The Elbow and the Golf Swing: Why things go wrong
by: Dr. Vince Gomez
Photos By: Rikky Arquiza

Of all the parts of the golfer’s body, the elbow is the most common site for tendinitis. It has baffled golfers for ryears that they can be playing so well one day and suddenly develop elbow pain that makes it impossible to even pick up a club, let alone swing. If you have this problem, then understanding what tendinitis is, and how your game will be affected by it will be a big help.

Tendons are what connect your muscles to the bone. In the elbow, the two major muscle groups of your forearm connect into generally two large tendon units. On the inside of the elbow is the medial epicondyle, and the tendon connects the flexor muscles that close your fist and bend your wrist. The outside of the elbow, or the lateral epicondyle is the insertion of the extensor tendons, those that stretch out your fingers and cock your wrist up. When you exert a large amount of force with the wrist and forearms, these are transmitted to the tendons around the elbow. If the force is excessive enough to cause the tendons to strain or tear, then you develop pain and swelling around the tendon, thus tendinitis.

You can get tendinitis from sudden trauma to the elbow, such as grounding your club in the swing, or by overuse, meaning, repetitive injury to the elbow after many rounds of playing golf or practicing. It can also be caused by an injury sustained from another activity like playing badminton, lifting weights improperly or even carrying a heavy bag. We know that the modern golf swing is more aggressive and, in the case of short irons, encourages a downward strike, also carrying a bit of turf after the ball is struck, which causes greater stress on the muscle-tendon unit of the elbow. Recent studies have identified some points in the golf swing where the problems may be created.

Backswing
If the take-away is one-piece, there is very little stress on the elbow. If the club is lifted as in a chicken wing or flying elbow takeaway, there is more loading on the elbow and this can cause lateral tendinitis of the right elbow.

Transition or Top of the Swing
At the top of the swing, the club is moving back slowly and it is shifted to accelerate forward rapidly. In the right side, this puts force on the medial tendons. If the golfer casts the club or hits over the top, then he can develop classical “golfer’s elbowâ€

Sherwood’s Ray Bunquin and GD’s Niña Chua and Mike Besa

In my one-issue absence from the magazine, I had a chance to really get back to just playing golf without worrying about a deadline or how to layout the piece I was working on at the time. I can’t tell you how good it felt to have some personal time doing what I love. I also had a chance to get out and meet more of you, our readers, most of whom weren’t shy about telling me what you wanted to see in the magazine. I’m glad you did. In response then, dear readers, we’re increasing the local content of Golf Digest Philippines to make it more relevant, more representative of what YOU want to see in YOUR magazine.

We spent five days at Sherwood Hills Golf Club to walk you through the gorgeous Jack Nicklaus masterpiece. Our thanks to Peng Perez de Tagle, Tito Avanceña, Jason Yu, Raymond Bunquin and Chris Eseo of Club Leisure and Sherwood Hills Golf Club for your most gracious hospitality.

In the time I was away, I took some time to work on my game. I changed my swing (again!) to one plane from two. The results have been amazing. I’m more balanced at the end of my swing and consistency’s improved as a result. I feel much more in control of myself and now feel that even par is possible. Even more amazing is how quickly I’ve adapted. I’m learning how to best utilize the new weapons in the arsenal, tempering the aggression that comes with new-found capabilities. I’m ready and excited for the coming season. I love working on my game and seeing the fruits of my labor; it’s what this game’s all about.

I encourage all of you to rediscover and reaffirm your love for the game. Go out and improve it. See a competent professional. If you don’t know one, we’ll be glad to recommend one to you. Set goals. Challenge yourself. Improve your game. Or go take a golf vacation with your barkada. There are so many beautiful golf courses across the 7,200 islands of the Philippines. How many have you played? Have you heard of Cattle Creek? Mercedes Plantation? Did you know there’s a beautiful golf course in Zamboanga? See what you’ve been missing? Play a new golf course. Rediscover your passion for golf. Get out there and play golf; better golf, more often.

Mike Besa
editors at golfdigest.ph