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Anyone get soreness in their elbow from swinging?

spenglure

Elite Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2017
Messages
825
Last year I started to develop soreness in my swinging elbow. I move pretty fast to cover a lot of ground in fields, lifting the coil many times to get over crop stubble. The soreness stays days after detecting. I know swinging with weight is not something your body was naturally intended to do. I feel like it might be like a tennis elbow thing starting. Anyone else ever experience this? Any remedies/solutions or tips? There’s no strap on the arm cuff of my T2 maybe thats applying non-typical strain. Thanks for any help.
 
Welcome to old age creeping in. Common issue with many these days. Thats why we switch to lighter and more balanced detectors. An option is buying a detector harness.
 
You have a unique situation hunting stubble fields...Requiring constant height and momentum of the coil adjustments..Even with a light rig like your Tek...

I will say, Tennis Elbow is a common issue in this Sport...A fellow soon learns to modify their body mechanics to overcome or otherwise minimize its impact via the use of various forms of gear...

I also swing wide and fast, but not in stubble, mainly on flat beaches or sports fields......so any of my learned methods will be of no use to you...I did learn to concentrate on the body mechanics for a while...Using the stronger muscles in my body so as to not focus the stress on the weak links like an elbow joint...

I swing with my whole body, and allow a steady momentum of the coil to power itself...Also, how tight you grip the handle is important...too hard a grip stresses the tendons...just the finger and thumb like holding a pencil, or a paint brush, nice steady swing...concentrate on an alternative way to hunt your situation, you will come up with something that works comfortably...GL and HH!

You might try a 'drag' method of hunting rows instead of a swing? you know, just walk in one row and sort of 'drag' the coil along in the next one? No swinging at all! I do this on big stretches of beach right in the riffle trough at the water line with great results...I troll that coil right through the edge...
 
you can learn to swing with the other arm... then you will have two body parts to ruin!
 
Last year I started to develop soreness in my swinging elbow. I move pretty fast to cover a lot of ground in fields, lifting the coil many times to get over crop stubble. The soreness stays days after detecting. I know swinging with weight is not something your body was naturally intended to do. I feel like it might be like a tennis elbow thing starting. Anyone else ever experience this? Any remedies/solutions or tips? There’s no strap on the arm cuff of my T2 maybe thats applying non-typical strain. Thanks for any help.

Try not to grip too tightly.. you should have a relaxed grip and let the arm do the swinging.. Oddly enough, it's not the movement on the elbow that causes that "tennis elbow" pain, but the grip.. (as explained to me by a physio therapist, and it helped me...)

but your mileage may vary..
 
Yep the older you get the more pains you will feel. I can switch arms so it takes a lot of the fatigue out of swinging a coil. Also learn to just cradle the detector rather than hold it in a death grip. Constant tension on the grip will wear you down a lot faster. A good harness does help, although it takes some getting used to. AT least it did for me.;)
 
You have a unique situation hunting stubble fields...Requiring constant height and momentum of the coil adjustments..Even with a light rig like your Tek...

I will say, Tennis Elbow is a common issue in this Sport...A fellow soon learns to modify their body mechanics to overcome or otherwise minimize its impact via the use of various forms of gear...

I also swing wide and fast, but not in stubble, mainly on flat beaches or sports fields......so any of my learned methods will be of no use to you...I did learn to concentrate on the body mechanics for a while...Using the stronger muscles in my body so as to not focus the stress on the weak links like an elbow joint...

I swing with my whole body, and allow a steady momentum of the coil to power itself...Also, how tight you grip the handle is important...too hard a grip stresses the tendons...just the finger and thumb like holding a pencil, or a paint brush, nice steady swing...concentrate on an alternative way to hunt your situation, you will come up with something that works comfortably...GL and HH!

