Why April and May generate so many elbows
A golf season in Iowa doesn't ramp gradually. It opens. Suddenly there are range sessions, early rounds, and a lot of shots off firm ground or mats after months of very little club-swinging volume. Tendons adapt more slowly than enthusiasm does.
The elbow tendons take the brunt of that because they manage grip and wrist position through impact. Add a tighter grip pressure — which most people default to when they're trying to find their swing again — and the load climbs further.
Inner elbow vs outer elbow
- Inner elbow, worse at impact and with pulling: often medial tendinopathy, "golfer's elbow"
- Outer elbow, worse with gripping and lifting: often lateral tendinopathy, "tennis elbow"
- Tingling into the small and ring fingers: needs nerve screening, not just tendon work
These two get treated interchangeably online, and they shouldn't be — the loading exercises point in opposite directions.
What we look at for a golfer
- Practice and round volume across the past several weeks
- How much of that volume is off mats or firm turf
- Grip pressure and grip size
- Shoulder and thoracic rotation available for the swing
- What else loads your hands — trades work, lifting, yard work
Where shockwave may fit
For elbow tendinopathy that has persisted despite a genuine loading effort, shockwave may be discussed as one option. The published elbow evidence is mixed, and we'd rather say that plainly than sell a season-saving miracle.