Injury - Maybe golfer's elbow? Anyone experienced this?

Bob, do you use open turns? While the elbow could be from the swimming itself, many times it is also from putting pressure on the elbow while you are completing your turn. Try to ease up on the turns or use the other arm to grab the wall for some time to determine whether this might be where the problem lies. It's better to find out where the injury is coming from as soon as possible rather than simply dealing with the pain. If it's not coming from your turns, then I would advise that you get a stroke analysis ti find out potential areas in your stroke technique that might be causing the issue.

This will sound odd, but you might see whether you tend to bend your elbows a lot while sleeping. I was having an annoying but not debilitating inner elbow issue last year. I ended up Googling an article that suggested sleeping with my elbows bent might be contributing to my elbow tenderness. I started keeping my arms straight in bed (instead of curled under my pillow) and my elbow pain isn't bothering me anymore. May not work for your issue, but it can't hurt to try!

Julia, Thanks for the reply. I do use open turns but it's always with my right arm, and they're pretty gentle. I only swim freestyle. I know my stroke is not very good. I can breathe only on the right, though with this ramp up, I was trying to teach myself bilateral breathing, a few laps per workout. I'm pretty sure the problem is due to my (lack of) form and the fact that I increased my frequency, and thus yardage by so much. I didn't have a problem at once per week. I increased my swim frequency because I'm recovering from two bulging lumbar discs (L2/L3 and L3/L4) from an unfortunate cycling incident (my own fault) and I can't run or cycle. But swimming actually makes my back feel better and I get a good workout from it. The other thing that may have added elbow stress are the prone props I've been doing for Physical Therapy for my back. Now I'm using pillows for the propping instead of resting on my forearms. I've seen ortho for so many injuries over the last year, I don't want to go for another one. What seems different about my symptoms than those of golfer's elbow is that the pain I'm experiencing is in the upper arm, not in the forearm. I'm hoping the pain subsides with rest and ice. Then I'll figure out what to do next. Bob P

You are right around the corner from where we swim. I am one of the coaches at Minnetonka Masters. Please send me your e-mail address and I will tell you our options: dannyswims@aol.com

I have had this a reoccurring issue. For me, it's because on the left hand, I tend to let me wrist **** my hand to the left after it enters the water. Then, my catch and pull are putting more pressure on my elbow, and I tend to list toward the left. Same exact spot---that knobby bit on the elbow. When I exaggerate my hand position, and really focus on keeping a straight wrist and pulling as if my forearm and hand are part of the same paddle, from the elbow down, it doesn't hurt. The pain went away after I corrected it, but can come back when I am not careful about it. Swimming with a snorkel for a few lengths helps me to check in on it and make corrections as necessary. Basically, I was developing tendinitis in my left elbow from it, and when I focused more on my hand position, everything got better.

One of the most likely stroke faults a new swimmer does is pressing down with the hand vs pushing water backwards with the hand. Because pressure is felt on the palm the swimmer can't believe he is pushing down vs backwards. This puts added pressure on both the elbow and shoulder. It seems your elbow is the joint that gave way first. If you visualize it the elbow id put in a similar position of a tennis serve which is a known elbow stressor. As stated elsewhere please get someone to look at your stroke and especially your catch. Make sure your elbow is higher than your hand/wrist and your fingers are pointed down at the pool bottom before a lot of pressure is applied backwards.

Julia, Thanks for the reply. I do use open turns but it's always with my right arm, and they're pretty gentle. I only swim freestyle. I know my stroke is not very good. I can breathe only on the right, though with this ramp up, I was trying to teach myself bilateral breathing, a few laps per workout. I'm pretty sure the problem is due to my (lack of) form and the fact that I increased my frequency, and thus yardage by so much. I didn't have a problem at once per week. I increased my swim frequency because I'm recovering from two bulging lumbar discs (L2/L3 and L3/L4) from an unfortunate cycling incident (my own fault) and I can't run or cycle. But swimming actually makes my back feel better and I get a good workout from it. The other thing that may have added elbow stress are the prone props I've been doing for Physical Therapy for my back. Now I'm using pillows for the propping instead of resting on my forearms. I've seen ortho for so many injuries over the last year, I don't want to go for another one. What seems different about my symptoms than those of golfer's elbow is that the pain I'm experiencing is in the upper arm, not in the forearm. I'm hoping the pain subsides with rest and ice. Then I'll figure out what to do next. Bob P This could also be referred pain from your shoulder as well. Since you're breathing only on the right side, you can't be sure of what's going on with your left arm - could be a recovery problem or a pull problem which is exacerbated by the sudden increase in yardage. Try to give that arm a rest for awhile - you can still swim, doing kick sets or single arm sets - and when the arm/elbow is feeling more recovered, get a stroke technique analysis to figure out what is wrong before you start up again. Any increase in yardage needs to be gradual and you need to include variety in your workouts - kicking sets, drills and fullstroke will keep you healthy in the pool.

Hi Dan, What you say makes a lot of sense. I'm more a "casual" swimmer than a beginner in that I've been swimming for many years but typically just once a week. I've never had any lessons so I'm sure I have lots of bad habits, but at 2000 yards, once a week, I had never really aggravated anything badly enough that a week's rest wouldn't take care of. But the recent quick ramp up over 3 weeks to 3x1800 yards per week was apparently too much. It probably wouldn't have been a good idea even if my form was good. When I heal up, I'll look into getting my form analyzed. By the way, I'm also in the Twin Cities area. Do you have any recommendations about how/where I could go about it? My goal would still to be a casual swimmer, but with improved form. Thanks, Bob P