Injury Prevention

Ouch! The classic way of starting a blog on injury prevention. That being said, I rarely meet a competitive tennis player that has never, ever had something hurt. More than being sore- don’t be a baby. Tennis players have the luxury of being one of the few sports that cause the most self-inflicting damage. While we aren’t tackled by our opponents and don’t take our gloves off in order to punch each other (I guess hockey would be a fairly uncommon sport in Florida, my apologies), the wear and tear of our sport can do some harm if precautions aren’t taken. Take, for example, the continuous impact of the hard court surface and what it does to a player’s knees and shins. Or, think of the probability of twisting an ankle when running in almost every direction with short bursts of explosion and the necessity for a quick change of direction that the sport requires. Then, take the grueling impact on shoulders, elbows, and wrists that is required to swing a racquet, below and above your head. Back, abs, and hips have some liability when overuse and a slight move in the wrong direction can tweak those large muscles. Pretty much, we’ve hit every single part of our body in tennis that can eventually succumb to painful injury- because tennis is a year round sport, oftentimes tennis players are seen playing through numerous injuries. Bad. Very, very bad.

But that doesn’t help, does it, just to say playing through injuries is not a good idea. Once injured, RICE is the best option- rest, ice, compression, elevation. Sometimes, especially when muscles spasm, warmth is better than ice. Applying a heat pack to relax the muscle can be beneficial. If the urge to play is so great that even an injury does not stop you, wrapping the injury is an option. This prevents the limb from moving in its full range, and adds compression that helps inflammation subside. That being said, you kind of need to know what you are doing in order for the wrap to work. Just rolling up your ankle in globs of athletic tape won’t do anything. If you don’t have an onsite trainer (all tournaments have them), handy dandy Google can help you with the wrap of your choice. Odds are, your coach will know how to wrap the injury too. Other, more obscure ways of treating injuries include electric stimulation (pads that adhere to your skin and send electric pulses to the area to a) relax the muscle and b) send more blood flow to the area), grastin (metallic stubby knife looking things that are used by a certified trainer to enhance blood flow to the area- as a person whose stubborn injuries were alleviated by this method, I am a huge perpetuator of this method, although it is painful), and orthotics (again, as a person with weird flat feet, I can attest to the benefits of custom orthotics that are placed into the sneaker to lift or support the arch in the foot. This can even change your gait and posture). 

Contrary to many beliefs, stretching can sometimes do more harm than good to an injured muscle. It’s one of the best ways to PREVENT injury, but not a great idea to do with, say, a pulled muscle. A pulled muscle is already, well, stretched. Spasms, however, do need to be stretched. Exercising also doesn’t seem to be a viable solution for an injury, but can be surprisingly helpful when injured. If, say, I pulled my quadriceps, I would strengthen my hamstrings, the muscle that works in tandem with my quadriceps, in physical therapy. Speaking of balance in muscle strength, keep in mind when working out that any muscle workout you do has to be in balance with the muscle that it works with. For example, while rock solid abs are both attractive and beneficial for tennis, strengthening your abs without strengthening your back muscle can be very dangerous- you are setting yourself up for a very bad strain to your back. A weaker muscle that works in tandem with a stronger muscle is at risk of injury constantly because the stronger muscle overworks the weaker one. Another thing to keep in mind is that tennis players naturally gain strength in certain areas, and so a gym workout should focus on those areas that need improvement off the court. Some of these areas include pectoral muscles, which are shortened by the strength in a tennis player’s shoulders, and hip flexors and the groin muscle, both of which are often underdeveloped in a tennis player compared to their quads and hamstrings (hamstrings, by the way, are often much weaker in tennis players than their quads- at a much younger me point in time I was able to lift 80 pounds with my quadriceps but only 40 with my hamstrings, a worrisome difference).     

Injuries aren’t any fun. That’s why you should be reading this next section, which is on injury prevention. Injury prevention is the unsung hero of tennis, and unfortunately is often left out of grueling practices where it is most necessary. There are certain things that you can do while you are playing that will help both your game and your fitness and injury prevention. This is a very simple idea- the fitter you are, the better protected you are from injury. A strong muscle will take longer to fatigue and will stay under control for longer. It’s important too though not to overwork a muscle, since this shortens the muscle instead of creating the long and lean but strong desired effect. Other things to prevent injuries, in laundry list style (digression in parentheses- why do they call it a laundry list? I’d think it would be more of a grocery list, wouldn’t it? Anyways…):

·       Stretch (not for two seconds on each leg- at least 20 minutes with each stretch lastly around 15 to 20 seconds at the least)

·       Yoga (aka a long stretch- it builds stamina too!)

·       Keeping your center of gravity low (or, in layman’s terms, bend your knees!)

·       Maintain correct technique on all shots

·       Ice tub (for overworked muscles and cramping)

·       Hydrate (dehydration in a dilapidating injury), preferably with coconut water or Pedialyte (see my nutrition blog) 

·       For the sake of your tennis game, your mental state, and your physical well being, if something hurts even though you took the necessary steps to help it (ice, compression, ect.), take a break. It’s better to take two days off after a pulled muscle then playing through it and having to take 6 months off for a tear. I’ve seen this happen to tennis players and I’ve had it happen to me as well. No matter what you have to be true to yourself and your physical well being- that’s more important than a tennis match will ever be.

And on that point, tootles until next time!