Tennis elbow and weak hand training.

[gnappi]

I'm a natural lefty, right eyed dominant, and not a large fellow.  

 

When I was around 10 (~1961) my dad (a serious country boy and outdoors man) once said: "Son C'mon we need to talk about your handicap" Well, I was in absolutely top physical condition and this word "handicap" stunned me. We sat and my dad went on to say: "Look, you're not a big guy (ultimately up to 5'4") and you're left handed and in a man's world of sports (very little LH gear was made back then) your're screwed. What I want to impress on you is these are two handicaps in sports. So, as far as that goes, you can either learn to use the tools of a larger right handed man or... stay at home with your mother and sister while I go hunting, to target practice, golf, etc." 

 

So, I learned to golf, play guitar (I STILL call it lefty thought right handed players call it right handed) and shoot right handed. 

 

In the 80's in came some severe tennis elbow on my right arm, and I had to buy left handed holsters to practice and shoot matches. Since my left arm and hand were always "stronger" I had little issues shooting with my "weak" hand... the left.  Initially my one minor obstacle was my right eye dominance which turned out to solve itself with practice drawing at home. I fitted my 1911's with ambidextrous safeties and wound up  doing fairly well till my right arm healed. Then in the 90's tennis elbow struck again and once more I was forced to shoot (and carry) with my weak hand / arm.

 

Luckily most other moderately serious injuries were to my left hand which is always used for intricate work like car repairs so my right hand has had a skate on injuries. Bad for guitar playing but good for shooting

 

Overall the tennis elbow episodes forced me to train and become nearly as proficient with my left arm as my right, and even though it was literally a pain in some ways it was a blessing. Has anyone else an injury to their dominant arm / hand which compelled them to re-train using their weaker arm / hand?

 

 

 

 

[DKnoch]

I previously had pain in my right wrist before shooting. That had bothered me since I started dryfiring, but then the elbow pain came after a while of consistent dryfire and using Grippers. The Ironmind “Expand Your Hands Bands” resolved my issues pretty quickly. I guess it works out the muscle group that does the opposite of gripping, but I don’t know much about it. I recommend getting the whole set of bands as they’re inexpensive. You’ll likely start to feel relief in a few days if your issue was like mine


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[Intheshaw1]

1 hour ago, DKnoch said:

I previously had pain in my right wrist before shooting. That had bothered me since I started dryfiring, but then the elbow pain came after a while of consistent dryfire and using Grippers. The Ironmind “Expand Your Hands Bands” resolved my issues pretty quickly. I guess it works out the muscle group that does the opposite of gripping, but I don’t know much about it. I recommend getting the whole set of bands as they’re inexpensive. You’ll likely start to feel relief in a few days if your issue was like mine


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It's the idea of training one muscle group without the compensating side can cause injury. I know about this from weightlifting but didn't think about the hands and forearms this way. I bought some grippers a week or so ago and in researching them the general consensus was to train with rubber bands too.

 

I don't have the set of bands, I just went into my desk drawer and tried a few until I found one with enough resistance. Now for ever rep I do on the grippers I do one with the rubber band.

[MemphisMechanic]

@Intheshaw1 that’s also why Chad Reilly has two exercises that work the extensors in the forearms, and two which work the flexors.  

 

Doing these daily got rid of my tendonitis issues in the elbow. Doing them twice a week keeps that pain away entirely.

 

 

[kamber]

On 3/27/2020 at 1:29 PM, MemphisMechanic said:

@Intheshaw1 that’s also why Chad Reilly has two exercises that work the extensors in the forearms, and two which work the flexors.  

 

Doing these daily got rid of my tendonitis issues in the elbow. Doing them twice a week keeps that pain away entirely.

 

 

 

I cannot second this enough. I developed some terrible tendinitis on a deployment 2 years ago in my left elbow and a milder case in my right; the same exercises shown in the video are what our physical therapists recommended in addition to some thera-band work and they've been game changers for me in both fixing my elbow issues and keeping them away ever since.

[OnnaBugeisha]

@MemphisMechanic I realize this thread is somewhat old, but wanted to thank you for posting the Chad Reilly PT video. I’ve been battling tendinitis in my left arm to the point where it is basically non-functional the day after I shoot. And compensating for the left was starting to create problems in the right. Been doing the exercises for a week now and already have SIGNIFICANT improvement. So, thanks for posting it!!!

[MemphisMechanic]

13 hours ago, OnnaBugeisha said:

@MemphisMechanic I realize this thread is somewhat old, but wanted to thank you for posting the Chad Reilly PT video. I’ve been battling tendinitis in my left arm to the point where it is basically non-functional the day after I shoot. And compensating for the left was starting to create problems in the right. Been doing the exercises for a week now and already have SIGNIFICANT improvement. So, thanks for posting it!!!

Of course! Happy it worked for you, too.

[CGoodwin]

Often the issue is an imbalance between the wrist flexors and extensors as well. Keep in mind that anytime you grip, you need an isometric contraction of the extensors to keep the wrist still. However, most often the wrist flexors are significantly stronger than the flexors, so repeated and sustained grip activities will result in strain on the extensors, primarily at the tendon attachment to the bone above the elbow.

 

Chad's general strengthening activities are great. Care must be taken in going to heavy too quickly when the elbow is symptomatic though.

[Randyflycaster]

I am now shooting with padded handball gloves.

 

Randy

[rpm8300]

The bands with different weights, every day like clock work, will really help.  I would function on functional exercises and reps - i.e. , hang a very light band over something above you, and wrap it around your hands in front of you like your gun presentation; work the up and down and slight bend and tightening of the elbow.  After many Army related injuries, I realized that you can retrain your body to allow for USPSA but you have to re-teach it to do certain things.  I would also do a little warm up prior to a match - slight band warm up, stretch, and then go.

[Pmatte1]

I do the same couple motions in the video with dumbbells. Have been for years. Fixed all my tendinitis issues by just adjusting that balance between grip and flex

[GJM]

Over the years, I would periodically get tennis elbow from shooting, sometimes quite bad. I started doing the exercises referenced in the video around five years ago, and haven't had elbow problems since. 

[Blueknight749]

I'm a young cat at 41 and I'm glad I stumbled onto this post.  Just recently I started with tennis elbow and it definitely got out of hand with the pain.  I'm gonna start implementing this ASAP!  Thanks for the video!

[Kirk]

On 3/27/2020 at 12:29 PM, MemphisMechanic said:

@Intheshaw1 that’s also why Chad Reilly has two exercises that work the extensors in the forearms, and two which work the flexors.  

 

Doing these daily got rid of my tendonitis issues in the elbow. Doing them twice a week keeps that pain away entirely.

 

 

I really appreciate you posting this. Between work, shooting, and grappling, I end up with occasional tendinitis in my left elbow. I’m going to add these exercises into my routine. 

[rennD]

My tennis elbow and plantar fasciitis haven't been back since I started taking Glucosamine Chondroitin, working out regularly, and stretching daily.

 

Per Google:

"Glucosamine and chondroitin protect cells called chondrocytes, which help maintain cartilage structure. In theory, these supplements have the potential to slow cartilage deterioration in the joints, and to reduce pain in the process."

[9mikemike]

Work on healing the right elbow. You don’t need to re-train using your left side to build muscle memory and coordination. You’ll spend more time and money developing that skill rather than working on the right elbow tendinitis. Start strengthening and stretching the muscles (if range is limited) that attach to the lateral side of the elbow when inflammation subsides. There are a lot of articles on the internet.