Modern Equipment and Arm Health

In the first two articles in this series we explored custom rackets (Click Here) and different string compositions and the myriad choices. (Click Here) Now let’s focus on modern equipment as it relates to arm health.

Many factors can contribute to injury: biomechanical elements, overuse, and also undertraining. But here let’s examine the influence of the racket, the strings and the grip.

First though a historical question. Why did so few players, both frequent and casual, not get tennis elbow (technically medial and lateral epicondyalitis) during the tennis boom in the seventies?

Rackets were heavy wooden frames with much larger grips, strung in the 55-70 pound range. Suspect technique abounded back then just like today, but fewer players complained of wrist, elbow, and shoulder pain.

Strings were softer. Grips were larger. Frames were heavier. There are implications here for us today.

Of course nobody is going back to that era, although some skilled tennis players I know, do occasionally add fresh strings and grips to a vintage wood frame and enjoy a few minutes of retro tennis.

That’s not modern tennis. There has been obviously a complete equipment revolution. The reality is that if a player’s physicality, durability, and mechanics…