It’s perfect tennis weather. You’re feeling in a winning mood. You’re enjoying a sustained volley when your opponent sends back the ball hard. It’s a drive shot straight to the middle of the court. “I’ll put a spin on this one and surprise him,” you say as you reach for the ball. Bam. The racket connects with the ball and suddenly you feel a fierce pain in the elbow. It’s as if a huge bulldog had gotten hold of your arm. You rest for a few minutes until the hurt begins to subside and then you finish the game. That night the pain is still there. It is a dull throb. You’ve got it. The scourge of the tennis court. Tennis elbow.

The strange thing is you don’t even have to pick up a racket to get tennis elbow. Playing golf, laying bricks, or carrying a bag of groceries can cause this as well. The pain results from placing a strain on the elbow joint. This involves the ligament which allows you to rotate your hand and forearm. Frequently, it is associated with tendinitis of the shoulder, fibrositis of the back, and other collagenous degenerative conditions.

It can strike hard and fast or it can come on gradually. Typically there’s first a bit of soreness which grows and grows until you can;t even shake hands across the net with your opponent. Tennis elbow is an ailment which hits the world class player as well as the summer or weekend athlete.
Bad form, isn’t the only reason tennis elbow develops. Anytime one part of the body is asked to do more than it reasonably should, complications arise.

A study conducted on “force overloads” which zeroed in on tennis players revealed that most cases of tennis elbow in good players result from a tendency to twist the wrist while serving. Novices use the wrist and elbow for power far too often. Players can be taught how to swing and hit the ball so as to avoid certain motions which tend to perpetuate the problem. Once mastered, the problem of tennis elbow can be eliminated. Chiropractic Orthopedist and sports physicians have treated patients effectively with manipulation of the elbow along with therapy for many years. However, the best defense against tennis elbow is a keen sense of prevention.