Flexbar

We played 6 games of golf while we were away.

Six games of golf...in 7 days.

Before every game of golf, we went to the practice range and hit balls. A bucket of them.

In 7 days (I'm guessing here) I swung my golf club 1000 times.

Considering the fact that the last time I golfed was October, that's kinda like not running for four months and then easing back into things with a hilly half marathon.

So it should come as no surprise that my body responded with an 'I'm not very happy with you' message.

My elbow started hurting in a way that it has never hurt before and got steadily worse at the games went on. It began to hurt every time I gripped the club in my right hand it and hurt when I then tried to lift my arm while holding the gripping club.

I carried on figuring it was only a few more days and then I had at least two months to recover before golf season in Canada began.

Well I've been almost two weeks since my last golf game and my elbow still isn't happy whenever I try to pick something even remotely heavy up with my right hand.  I have to force myself to lift my water bottle with my left hand to avoid the now-familiar twinge.

So I decided to research 'golfer's elbow' to see what the deal was.

Turnsout I don't have golfer's elbow. I have tennis elbow. Which golfers can get too apparently.

Anyway, I read all about treatment and prevention options and most articles I found kept leading back to the same thing.

This:

 

 Introducing the Thera-Band Flexbar

Apparently the key to fixing and avoiding a recurrence of tennis (or golfer's) elbow is to strengthen the muscles in your arm that become irritated. Doing so is difficult using regular exercises but this little baby does the trick. Check out this article about it in the New York Times if you're interested.There is also photos and a short video to show the move you need to do to strengthen the affected area.

So I texted my friendly neighbourhood chiropractor to get his thoughts and then, with his approval, ordered my very own. It should arrive on Monday and, if it's anywhere near as good as it is touted to be, I should be feeling much better and stronger by the time I swing my clubs again.

Which is a good thing because I plan on spending a lot of time this summer swinging my clubs.