Elbow Braces-Learn the Truth

Elbow Braces- Learn the Truth

· An elbow brace or arm strap won’t heal your tennis elbow. It will allow you to hit tennis balls without the pain that comes from hitting a tennis ball when you have tennis elbow.

This may sound like a good thing, but when you start to use an elbow brace you are really starting down a slippery slope that almost always leads to quitting tennis. You won’t be able to play as well as before, and you will almost certainly not try to rehabilitate your damaged elbow.

I have been playing and coaching tennis for more than 60 years. I have seen several people who developed tennis elbow from playing tennis decide to use an elbow brace or arm strap to allow them to be able to keep on playing. Invariably, they never try to rehabilitate their elbow. They keep on using the same racket and strings they were using when they developed tennis elbow. What usually happens when someone starts using an elbow brace is they play less frequently. Often they give up playing singles: eventually they just give up playing.

Perhaps this should not be surprising since there is no “popular” method or information on how to rehabilitate a tennis elbow. When someone develops tennis elbow their friends tell them to buy an elbow brace and keep on playing.

Recently, I had a conversation with Betty, one of the best players in her club, who for a year or so has been wearing an elbow brace when she plays. I remarked to her that I hadn’t seen her play singles in a long time. She said she had only been playing doubles because she had to hit too many balls when she played singles and it would be too much for her elbow. I told her she should get rid of her elbow problem and get back to playing singles. She doubted she would be able to play without her elbow brace: she said she had tried a few times and each time her elbow hurt so much she had to put the elbow brace back on. The elbow brace has done nothing to eliminate her tennis elbow. Has her tennis elbow gotten worse since she has been using the elbow brace? I don’t know, but I would bet that it has.

If you rehab your elbow you will be able to play without an elbow brace! You also might need to reduce the shock to your elbow when you hit a tennis ball. If you have developed tennis elbow from playing tennis and are using a racket model an ATP or WTA professional uses you definitely should make a change. If you are using a type of string that is designed for maximum durability, you should use a different type of string. If you have been stringing your racket tightly to give you more control, you should string it at 5 lbs. less tension. You may think I don’t want to have less control, but you will find you have more control than if you use an elbow brace when you play. If you use an elbow brace when you play it is highly unlikely you will take any steps to reduce the shock to your elbow when you hit a tennis ball.

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How do you get tennis elbow from playing tennis?

Each time you hit a tennis ball it creates a shock on your elbow. If the shock is severe enough and it happens often enough, your elbow can become so sore you simply can’t bear to hit a ball anymore. Using an elbow brace may allow you to “live” with the pain while you are playing, even though you are continuing to further damage your elbow.

IMy personal tennis elbow experiences

I have had tennis elbow three times. Once when I was around 30 years old, The second when I was 37, and the third recently at the age of 74.

My first elbow problem

I was playing tennis almost every day. Either competing, practicing or coaching my daughter. A new racket came out endorsed by Ken Rosewall. I tried it and fell in love with it. It was a dream to hit with. I could do everything well with it. Groundstrokes, volleys, serve, and touch shots. It felt very easy on my arm when I was playing, but after a few weeks my elbow felt sore the next day. When I broke strings on the racket and had to go back to one of the rackets I had been using before I switched to the “Rosewall” racket, I discovered that there was no elbow pain the next day. Reluctantly I concluded I had to give up using the “Rosewall” racket I loved. Even today more that 40 years later I remember how good it felt to play with that racket while I was playing. It still puzzles me how it could feel so easy on my elbow while I was playing but would cause my elbow to be sore afterwards.

My second elbow problem

Several years later I developed an elbow pain that was so severe I had to stop playing.

I was out of action for a few months of playing. I was still coaching a clinic for girls in the Washington DC area and one day one of the parents showed me her new T-2000 Jimmy Conners racket that had recently been introduced. I borrowed her racket to use in the clinic. I was amazed that I could use it and have NO pain. I couldn’t control the ball very well with this racket, but I could play tennis. Needless to say I bought a couple of Wilson T-2000 rackets and went back to competing. I won several tournaments with these rackets, including a Viirginia State championship. However, I really didn’t like the racket and a couple of years later I was relieved to discover I could use a different racket that I liked better without causing a pain in my elbow.

My third (Last?) elbow problem

A few months ago (March 2008) I was playing in a doubles match. I had been using my hard-to-start chain saw for the previous few days, and my elbow was tender from pulling on the cord frequently to start the motor.

One of the men on the other team frequently hit the ball hard with a lot of topspin. I hit too many shots out of the racket “sweet spot”.

After the first 2 sets I had to quit because my elbow hurt so badly I couldn’t bear to hit a backhand. I could somewhat (barely) tolerate hitting a forehand. We shook hands and I discovered that I couldn’t because it was too painful. I had to shake hands with my left hand.

I went home and began to rehabilitate my elbow by icing it frequently. I wanted to get back to playing tennis as soon as I could.

I quit using my chain saw. Actually, I had no choice because my elbow wouldn’t allow me to start it, and I wasn’t able to start it with my other arm.

A friend recommended I use an elbow brace so I went to the local branch of a National sports store and bought one. While there, I saw an item for less than $15 that gave me an idea. It wasn’t sold to rehabilitate tennis elbow, but I had an idea it could.

I used the elbow brace to allow me to conduct a Cardio Tennis clinic. I tried to play with it once but gave it up in disgust because I was unable to control my shots. I love to play tennis, but I think I would give it up if I had to use an elbow brace when I played.

I continued to use my $15 purchase to rehabilitate my elbow and it seemed to be working.

I started hitting tennis balls without an elbow brace to evaluate how my ideas for elbow therapy and rehabilitation were progressing. At first, I wasn’t able to hit my backhand with topspin or come-over the ball on my forehand or crank-up my serve, but overall I was encouraged with my progress. After about a week my forehand was back and I was willing to serve a little faster because it didn’t hurt when I did so.

After less than 3 weeks later, I was back to cranking out aces and coming over the ball on both forehand and backhand. In short, I was fully back. All the while I continued rehabilitating my elbow when I was driving in the car with the device I bought for less than $15. More info

Richard Macatee