to flow naturally around with no pain.
I'm hoping this is the ticket. My next round, I will concentrate on staying relaxed at all cost. Hopefully come home feeling good instead of hurt tendons!
Hoping this might help someone like me who is struggling to identify what is going wrong.
It's to the point where i can barely complete 18 holes without going home with elbow pain. I almost always throw backhand. I noticed it was mostly happening on upshots where I am throwing my putter far. Searching the forums for help, my theory was that as I fatigued toward the end of the round, I would fail to follow through, causing my elbow to stop and take a hit. It started to hurt and be hard to pick up the beer after the round, so I knew I had to do something.
Today I hit the field determined to find a stroke that would work. I found the only way I could make these 150' putter shots without the elbow hit was to keep my arm relaxed throughout the entire throwing motion. This seems to work- with a fully relaxed arm it seems effortless to have a natural follow through after the disc is gone.
I think I have been muscling the putter trying to throw it far. Gripping it with pressure throughout the stroke, activated my forearm muscles for the whole motion and did contribute to the stop of the elbow. And probably contributed to the fatigue!
With everything limber, it seemed to flow naturally around with no pain.
I'm hoping this is the ticket. My next round, I will concentrate on staying relaxed at all cost. Hopefully come home feeling good instead of hurt tendons!
Hoping this might help someone like me who is struggling to identify what is going wrong.