Tennis Elbow Got Me Switching to Graphite—Wedge Shaft Advice?

Wardman · May 29

On 5/20/2025 at 8:49 AM, poizster said:

I’m turning 40 this year and have been dealing with tennis elbow in my right arm (right-handed golfer) for almost a year. It’s been creeping into my left arm now too. I’ve done a ton of PT and strength training, and while things have improved a little, the injury still lingers.

I’ve seen a lot of folks on here say that switching to graphite helped with similar injuries, so I went in for an iron fitting yesterday and tested a bunch of graphite options. My current gamers are Mizuno JPX 923 Tours with DG 120 X100 shafts. Love them, but they’re tough on the joints.

During the fitting, I landed on the Miura TC-202 paired with the OTi 105 X shaft. I tried Steelfiber, MMTs, Recoils, you name it. Nothing felt as soft and easy on my joints as the OTi/Miura combo. For reference, I was only swinging 6 irons and my average clubhead speed was 93.5 mph.

Now I’m trying to figure out what to do with my wedges. I currently play SM10s in 50, 54, and 58 with S200s. I noticed Titleist doesn’t list the OTi shafts as an option for SM10s. I could go with the MMT Taper 105 or 125, but I’m also confused why Titleist doesn’t offer the MMT Scoring Wedge shaft, just the Taper Irons.

When I asked my fitter what to do, he suggested maybe going with a softer steel shaft, like the R300, which caught me off guard.

I’m not much of a gear expert, so I’m hoping to get some input here:

If you’re a scratch player swinging a 6 iron around 93.5 mph and looking to ease joint pain, what graphite shafts would you recommend for wedges?

Appreciate any insights.

I had the same shaft, too many indoor matt sessions and hands/elbow hurt... They lasted a year for me, now I'm back to steel. I used the private reserve wedge shaft with my Glide 4.0. I have 2 of the wedges still, PM if any interest. I think 50 and 54 with PR Wedge Shafts, 120g. Not bad, but not steel so they are on the bench for me.

Edited May 29 by Wardman

b_smith07 · May 29

6 hours ago, phizzy30 said:

I had the recoil proto F5 back in the day. I wouldn't say they feel too stiff since you're playing Axiom 125X. They do tend to be higher launching/spinning though.

The Axiom are a weird deal to me - they should play super stiff compared to my Modus 120X's but they dont really feel that way unless I get timing off a little. When tempo is good and you hit it near the center of the face they feel awesome - I just am not as consistent with them across the board as I am the Modus.

When you say higher launching and spin, about how much more spin were you seeing off irons compared to what shafts?

dwboston · May 29

On 5/20/2025 at 10:41 AM, poizster said:

I have all the flexbars. I've been doing Tyler twists with the blue for almost 9 months.

Focus on doing the Tyler Twist slowly. When I first got tennis elbow and got the Flexbar, the video showed the person doing it very quickly. Do the release of the involved arm slowly to stretch the tendon.

I'd also suggest maybe dropping down to the green one. I have the red, green and blue and progressed quickly from red to green once the initial pain subsided a bit, used green for a while then bought the blue, which felt like a significant jump up and almost overkill. Unless you're just really strong and the green feels like a noodle, I think it's more important to get full range of motion from the twist with just enough tension to stretch the tendon. I get a twinge in my right elbow here and there and do a couple of sets of 12-15 reps with the green Flexbar and I'm good.

I switched to graphite ~10 years ago after getting tennis elbow in each arm in successive years and it hasn't returned. I got fit for Recoil Proto 125 F4 at the time, played those for a few years, then switched to Recoil Proto 110 F4. Played those for a few years and am now in the "regular" Recoil 110 F4. I don't feel the need to go lighter than this for now. Wedges have been Recoil Proto 125 F4 the whole time. I don't really notice the difference in shaft weight between the irons and wedges.

Edited May 30 by dwboston

phizzy30 · May 30

9 hours ago, b_smith07 said:

The Axiom are a weird deal to me - they should play super stiff compared to my Modus 120X's but they dont really feel that way unless I get timing off a little. When tempo is good and you hit it near the center of the face they feel awesome - I just am not as consistent with them across the board as I am the Modus.

When you say higher launching and spin, about how much more spin were you seeing off irons compared to what shafts?

They spin more than the usual culprits. X100, C-taper, PX

Axiom and Modus 120 were both on the higher end of spin for me so the recoil proto maybe a good option for you if you're good with higher launch.

