The most common golf related injury that we see as golf instructors is trail elbow pain. Why is that? Well, their is a multitude of reasons that can cause this pain but we are going to focus on the two main reasons. These reasons being:
- Pre Existing Condition
- Internal Humerus Rotation
Pre Existing Condition
Unfortunately, as humans, we get injured. But that does not mean we must be sidelined from playing or practicing one of our favorite sports just because of a pre-existing injury. If you know that you have injured yourself in the past due to an outside golf influence, then rather than compounding on the issue, please seek help from a medical professional before taking on the golf swing. There is no reason that, as a golfer, you should play in pain. If that pain is avoidable, we should try our best to avoid it or remedy it as quickly as possible.
Internal Humerus Rotation
The main contributor to trail elbow pain in the golf swing is the internal rotation of the humerus when making a downswing. Doing this causes the trail elbow to go into a hyperextended position, and when you make contact with the ground and ball at impact, it puts a ton of sheer force and compression onto the elbow, causing the pain that you may be experiencing.
The Fix
You must focus on feeling your trail elbow pit pointing upwards toward the sky the entire swing (both backswing and downswing). If you can keep your trail elbow pit pointing upwards the whole duration of the golf swing, you should be able to refrain from internal rotation and keep that elbow safe once and for all.
