Wearable device for tennis elbow in water sports (Survey)

[Luzz]

Ballers,

I came across this survey made by a UK-based student who is planning on creating a wearable to prevent tennis elbow in water skiing and wakeboarding.I encourage you to help this student better understand the population of skiers, in the hopes that a great product will come out of this :smile:

[disland]

innovation is always good, very common problem so there is a market if they can find something that works

[Killer]

I'm in! Thanks for sharingBeen dealing with another bout of medial epicondylitis.

Definitely started this time by taking too much slack but My physio suggests the over development of my right forearm muscles caused by rotating my wrist inward (in the turn) is assisting in the refered pain.

I can ski, not as much as I'd like and it's not that much fun/scores are definitely affected.

Ive been using the band-it strap and I try to tape my wrist so it won't bend inward as much. Also using clinchers, I have always used a bent bar too.

[Ali]

Done!!

[Robras21]

Check out the Armaid. It has been a game changer for me. Not an overnight solution but with consistent use, it has helped tremendously. See link below…

https://armaid.com/

[KRoundy]

Cool. Filled out the survey.

[lpskier]

Actually, “tennis elbow” is on the outside of the elbow. Skiers typically get “golfers elbow” on the inside of the elbow. I suffered from golfers elbow for years, but it completely disappeared when I started using the ML Optimized 2 rope.

[BraceMaker]

@lpskier I only get lateral epicondylitis myself.

[lpskier]

@BraceMaker Interesting. I used to get that from playing racketball in the winter, but not from skiing in the summer. I think most skiers get golfers elbow on the inside of the elbow. At least that's my observation.

[ThreeEightOne]

@lpskier (I’m the student undertaking this project) you can actually get both tennis and golfers elbow. My aim is to help prevent both as they’re caused in an extremely similar way.

Just wanted to add that the feedback on here and the survey has been really useful. I’ll continue to keep an eye on the comments here and I am always happy to answer any questions. Thank you.

[Than_Bogan]

Welocme to BOS and good luck!!

Personally, I get much more tendon issues from pole vaulting and fishing, so I'd be curious if your ideas are generally applicable or specific to towed watersports.

Another consideration is interactions with a neoprene sleeve or under a drysuit, since some in cold climates are using one or the other for much of the season.

[Hucklefin]

I developed a tennis elbow condition this season in my right forearm/bicep, at least what I THINK is tennis elbow. It went from a serviceable condition to pretty bad, can't ski for a week in one set. It pretty much came on because of skiing with my arms bent like a t-rex. The way I was able to keep skiing, was for one, put extra emphasis on not contracting my biceps when I ski so much, and two: flipping my grip from right palm down, to right palm up. If I didn't realize that this allowed me to ski pain free, I probably would have cut my season pretty short. I am still working to recover, and it has been a pretty slow process. Things like pull ups, bicep curls and other 'overhand' grip methods of working out still hurt, while underhand seems to be just fine.

So I responded to this survey as I would like to be able to switch my grip back, but ultimately I need to really fix my skiing mechanics.

[Kevin89MC]

Did the survey, good luck with the product development. I got tennis elbow from racquetball maybe 5 years ago, it lasted for several years. I did not play in the summers (when I switched to skiing) and while skiing didn't make it worse, it may have prevented it from completely healing. I used an adjustable strap while playing which kept it from getting worse. The pain would usually be almost all the way gone by late fall when I'd start playing racquetball again, but it would always come back. Went to PT and got some good exercises which also helped. What appears to finally have cured it (at least for now) is taking an entire year off (2020) of playing during Covid. Continued to ski a bunch over the summers, and I played a full season last winter/spring. No pain for the whole season, and nothing yet so far (knocks on wood!) I also used a compression sleeve toward the end of the last season, and continue to use it every time I play. I do believe that helps, and I don't mind wearing it. If someone else comes out with something better, I'd definitely try it.

[UWSkier]

I get golfer's elbow flare ups if I ski several days in a row, or if I do more than 5 pull ups or chin ups. Sucks because I used to love to bang out 50 or more pull ups in a workout set.

Radius handle has helped a ton though, as has starting with both palms down.

[ThreeEightOne]

@Than_BoganSo for to moment and the duration of this project, the solution will be specific to towed watersports that use a bar. That’s not to say the solution I come up with couldn’t be used outside of these few sports though. Just depends on the product I can come up with and develop over the next 7 months. And this project is pretty much my only focus over this time period so I’ve got a lot of time to put into it.

And yeah I’ve got all the requirements such as working with a wetsuit, rash vest, etc noted down. I actually surf and kitesurf myself so I’ve got some existing knowledge of a similar industry which will help when it comes to that part of the project. I’ve never actually been water skiing though so this project will hopefully give me an excuse to finally give it a go.