Tennis elbow is a tennis player's nightmare!

I’ve had it and it’s painful! I remember playing and not being able to grip my racket with any strength. It was in the club championships and I was playing a player I should have beaten but every time I tried to hit the ball I almost dropped the racket. Needless to say, I lost the match.

Tennis elbow is caused when the tendons in your forearm are overloaded, often because of repetitive motions of the arm or wrist. It’s an overuse injury.

But you probably don’t care what it is...you just want to make it better so that you can play again! So here are five simple exercises you can do to rehabilitate your arm and cure your tennis elbow.

Wrist Turn

Bend your elbow at a right angle and hold your elbow close to you. Extend your hand outwards with your palm facing up. Twist your wrist until your palm is facing down, hold for a few seconds and then turn your wrist back to the starting position. Do two sets of ten or twelve repetitions.

Wrist Turn With Weight

Repeat the above but hold a small weight, a light dumbbell or a small bottle of water. 

Fist Clench

Rest your forearm on a flat surface like a table with your palm facing up. Grip a towel or stress ball. Squeeze and hold for ten seconds. Loosen your grip. Repeat ten times.

Wrist Extension

Sit in a chair holding a small bottle of water with your palm facing down. Lean forward and rest your elbow on your knee. Raise and lower your wrist by curling it towards and away from your body. If it is too hard while holding the bottle of water, do the movement without holding anything. Do two sets of ten or twelve repetitions.

Wrist Flexion

Repeat the wrist extension movement, but with your palm facing up.

Don’t forget to rest!

Before you do any exercises, make sure to rest your arm. This allows the swelling to go down. 

Don’t forget to buy a Rafiki Tennis Match Journal. Use the journal to plan your match tactics so that you will win more tennis matches!