Are you suffering from tennis elbow? One of the recommendations you will often hear is to change your grip size. There's a lot of misinformation regarding recommendations for optimal grip size to prevent tennis elbow. Most people, including many health care professionals, recommend a larger grip. Let's look at the research to determine if that is said advice.
One study reported that the change in force that occurs at the elbow when comparing small, medium and large grip are not significant enough to suggest a grip size change (small = 4 1/4", medium = 4 1/2" and large = 4 3/4" grips). They summarized the results by stating that to suggest a change in racquet grip size when there are complaints of tennis elbow would not be indicated from these results.
Another study found that there was not a significant difference in activity of the most commonly affected muscle in tennis elbow (Extensor Carpi Radialis Brevis or ECRB for short) between using the recommended grip size (Nirschl), Nirschl + 1/4" and Nirschl - 1/4" for all phases of a one handed backhand ground stroke.
Another study looking at force on the ECRB found that the small grip size (ave 3.74") and large grip size (ave 4.5") had the highest force intensity. (Average small grip size was 3.74", recommended size was 4.13" and large was 4.5").
One study looked at the difference between a non-fatigued state and fatigued state to see if the grip size would matter based on these factors. They found that when using the small grip (3.75") subjects had a significantly increased grip force in both the fatigued and non-fatigued states. When using a large grip (4.5") subjects also had a significantly increased grip force in both the fatigued and non-fatigued state, and using the large grip was significantly more grip force than the medium or small grip.
Finally, there was a study which found that players over 40 playing with larger grip size (4.375") were associated with significantly higher incidence of tennis elbow (note that small was considered < 4.375").
To summarize, two studies found that the size of the grip didn't significantly change the force or activity of the ECRB. Other studies found that smaller or larger grips increased grip force with the larger grip increasing grip force more than both medium and small sized grips, and can be related to incidence of tennis elbow.
Therefore the best answer from these results would be to use the recommended or medium sized grip, not a larger grip. I've included a picture of a simple way to determine if you have the correct grip size.
Keely Behning
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