Identify and Differentiate Golfer's Elbow from Tennis Elbow

If you have pain around the elbow, the first step is simple: get evaluated by a qualified medical provider. That matters because “golfer’s elbow” and “tennis elbow” are broad labels for overuse problems, and your specific case may involve more than just the elbow itself. That said, it helps to understand what these terms usually mean, how to tell them apart, and why certain swing habits tend to keep the issue alive. If you know what tissues are being irritated and what golf motions commonly aggravate them, you can make better decisions about practice, grip pressure, and release mechanics when you return to hitting balls.

What golfer’s elbow and tennis elbow actually are

Both conditions are typically overuse injuries involving the tendons of the forearm muscles where they attach near the elbow. The difference is mainly which side of the elbow is irritated and which muscle group is involved.

• Golfer’s elbow affects the inside of the elbow, at the medial epicondyle. This is where many of the forearm flexor muscles attach.
• Tennis elbow affects the outside of the elbow, at the lateral epicondyle. This is where many of the forearm extensor muscles attach.

In practical terms, golfer’s elbow is usually tied to the tissues that help you flex the wrist and grip the club, while tennis elbow is more connected to the tissues that help you extend or stabilize the wrist.

These are often called inflammation problems, but the bigger takeaway for you as a golfer is that they are usually the result of repeated stress without enough recovery, often combined with poor mechanics or too much tension.

A simple way to remember the difference

An easy memory aid is to think of the inside of the forearm as relatively smooth, like a golf ball, and the outside of the forearm as more like a tennis ball, which is fuzzy.

• Inside/smooth = golfer’s elbow
• Outside/fuzzy = tennis elbow

It is not a medical test, but it is a useful way to keep the two terms straight when someone says you have one or the other.

How to feel the difference in your own forearm

You can get a basic sense of which muscle group is active by placing your fingers just below the bony areas on either side of the elbow and then moving your wrist.

Forearm flexors and golfer’s elbow

If you flex your wrist, you will feel the muscles on the inside of the forearm engage. Those are the tissues more closely associated with golfer’s elbow.

Forearm extensors and tennis elbow

If you extend your wrist, you will feel the muscles on the outside of the forearm activate. Those are the tissues more closely associated with tennis elbow.

This can help you understand the anatomy, but it is important not to oversimplify the cause. Pain on one side does not always mean you are overusing only that one visible motion.

Why the cause is not always as obvious as it looks

One of the biggest mistakes golfers make is assuming that if a muscle group hurts, it must be because they are actively using that exact motion too much. In reality, the irritated tissues may be overloaded either by creating motion or by resisting motion.

For example:

• The muscles involved in tennis elbow may be stressed because you are repeatedly extending the wrist, or because they are trying to decelerate another motion and stabilize the club.
• The muscles involved in golfer’s elbow may be stressed because you are repeatedly flexing the wrist, or because they are trying to resist wrist extension or club movement under load.

That is why it is hard to point to one release style and say, “That causes golfer’s elbow,” or “That causes tennis elbow.” The body is dealing with force, timing, and resistance, not just visible positions.

Why this matters for your swing

If you misunderstand the source of the problem, you may chase the wrong fix. Many golfers think they need a different hand action, when the real issue is often how much tension they are using and how abruptly they are applying force.

From a swing standpoint, the elbow is often the victim, not the root cause. The forearm muscles are trying to manage the club through impact, and if you ask them to do that with too much tension, too much ground resistance, or poor sequencing, they can get overloaded.

Understanding that helps you focus on the factors that actually reduce stress instead of just guessing.

Grip pressure is often the biggest contributor

In many golfers, grip pressure has more influence on elbow pain than the exact release style. If you squeeze the club too hard, especially during the transition and through impact, you create extra tension in the forearms. That tension raises the load on the tendons attaching at the elbow.

Think about what happens near impact. If you are trying to square the face with your hands, or trying to stop the face from turning over, you often respond by grabbing tighter. That bracing action can become a major driver of both golfer’s elbow and tennis elbow.

This is why some players do all the rehab work, feel better for a while, and then the pain returns as soon as they start hitting balls again. If the swing still includes a hold-on-for-dear-life grip, the same stress pattern comes right back.

