Golfer's Elbow: What It Is and When to See a Doctor

Elbow trouble is one of the most common complaints in golf, and one of the easiest to label wrongly from a phone. This page describes what medial epicondylitis commonly involves, what tends to be associated with it in golfers, and the signs that mean the question belongs with a clinician instead of a search engine. It deliberately does not contain a treatment programme.

Start here: this needs a person, not an article

Nobody who has not examined your arm can tell you what is causing your elbow pain, and that includes this page.

Some signs mean sooner rather than later. Get seen promptly if you have any of these:

• Pain that does not settle when you rest the arm, or that wakes you at night
• Numbness, pins and needles or tingling running into the hand or fingers
• Weakness of grip, or dropping things you would normally hold
• The joint locking, catching, or giving way underneath you
• Pain that started with a specific incident: a root, a rock, a fall, or one shot that felt wrong

None of that list is a diagnosis. It is a list of reasons not to manage this yourself. Grip weakness in particular appears both as an ordinary feature of medial epicondylitis and as a sign of nerve involvement, which is exactly the sort of overlap that makes home assessment unreliable.

What medial epicondylitis commonly involves

The forearm muscles that bend the wrist and turn the palm downward attach by tendons to the inside of the upper arm bone, at a bony bump called the medial epicondyle. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons describes medial epicondylitis as damage to those tendons, and identifies the pronator teres as the muscle most often injured, with the flexor carpi radialis, palmaris longus, flexor digitorum superficialis and flexor carpi ulnaris also attaching in the same place.

Repeating the same motion over and over, or overloading the arm in one session, can partially tear and gradually wear those tendons. AAOS lists the usual symptoms as pain or burning in the inner part of the elbow with occasional shooting pain towards the hand, weak grip strength, and reduced wrist or elbow range of movement because of pain. It notes that symptoms usually develop gradually and grow worse over weeks to months, and that the condition typically occurs in adults between 40 and 60.

The name is a description of location, not an accusation aimed at golf. AAOS lists overhead throwing, tennis, weightlifting and ordinary household tasks alongside golf as activities that produce it.

Golfer's elbow and tennis elbow are opposite sides of the same joint

This is the single most common mix-up, and it matters because the two conditions involve different tissue.

Tennis elbow is lateral epicondylitis. It sits on the outside of the elbow, and AAOS names the tendon usually involved as the extensor carpi radialis brevis, which attaches to the lateral epicondyle. Golfer's elbow sits on the inside. Same joint, opposite faces, different muscle groups.

Read that table as the standard description of two conditions, not as a test you can run on your own arm. Golfers get tennis elbow too, and plenty of tennis players get golfer's elbow, because the names record where the pain sits rather than who felt it.

Nor are those the only two candidates. AAOS notes that MRI is sometimes used to rule out other conditions with similar symptoms, such as an injury to the ulnar collateral ligament, and that irritation of the nearby ulnar nerve is a separate problem called ulnar neuritis. It also notes that nerve conduction studies are sometimes ordered to rule out nerve compression. Those exist as investigations precisely because pointing at the inside of your elbow does not settle the question.

How common elbow trouble is in golf

Golf reads as a gentle sport, and its injury figures do not.

AAOS reports that more than half of all golfers are at risk of a musculoskeletal injury during their lifetime, giving figures of 73.5 percent of professional golfers and 56.6 percent of amateurs, and that most golf injuries are the result of overuse from repeating the same swing motion. Back injuries account for up to 34 percent of all golf injuries and are the most common complaint, which is covered separately in golf back pain. Medial epicondylitis is named as the second most common golf-related injury.

The Titleist Performance Institute's overview of injury prevalence in golf reports that almost 80 percent of injuries in professional golfers come from overuse, and describes the amateur pattern as concentrated in the lower back and elbows. TPI is a golf conditioning organisation rather than a medical authority, so treat that as a description of what golf coaches and fitness professionals see rather than as clinical evidence.

What gets blamed, and how much of it is actually known

Search for causes and you will find a confident list: hitting off mats, taking heavy divots, gripping too tightly, grips that are too small, shafts that are too stiff. Some of those have a sensible mechanism. Very little of it has been tested properly in amateur golfers.

