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How to Avoid Tennis Elbow

From Stephen Hufford,
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How Other Racquet Sports Can Keep You Healthy

Some tennis players suffer greatly from tennis elbow, and their frequent, repetitive hitting during tennis play, even when injured, further aggravates their injury.

One alternative to suffering from tennis elbow is simply not to get it in the first place. To avoid getting tennis elbow, or to help address it if you have it, try racquet sports that use a lighter racquet and have lighter impact with what's being struck. That surely includes squash, racquetball, and badminton. Although it is possible to get tennis elbow from playing these sports, the lighter racquet and lighter ball/shuttle create much less stress on the elbow than that experienced by a tennis player.

Although these non-tennis racquet sports are physically demanding in other ways (e.g., knees, ankles, back), you'll find tennis elbow to be less common among the devotees of these sports than it is among regular tennis players.

On the other hand, do not take up court tennis and play it regularly if you suffer from tennis elbow. Court tennis uses a heavier racquet and heavier balls, provides much more impact to the arm, and imposes just as repetitive a swing as normal tennis.

On all these matters of health, check with your doctor, and find what works for you. Resting your arm is a necessary first step, to get the inflammation down and let healing begin. Then, enjoy these alternative racquet sports!
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