Nik your advice about gear solved my elbow pain so I want to thank you. Same series of racket but I changed to a lighter model, bigger head size, better fitting grip and polys at 40-45. Instantly resolved I couldn’t believe the result. Every time your advice helps me massively.
I used to get tennis elbow due to my one handed backhand. I realised what I did wrong was not trusting my front foot to plant properly slightly before/at the moment of contact. This adjustment completely rid me of the tennis elbow :)
Here's my weird story about tennis elbow: I used to serve with the elbow pointing to the sky before the acceleration phase. My bicep would close completely with the racket head pointing to the ground. This gave me alot of power on my serves but after every game I would get tennis elbow. I could not play 2 days in a row because the pain would be exponentially worse if I did. Now when I serve, I dont close my bicep completely and my elbow does not point to the sky, the rackey head does not point to the ground anymore, kind of diagonally towards the left corner of the court, but this made my tennis elbow completely dissapear. This is really counter-intuitive because this is not how the serve motion should be and I do lose a bit of power on my serve, but not that much. In the end, my serve motion is uglier but the important thing, is that I enjoy playing the game again because the pain is gone.
I think follow through is an underrated part of the stroke motion. Many average club players tend to not follow through at all. Instead, they actively stop their motion. And like you said, that is worse for one handed backhands. Therefore, I tell every student or teammate to improve their follow through.
Thanks coach! One of my dreams is to have a lesson with Nikola and figure out exactly why I suck haha Definitely had issues with tennis elbow despite having a two hander.
I stopped playing for 20 years and when I started back up in January I switched to a 1 handed backhand. I think that’s what gave me tennis elbow so after my rehab and rest I’m going to switch to the two handed backhand and see what happens.
In my case the reason number 1 was late contact on my forehand, especially on hard flat serve return. I fixed my contact point and the problem has gone.
Any more tips for forehand? Although it’s a more naturally technique than one hand backhand, it’s more frequently used. More likely causing a tennis elbow when the technique is incorrect.
When I was young, watching McEnroe play I thought this is strange. Nobody hit like that. A more conventional swing would be like Lendl's. But now that I'm 60, I realized that the McEnroe's strokes (BH, FH, Volley) are incredibly easy on the body and arm because of the simplicity of the take back, which allows more time for body and shoulder rotation to make contact with ball in front of the body. For the OHBH, bent arm or straight is not the problem. The wrist needs to be firm, and as long as you hit in front with body rotation so that the body and shoulder assist the arm, there's no problem. Compact take back like McEnroe also helps me chase more difficult balls and still able to hit in front. Obviously no coach will teach any kid or even older adults to swing like McEnroe, but for me, his swings are incredibly efficient and easy on the body and arm. There's a reason why he was world number 1.
Top video ! It's because of videos like this that this is by far the best Tennis channel on TH-cam ! Thanks Nik PS: Nick, just so you know, rucas10 is the new Rui Lima
I have something possibly worse--- tennis wrist and knees. Over prolonged periods of play (I've been playing for 3 years now), my right wrist and both knees starting clicking, A LOT. I went to a chiropractor, and he said it's because of TOO much tennis, overuse of wrists and knees. And if I keep playing like this, it will turn into pain. So how do pros, who play much more than any of us, do it? We hear about pro's getting injured all the time. Would also love a video on how to protect wrists and knees.
Struggled with it three times. Initially I thought it was from my serve technique. I’m sure now it was from my forehand. Was using eastern grip with relatively late contact giving a lot of spin. Using semi western now, hitting more in front, still like to use a lot of spin, but no golf elbow for three years now. Did change my string, set up too, was using gut and poly hybrids in the past, now just poly with tension 45lbs or less. I think my forehand technique was the main problem though.
I had golfers elbow in 2018. It was super painful; I could not even hold a cup of coffee in my hand. I thought that was the end of tennis for me. But after about 6 weeks of physical therapy and then doing the exercises by myself, the pain is gone completely, as far as golfers elbow. HTH
Great video! I see a lot of stuff related to tennis elbow! What about shoulder pain (more specifically rotator cuff)? Is there anything we can do on technique to avoid it?
Interesting! I have Tennis Elbow and I use a One Handed Backhand. I tend to try push with it and it’s really awkward. Maybe I should use a two handed backhand to avoid this. Thank you for this video!
I had golfers elbow and now I have tennis elbow. It’s horrible and I am trying everything. Next up is a class IV laser. I was surprised to hear that you said a one handed back hand is less complex. I thought it would be more complex with footwork and timing than a two hand??
