Golfer's elbow is experienced a lot by golfers, but why? It is due to the centrifugal force created during the golf swing. This refers to a force that moves away from the body and exists in many sports like baseball, tennis, golf, etc.

When swinging a racket or club, this centrifugal force acts as a force that pulls the arms away from the body. If the muscles in the upper limb cannot control this force appropriately, the risk of injury increases. In particular, golf swings create more centrifugal force due to the weight of the club head.

Based on this fact, let's take a look at the photo below. From this backswing top position, the down swing will be initiated with the right elbow moving down towards the ball. Then, the golf club follows a little later, which is called 'lagging'. As the right elbow starts going down first while the club gets left behind, the inner part of the right forearm will receive a stretching force.

This stretching force should be managed by the right inner forearm muscles and to do so, eccentric contraction of those muscles is essential. They need to elongate to absorb the stretching force, while simultaneously contracting to pull the club downwards. However, if they are too tight to do such control, it is likely to increase the risk of developing golfer's elbow.