Armwrestling with PAIN

The truth behind armwrestling pain.

Inflammation through the elbow and, more specifically, the ulna nerve is a particularly difficult pain to deal with and is a very common hurdle to encounter in armwrestling. The presence of this pain almost entirely rules out your ability to utilise side pressure.

As can be seen in this pull, where I am particularly inflamed, it is very difficult for me to win or even defend centre. I am forced to defend with raw bicep, raw wrist flexion, and the only side pressure I can employ comes in the form of isolated pronation and reposturing my body to utilise back pressure towards the pin. For me to get this victory, I must manage deep nerve pain very carefully and out last my opponent.

As you can see, my opponent takes full advantage of this fact and repeatedly hits me with a press, attacking my inability to go sideways and taking full control of centre. Because of the inflammation, I am thrown back and forth at will, as I have no ability to even match 10% of his side pressure. I am forced to create stops with my bicep and wrist flexion and then go to work by giving my wrist back and encouraging him to pronate so I can then drain his pronation with my wrist flexion.

Ultimately, winning or not winning centre comes down to your bodies soft tissue protection mechanism. Whoever has a higher tolerance to centre pressure without their nerves running through their elbow freaking out will seize control. When the pain is high, you need to get creative and bait your opponent into an alternative lane so you have a fighting chance.