Sore Muscles or Tennis/Golf Elbow?

I am a lefty and my right forearm is sore.  Based on Dr Google it doesn't sound quite like tennis or golf elbow based on where I am feeling it.  It's sore on the outside of my forearm, about halfway between my elbow and wrist.  When I flex my forearm, I feel it at the most muscular part.

Is there a way to easily tell whether this is simple muscle soreness from developing muscles that I haven't used much before (I've only been playing golf for about 6 mos and have been playing a lot more lately), or a sign of something more ominous to come?

All I've done so far is stretching (stand with arms straight out in front of me and flex wrists up, then down) and icing on and off.

I am not a doctor or play one on internet forums however I had a very similar problem last year.

My doc said it was tendonitis.  I was hitting a lot of balls off mats that may have started it.

Sorry to say the only "cure" in my case was rest and ice.  I cut down to 9 holes a week and played

thru the pain, wasn't even supposed to do that.  I did get one of those gel wraps for the forearm and that did take some of the stress off the forearm.  No golf over the winter and this year no pain

I had the same thing after a two week marathon at the driving range where I was pounding balls for a couple hours a day. As dean007 stated, rest is the only thing that will cure that.

Thanks for the input.  I am new (been playing for about 6 mos) and I've stepped it up a lot recently.  I think I have a little bit of the Weekend Warrior thing going on now.

I saw my chiropractor this week (for an unrelated shoulder issue that is now under control) and he unofficially said he doesn't think it's tendonitis because of where it is -- pretty much right in the "meatiest/ropiest" part of the muscle.  He thinks tendons would involve more toward the elbow.  He said that sometimes amateur athletes can be really unbalanced on left/right side and since I'm left handed, maybe I'm doing some compensating etc on the right side.

I don't want to stop playing golf though:-(  I am just starting to improve.

I've been icing a lot and think it might be helping...

In your forearm you have many different muscles and not just one and a lot of them have long tendons and short muscle belly's. Those "ropiest" parts of your forearm may just be tendons and its hard to really know without feeling where it hurts. So it could still be tendonitis or could be micro tears in your muscle belly causing the pain.

The good thing is that rest and ice are still what you need to do to heal. Another may be some slight stretching (nothing to extreme) and also during your round of golf or driving range maybe take some time and just stretch your forearm muscles to keep them stretched (may help prevent from injuring again)

I wouldn't quit playing golf.............just revamp your practices by focusing on quality rather than quantity.

Line up every ball you hit on the range as if you're on the course. Take dead aim each time, working on a solid preshot routine so you're hitting less but focusing more.

Also, instead of practicing your swing so much, take some of that time and work on putting. That alone will rest your arm a bit AND lower your score.

When I first started playing I had that problem and I believe it was because I was gripping the hell out of the club because I was trying to muscle all my shots. As I've started to improve I've realized I need to really relax my grip (I've always known this is desired but it's hard for me to do). The lighter the grip the better my shot and my tennis/golf elbow has gone away. I'm sure some of this is developing the "golf muscles" but I think it's mainly my grip. My pain was also in my lead arm.

Funny you should mention grip.  I was at my weekly lesson on Tuesday and saw that my grip is all crazy.  I tend to grip with my entire hands rather than just fingers.  I am sure like most beginners I have the club in a death grip as I try to get more distance.

I play tennis too and one of the women in my regular game has been off for 2 mos with tennis elbow and also bursitis in her shoulder.  She's having a hell of a time plus what I've googled seems to be very dire about "once you have it, it'll dog you forever" so I am a little paranoid that I am developing it!

I guess the good thing about being a beginner is I can head off bad form and bad habits now before they become too ingrained.

Nothing has helped my shot more than not trying to hit it hard. As my slice improved I switched from a baseball grip to an interlocking grip and now I'm starting to use an overlapping grip as my major problem with my shot shape currently is pulling my irons. I find the looser my grip the longer my shot goes. Try using an excessively light grip while at the range. Its hard to do mentally on the course cause you're thinking about a dozen things but on the range concentrate on only holding the club loosely. The other day I was at the range practicing my new overlapping grip and I decided I was gonna hold the club so loose I felt like it might come out of my hands (I realized I wasn't holding the club that loose but compared to my typical grip it felt like nothing). When I struck the ball with that grip the ball rocketed off the club straight as an arrow and went I mile. I just stepped back and laughed.