What is reasonably well supported is the general shape of the thing. AAOS describes the mechanism as overuse, meaning repeating the same motions again and again, or overexertion in a single session. That points at volume and at sudden increases in volume, which is a boring answer that happens to be the best evidenced one.

Beyond that, the honest position is thinner than the internet suggests.

• Hitting off mats. A firm surface does not give way when the club arrives, so the deceleration goes into the arms instead. That is a plausible mechanism and it is widely reported by clinicians. It is not something you should treat as proven, and choosing a softer surface is covered in golf hitting mats.
• Heavy ground contact. Chunking the club into the turf loads the forearms far more than a clean strike. Whether it causes the condition or simply hurts once you already have it is not clear from the published evidence. The strike itself is covered in fat shots.
• Grip pressure and grip size. Both are commonly named, and both make intuitive sense given that the affected muscles are the ones that grip. Whether changing either alters risk is largely untested, and the sizing question is covered in golf grip sizes.

What an appointment is likely to involve

Knowing roughly what happens makes the appointment less likely to get put off.

Expect questions about how long it has been going on, what makes it worse, what you have changed recently in practice or equipment, and what your work asks of your hands. Expect the arm to be examined and compared with the other side. AAOS notes that X-rays are commonly ordered even though they do not show tendons, and that ultrasound or MRI may be used to confirm the extent of a tendon injury.

On treatment, AAOS's account is that medial epicondylitis can usually be managed without surgery, that activity modification and avoiding the movements that cause pain come first, and that exercise has long been the main treatment, progressing from stretching to regain pain-free wrist movement through to strengthening focused on wrist flexion and pronation, with eccentric work often used. Surgery is described as a consideration only for people who have not improved after several months of appropriate non-surgical treatment.

That paragraph is there so you know what the path usually looks like. It is not a programme, and it should not be read as one. Which exercises, at what load, in what order and when to progress are decisions that depend on an examination, and getting them wrong on an irritated tendon costs time you did not need to lose.

Playing while it is being sorted out

The reasonable version of this question is not whether to play, but what to ask.

Ask whether to stop entirely or reduce, and for how long. Ask what to do about the parts of golf that load the arm least, because putting and short chipping ask very little of the forearm flexors compared with a full swing. Ask about your work and your gym, since the same tendons get used all day by anyone who grips tools, keyboards or a steering wheel. And ask what a return should look like, because a graded return is a plan rather than a feeling.

What is worth resisting is the temptation to keep playing on it and hope. AAOS describes symptoms that typically grow worse over weeks to months, so an arm that is quietly getting worse is following the ordinary course of the condition rather than doing something unusual.

What is worth doing anyway

There is no drill, stretch or gadget with good evidence that it prevents golfer's elbow, and any page claiming otherwise is ahead of the research.

What can be said is more general. AAOS's golf injury guidance is to always warm up before a round and to build a base of conditioning, which is the same advice that applies to the back and the shoulders. The site's own version of that is in warming up before a round, and the wider case for conditioning is in golf fitness.

The other genuinely sensible habit is to manage how sharply your practice volume rises. Going from a bucket a fortnight to four buckets a week in April is the classic pattern behind overuse complaints in every sport, and structuring practice so the total load climbs gradually is covered in how to practise golf. What a sensible range session looks like is in the driving range guide.

When it is the other elbow, or both

Worth a short note, because it confuses people. For a right-handed golfer the lead arm is the left, and the trail arm is the right. Left-handers invert that. Golfing elbow complaints are reported in both arms and in both roles, and which side hurts is not a reliable indicator of what is wrong or of what caused it.

If both elbows are sore at once, or if the pain moves around, that is another reason to get assessed rather than to reason it out from a diagram. Symmetrical problems in a body have a wider list of explanations than one sore tendon does.

