MAD MAC'S  TOP TIPS

GOLFER'S ELBOW

 

Mac isn’t a Doctor but he has been on the wrong end of Golfers Elbow over the last four decades. Mac is well aware that rest alleviates the symptoms, and then what? Give up golf? Play tentatively and hope it won’t come back - although your mental processes tell you it probably will?

Mac has no knowledge of proprietary wrist bands or magic potions, maybe they work. You pays your money, oh yes, and you takes your chance!  Mac prefers to operate on the basis of  “if you always do what you always did, you always get what you always got” It's a good motto for golf anyway!

So let’s look at a few things that have been known to cause elbow pain during Mac’s career.

1)   Using overly hard golf balls
   1980-90s Topflites could set things off, as could hitting rock- like driving 
   range balls/practice balls warming up before a round.

2)   Not warming up
    Before a session on the range/ going straight into maximum effort strikes instead of
    hitting 20 or so soft, rhythmical wedges

3)   Gripping too hard
    Relax! The swing gets longer and more powerful with soft, fluid muscles, but you knew
    that anyway. So, check your grips, too shiny?  Yep, that will do it. Too thick or, usually,
    too thin? Have your hand measured up by a club fitter. Also there is a possibility that
    these new ultra thin grips on fat shafts might not absorb jarring from impact, being
    exclusively a hickory player now Mac can’t speak with authority on this, but it has to be
    possible.

4)   The Wrong Clubs
    Long ago, when Mac switched from forged blades to investment cast irons he spent half
    the season crippled with elbow, wrist and back of the left hand tendon pain. A switch
    back to Wilson Dynapower Fluid Feel irons fixed it overnight. There are some great pre-
    owned  forged blades out there, think about it. Also, maybe those super aggressively stiff
    shafts may not be doing you any favours either. Find a custom club fitter and have it
    checked out.

5)   Swing characteristics can cause problems
    You might not be doing anything technically wrong as far as striking a ball is concerned
    but it is a fact that some swings are longer lasting, and not as hard on the body than
    others. Some swings are quite upright and have a steep angle of attack, great for
    backspin and tear up divots suitable for the harvest festival,. They don’t do your elbow
    any favours. Some players fan the club open on the backswing and rely on their hands to
    get it right at and beyond impact. This sets up a twisting movement in the forearms
    which can give rise to problems. The answer is to go to a good qualified teaching
    professional who is accustomed to teaching golf at an advanced level, not just beginners
    with the standard PGA system.

6)   Here is one especially true for Mac
    Hours at the work bench applying traditional black pitched whipping (ah, that smell!) to
    grips and hosels, the combined twisting and pinch gripping can set up an elbow reaction.
    So Mac just stretches his hand, forcing the thumb and little finger as wide as possible
    and hold it for ten seconds. Then, palm spread, lean it against a wall, so the wrist is bent
    backwards and adding to the stretch. That seems to do the trick. I imagine you could do
    the same against a tree out on the golf course.

7)   If all else fails...
   Turn around and play left-handed (or vice versa if you are already of that persuasion)