The tennis elbow rehabilitation process is essential to strengthen the muscles throughout the elbow to avoid future strain. Proper stretches before and after physical activities using the elbow are crucial to help keep the muscles in the area flexible. I have occasionally forgotten the stretching part before playing tennis and have suffered the consequences. The following stretches and strengthening routines are the best I've used over the last 30 years of participating in tennis.
Basic Stretch:
Most physiotherapists will advise you to do a basic warm-up before doing any stretching. My favorite is ten minutes with an exercise bike. In the event that's unavailable, jogging in place or jumping jacks work.
The fundamental stretch is holding your arm straight ahead of your chest and gently pulling you fingers toward your chest. I recommend holding the stretch for the 10-20 count and repeating two or three times.
Advanced Stretch:
I learned the the advanced stretch through the University of Minnesota tennis team's orthopedic specialist. Extend your arm like the basic stretch, but turn your finger away from the body. Then gently pull your fingers toward your chin for the 10-20 count. Repeat 2 or 3 times.
Easy Finger Extension:
This easy strengthening exercise can be done anytime or anyplace as long as you have a rubber band. Place the rubber band around your fingers and extend them. Your can feel the critical muscles within your upper forearm. I do three sets of 10-20 reps depending on the sized rubber band.
Wrist Curls:
A really efficient way to improve the strength in the muscles surrounding the elbow is easy curls using small weights or a can of veggies from your your pantry. Make sure you begin with smaller weights before you build the elbows strength. Do two or three sets of 10-20 curls based on the size of the dumbell.The basic curl is your forearm extending over your knee and simply raising and lowering your wrist slowly.An even more advanced curl technique would be to hold the weight in a vertical position and twist your wrist from side to side
Forearm Curl:
The forearm curl is favored by our club's head tennis professional. Hold the weight vertically in your hand in front of your belly button. Keeping your wrist locked, lift the weight down and up in between your belly button and chest.
Deep Massage:
Once the pain is substantially reduced, sports doctors recommend massaging the injured part of the elbow with your thumb. He stressed that it's important to use a pressure during the massage.
