[spd2918]

I love pickleball and played a lot. I developed tennis elbow by either holding the paddle too tightly or by bad stroke technique. I am now mostly healed and want to play again.

Are there any instructors out there that overcame tennis elbow? I would like some instruction so I don't reinjure myself.

[OpusX1]

When it happened to me I used the elbow brace for a while then I learned to play the soft game, took a lot off easy smashes and played a position game. My elbow quit hurting and my win percentage increased a lot.

[Topspinmo]

IMO Usually causes by the elbow to far away from body and not keep the wrist cocked back till after contact (deep V) when hitting balls from backcourt which from bad stroke technique that pulls strain on crazy bone nerve. ( Usually called flying elbow)

I suggest you watch several instructors on utube on grip ( usually continental for backhand and continental or eastern grip for forehand depend on you’re skill level? Utube is great, you can learn something in weeks where use to take months.

This injury also may be from another sport like golf, tennis, and racketball? Not going to be easy changing you stroke once you been playing awhile, you really have to practice the swing to hopefully change it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJUKLbzM0Bo

You can see other examples to right, choose one that beat fits you’re level.

[VApeople]

I had golfer's elbow in 1995. I changed to graphite shafts and the pain went away and has never come back.

[La lamy]

I'm not an instructor, but I too had tennis elbow. After taking time off I tried many things like elbow and forearm braces, but the best was going to a lighter paddle, increasing the grip size, and not playing more than 2 hours each day. All the best to you and your elbow.

[roob1]

Get a TheraBand Flexbar (Amazon) for prevention, and use it daily. Be careful of pushing it too far if tennis elbow present, or risk tendon tear. (Or worse an elbow ligament tear).

Been there, done that!

[Bay Kid]

30 years ago I had an operation for tennis elbow then I went to therapy. What I learned is a strong elbow is the best. Do your exercises!

[Laker14]

I am not an instructor, but I've been there with the tennis and golf elbow. My suggestions:
1. As TopsinMo suggests, find an instructor and learn a good grip, and good stroke.
2. As La lemy says, make sure your paddle is the right weight, and correct grip size
3. there are numerous Youtube videos from physical therapists teaching a variety of exercises you can do to help
4. I use a forearm brace. The one I use is called a "Band-it". I use it for golf and pickle, whether my elbow is bothering me or not.
5. LISTEN TO YOUR BODY- Again as La lemy suggests, don't overdo it. I have found that I should quit BEFORE I'm sore and exhausted. Many times I quit while feeling I could play a "few more", but as afternoon comes, I am usually glad I quit when I did, as my body starts to feel things it didn't feel while I was hot and moving. I believe this allows me to play more days of the week.
6. Take rest/recovery days
7. Don't try to hit too many hard serves or hard shots for that matter. Better pickleball is more of a finesse game. Hard drives from the baseline might work in the Advanced Beginner or early Intermediate levels, but as you approach higher Intermediate and Advanced, you'll find that a steady diet of drives from the baseline isn't effective, and wears your arm out faster.

OP, if you don't mind sharing, how old are you, are you rated, what level of open play do you seek out? Male or female? Do you have a strong racket background? (Tennis, ping pong, racketball, platform tennis?)

Good luck.

[spd2918]

Thanks for all the replies. So far I've taken 8 months off and did physical therapy to regain strength. I miss the game terribly.

I've tried different braces with little to no improvement. The therapist suggested to not use them after my treatment.

I recently purchased a paddle from Engage. I told them of my injury and they selected a paddle to fit me and my playing style. Id love to find an instructor who had worked through tennis elbow themselves.

Originally Posted by Laker14

OP, if you don't mind sharing, how old are you, are you rated, what level of open play do you seek out? Male or female? Do you have a strong racket background? (Tennis, ping pong, racketball, platform tennis?)

Good luck.

I'm a 52 yr old man rated at a 3.0. I have little racket experience. I know I was gripping my paddle too tightly and snapping my wrist. I need to learn to hit more from my shoulder.

I like the soft game and need to concentrate on that. My goal is to play every weekday and enter a tournament or 2.

[Laker14]

Originally Posted by spd2918

Thanks for all the replies. So far I've taken 8 months off and did physical therapy to regain strength. I miss the game terribly.

I've tried different braces with little to no improvement. The therapist suggested to not use them after my treatment.

I recently purchased a paddle from Engage. I told them of my injury and they selected a paddle to fit me and my playing style. Id love to find an instructor who had worked through tennis elbow themselves.




I'm a 52 yr old man rated at a 3.0. I have little racket experience. I know I was gripping my paddle too tightly and snapping my wrist. I need to learn to hit more from my shoulder.

I like the soft game and need to concentrate on that. My goal is to play every weekday and enter a tournament or 2.

I wouldn't be that hung up on whether the instructor worked through the problem himself (or herself). After all, their technique and conditioning may have been good enough to prevent them from having the problem in the first place.
My bet is the most instructors have had pupils with the problem, who they've helped.
It's a great game. I hope you get this rectified soon.

[Flyers999]

A couple years ago I got both tennis elbow (right) and golf elbow (left), from playing both tennis and golf. I healed both with staminapro patches. Get the large ones. The ones on amazon are a collage of sizes, if you want just large, you'll have to get them from their website.

[racquetdude]

I hear some players are trying a touchtennis foam ball and using a 21 inch racquet. The foam ball bounces higher, and is more comfortable to hit.