What lighter grip pressure does for you

• Reduces unnecessary forearm tension
• Allows the club to release with less resistance
• Decreases the load on the elbow tendons
• Often improves rhythm and clubface control at the same time

If you are dealing with elbow pain, one of the best technical checkpoints is whether your hands and forearms are staying relatively soft in transition and through the release.

Practice surfaces can make the problem worse

Another major factor is hitting off mats. Mats do not give the way natural turf does. If you are striking the ground hard, the club can rebound more abruptly, and that shock travels into the hands, wrists, and elbows.

When you combine:

• steep or heavy contact,
• lots of practice volume, and
• tight grip pressure,

you create a perfect setup for elbow irritation.

This is especially true for golfers who pound balls off range mats while trying to “work on their swing.” Even good intentions can turn into repetitive overload if the surface is unforgiving and your forearms are already tense.

Why this matters

You may think your issue is purely mechanical, but sometimes the practice environment is adding just as much stress as the swing itself. If your symptoms flare up after range sessions on mats, that is a clue worth taking seriously.

Release patterns that tend to aggravate the elbow

Although there is no one release pattern that guarantees elbow pain, certain tendencies do show up often.

Lead-arm tennis elbow and the “chicken wing” pattern

A common pattern is tennis elbow in the lead arm, especially in golfers who release the club with a chicken wing or a scooping motion. In these swings, the forearms and wrists often have to do too much last-second stabilizing.

Instead of the club releasing smoothly with body rotation, the golfer braces through impact with the arms and hands. That repeated bracing can overload the extensor side of the forearm.

Trail-arm golfer’s elbow in higher-handicap players

Another pattern seen fairly often is golfer’s elbow in the trail arm, particularly in higher-handicap golfers. These players may overuse the trail-side forearm and wrist in an attempt to create speed or square the face manually.

Again, the issue is not just what the wrist appears to be doing. It is the amount of forceful, repetitive stabilization being demanded from those tissues.

Rotation is usually friendlier than bracing

One useful way to think about release mechanics is this: ideally, the release should rely more on smooth rotation and less on flexion-extension bracing.

If your release is dominated by a lot of wrist bending and straightening under tension, you are more likely to create an overuse pattern in the forearm. If the release is driven more by the natural rotation of the body and arms, the stress is usually distributed more efficiently.

That does not mean your wrists do nothing. It means you want the release to feel less like a forced hit and more like a sequenced unwinding of the motion.

A useful comparison

Think of the difference between:

• Bracing: trying to hold angles, force the face, or resist the club with your forearms
• Rotating: allowing the club to move through with the pivot and arm rotation while keeping the forearms relatively supple

The second pattern is generally much kinder to the elbow over time.

Don’t ignore the rest of the chain

Even though the pain shows up at the elbow, the contributing problem may not start there. Restrictions or imbalances in the shoulder, neck, and surrounding soft tissue can change how the arm functions and force the forearm to compensate.

If the shoulder does not move well, or if the neck and upper quarter are stiff and overloaded, the forearm may end up doing extra work to control the club. That is one reason proper rehab often includes more than local elbow treatment. You may need soft tissue work, mobility work, and strengthening that addresses the whole chain.

This is another reason medical guidance matters. A good provider can help you determine whether the elbow is the primary issue or just the area that is complaining the loudest.

How to apply this understanding to your practice

If you have been told you have golfer’s elbow or tennis elbow, your first priority is still to reduce irritation and follow professional treatment advice. But when you return to golf, you need to change the conditions that likely caused the problem in the first place.

1. Get the pain evaluated so you know what you are dealing with and what rehab is appropriate.
2. Let the irritation settle down with rest and the treatment plan you have been given.
3. Address soft tissue and strength imbalances in the forearm, and if needed, the shoulder and neck.
4. Reduce grip pressure, especially in transition and through the release.
5. Avoid pounding balls off mats until the issue is fully under control.
6. Pay attention to contact so you are not repeatedly slamming the club into the ground.
7. Refine your release so it is less of a forceful wrist-bracing action and more of a smooth rotational motion.

The practical goal is not just to make the elbow feel better for a week. It is to remove the pattern that keeps re-irritating the tissue. If you can combine proper rehab with lighter grip pressure, smarter practice surfaces, and a smoother release, you give yourself a much better chance of solving the problem long term rather than managing the same flare-up over and over.