Common Tennis Injuries and Ways to Prevent Them

Tennis is one of the most famous sports in the World. A player must have a lot of physical strength and mental focus to become a game champion. Tennis is a sport that evaluates physical stamina and mental capacity. To maintain the pressure with your opponent and keep the audience hooked up with every shot being played. Thus, playing a shot at the speed of 200kmph, a player must be very quick and fit to perfection with a spirited mind.

Tennis is not a close-contact sport, but it does have the potential of getting some serious injuries. The common misconception that tennis is the safest sport in the World proves wrong because tennis still risks getting injured. But that does not mean you can not treat the injuries. The below-mentioned details are about such damages, which are not only preventable but can be treated.

Check out the informative guidelines! 

5 Common Tennis Injuries and How We Can Prevent Them

Want to get rid of tennis-related aches and unbearable pain? A player should be educated to prevent such injuries on the five most common injuries experienced while playing tennis. Let us start with:

Tennis Elbow 

During tennis, a lot of stress and pressure builds up on our muscles and joints, which is quite painful. Having a tennis elbow, a player may experience pain and aches on the outside of the elbow, which makes the grip of the forearm and elbow tendons weaker. Tennis elbow or medically known as ” Lateral epicondylitis,” refers to the injury caused by the inflammation of the tendons joint with forearm muscles to the outside position of the elbow. The damage occurs due to the elbows’ constant bending more often, making it a long-lasting sports injury. It is also known as a typical golf injury. 

You can prevent tennis elbow injury by taking standard safety measures, such as keeping yourself warm and cool before and after the tennis match and wearing a supportive surgical appliance to reduce the risk of getting a tennis elbow.

Rotator Cuff Tendinitis

The term ” Rotator cuff ” is usually known as four muscles and tendons that provide strong support and stability to the shoulder and helps to mobilize it by coming together. As a result of excessive shoulder muscles, the rotator cuff can tear itself, resulting in an acute injury. The pain of this injury increases tenderness in the shoulder, making it more weak and problematic in lifting the arm.

The best way to overcome rotator cuff tendonitis is to change the serving technique, which can only be possible by increasing the space between your arm and your side while playing tennis. This will help decrease pressure on the shoulder, and there would be no tearing of the tendon in that area. 

Stress Fracture Injury

While playing a tennis match, service requires a combination of hyperextension. In simple words bending the back and side and rotating the wrist can result in common stress fracture injuries. This is caused by the movement that stresses the vertebrae at the lower back of the spine. Converting into a fracture caused at the portion of vertebrae called ” Pars interarticularis.” This condition eventually causes a spondylolisthesis, a painful injury that shifts the vertebrae forward. Stress fractures pain can be bearable but can get worse if you continue the activity and movement. Court surfaces also harmed this type of injury because hard court surfaces are more dangerous and risky for stress fractures.

Stress fracture patients can keep themselves prevented by practicing a lot of stretching exercises, keeping themselves warm, and performing other low-impact activities like biking and swimming to reduce stress fractures.

Ankle Sprains

Ankle sprains are a widespread problem a tennis player faces because the ankle is the most overused part of the body in fast-paced games like tennis. A quick sideways motion can cause the ankle to stretch, and a twist can damage ligaments and tissues in the ankle. The sprain results in pain, causing stiffness and swelling on the ankle, immovable, and bruising can also occur many times.

You can prevent ankle sprains by using the right and supportive footwear, keeping warm and cool before and after the physical activity, and avoiding the uneven surfaces of the court. Thus, you can enjoy and decrease the risk of ankle sprain by using these measures.

Patellar Tendonitis

In simple words, patellar tendonitis is also called ” Jumper’s Knee. ” This injury is caused by the repetitive jumping of the player and eventually affects the jumper’s knees. Continuous jumping and landing, especially on rough surfaces, can cause microscopic tears, leading to injury in patellar tendons because we put excessive pressure on our knees while jumping. Patellar tendonitis can cause severe swelling in the affected area and difficulty in activities that need movement like walking up and down, jumping, or kneeling. 

You can reduce the injury risks of having patellar tendonitis by wearing comfortable shoes and a supportive knee brace. The painful inflammation caused by the jumper’s knee can be decreased by working on exercises that strengthen your quads.

The potential injuries of tennis are preventable as well as durable. Still, to get rid of this chronic pain, the athletes and other sports players must keep themselves fit and strong. This can only be possible if they do such exercises that decrease the chance of injury. Take time to rest before and after the matches and to use ice packs for the icing on specific chronic injuries to reduce the possibility of inflammation.

Conclusion:

You may recognize that tennis injuries do not discriminate by age. It may cause you to lose confidence, but it only shows the level of resistance one has. Although most damages are recoverable, the best way to overcome them is with hard work and proper muscle condition.

The best way to prevent injury is with good equipment, proper training, health care, taking the necessary precautions, and warm-cooling measures, especially when playing on winter courts.

FAQ’s

Q. Why do tennis players get injured?
A. Most tennis players get injured because of overuse while serving. The proportion of overuse injury is two-third of tennis injuries which most often affect the shoulders, wrist, and elbow. One-third of tennis injuries are caused by traumatic events or acute injury. 

Q. Why do tennis players wrap their thighs? 
A. Nowadays, it is seen that tennis players cover their thighs with tape. This wrapping of tape prevents specific injuries, supports muscles. It also keeps relieving pressure on the bruises because tape can compensate for healing after surgery.