Elbow pain during practice swings before you even hit a ball often happens because repeated swinging is irritating the tendons around your elbow, making the motion painful on its own.
Your elbow hurts while taking practice swings because the repeated swinging motion is already stressing an irritated tendon, even without striking a golf ball. You may notice the first few swings feel sore, sharp, or tight, and the pain often becomes easier to trigger when the area has not fully recovered from recent practice or play.
You might expect your elbow to hurt only when you hit the ball, so it can be surprising when a simple practice swing brings on the same pain. It may feel like a quick jab on the inside or outside of the elbow, or a dull ache that appears as your club accelerates through the swing.
This often happens because the swing itself repeatedly loads the forearm muscles and their tendons. If those tendons have become irritated from frequent practice, playing several rounds, or hitting a large bucket of balls, even swinging through the air can be enough to reproduce the pain.
The Pain Starts Before Impact
You may feel the elbow complain even though the club never touches the ball.
The movement leading into impact is often enough to irritate an already sensitive tendon. If you notice the same pain during practice swings as full shots, it usually means the swing motion itself has become the trigger rather than contact with the ground or ball.
Repeated Swings Leave The Elbow Feeling Less Ready
The elbow may feel fine at first but become easier to aggravate after repeated practice.
If you have been practicing frequently, the tendons may not have had enough time to recover between sessions. As recovery slows, the elbow can start hurting sooner, making even warm-up swings uncomfortable before your round really begins.
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 during a practice swing but not every shot?
Your tendon may only become painful at certain swing speeds or after it has been stressed by repeated swings, making the symptoms come and go.
Is it normal for practice swings to hurt more than hitting the ball?
Yes. If the tendon is already irritated, the swing motion itself can trigger pain even without striking a ball.
Should I keep taking practice swings if my elbow hurts?
If every practice swing reproduces the pain, reducing the number of swings and allowing the elbow time to recover is often helpful.
Can this be golfer's elbow?
It can be, especially if the pain is on the inside of your elbow. Pain on the outside may point toward tennis elbow instead.
Will resting for a few days help?
If the pain comes from repeated overuse, a short break combined with gradual return to practice often helps calm the irritated tendon.
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.
