Have you ever wondered why some people wear those bands around their elbows or knees? Does it give them more power? More control? Or do they just look cool?? The answer to all of those questions is simply, no. 

Those bands are being used in an attempt to control tendonitis. Tendonitis is literally the swelling or inflammation of a tendon and is most commonly caused by too much stress being placed on the point where the tendon attaches to the bone (a tendon is the tissue that connects a muscle to a bone). In racquetball, tendonitis most commonly affects the bicipital (elbow) and patellar (knee) tendons. 

Tendonitis will typically occur very close to a joint and the pain will be very close to a bone whereas muscle soreness (discussed in a previous article) will be felt throughout the muscle itself. If you are experiencing pain in either of these areas before, during or after you play – you need to see an athletic trainer, physical therapist or your physician. 

Quite often you will be advised to rest and ice the affected joint for a period of time. If that does not alleviate the problem, more aggressive treatments will be required. For them, you’ll need to be under the direct supervision of a trained professional. 

The bands that you see people using work by applying pressure to the affected tendon such that the stress of the muscle contraction is not being exerted on the point where the tendon attaches to the bone – but rather at the point where the band is applying pressure to the tendon and underlying bone. 

At this point you may be wondering what causes a tendon to become inflamed. This is simple – too much stress. In many cases bicipital tendonitis (commonly known as tennis elbow) is often caused because the racquet grip is too big for the person’s hand. An oversized grip will cause a person to apply too much stress to the bicipital tendon and once a tendon is inflamed it is more likely to become inflamed with each additional stress. (Tendons have a very poor blood supply as compared to muscles and thus take much longer to heal.) 

If you are experiencing or have experienced pain in your elbow I would suggest consulting with an equipment expert that can be found in many club pro shops, a certified athletic trainer or physical therapist, all of whom may be able to give you some advice about how to select a proper grip size for your hand. 

As always – if you have questions you would like to have addressed here – just send me an email, at timscheett@hotmail.com.