Elbow Pain when hitting on practise mat. Anybody else experienced this ?

[yanni]

Since lockdown I started playing a bit of golf inside (don't have a simulator yet cause everything is sold out at the moment) and used my putting mat for this. Of course this wasn't quite the right kind of mat for this kind of task. I tried to hit more "trough" the ball and into the ground which gave me better contact. But actually that was a bad idea with this kind of mat. I stopped playing completley now but still have ellbow pain and it does not get any better.

The pain is NOT where it normally would be for a tennis (had this before from playing tennis) or golf ellbow. It's not an overuse (muscular) problem but its a sharp pain directly on the bone of the ellbow. Did anybody else experience something similar ? I will go to the doctor next week and he will probably do some X Ray. But I still would be interested...
Thanks !!!

[Solstice72]

There was a thread over a year ago about mats and how much damage they cause to the body. See if you can search it. I got rid of my country Club Elite and switched to fiberbuilt just for the Hitting area and it's been excellent

[chenryjr]

How is the Fiberbuilt hitting strip different that the rest of the mat? Their site doesn't describe the technology behind it

[yanni]

Thank you. I know there was a problem with the mat and will use a different one now. But I somehow have to cure the ellbow pain first.

[trhuke]

I think I had the same sharp pain right on the point of my elbow, it went away on it's own, never did figure out why it was happening. It has happened once or twice now, went away after a bit. Definitely a distinct feeling.
Maybe try different kinds of a soft pad under the mat you're hitting off of until hitting mats become available again?
Hitting off a hard surface will blow your arm up so be careful.
BTW I've had a CCE but it was tough on my arm, switched to a Fiberbilt hitting strip and I'm quite happy with it.

[yanni]

How long did it take to go away ?

[trhuke]

Maybe a week to 10 days. But I could still swing the clubs, I think fixing the cause (hitting mat), kept the elbow issue from getting worse and eventually it just went away. I'm not sure padding under a CCE mat will keep you from banging yourself up, they're pretty solid.

[trhuke]

BTW I found this post to be pretty interesting, a do it yourself hitting mat. There is one version earlier in the thread and a different variation later but they seem like fairly low cost alternatives to expensive stance/hitting mats. I just ordered a 5 x 5 mat and I may try one of these builds.

https://golfsimulatorforum.com/forum/build-your-own/mats-turf-and-flooring/115414-diy-truestrike-gel-pad-4x5-mat-for-around-175

[William Jenkins]

I think I had the same sharp pain right on the point of my elbow, it went away on it's own, never did figure out why it was happening. It has happened once or twice now, went away after a bit. Definitely a distinct feeling.
Maybe try different kinds of a soft pad under the mat you're hitting off of until hitting mats become available again?
Hitting off a hard surface will blow your arm up so be careful.
BTW I've had a CCE but it was tough on my arm, switched to a Fiberbilt hitting strip and I'm quite happy with it.

Did you just add the fiberbuilt to the CCE mat? Like cut a section out and insert the fiberbuilt?

[trhuke]

I built my own stance mat out of a piece of plywood, topped with a couple layers of foam shop flooring enclosed in some cheap outdoor carpet to match the height of the 1x3 Fiberbilt hitting strip. The Fiberbilt isn't attached to the stance mat so I can slide it back and forth to keep from beating the hell out of one spot.

[Solstice72]

That's exactly what I did

[Hacksalot]

Get rid of the CCE ...end of discussion. Injury waiting to happen. It took me 3 years to get over mine .

[William Jenkins]

Get rid of the CCE ...end of discussion. Injury waiting to happen. It took me 3 years to get over mine .

This is one I just got, so may not get rid of it just yet. Unless I can return it somehow. I've used a few times.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013YY17HS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[s0707]

I've also had elbow pain after injury of hitting on a cheap maxfli mat, and doing the exercises of this video has helped a lot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NExFfXSe2Mc

I would say I'm about 90% healed after doing 3 weeks or so of the exercises, especially the one where you rub perpendicular to the arm/tendon.

Good luck.

[tron]

yanni I’m currently experiencing a similar pain emanating from my left elbow bone. I’ve not hit a ball for almost two weeks and the pain is still there albeit less so. I find putting heat on it helps.

[Hacksalot]

This injury is a slow recovery. As i said , mine took 3years to recover. For that reason i don’t mess around with bad mats . The only 3 options i will use are:
- divot action
- fiberbuilt
- the new Quatro mats

Ive not listed these in any order of preference, as that is user biased . I’m simply making the point that these 3 options are injury friendly .

[Jay28]

Think about a softer mat, but I'd also work on the swing and learn to take shallower divots.
Is your swing steep?

[CHansen157]

Last year I had tennis elbow and just recently I actually had a pretty severe strain of my pronator teres muscle (inside elbow) from doing swing speed training, probably without warming up sufficiently, in combination with lots of garage golf. I had initially worried I had torn the UCL (Tommy John injury) but it seems that it was just damage to the muscle. 8 weeks later finally I can play again but I still have a pretty big hematoma there that should resorb over the next month or two. It's not just mats, most of our bodies aren't used to playing as often as we are able to with simulators so don't over do it, listen to your body if you start getting some minor soreness. Don't be bullheaded like me . Even just having the numerical feedback with the monitor, for me, encourages me to push myself a little more with my swing which can be dangerous if I don't ease into it.

[Wizard of Coz]

Sure wish I could have read that post months ago!

[JBlue820]

I bought a product that had springs under the hitting surface. All issues went away

[DS12]

What product has springs under it? The Quattro mat?

[Dax]

I changed a few things on my set-up and was hitting off my stance mat/putting turf (something I tried now that I have the TM4 for a month). Big mistake, as now my wrist hurts and will need to rest for a while. I am going to try to do a cut out for fiberbuilt and keep my fingers and toes crossed it integrates nicely. I was fortunately able to locate three of the Fiberbuilt Interlocking Hitting Mats (12x12) from Par2Pro (appears this option is no longer available from Fiberbuilt direct). Bonus points to Par2Pro for still having some available.

[mthunt]

I think TruStrike is a gel filled mat and super nice on the joints. I have a tartan turf mat which is similar to cce except way easier on the joints. I am super happy with it. It’s the best I've used and Ive had 2 surgeries on my shoulder and broke my left elbow twice.