I got tennis elbow after switching strings. I also think it was due to poor technique of my single handed backhand. I was using too much wrist movement. 5 months now and I haven't been able to go back to playing tennis 😢
Every single shot you’ve shown I do. My backhand is rubbish and poor technique and my wrist collapses on all those backhand shots. Need to learn how to hit backhand properly
Nick, I have this bad habit for my one handed backhand where I occasionally do wrap my thumb around the grip but instead leave it out extended on the grip. To me it feels like it is providing additional support against hard winners thrown against me such as return of serve. In regards to what you described in this video about tennis elbow more likely occurring with the one hander, could this habit of mine help ease that? Thanks.
Common mistake. Extending the thumb makes stability worse especially with a vertical swing path. This way of holding the racquet can cause injuries as well.
Nick thats the most bizarre looking tennis racquet I have ever seen you hold lol. I have a one handed backhand I always lean my body weight in and spread my arms with full rotation but with the right technique I once got tennis elbow and I found having a racquet that was too head light did not have enough momentum which made it vibrated too much. The racquets static weight was too heavy to add led tape to the frame so if I did my swing speed would be too low. Once I got a racquet that was slightly more head heaving it was easier to get plough though and I had no vibration like before. Naturally my arm is stronger these days with lots of arm exercises and I use very responsive strings like you recommended in a previous video that help do a lot of the work!
Nik your advice about gear solved my elbow pain so I want to thank you. Same series of racket but I changed to a lighter model, bigger head size, better fitting grip and polys at 40-45. Instantly resolved I couldn’t believe the result. Every time your advice helps me massively.
Glad to hear that 🙏
Going to the gym and doing heavy lifts helped me not to get tennis elbow pain
I used to get tennis elbow due to my one handed backhand. I realised what I did wrong was not trusting my front foot to plant properly slightly before/at the moment of contact. This adjustment completely rid me of the tennis elbow :)
Thanks!
Much appreciated thank you 🙏
Here's my weird story about tennis elbow: I used to serve with the elbow pointing to the sky before the acceleration phase. My bicep would close completely with the racket head pointing to the ground. This gave me alot of power on my serves but after every game I would get tennis elbow. I could not play 2 days in a row because the pain would be exponentially worse if I did. Now when I serve, I dont close my bicep completely and my elbow does not point to the sky, the rackey head does not point to the ground anymore, kind of diagonally towards the left corner of the court, but this made my tennis elbow completely dissapear. This is really counter-intuitive because this is not how the serve motion should be and I do lose a bit of power on my serve, but not that much. In the end, my serve motion is uglier but the important thing, is that I enjoy playing the game again because the pain is gone.
Any tips for shoulder pain when serving?
I think follow through is an underrated part of the stroke motion. Many average club players tend to not follow through at all. Instead, they actively stop their motion. And like you said, that is worse for one handed backhands. Therefore, I tell every student or teammate to improve their follow through.
Thanks coach!
One of my dreams is to have a lesson with Nikola and figure out exactly why I suck haha
Definitely had issues with tennis elbow despite having a two hander.
Great video, make also video for shoulder pain, why it appears and how to prevent from it please.
Will do
Got rid of my tennis elbow when I switched to a two handed backhand 😅
I stopped playing for 20 years and when I started back up in January I switched to a 1 handed backhand. I think that’s what gave me tennis elbow so after my rehab and rest I’m going to switch to the two handed backhand and see what happens.
I personally have never experienced tennis elbow, I learned very early on not to use the harm in isolation. I have however experience shoulder pain.
In my case the reason number 1 was late contact on my forehand, especially on hard flat serve return. I fixed my contact point and the problem has gone.
Any more tips for forehand? Although it’s a more naturally technique than one hand backhand, it’s more frequently used. More likely causing a tennis elbow when the technique is incorrect.
When I was young, watching McEnroe play I thought this is strange. Nobody hit like that. A more conventional swing would be like Lendl's. But now that I'm 60, I realized that the McEnroe's strokes (BH, FH, Volley) are incredibly easy on the body and arm because of the simplicity of the take back, which allows more time for body and shoulder rotation to make contact with ball in front of the body.
For the OHBH, bent arm or straight is not the problem. The wrist needs to be firm, and as long as you hit in front with body rotation so that the body and shoulder assist the arm, there's no problem.
Compact take back like McEnroe also helps me chase more difficult balls and still able to hit in front.
Obviously no coach will teach any kid or even older adults to swing like McEnroe, but for me, his swings are incredibly efficient and easy on the body and arm. There's a reason why he was world number 1.
Top video !
It's because of videos like this that this is by far the best Tennis channel on TH-cam !
