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Rest Calms It Down. Only Load Rebuilds It. Here’s the Dose.
The best exercises for golfer’s elbow are slow, graded loading of the muscles that bend your wrist and grip: isometric holds first, then slow palm-up wrist curls, 3 sets of 15 once a day, starting at 0.5 to 1 kg (1 to 2 lb).
Up to 3 out of 10 pain during the exercise is fine, as long as it has settled by the next morning. Daily pain usually starts easing between weeks 2 and 6. Most people are back to normal use by 3 to 6 months.
Golfer’s elbow follows the same rules as tennis elbow with the muscles reversed. The tendons that bend your wrist and fingers have degenerated where they anchor on the inner bony point of the elbow, and they rebuild under gradual load rather than under rest.
Here’s the loop most people are stuck in. It hurts, so you rest it. It calms. You go back to the pull-up bar, the toolbox, the toddler…and it flares.
Repeat that for six months and you’ve built a tendon that’s more stubborn than the one you started with. Golfer’s elbow tends to be A LOT more stubborn than tennis elbow once it’s established, so the earlier the loading starts, the shorter the whole story.
First: is it the tendon or the ulnar nerve?
One difference matters clinically. The ulnar nerve (your funny bone) runs directly behind that inner bony point, so some inner elbow pain is nerve rather than tendon, and the exercises below will not help that version.
- Pain alone, worse with gripping and carrying: tendon. Carry on.
- Tingling or numbness into the ring and little fingers, worse with the elbow bent: nerve. This is likely cubital tunnel syndrome and needs a different approach.
- Both: get the nerve checked first, and go easy on any exercise done with the elbow fully bent. The nerve hates that position.
This is where the Closing Window shows up for this condition. The tendon’s window doesn’t really SHUT, it just gets slower the longer you wait. The nerve’s window does close: constant numbness, clumsy fingers or thinning muscle between the thumb and index finger means weeks, not months, to get assessed.
Not sure which side of the elbow you’re even dealing with? Elbow pain by location sorts the lookalikes.
What are the best exercises for golfer’s elbow?
Do them in this order. Each one earns the next.
- Isometric wrist flexion holds. Forearm on a table, palm UP. Press the palm up into your other hand without letting the wrist move. Medium effort, hold 30 to 45 seconds, 5 holds, 2 to 3 times a day. This is the calm-down stage, and your fallback in a flare.
- Slow wrist curls. Forearm supported, palm up, wrist over the edge of the table, a light dumbbell or a water bottle in the hand. Curl up over 2 to 3 seconds, lower over 3 to 4. 3 sets of 15, once a day. Start at 0.5 to 1 kg (1 to 2 lb).
- Eccentric lowering. Lift the weight with your other hand, then lower it slowly with the sore side over 3 to 4 seconds. 3 sets of 15. Useful when the lift hurts but the lowering doesn’t.
- Reverse Tyler twist. The FlexBar twist done in the opposite direction to the tennis elbow version, so it loads the inner tendon. 3 sets of 15, daily.
- Palm-down rotation with a hammer. Elbow tucked at your side, hold a light hammer near the head, slowly turn the palm down and back. 2 sets of 15. Move your hand further down the handle to make it harder.
- Grip work from about week 4. Putty or a soft ball first. From about week 6, heavier wrist curls at 3 sets of 8 to 12, every other day.
- Wrist flexor stretch, gently. Arm straight, palm up, ease the fingers and hand back with the other hand until you feel a pull along the underside of the forearm. 30 seconds, 3 times, before and after loading. A support act, not the treatment.
Start lighter than feels worthwhile. A 500 g can of beans is a reasonable week one. The progression over 8 to 12 weeks is what produces the result, not the starting weight.
(Yes, it feels suspiciously easy at first. That’s correct. The tendon is behind your enthusiasm by about 6 weeks, always.)
How much pain is OK during golfer’s elbow exercises?
Up to about 3 out of 10 during the exercise is acceptable.
The measure that matters is how the elbow feels the NEXT morning.
- Worse than the day before: the dose was too high. Drop back to the previous level for another week. Don’t quit.
- Same or better: you’re in the right zone. Progress the weight or the reps a little each week or two.
- Too sore to load at all: go back to the isometric holds for a few days, then rebuild.
This is the whole method. People fail at golfer’s elbow far more often through inconsistency than through choosing the wrong exercise.