CTG77 · June 1

I have found the SteelFiber series to be great. I have regular i110cw hard stepped 1x in my 54° and 58° wedges, and to match my irons since it's more of a full swing club, my 50° gap wedge is an i95cw stiff hard stepped about 1/2x. I've used i125cw stiff flex shafts, and they're indistinguishable from X100 for ball flight and spin for me, other than I don't hurt after using clubs built with them. I like the "feel" of heavier iron / wedge shafts, but hate the performance. I've had my 2 best approach rounds of the year since my Pro S-3 irons came back from the rebuild last week, and shot a 77 yesterday on a hard course from 6,500 yards at almost 52 years old. Don't knock the concept of going lighter until you've been properly fitted by someone who REALLY knows what they're doing. With the little bit of hard-stepping he did when rebuilding my irons, adding hosel weight, and changing up the grips to a lighter version and using buildup tape to get thickness back, my fitter has my Mizuno Pro S-3s really well tuned for me.

Lefty Mondegreen · June 1

On 5/28/2025 at 4:02 PM, b_smith07 said:

shocker, the 8 iron is already breaking at the hosel

bevel/chamfer? You'd think this would be sorted out by now, but walk by any beginners' session at the mats and you'll find the casualties. Even steel. Maybe collared ferrule?

Ok. I'll confess. I was breaking shafts (did I already say that?). RP Rifle 5.5, so a bit of a reputation for weak tips. Aggressive loading with the hands at the top. OTT, steep. I'm not sure it was the impact ... maybe awkward bending back and forth, as I came down and recovered. Worked on a Monte NTC swing, Faldo pre set, taking the club behind/to 7 o'clock in transition, club in fingers, bowed lead wrist ... the works. Shoulder better, no chicken wing, and elbow hurts in a new place. I think I am still aggressive at the top and not staying connnected so more work to be done. But haven't tossed a head down the fairway in 5 years ... knock on wood. Good luck!

games · June 1

Just returned after two years off and practicing at an indoor sim. Never had issues before, but now my left wrist and left tricep hurt, and I have tennis elbow in my left arm.

I have Oban steel in 5-PW, but my higher loft wedges are all True Temper steel. Like most, I warm up and start practice with wedges, then work "up" through the bag. Invariably, I always felt sore at first, felt better as practice went on, no pain hitting driver, then felt sore afterward. I just thought it was a matter of warming up to get through the pain.

Yesterday, I skipped wedges, and started with PW. Still had some wrist and tricep pain, but zero elbow pain. Like the OP, I'm going to reshaft wedges with graphite. I'd love to reshaft with Oban, but it's so expensive. For the price of an Oban shaft I can get a set of two or three Recoil wedge shafts.

jeffrey r · June 1

9 hours ago, CTG77 said:

I have found the SteelFiber series to be great. I have regular i110cw hard stepped 1x in my 54° and 58° wedges, and to match my irons since it's more of a full swing club, my 50° gap wedge is an i95cw stiff hard stepped about 1/2x. I've used i125cw stiff flex shafts, and they're indistinguishable from X100 for ball flight and spin for me, other than I don't hurt after using clubs built with them. I like the "feel" of heavier iron / wedge shafts, but hate the performance. I've had my 2 best approach rounds of the year since my Pro S-3 irons came back from the rebuild last week, and shot a 77 yesterday on a hard course from 6,500 yards at almost 52 years old. Don't knock the concept of going lighter until you've been properly fitted by someone who REALLY knows what they're doing. With the little bit of hard-stepping he did when rebuilding my irons, adding hosel weight, and changing up the grips to a lighter version and using buildup tape to get thickness back, my fitter has my Mizuno Pro S-3s really well tuned for me.

Steelfiber i110 stiff soft-stepped in my case for several years now, and they are perfect in wedges.

bayergolf · June 3

On 5/20/2025 at 9:17 PM, Phabs said:

Accra Tzi 115's and BPC 157 cured my elbow tendon issues with in a month.

Oral or injectable BPC 157?

Phabs · June 3

15 hours ago, bayergolf said:

Oral or injectable BPC 157?

Just pills - all I used

Edited June 3 by Phabs

b_smith07 · June 5

So more feedback for the wedges -

Just played 108 holes over three days at Pine Dunes in East TX with Recoil Proto 125 F4's in my 60-56-50 and my normal set of ZX7's with steel Modus 120X's. Zero elbow pain.

I think playing a softer ground helps tremendously (Im a steeper AOA player, always have been). Took plenty of salad plate sized divots with wedges and zero pain or discomfort. The wedge shafts I really like after playing a bunch - I think they lauch a little higher than the S200's, but the spin is the same (not overspinning full shots) and I actually can feel comfortable aiming at the spot I want to hit and not worried about missing them left or hitting the little push cuts I was getting with the stock S200's. I will be keeping them in the bag for the foreseeable future.

And like mentioned in a previous post, I always start my warmup with partial and full wedge shots working into irons and then woods. Perhaps just the wedge shaft change will help me out here.