Key takeaways

• Golfer's elbow, or medial epicondylitis, is pain on the inside of the elbow, involving the forearm flexor and pronator tendons at the medial epicondyle.
• AAOS ranks it as the second most common golf injury, behind back problems, which account for up to 34 percent of golf injuries.
• Tennis elbow is the same joint on the opposite side and involves a different muscle group, and the two are not reliably told apart without an examination.
• Other conditions, including ulnar nerve irritation and ligament injury, produce similar symptoms and are ruled out with investigations rather than by guesswork.
• See someone promptly for pain that does not settle with rest, numbness or tingling into the hand, grip weakness, locking or giving way, or pain that started with a specific incident.
• The overuse mechanism is well accepted. The specific golf explanations, especially mats and grip size, rest largely on clinical experience rather than trial evidence.
• AAOS describes symptoms as usually developing gradually and worsening over weeks to months, so playing on and hoping is a poor plan.
• Treatment is usually non-surgical and exercise based, but which exercises and at what load is a decision that follows an examination.
• No drill or piece of equipment has good evidence that it prevents the condition. Managing how fast your practice volume increases is the sensible general habit.

Common questions

What is golfer's elbow?

It is the common name for medial epicondylitis, a painful condition on the inside of the elbow involving the tendons of the forearm muscles that bend the wrist and turn the palm downward. AAOS identifies the pronator teres as the muscle most often injured. It usually builds gradually rather than arriving in one moment.

Where exactly does golfer's elbow hurt?

On the inner side of the elbow, over the bony bump called the medial epicondyle, often with the pain spreading down the forearm and occasionally shooting towards the hand. Pain on the outer side of the elbow is the pattern associated with tennis elbow instead, which involves a different set of muscles.

What is the difference between golfer's elbow and tennis elbow?

Golfer's elbow is medial epicondylitis on the inside of the elbow and affects the forearm flexors and pronators. Tennis elbow is lateral epicondylitis on the outside and affects the extensors, with AAOS naming the extensor carpi radialis brevis as the tendon usually involved. The names describe the location rather than the sport, and golfers get both.

Can I diagnose golfer's elbow myself?

No, and it is worth being blunt about that. Several conditions produce pain around the inside of the elbow, including ulnar nerve irritation and ligament injury, and AAOS notes that imaging and nerve conduction studies are sometimes used specifically to tell them apart. A clinician who has examined the arm is the only reliable answer.

When should I see a doctor about elbow pain from golf?

Promptly if the pain does not settle with rest, if there is numbness or tingling into the hand, if your grip has become weak, if the joint locks or gives way, or if it started with a specific incident. Otherwise, any elbow pain lasting more than a couple of weeks is worth an appointment rather than another month of guessing.

How long does golfer's elbow take to get better?

That depends on severity, on how long it has been going on and on what the examination finds, which is why this page does not give a number. AAOS describes the condition as usually manageable without surgery, and describes surgery as a consideration only after several months without improvement from appropriate non-surgical treatment.

Can I keep playing golf with golfer's elbow?

That is a question for the clinician who assesses you, not for an article. What is worth knowing before you ask is that AAOS lists activity modification and avoiding painful movements as a first step, and that symptoms typically worsen over weeks to months if the load continues unchanged.

Do hitting mats cause golfer's elbow?

A firm mat does not give way when the club arrives, so more of the deceleration is absorbed by the arms. That is a reasonable mechanism and it is widely reported by clinicians, but it has not been established in amateur golfers by good evidence. Treat it as a plausible factor worth managing rather than a proven cause.

Will a bigger grip fix golfer's elbow?

Nobody can promise that. Grip size is often suggested because the affected muscles are the ones doing the gripping, and it is an easy thing to change. Whether changing it alters risk or recovery is largely untested. Fit your grips because they improve how you hold the club, and treat the elbow separately with someone who has examined it.

Does golfer's elbow only affect golfers?

No. AAOS lists overhead throwing, tennis, weightlifting and ordinary household chores among the activities that produce it, and notes it usually appears in adults between 40 and 60. Plenty of people who have never held a golf club are given the diagnosis.

Are there exercises that prevent golfer's elbow?

Nothing with good evidence behind it. AAOS's general golf injury guidance is to warm up before playing and to build conditioning, which is sound advice for the whole body rather than a specific shield for the elbow. Controlling how quickly your practice volume increases is the most defensible habit available.