The Best Golf Elbow Exercises for Treating and Preventing Pain

Did you know that each year roughly 24.8 million play golf? While there’s no denying that this game is a blast, it’s important to remember that there are some potential occupational hazards that come when you play it.

Specifically, a condition called golf elbow. But what exactly is this condition? And what are the best golf elbow exercises for minimizing the pain associated with it?

If you want to discover the answer to these questions, you’re in the perfect place. In this guide, we’ll teach a variety of exercises that can help with golf elbow and even prevent it in the future. Let’s get started!

What Is a Golf Elbow?

Golf elbow, which is officially known as medial epicondylitis, is a medical condition that’s caused by repeated, strenuous motions (like swinging a golf club).

Golf elbow occurs when people without a lot of forearm muscles suddenly use them quite a lot. The condition is not as common as the more well-known tennis elbow since it affects less than 1% of the population.

That being said, it’s particularly painful. You’ll likely notice the condition when forearm pain begins to radiate off the inside of your elbow. Eventually, if it worsens, this pain can spread down the entire length of your arm.

The good news is that this condition can often go away on its own if you give it proper rest and healing. In fact, sadly, there’s no known treatment for this condition besides waiting for it to go away.

Golf Elbow Exercises You Can Try

We know that golfers with golf elbows are likely eager to get back onto the course. However, it’s important to remember that the most important thing is patience.

If you start playing before your gold elbow has healed, then you can make the pain much worse. The great news is that there are certain exercises and stretches you can do that will promote healing and speed up the process.

In this section, we’ll go over some of the ones you should consider trying.

1. Latissimus Dorsi Stretch

For this stretch, find an object that you can rest your elbows on. A bench, couch, or chair will all work for this. Make sure that both your elbows and hands are full shoulder width apart from one another.

Then, take a golf club and hold it while you’re in this position. Lower your posterior so that you sink toward your feet, and your chest drops down to the ground.

Hold this position for around ten seconds, then repeat it fifteen times. This will strengthen the muscles found underneath your armpit.

2. Wrist Flexion Exercise

If your golf elbow is causing you a lot of pain, then this exercise can help. Place the palm of your hand (the arm that’s affected by the golf elbow) on a table. Then make a fist with it.

Put the other hand that isn’t affected on top of your fist. Now flex the affected hand up, and the other hand applies counterpressure to keep it in the same position.

Continue this hold for one minute. We recommend doing this exercise around eight times throughout the course of the day.

3. Open Book

For this exercise, get down on the ground and lie on your side. Then, bend your knees upward so that they reach your hips. Now, extend your arms far out in front of you.

Bring your hands together when they’re at shoulder height. Now lift the top exposed arm and move it until it falls to the ground on the other side. You should feel the stretch.

Once you’re done, return your hand to its original position. We recommend doing this around twenty times over the course of the day.

4. Wrist Extension Stretch

This is one of the easiest stretches on this list. Simply extend your arm. Then, begin bending your wrist up and down until you feel the tension begin to pull in both directions.

Do this stretch throughout the day whenever your golf elbow is bothering you.

5. Wrist and Forearm Soft Tissue Rolling

With this exercise, you get a tennis ball and place it under your palm. Then you begin to roll it up and down over the length of your forearm.

Do this nice and slowly fifteen times. Make sure you stop around areas that give off a lot of elbow pain. Flex your wrist around these areas and maintain some pressure.

How to Prevent Golf Elbow In the Future

If you’re recovering from a golfer's elbow, you likely want to do everything you can to prevent it in the future. So how do you do this? First, we recommend either squeezing a tennis ball (or a similar squeeze ball) or doing some lightweight lifting.

Both of these help strengthen the muscles in your forearm, which can prevent future injuries. Next, consider following this golf improvement guide to getting a better swing.

If you slow down your swing, then you absorb less shock. And proper form is much easier on your elbows. If you use iron clubs, consider switching to graphite.

Graphite is less heavy, which puts less strain on your muscles and tendons. Lastly, make sure you drink lots of water while you’re playing the game. Dehydration causes inflammation which can exasperate the golf elbow.

Ready to Play Golf? Come Visit St. Cloud Country Club

We hope this guide helped you learn some of the best golf elbow exercises for your condition. Hopefully, after doing some of the exercises on this list, you’re ready to get back out there and play.

But where’s the best place to do this? If you live near St. Cloud, MN, then look no further than the St. Cloud Country Club. In addition to a beautiful course, we also have a group of PGA professionals on staff.

These experts can help you learn to swing in a way that minimizes your golf elbow. So if you’re ready to get back out onto the greens, then contact us today.