Elbow Training for Tennis & Golfer’s Elbow

The suffix itis, as in arthritis or tendonitis, means inflammation. The prefixes arthro and tendono, give the location of the inflammatory disease. The latter being the tendon and the former in the joint. Therefore, arthritis means joint inflammation and tendonitis refers to inflammation in the tendon. We see itises in various other structures in the body, like bursitis, colitis, plantar fasciitis, and hepatitis. 

One common itis we assess and treat in our clinical practices is elbow tendonitis, more commonly known as tennis elbow or golfer’s elbow depending on the location of the affected area. 

The best remedy for an itis is movement. Movement allows blood and healthy tissues to infiltrate the area. Stimulating the joints and connective tissues with pain-free motion will help reduce inflammation and drive adaptation. 

One simple movement to implement is the rotation of the joint. Rotation affects the deepest structures of the joint, ie, joint capsule and rotational muscles of that joint.

This video demonstrates a simple means to rotate the elbow in both supination and pronation (the fundamental ranges of motion that an elbow joint needs for healthy function) to help combat elbow tendonitis. 

I recommend doing the exercise, or a similar one, using a very light weight and doing it for 60 seconds to start with. This time frame should allow for enough work to draw blood to the area and stimulate the area over time to help mitigate inflammation and pain. 

Another great means we use in a clinical and training setting for dealing with irises is using isometric exercises. We’ll get into this more in the future. 

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Elbow Training for Tennis and Golfer’s Elbow (Feel free to do this training 3x a week):

1x60 seconds of supination

1x60 seconds of pronation 

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