Two Ways That Tennis Enthusiasts Can Reduce Their Risk of Being Injured

Whilst tennis can serve as a fantastic hobby, it can also lead to injuries such as sprains, fractures and back pain. If you play this sport on a regular basis, here are some of the things you can do to reduce your chances of being hurt.

Play on the right type of surface

The type of tennis court surface that you choose to play on could play a significant role in how likely you are to sustain an injury during your practice sessions. Both hard courts and natural grass courts can be quite dangerous in this respect.

During a typical game of tennis, most players will spend a lot of their time jumping and running around their side of the court. When done on a hard surface (such as clay or concrete, for example), these types of movements can place a lot of pressure on a person's joints and increase their risk of breaking or spraining their ankles or developing joint problems.

As such, it might seem wiser to play on softer natural grass courts; however, these, too, can cause problems, as real grass tends to become extremely slippery after a bout of rain and as such, playing on it in wet conditions can lead to people slipping and hurting their backs or their heads.

Synthetic grass tennis courts are the best alternative to hard and real grass courts; they provide the same kind of softness as natural grass (meaning that they won't place an excessive amount of pressure on your ankles and knees), but do not become anywhere near as slippery when exposed to moisture (meaning that there is minimal risk of you slipping and sustaining an injury).

Hire an instructor to help you perfect your technique

One of the main reasons that tennis players sustain injuries whilst playing this sport is because of their own incorrect technique.

For example, overarching your back when serving, or twisting your back too abruptly when reaching out to return a serve, can lead to sprains in the back muscles. Similarly, failing to keep your knees bent when leaning forward could potentially cause a herniated disc.

As such, it is vital to ensure that you perfect your technique; the most effective way to do this is to invest in a few lessons with a qualified tennis instructor. Their expertise and experience will enable them to identify and instruct you on how to correct each and every error you make; this, in turn, should help you to reduce your risk of being injured when playing this sport in the future.