Golfers Elbow Exercises

Written By: Chloe Wilson BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy
Reviewed By: SPE Medical Review Board

What Is Golfers Elbow?

Golfers Elbow Treatment

There are lots of different treatment options for medial epicondylitis including:

• Rest: from aggravating activities as much as possible
• Regular Ice
• Medication
• Activity Modification
• Physical Therapy: rehab exercises, electrotherapy, acupuncture
• Steroid Injections

Most cases of golfers elbow will settle down with these treatments and surgery is only indicated in around 3% of cases.

The earlier you start treatment for golfers elbow, the quicker recovery is likely to be as there is less inflammation and micro-tearing of the common flexor tendon. And avoiding aggravating activities as much as possible is key, otherwise it’s like picking at a scab – as soon as it starts to heal it gets damaged again.

Find out more in the Golfers Elbow Treatment section.

Golfers Elbow Exercises

The aim of golfers elbow exercises is to improve the strength, endurance and flexibility of the forearm muscles to reduce the strain through the tendon. This involves a combination of:

• Stretching Exercises: to stretch the wrist flexors and reduce the tension through the common flexor tendon
• Strengthening Exercises: focusing on isometric and eccentric golfers elbow exercises
• Grip Exercises: to target gripping and twisting actions

After these exercises, you will find lots of advice on how to get the best results from your golfers elbows exercises e.g. what to do if it hurts, how to progress and how to work at the right level for you.

A. Golfers Elbow Stretches

Golfers elbow stretches work on stretching out the forearm flexor muscles to reduce the strain through the common flexor tendon. Maximum stretch for each of these is achieved when the elbow and fingers are both straight rather than bent.

You should aim to do one or two of these golfers elbow stretches 2-3 times a day.

1. Wrist Flexor Stretch

This is a simple, yet effective golfers elbow stretch that can be done anywhere.

2. Supinated Golfers Elbow Stretch

This golfers elbow stretch is very similar to the previous one but targets slightly different muscles as the forearm is twisted round – pick whichever one feels best for you. 

B. Strengthening Exercises

Strengthening exercises for golfers elbow fall into two stages:

• Isometric Exercises: Static contraction of the muscle without it changing length
• Eccentric Exercises: Actively work the muscles as they lengthen

With any injury, the best place to start is with isometric exercises as they are a great way to start strengthening the muscles without them having to control any movement, or move through a tight range.

With tendon injuries, eccentric exercises have been shown to be more effective than concentric exercises (where you actively work the muscle as it contracts and shortens).

With both isometric and eccentric golfers elbow exercises, it is really important to progress slowly so as not to aggravate things, so follow the guides below. Don’t be tempted to jump onto the next stage too quickly, even if they feel too easy. 

And people progress at different rates so don’t worry if it takes a bit longer to progress through some of the stages – be guided by your symptoms.

1. Isometric Golfers Elbow Exercise 

2. Eccentric Golfers Elbow Exercise

The key with these golfers elbow exercises is to make sure the muscle is only working eccentrically (as it lengthens). You want to avoid concentric exercises as much as possible with tendon injuries as they are less effective and can actually overload the tendon. It may seem a bit of a faff to keep lifting the affected hand up with the other hand, but it really is worth it to isolate the movement to eccentric work.

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

Once you can do 25 reps without any pain, you can switch to using a slightly heavier weight with this golfers elbow exercise.

You should reduce the number of repetitions initially back to 10 and gradually build back up to 25 reps over a few weeks. Be guided by pain.

Top Tip: Don’t try and use really heavy weights here, a good guide is the weight should be no more than about a third of the maximum weight you could hold. Eccentric work is all about control, not about maximum contractions.

C. Hand Grip Exercises

Once your medial epicondylitis pain is starting to settle and you are progressing well with your eccentric wrist exercises, you can add in some gripping and twisting exercises to help with functional activities. Again, start slowly and take your time increasing the hold and the number of reps so you don’t overload the tendon too quickly.

1. Towel Clench

2. Pronation/Supination

How To Get The Best Results

It is really important to progress slowly with golfers elbow exercises as the last thing you want to do is overwork the muscles and cause more strain on the tendon.

There may be a slight increase in pain while you are doing these exercises, especially at the start, but that should quickly settle down. Your symptoms should return to your pre-exercise baseline within 30 minutes of exercising with little noticeable effect the next day.

If you find that doing these golfers elbow exercises increases your pain significantly either at the time, or later that day or the next, try:

• Reducing the number of repetitions
• Reducing the speed of the exercises
• Reducing the amount of movement during an exercise i.e. don’t push it as far
• Increasing the rest time between exercises or repetitions
• Timing the exercises around your medications: do the exercises 30-60 minutes after taking any pain relief so they’ve had a chance to kick in

It is important to be aware that golfers elbow exercises are not a quick fix for medial epicondylitis. It can often take 2-3 months to notice a significant reduction in your symptoms. But you should find that they get easier to do and that you can gradually progress through the different stages of exercises

Things To Avoid

With medial epicondylitis, it is really important to avoid strain through the common flexor tendon to allow it time to heal so try to avoid:

• Movements That Aggravate Your Symptoms: should be avoided as much as possible
• Repetitive Pulling or Lifting: especially anything heavy or with your palm facing upwards
• Repetitive Gripping: e.g. work tools or rackets

What Else Can Help?

Golfers elbow exercises help to increase the strength, flexibility and endurance of the wrist and hand flexors which in turn reduces the strain through the common flexor tendon.

Not all cases of inner elbow pain are due to golfers elbow. Medial forearm pain that extends down to the wrist, particularly if it associated with tingling or numbness is more likely to be due to arm nerve pain and will be treated differently.

Exercises are an important part of golfers elbow rehab but there are other treatments that can be done alongside the exercises to get the best results e.g. injections, activity modification and acupuncture. You can find out more about the different treatment options in the Golfers Elbow Overview.

Page Last Updated: 01/19/2023
Next Review Due: 01/19/2025

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