Elbow pain that hits as you swing through thick rough is often caused by the extra resistance of the grass placing sudden stress on the forearm tendons during impact.
Elbow pain while hitting from thick rough often feels like a sharp grab or pulling sensation the moment the club catches the grass. The added resistance forces your forearm muscles and tendons to work much harder than they do from the fairway, making an already irritated area painful during impact. If this keeps happening over multiple rounds, the elbow may stay sore long after the shot.
You may notice your elbow feels fine for most of the round until you reach a ball buried in heavy grass. As the club slows down through the rough, the extra effort needed to complete the swing can send pain into the inside or outside of your elbow, sometimes strong enough to make you hesitate on the next shot.
If your elbow has already been irritated from regular practice or frequent golf, these demanding shots can bring the pain back quickly. You might also notice lingering soreness when carrying your clubs, gripping the steering wheel after the round, or picking up everyday objects later that day.
The Club Grabs The Grass Before The Ball
You feel a sudden jolt in your elbow as the club pushes through thick grass.
Heavy rough creates much more resistance than a clean fairway lie. Instead of the club moving smoothly through impact, your forearm tendons have to absorb the extra strain, making the elbow hurt immediately after contact.
The Elbow Stays Sore After A Few Tough Lies
The first difficult shot hurts, and each one after that feels even worse.
Repeated swings from thick rough can keep stressing the same area before it has time to recover. By the back nine, you may notice your grip feels weaker, your elbow feels stiff between shots, and even routine swings become uncomfortable.
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 only hurt when I hit from thick rough?
Thick rough creates much more resistance than a normal lie, forcing your forearm tendons to work harder during the swing.
Can one shot from thick rough cause elbow pain?
Yes. A single heavy swing through dense grass can strain an already sensitive elbow and trigger pain immediately.
Is this similar to golfer's elbow or tennis elbow?
It can be. The extra effort required from thick rough often aggravates the same tendons involved in those overuse conditions.
Should I avoid hitting full shots from heavy rough?
If your elbow is already painful, using a more controlled swing or choosing a safer shot may reduce additional strain.
Why does my elbow still ache after the round?
The repeated stress from difficult shots can leave the tendons sore and stiff for several hours or even the next day.
Recommended Products
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• Acute Sinew Liniment — Used when pain, swelling, and inflammation are present to relieve pain, reduce swelling and inflammation, and increase blood flow and circulation to injured tissues.
• Sinew Herbal Ice — Used when the injured area is especially swollen, red, or warm to the touch to reduce swelling and inflammation while restoring normal circulation and range of motion.
• Chronic Sinew Liniment — Used for pain and stiffness after swelling and inflammation are gone to relieve pain, strongly stimulate circulation, and promote the healing of injured tendons and ligaments.
• Sinew Injury Poultice — Used for chronic tendon and ligament injuries to significantly stimulate circulation and promote deeper tissue recovery.
• Sinew Sports Massage Oil — Used before or after activity to warm and stimulate muscles, increase circulation, relieve tightness, and improve flexibility in muscles and joints.
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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.
