Hi there,
The 3 most common injuries in recreational tennis players:
- Rotator cuff related shoulder pain
- Lower back strain
- Tennis elbow
These injuries are usually related to high repetitive loads seen in tennis, change in loading patterns such as playing more or serving more or a change in technique or a racket, string or grip change. Acute low back pain is also common when reaching for a ball or over rotating.
Interestingly, tennis elbow is not usually caused by playing tennis but from other activities at home or work like gardening, lifting, cleaning or other repetitive activities. But you definitely know about it and it tends to get aggravated when you play tennis (particularly with a single-handed backhand).
Gena is our Sports and Exercise Physio who has worked with elite level tennis players for the past 6 years. Unless very severe Gena likes to keep you on court when injured and can guide you on how much you should play and what to avoid. She also has some great taping techniques she has learnt from her tournament work that can decrease your pain while you play. The key to improving these conditions is building up a good strength and endurance base to increase the capacity of the muscles and tendons so you don’t continue to reinjure them.
Gena works at Newport Physio & Health on Wednesday & Fridays. Book online by clicking on the blue button below for all your tennis and sports related injuries.
In Gena’s next few blogs she will go into detail on the top 3 injuries above, so stay tuned!