Golfer's (wingding) Elbow

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mikey100 said..
Has anyone else developed a pain on the inside of the elbow from Wingfoiling? Commonly known as golfers elbow, it has flared up in the last few months since I've been doing longer 2-3 hour sessions most days of the week. Apart from ice, stretching the forearm tendons, and moving to use a harness, is there anything else that anyone can recommend?

I did, had to ice it after every session. Started using a harness, and it went away.can't ride without a harness now, love it.

I had case of ding elbow from the first version of the F-ONE wing. I felt like the back handle/strap wasn't far back enough and was putting my elbow in an odd angle, mainly when going upwind. Using the F-One wasn't going to be sustainable so I purchased a BRM wing which uses hard handles and the ding elbow went away completely. My conclusion was that hard handles are better than soft straps until I had the opportunity to try a Duotone with hard handles and could instantly feel the ding elbow come back as I sailed upwind. I'm starting to think that wings with flatter profiles are more likely to give one a case of ding elbow. If you can, try as many wings possible to find one that works for you.

I can second the flexbar, worked wonders. Buy the genuine tough, I had a knockoff first, which was way stiffer and much more uncomfortable to grip

Try wearing an elbow sleeve or light brace.

Really don't understand why everyone doesn't use a harness, absolutely zero downside. It weights nothing, if u use the right lines they don't get in the way, can ride powered for ages, upwind is easy, then turn round unhook and ride waves.

Big plus is reducing chance of arthritis in ur finger joints when older, especially when u ride in cold conditions.

Mike

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patronus said..
Mate solved by changing from under to overhand grip.

I use underhand on front and overhand on rear; thought that would stop fatigue and reduce strain in on muscle group and help reduce chance of injury. Maybe not.

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mikey100 said..

patronus said..
Mate solved by changing from under to overhand grip.

I use underhand on front and overhand on rear; thought that would stop fatigue and reduce strain in on muscle group and help reduce chance of injury. Maybe not.

In my opinion it makes no difference if you do underhand or overhand grip. I developed golfers elbow from pull ups with wrong grip, I used to grip a lot with the fingertips. When most of the weight/force is carried by the fingertips, the forearm muscles don't work much, but the tendon gets too much load and therefore overused with time.

So to prevent the injury you need for one to grip more with the palm and also strengthen the forearm muscles with specific excersises (i.e. forearm curls, hammer curls, etc.)

This is my favorite harness line but must be a boom or newest Duotone Unit or Ventis. Very easy to move it out of the way with your thumb. I use the 26 inch but my hook is higher up so most people would use the 28 or 30 inch.

I went from a bagged out wing with three strap handles to a high-performance crisp two-handled tight canopy wing and immediately felt my golfer's elbow come back after just one session. Interestingly, when my arm was in the front position was when. I struggled most. I have since juryrigged some additional handles and may sell the wings for a lower performance wing if the pain continues. Also I will really try to be less powered with the wing as this was definitely part of the cause. A wing used by a world champ in short freestyle heats does not necessarily make a good wing for two hour-long upwind/downwind sessions for over the hill dudes.

Mines got a lot worse from winging. Solved the tennis problem with lots of PRP treatment and the exercises. The golf issue has come back worse than I ever had from windsurfing but a knee opp has stopped that for now. The PRP treatment hasn't worked this time so it's more ice, wrist curls and using a Power Gyro ball. Next stop might be surgery and having it stitched back together. Going to try a harness to take the load off between turns.

I resolved mine by swapping from Duotone Slicks to FOne. The boom when in very light winds, or waiting for some wind you are constantly twisting the wing, and this causes Tennis Elbow.With the soft straps, you support the wing with your finger tips whilst waiting on wind and thus less twisting of the arm. Changed a year ago and even after a 4hr heavy session no issues. I did like my Slicks but the pain was killing me.

I find the wing model can make a huge difference in terms of whether golfer's elbow is a problem. I got it years ago from kiting and it took probably a year to go away. Winging was never an issue until I upgraded to some really tight-canopied wings with small handles that limit hand position. The wings are pretty high-performance and more suited to winning wave heats than cruising around like a kook for hours at time as I'm inclined to do. I ended up modding the handles in hopes of making them more comfortable and dug out my old Thera-band Flexbar in hopes of getting my elbow back to normal for the coming wing season.

here you go...

My experience echos what others here have discovered: that tight, hard-handled wings, whose characteristics provide a more direct and instant power delivery, also transfer a lot of strain onto the body, which acts as the shock absorber in this situation, whereas my now-favoured (for this very reason, rather than for performance) looser/baggier canopy wings with softer handles soak up and smooth out some of this power delivery, with the canopy providing some buffer that both lessens the stress impact on the body and also provides some time delay, where you have some moments to react to sudden gusts, rather than being pulled by a charging lion on a leash, through them.

I spent the first 2 years of my wing foiling journey with no hook/harness, but subsequently, they became absolute must-haves for me, especially for longer sessions. Upwind, I'm hooked in most of the time, except for when it's big and messy, whereby I hook in during the more predictable stretches and un-hook during the more hectic sections to minimise surprise harness face-plant situations from occurring. Downwind; riding mostly unhooked.

I've also suffered from both golfers and tennis elbow in the past, and I vouch for both the Therabar and the Armaid devices as being very effective in helping to treat and recover from flare-ups. Once rehabilitated, regular use of these devices, in addition to stretching, dead hanging, and inversion therapy, can help to keep further flare-ups at bay.