Why Does My Elbow Hurt During Overhead Shots In Pickleball?

A sharp or aching pain in your elbow when you reach overhead for a smash or serve in pickleball usually shows up as repeated swinging starts to overload the forearm tendons and elbow joint.

You may notice the pain most clearly when you bring your arm up and snap into an overhead shot, especially during faster rallies where you’re repeating the same motion. The elbow can feel like it grabs or tightens right at the moment of impact or just before contact.

This often builds up after multiple games or long sessions where your arm never really gets a chance to settle. The forearm muscles and tendons that control grip and swing speed start to fatigue, and the elbow begins to feel more sensitive every time you reach overhead again.

The Pain Shows Up Right As You Reach For The Overhead Swing

A sharp pull or sudden ache hits when you lift your arm and load into the overhead motion.

You may feel fine during ground strokes, but the moment you go overhead for a smash or serve, the elbow tightens or stings. This usually happens because the forearm tendons are taking on more force than they can comfortably handle in that fast upward snap.

It Gets Worse As Your Arm Tires From Repeated Smashes And Serves

The elbow starts feeling more sensitive the longer you play.

After back-to-back rallies, you might notice the pain becomes easier to trigger, even with lighter overhead shots. Fatigue in the forearm makes the elbow joint work harder to stabilize each swing, which keeps the irritation going.

Why Your Elbow Could Be Taking Longer To Heal

Your elbow has a hard time healing when blood flow and circulation are limited.

Tendons, ligaments, and other soft tissues naturally receive less blood supply than many other parts of the body. Because of this, they often take longer to heal after repeated stress or injury, leaving you more vulnerable to lingering pain and a cycle of reinjury.

When circulation through the area remains limited, injured tissues have a harder time receiving the vital oxygen and nutrients they need to repair and heal. This can leave your elbow feeling stiff, tight, weak, or painful during everyday movement and activity.

What Can Help Your Elbow Feel Better

Your elbow starts feeling better when blood flow and circulation improve.

Chinese herbs have been used for centuries to promote healthy blood flow and circulation. Their medicinal properties help break up stagnant blood and fluids that remain trapped around injured tissues, interfering with circulation. As circulation improves, blood flows more freely through the area, allowing those tissues to receive the oxygen and nutrients they need to heal properly.

Topical herbal remedies made with these Chinese herbs can help relieve pain while improving blood flow and circulation to injured tissues. The right product depends on your symptoms and whether you're in the acute or chronic stage of recovery.

If you have pain, swelling, inflammation, or bruising, Acute Sinew Liniment helps relieve these symptoms by increasing circulation and dispersing stagnant blood and fluids around the injured area to speed recovery. During the acute stage of healing, getting circulation moving early allows injured tissues to receive the fresh blood, oxygen, and nutrients they need to repair and heal.

If your injured area is especially swollen, red, or warm to the touch after a recent injury or flare-up, Sinew Herbal Ice is also used to reduce swelling and inflammation while restoring normal circulation so you can quickly regain range of motion. While traditional ice is commonly used to reduce swelling, Sinew Herbal Ice acts as an ice alternative to reduce swelling and inflammation while also dispersing accumulated blood and fluids to speed the healing process.

If you no longer have swelling or inflammation, but still have pain, stiffness, weakness, or sensitivity in cold and damp weather, Chronic Sinew Liniment helps relieve these symptoms by strongly stimulating circulation and increasing blood supply to injured tendons and ligaments to promote their healing. This is especially important because tendons and ligaments naturally receive less blood supply, which is why chronic injuries can take longer to heal.

If you have residual pain and stiffness, or the area becomes more painful in cold weather, Sinew Injury Poultice is also used to significantly stimulate circulation to injured tendons and ligaments to further promote their healing. By strongly increasing circulation, it counteracts the reduced blood flow caused by cold weather that commonly aggravates chronic tendon and ligament injuries.

If you exercise, play sports, or do other strenuous activities, Sinew Sports Massage Oil warms and stimulates muscles for exertion and relieves muscle tightness and soreness after activity. Warming and preparing your muscles before activity can improve flexibility, enhance performance, and reduce the risk of injury.

Frequently Asked Questions

You may also find these commonly asked questions helpful.

Why does my elbow hurt only during overhead pickleball shots?

This usually happens when overhead swings place sudden load on already-fatigued forearm tendons, making the elbow react only during explosive movements like smashes or serves.

Why does the pain get worse the longer I play?

As you repeat overhead shots, the forearm muscles fatigue and stop supporting the elbow as well, so each swing adds more strain and increases irritation.

Is this pain coming from my elbow or forearm?

Most of the time it starts in the forearm tendons that attach near the elbow, but you feel it at the elbow joint during overhead motion and impact.

Why does it hurt more during smashes than ground shots?

Smashes and serves create faster, more forceful overhead loading, which puts much more stress on the elbow compared to controlled ground strokes.

Should I stop playing if I feel this pain?

If the pain keeps building during play, reducing overhead intensity or taking breaks can help prevent it from becoming more irritated over time.

The information provided here is intended to help you better understand your symptoms and recovery, but it is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Persistent, severe, or worsening symptoms should be evaluated by a qualified healthcare professional.