Suggestions for Disc elbow

[HarkeyPuck]

Spend some time smoothing out your technique. If you throw with clean form, you'll get a lot better distance with a lot less effort, that tends to minimize injuries and fatigue. Since I rebuilt my throw, I went from struggling to play 3-4 rounds in a day to being able to play 100+ holes a day for a week without any pain or soreness at all.

Yeah, I think I need to work on my form. The last month and a half I have not had any consistency. One day smooth and under par, the next I have more OAT than that Quaker guy!

 

[IcebergSlimD]

I wear an ACE brand tennis elbow wrap thingie. No problems since I started using it. Leaves a nice tan line though on the forearm.

 

[discordye]

Backhand is a good point, look how ya swing a tennis racket, forearm.

 

[discordye]

Sometimes my wrist hurts, mostly from not thinking about how I'm throwing.

 

[TxDiscGolfBoy]

My brother started FHing because he was getting "disc golf elbow", but in his case -- if you've ever seen his back hand -- I think it's more a problem of fixing form.

No rotation, body wise, after letting go of the disc can cause hyperextension in the throwing arm. Not good.

 

[BrotherDave]

I got my dynaflex powerball today. Took me a while to figure it out but once I got it going it was a fun little workout. I got it to help rehab my tendinitis/dg elbow and I think I might actually help.

 

[U_NICED_ME]

Dave...I didn't know you were having elbow problems, too. Mine is feeling better. I am also taking some joint supplements to help. I got really concerned when I started reading about elbows, tendonitis, and permanent damage.

 

[Mack420]

this happened to me for the first time a month ago. rehab is for quitters

 

[BrotherDave]

Dave whines about his arm.

Dave...I didn't know you were having elbow problems, too. Mine is feeling better. I am also taking some joint supplements to help. I got really concerned when I started reading about elbows, tendonitis, and permanent damage.

Last summer I had it really bad. It started off as just an annoying discomfort and I just played through it, b/c after I got warmed up it didn't feel too bad (oops). Then one round it really started hurting, especially when I was putting. Around hole 15 or so, I reached down to pick up my putter and then I had some serious pain. I couldn't even let my arm hang down freely by my side, it hurt so bad. So started a serious regiment of ice, rest, ice, rest, ice etc. for nearly 4 months until the pain went away for the most part. I kept it compressed, began some forearm stretches and played lefty for the next couple of months. After 6 months or so, I started playing again here and there, taking ibuprofen and making sure it was stretched, warm and compressed (I used some Under Armor sleeves). Still, something felt not quite right about it, even after the pain left. It felt like my ulna or radius would pop like your knuckles, especially if it was bent and bearing weight. It really wasn't until the end of winter, early spring that it finally started feeling more or less normal. It still pops sometimes, probably b/c of some arthritis in my elbow but it doesn't hurt. If I'm not following through on my drives, occasionally the tendinitis will flare up a little bit. I'm trying to strengthen my wrist and forearm so this will go away as much as possible and so that I can get some more torque on the disc. This powerball thing is crazy, it's a really good work-out actually.

 

[jeffmonty]

Ok, I'm resurrecting this thread because I'm going through this right now.
I was able to take early retirement two years ago, and went from playing 3/4 rounds per week to 10 to 12. A few months ago I began to notice a pain in my elbow, not so much when I threw, but after the round. Then it started bothering me when putting, but not so much when driving. Then it started to hurt all the time, but maybe on a scale of a 4 or 5 out of 10.

I just had it diagnosed as tennis elbow/tendonitis. I haven't played in 10 days now, it doesn't hurt much at rest, but I can tell I should'nt get out and throw yet, as I don't want to have a setback. I would be pretty devastated if I wasn't able to play. I've been doing the compression band, tendon stretches, and ice. I think I just need to do those things, be patient, and try to heal it before getting back.

BroDave, how is your recovery 6 years later?

 

[EROPPER]

I started throwing more backhands, and keep my elbow in closer to my body for the occasional FH, the golfers elbow seems to be getting better for me

I hope yours feels better soon, Turmeric the Herb is a natural anti-inflammatory FWIW, or just eat a lot of curry

 

[Troy Jan]

google therabar and tyler twist

 

[slowplastic]

Is it your inner or outer part of the elbow? Do you BH or FH or both? If both, which one is causing the pain?

