Elbow Problems... HELP?

[T-Bird]

I have only been playing 9 months and I am just starting to play well and now I can't play at all because of my elbow.
I'm 49 years old, RHBH.
Before this started (about 3 weeks ago) I had been having shoulder issues. I wasn't sure if my shoulder pain was due to DG or just because of age, mileage, etc... I now think it was DG because as soon as my shoulder started feeling better my elbow started hurting. This suggests to me that I was doing something wrong with my throw that was hurting my shoulder and I have changed something in my throw that now causes elbow pain. It feels a lot like hyper-extension except that it actually hurts more on the back side of my elbow just above the funny bone. I took 9 days off and when I threw today at lunch it was the same. First drive, BAM (ouch). I can throw soft approach shots no problem but as soon as I put any semi-serious force on it hurts. I'm talking even trying to throw around 225ft. Under that, fine (no run-up). Anything over that hurts.
I suspect that I am "strong-arming" my throws and need to stop but I have no idea how.
I have tried altering my throw but that doesn't help either.
I am not sure if this is an injury from a single bad throw that I keep aggravating or if it's symptom of bad throwing technique altogether.

I am starting to worry that I will have to give up DG and that would seriously suck major ass.

I am going to try a longer break (3 weeks or so (GRRR)) to see if that helps.

Any suggestions are welcome.

 

[keltik1]

you have tennis elbow and it is caused by strong arming. rest, ice, stretching and ibuprofen are all that's needed. when you come back from your three week break really concentrate on using your legs and being smooth and loose with the arm. I had the same problems when I was at about the same point as you, but I'm 20 years your junior. you may want to send Mark Ellis a PM. he's in your age bracket and has plenty of advice about injury.

 

[JR]

You really should see a doctor as it could be a number of things. If it's bad tendon damage it takes at least six months to heal fully to as far as you're gonna. No playing for the winter time and you gotta get a proper diagnosis and squeeze out a rehab regimen from the doc and follow it. Especially important is to get the info about how hard and how fast you can increase the rate of rehab strenuousness. Too much too soon and you'll aggravate the problem too little and you may not heal as fast. The limits are hard to find and it's dangerous to do it yourself you could injure yourself for life.

 

[Chainchaser]

You have tendinitis. I did not play at all last year because of it. You have to learn to loosen your grip until the disc gets to about the shoulder then tighten the grip for the release. Tendinitis, believe it or not, is caused by your hand muscles and really has nothing to do with your elbow. It took me all last season and this winter to cure it and really from what i have read it is never cured completely. This year I have learned to only squeeze the disc a the hit which has been tricky and I have been getting early realeases but i am slowly learning and my elbow has little to no pain right now.

 

[JR]

using tacky discs will reduce the amount of gripping pressure needed to half hit. Meaning not getting the best distance possible but at least 420' is possible while not gripping hard all the time throughout the throw. Depending on which tendons are hit the grip you use may matter. If you are fine with the 80/20 rule of 80 % of grip pressure in the base of the thumb and 20 % in the index finger and thumb front area use that. For longevity and health not best possible results perhaps. If you can't do that but have no trouble going in loose and pinching at the last moment that is the way to go. Injured people can't have all the goodies healthy people can. How injured you are also matters how much you can pursue perfection. What perfection is i can't tell. Maybe it is 80/20 loose arm until the right pec and pinching more there making it more front of the disc balanced pressure as you approach or begin the pivot. Maybe even pinching after the pivot has started gives the best results. What do i know not being a full hitter and not having measurements?

 

[talkinsmack]

You have tendinitis. I did not play at all last year because of it. You have to learn to loosen your grip until the disc gets to about the shoulder then tighten the grip for the release. Tendinitis, believe it or not, is caused by your hand muscles and really has nothing to do with your elbow. It took me all last season and this winter to cure it and really from what i have read it is never cured completely. This year I have learned to only squeeze the disc a the hit which has been tricky and I have been getting early realeases but i am slowly learning and my elbow has little to no pain right now.

nice tip! I looked into it and I think I have a very minor case of golfers elbow. it is on the medial side. I can confirm this by touching the tendon to find the pain. I got the injury in exactly the way you described. holding a tight four finger grip on the disc. additional contributing factors include the wrist motion and other injured or tight muscles in my neck, chest and shoulder. I just watched a doctor explain how a tight grip + wrist motion + no follow through is a recipe for golfers elbow. I was already working on my follow through and the run up but all that added power just made it worse. I recommend that people untrain the wrist flick and super tight fist if they want to prevent this injury on the medial side (inside). the doctor says that a lot of people actually get this injury in the deceleration part of the throw swing so definitely follow through always.