Golfer's Elbow Stretching Exercises

By Patrick Cameron
Golfer's elbow is best left alone until the pain goes away.
Golfer's elbow is best left alone until the pain goes away.

A good case of golfer's elbow, otherwise known as medial epicondylitis, can throw a damper in your weekend golf planes. Golfer's elbow is caused by pain and inflammation on the inside of your elbow, where your tendon attaches to the bone point. Left untreated, golfer's elbow can get worse, sliding forward to your forearms, wrists and hands. Rest is generally the best medicine and you should learn some basic stretches to help strengthen the area and avoid recurrence.

Finger Stretch

The finger stretch is a relatively simple stretch that you can do anywhere with 5 to 10 minutes of time. Extend your arm out away from your body, palm up. Now, grasp your fingers on your extended hand with your free hand and pull down. Hold the fingers down for 20 to 30 seconds. You will feel the tendons and muscles stretching from your wrists all the way up to your biceps. Once you have done it with one arm, switch to the other. This will give your arms a healthy, low-impact stretch that you can do whenever, wherever. You can double your exercises by turning the hand over, so that the palm is down, and then using your free hand to once again bend the hand in toward the body.

Wrist Supination and Pronation

Supination and pronation exercises can be done with a golf club, so at least you'll have some time swinging the club. Basically, supination and pronation of the wrists simply means turning them with some light weight on the end of the tool you are using to turn the wrists. To do this, grab a golf iron in the middle of the shaft, grip it with your knuckles up. Now turn the golf club to the outside (what is called supination) and then to the inside (pronation). Don't allow the club to move the wrist, but rather the muscles to move the club. In other words, don't just let the club swing freely, but control the weight. Do this 10 times with both wrists.

Wrist Flexors

Another relatively simple exercise to do that will help support the tendons in your forearm is called a wrist flexor. Sit erect in a chair with armrests. Your arm should fall naturally to the rest, elbow bending to create a 90 degree angle. Make a fist, palm side of the hand up. Simply curl your hand up as if you had a small dumbbell in your grip. You can actually do this with a dumbbell in your grip if you want the additional strengthening, or with a resistance band held below the wrist with your free hand. Do 10 of these to start and work your way up progressively over time.

Best Medicine

Golfer's elbow will not go away if you continue to use the elbow in the manner that created it in the first place. The best thing for a case of medial epicondylitis is rest. Try not to use your forearm, wrists, hands and elbows for anything strenuous when you have the condition, as this will only exacerbate the problem and either lengthen the amount of time you have it or actually make it worse.

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