 

[jeffmonty]

Thanks, guys.

Is it your inner or outer part of the elbow? Do you BH or FH or both? If both, which one is causing the pain?

It's the outer part. If I hold my arms straight out in front of me with my palms down, the pain is on top of my forearm just down from the elbow. Doc said it's tennis elbow, not golfer's elbow. I only throw backhand, but it really only hurts after the round. That's probably why it got so bad, it didn't bother me too much to play, but it was starting to. I already throw 150 class drivers, so I can't try lighter weights.

 

[slowplastic]

How far do you throw? Do you break ~325' regularly?

I am asking because maybe you are strong arming and not getting to an elbow-forward "right pec" position, and this is causing strain? I am just guessing, as I haven't had tennis elbow from disc golf (but I have had golfer's elbow from improper FH's). I'm sure someone here has experienced this and knows what triggers it.

 

[jeffmonty]

I throw about 300' max, but typically about 285'. Lately I've noticed a drop in distance by 10-15', and I think that's due to trying to coddle my arm a little. As far as strong-arming, I'm pretty sure that's true, I don't consider myself to have very efficient form, hence the 300' max distance wall that I hit a few years ago.

I think right now I just need to do the stretches, avoid playing, probably until I no longer feel pain in there, and then try to commit to improving my form with a more effecient follow-through.

 

[slowplastic]

Avoid playing for a bit and then consider a form change. If it's led to pain once, it'll probably do it again. That 280-300' range is very typical of strong-arming. Especially if you are trying to "get over" on the disc a bit with strong arming I could see how there might be some twisting or straining involved.

If you get to the elbow forward position and time it nicely, then the shoulder does most of the work (after the core/hips) and you hopefully won't feel the elbow doing too much or really tensing up consciously. I know when I started out strong arming, my whole arm would get real tense during the throw.

Again, I'm just guessing what led to the pain...but a form adjustment is definitely not a bad idea. Especially if you plan on playing that many rounds!

 

[jeffmonty]

Avoid playing for a bit and then consider a form change. If it's led to pain once, it'll probably do it again. That 280-300' range is very typical of strong-arming. Especially if you are trying to "get over" on the disc a bit with strong arming I could see how there might be some twisting or straining involved.

If you get to the elbow forward position and time it nicely, then the shoulder does most of the work (after the core/hips) and you hopefully won't feel the elbow doing too much or really tensing up consciously. I know when I started out strong arming, my whole arm would get real tense during the throw.

Again, I'm just guessing what led to the pain...but a form adjustment is definitely not a bad idea. Especially if you plan on playing that many rounds!

Thanks, I've always had known form issues, but I've never had the patience to work through them as they always seemed to screw up my game, and I wasn't showing any immediate results. Again, lack of patience on my part. I've always just wanted to play, not practice. Now I think I'll be more motivated to be more patient working on my form.

 

[BrotherDave]

BroDave, how is your recovery 6 years later?

Well my arm will never be what it was but it doesn't affect me in life or play really. Once in a blue moon I'll get some very acute nerve pain but other than that I just get some occasional tightness. It keeps my sloppy form on a tight leash which is fairly good for my game. I'm in my 30s now and I throw much farther than I did pre-injury and with much less effort (plateaued at 300' strong-arming it, comfortably in the 350' range now).

My advice for anybody that begins experiencing this sort of stuff is STOP PLAYING YOU DAFFY BASTARD! These things are a pain in the butt to rehab so just lay off a bit and rehab it properly, it's not hard. Ice is your friend until you feel like the inflammation is gone and then you can work in the heat and stretching/weight resistance exercises gradually. An ounce of patience now will save you a ton of pain and sitting around later.

 

[Agricolae]

Try this: hold a disc at your right pec and grip hard ... does this aggravate the pain? I went through this a few years back and it was caused by strong-arming and gripping too hard too early. The arm doesn't "whip" very easily when all of its support structures - muscles and tendons - are tight enough to ring out "Flight of the Bumblebee". Something's gotta give and over time those tendons will take a beating.

Rest. Ice. Compression. Exercise. Rethink and rework the way you throw.