Why tennis elbow happens (and how to reduce your risk)

Tennis elbow has a light-sounding name for something that can really derail your tennis.

It rarely shows up overnight. It starts as a bit of soreness after a hit. A dull ache the next morning. You play through it. Then one day you realise it’s not going away.

The encouraging part is this: most cases in amateur players are preventable.

Seeing a physio is always a smart move. But from a coaching perspective, there are a few patterns that come up again and again.

Too much, too soon

This is the big one.

Players come back after time off or get excited about improving and suddenly jump to three or four sessions a week. From a tendon point of view, that’s a huge spike in load.

A better approach is simple: start with one or two sessions a week and build gradually. Tendons adapt more slowly than your fitness or motivation.

Technique under pressure

Awkward wrist positions and unstable contact don’t always hurt straight away. You can get away with them for months.

Until you can’t.

Late contact and off-centre hits

Consistently making contact late or outside the sweet spot increases vibration through the racket. Over time, your elbow absorbs that cost.

Gripping too tightly

A lot of players hold the racket far tighter than they realise. That constant tension overloads the forearm muscles that attach around the elbow.

A tip: start the swing relaxed, firm up at contact, then soften again. Think responsive rather than rigid. Most players are surprised how much cleaner the ball feels.

No strength support

You don’t need a complicated gym programme. But some basic band work for shoulders and forearms, plus general strength, makes a big difference over time.