The inner elbow is where grip force lands. Every heavy grip during the day is another set you did not plan.
Golfer’s elbow exercise program, phase by phase
- Weeks 0 to 4: calm it down. Isometric holds, then light curls. Change whatever grip is driving it. Daily pain usually starts easing somewhere between weeks 2 and 6.
- Weeks 4 to 12: build. Grip work joins in, curls get heavier, training resumes in modified form. Don’t celebrate by maxing your deadlift.
- Months 3 to 6: back to full work and sport, stepped up in stages.
- Months 6 to 12: the long tail. Full heavy grip without twinges. Longer if it had been going for many months before you started. Twinges fading is winning. Twinges growing means the load is outrunning the tendon…adjust, don’t abandon.
How long do golfer’s elbow exercises take to work?
Six to eight weeks of consistent, progressive loading is the earliest honest assessment point. Most cases settle within 6 to 12 months overall.
Slower than people expect is not a sign of failure. Going backwards is. That’s the difference to watch.
What makes golfer’s elbow worse?
- Continuing the aggravating grip at full intensity. Wringing, carrying bags by the handles, tool use, high-volume pull-ups, heavy deadlifts held by grip alone.
- Stretching hard and often instead of loading. Comfortable, ineffective.
- Doing the program twice a day to speed it up. Tendons need the recovery between sessions more than they need the extra volume.
- Abandoning it at week 4. Too early to judge.
- Leaning on the inner elbow on desks and armrests. Not the tendon’s problem, but the nerve’s.
Can I keep going to the gym, golfing or working?
Usually yes, with changes. The rehab is bailing a boat. The load audit turns off the tap.
- Gym: swap to neutral grips, use straps on heavy pulls, and cut pulling volume while you rebuild. See gym and weightlifting positions.
- Golf: often the trail arm, often after range sessions off hard mats with a grip that’s too tight. Shorter sessions and a lighter grip while you rebuild. See golf hand, wrist and elbow injuries.
- Work: carry on the forearm or shoulder, not by handles in your fingers. Thicker handles on tools. Short breaks every 20 to 30 minutes of sustained gripping. Heavy manual work may need lighter duties for a few weeks. See returning to work after a hand injury.
- A strap for the gripping you can’t avoid: a counterforce strap on the INNER forearm, about two finger-widths below the inner bony point, snug not tight, during tasks only. Tingling in the ring and little fingers means it’s pressing on the nerve. See counterforce straps.
When exercises aren’t enough
- Steroid injection. Short-term relief is real, long-term outcomes favor loading. More caution here than with tennis elbow, cos the ulnar nerve lives right next door.
- Imaging. Rarely needed early. Ultrasound or MRI if it isn’t responding after months of good rehab, nerve studies if the tingling is persistent or getting worse.
- Surgery. Rare, last resort, for the few who still have significant pain after 6 to 12 months of proper rehab.
The full picture of the condition, including diagnosis, is in golfer’s elbow: symptoms, treatment and recovery. The outer-elbow version, which is far more common, is in tennis elbow exercises.
What a hand therapist does differently
- Separates tendon from nerve from ligament, the three things sharing that inner bony point.
- Sets your starting dose and moves it on every week or two.
- Tracks grip strength so progress is a number, not a feeling.
- Audits the load: your bar, your bag, your tools, your sleep position.
Get it checked today if
- There was a pop during a throw or a fall, with swelling or bruising on the inner elbow.
- The elbow is hot, red and swollen, or you feel feverish.
- Your fingers have suddenly gone weak or numb.
Get it checked if
- Tingling or numbness in the ring and little fingers keeps coming back or is now constant.
- Clumsy fingers, a weak pinch, or thinning of the muscle between your thumb and index finger.
- The elbow feels loose or gives way when you throw.
- No improvement after 6 to 8 weeks of consistent, progressive loading.
- It’s been going for more than 6 months.
A tendon that hurts under load is asking for less load, not none.
Written by Nigel Chua, hand occupational therapist in practice since 2005. Thousands of hands, wrists and elbows assessed and treated. My credentials are here. This article explains; it doesn’t examine. Inner elbow pain that hasn’t shifted after 6 to 8 weeks of honest loading deserves a proper assessment.
Every article on this site is written using the Closing Window Method: name the window your condition runs on, find where you are in it, and act while it’s still open.