Thanks Nik
PS: Nick, just so you know, rucas10 is the new Rui Lima
🫶
I have something possibly worse--- tennis wrist and knees. Over prolonged periods of play (I've been playing for 3 years now), my right wrist and both knees starting clicking, A LOT. I went to a chiropractor, and he said it's because of TOO much tennis, overuse of wrists and knees. And if I keep playing like this, it will turn into pain. So how do pros, who play much more than any of us, do it? We hear about pro's getting injured all the time.
Would also love a video on how to protect wrists and knees.
I sometimes get golfers elbow when I play; never tennis elbow. Anybody else experience this?
Yes, been dealing with it for 2+ years
Exactly same problem
I did, but was able to cure it via a combination of forced Covid lockdown rest & softer strings
Struggled with it three times. Initially I thought it was from my serve technique. I’m sure now it was from my forehand.
Was using eastern grip with relatively late contact giving a lot of spin.
Using semi western now, hitting more in front, still like to use a lot of spin, but no golf elbow for three years now.
Did change my string, set up too, was using gut and poly hybrids in the past, now just poly with tension 45lbs or less.
I think my forehand technique was the main problem though.
I had golfers elbow in 2018. It was super painful; I could not even hold a cup of coffee in my hand. I thought that was the end of tennis for me. But after about 6 weeks of physical therapy and then doing the exercises by myself, the pain is gone completely, as far as golfers elbow.
HTH
Hi Nik- Great information per usual. Can you do a related video addressing "golfer's elbow" from bad tennis technique?
Great video! I see a lot of stuff related to tennis elbow! What about shoulder pain (more specifically rotator cuff)? Is there anything we can do on technique to avoid it?
I do see exercises to strengthen the muscles around the shoulder, but I do not see much about changing techniques to avoid shoulder pain!
Yes absolutely. Have a vid on that coming soon…
Interesting! I have Tennis Elbow and I use a One Handed Backhand. I tend to try push with it and it’s really awkward. Maybe I should use a two handed backhand to avoid this. Thank you for this video!
Choose the right strings and racquets if you suffer from tennis elbow
👉 th-cam.com/video/JefKI18-HkM/w-d-xo.htmlsi=iw10O2AFaDfcSLdG
I had golfers elbow and now I have tennis elbow. It’s horrible and I am trying everything. Next up is a class IV laser. I was surprised to hear that you said a one handed back hand is less complex. I thought it would be more complex with footwork and timing than a two hand??
Personally I think it is mostly the backhand slice. Followed by 1hbh and bh volleye
What about golfers elbow? I am developing one right now
I got tennis elbow after switching strings. I also think it was due to poor technique of my single handed backhand. I was using too much wrist movement. 5 months now and I haven't been able to go back to playing tennis 😢
Hey Nick, thanks for this video, very useful. Thank you. But. Whats with the old mans racket? 😂😂😂😇
Just for feeding 😂🙌
I’m experiencing tennis elbow in my serves, I don’t know why yet, but I think it’s something wrong with my technique
Ps: I know it’s in serving cause when I play just points or in training without serving I’m pain free
Every single shot you’ve shown I do. My backhand is rubbish and poor technique and my wrist collapses on all those backhand shots.
Need to learn how to hit backhand properly
Nick,
I have this bad habit for my one handed backhand where I occasionally do wrap my thumb around the grip but instead leave it out extended on the grip. To me it feels like it is providing additional support against hard winners thrown against me such as return of serve. In regards to what you described in this video about tennis elbow more likely occurring with the one hander, could this habit of mine help ease that? Thanks.
Common mistake. Extending the thumb makes stability worse especially with a vertical swing path. This way of holding the racquet can cause injuries as well.
Nick thats the most bizarre looking tennis racquet I have ever seen you hold lol. I have a one handed backhand I always lean my body weight in and spread my arms with full rotation but with the right technique I once got tennis elbow and I found having a racquet that was too head light did not have enough momentum which made it vibrated too much. The racquets static weight was too heavy to add led tape to the frame so if I did my swing speed would be too low. Once I got a racquet that was slightly more head heaving it was easier to get plough though and I had no vibration like before. Naturally my arm is stronger these days with lots of arm exercises and I use very responsive strings like you recommended in a previous video that help do a lot of the work!
I’m pretty sure the racquet is the Gamma RZR 117.
Head Heavy is better for the arm
th-cam.com/video/JefKI18-HkM/w-d-xo.htmlsi=PPG7hzmnFZIa5sJf
Does tennis elbow also caused by not playing in a very long time?
With the wrong equipment yes
That racquet is no Babolat
It’s a Gamma RZR 117
Can a 56 year old like me can still learn tennis?
Yes 💯
It's the bicep curls..........