You might try a 'drag' method of hunting rows instead of a swing? you know, just walk in one row and sort of 'drag' the coil along in the next one? No swinging at all! I do this on big stretches of beach right in the riffle trough at the water line with great results...I troll that coil right through the edge...
Thanks Mud! I have tried dragging the coil or getting it and just walking single rows. It does help. Way less effective though!
 
Try not to grip too tightly.. you should have a relaxed grip and let the arm do the swinging.. Oddly enough, it's not the movement on the elbow that causes that "tennis elbow" pain, but the grip.. (as explained to me by a physio therapist, and it helped me...)

but your mileage may vary..

Thanks! I will try that!! And a harness or strap of some kind might allow me to loosen grip.
 
Yep the older you get the more pains you will feel. I can switch arms so it takes a lot of the fatigue out of swinging a coil. Also learn to just cradle the detector rather than hold it in a death grip. Constant tension on the grip will wear you down a lot faster. A good harness does help, although it takes some getting used to. AT least it did for me.;)

Thanks hoser!!
 
I have a machine weighted about like yours and have the tennis elbow strain every now and then.

What has worked for me is simple.

I learned to alternate my swinging arm, it took a few times to swing with the other arm, but it took the pressure off!!

When I work grids, walking 50 to 100 yards, then I turn around and switch arms, making sure to overlap my path.

It's what works for me.

Mike in Myrtle Beach
 
I've been fortunate that the only soreness I have to deal with is some tightness in the upper part of my legs on the first two or three hunts that begin the year. After that I'm pretty much free of aches and pains. Though I've just turned 72 I can still hunt but I don't hunt for as long as I used to, now limiting hunts to no more than 4 hours with one or two breaks in between. I think a strap on your detector MAY offer a little bit of relief but not eliminate your problem completely.
 
I have a machine weighted about like yours and have the tennis elbow strain every now and then.

What has worked for me is simple.

I learned to alternate my swinging arm, it took a few times to swing with the other arm, but it took the pressure off!!

When I work grids, walking 50 to 100 yards, then I turn around and switch arms, making sure to overlap my path.

It's what works for me.

Mike in Myrtle Beach

I do nearly the same thing. Elbow and shoulder pains have forced me to be the ambidextrous detectorist. :grin: A lightweight detector does wonders too. Good luck!
 
I get some help from tennis elbow massaging the tendon. Also hold your arm straight out inn front of you with your hand facing down. then lift your hand at the wrist and then gently pull your hand back towards your elbow. Thar will help to stretch the tendon and the tendon sheath.

Beats the heck out of having a steroid injection in the tendon.
 
I started to get that after buying and swinging a Safari, once I got rid of it and started swinging lighter machines, problem started going away. I'm swinging a tesoro in tot lots and a deus or ATP with 8 inch coil in field/parks.

HDD
 
I have had elbow issues off and on. If I do an all day hunt i really need to take a day or two off from detecting or my tennis elbow flares up.
 
I recommend a compression sleeve. From mid forearm to above the elbow. I wear Zensa ($20 on Amazon. They are unisex. I get a small for my small self.) Very comfortable! I wear it for tennis to prevent injury and it's been mandatory for MD, too! Can't say enough for this miracle elbow solution.
 
Sounds like a little tendonitis coming on from repetitive use. I have had tendonitis pretty bad in the past. I told my chiropractor once and he recommended a product called Cataplex ACP made by Standard Process. It is an all natural supplement high in vitamin a and c. It heals the connective tissue. It worked wonders for me and healed my bad tendonitis really quick. I took 9 a day, 3/morning, 3/noon, 3/afternoon. After a few days, my elbows felt like new. I am actually taking some now as I am detecting pretty often since the weather is nice. I am swinging a CTX with the 17" coil with no elbow pain. I am taking 3 per day as a preventative. I also take Alta silica which is a great collagen builder. If you have tendonitis, the Cataplex ACP really works. If you are interested, look on amazon, they sell it there. Your only other good option is to stop swinging your detector with that arm and let it heal on it's own. That may take a while.
 
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