Tennis Screening: Are You Really Ready to Play?
Tennis is a very dynamic sport. Not only does it require stamina, but also a combination of joint mobility and adequate strength is needed to make a strong stroke.
The question is, though, how do you know if you have enough mobility and strength to support you through training or a match?
Well, there are three things you can do right now to check to see if you’re at risk for injury.
#1 Get into an in-line lunge/split-stance pattern
Many tennis movements require us to lower our centre of gravity, as this widens our base of support so we can get those low slices or move from side to side. An in-line lunge places the lower extremities in a split stance, while the upper extremities move into an opposite pattern. This mimics what happens during our tennis ground strokes because we must move into position using a lunge that moves separately from our upper body.
#2 Move your hand over your back
This motion requires us to bring our arm all the way over our body until we reach our back. It mimics our serve motion as we must drop our elbow before reaching to the top and striking the serve. If there is any limitation to this motion, it’ll greatly affect the fluidity and quality of the serve. Without this motion we can’t store elastic energy in our shoulders and as a result we can’t produce powerful serves.
#3 Lie down and stand up
Lie on the ground with one knee bent and one hand straight. Then try to come up from the ground into a standing position. Not easy, right? This is a great screening tool to gauge the strength in your lower abdominal and hip flexor muscles – key muscles when striking serves, especially right before you contacting the ball.
There’s a saying out there I’m sure you’ve heard: if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. So, the next time you want to hit the court, first screen yourself for the three above moves to pinpoint where you need to focus your exercise routine to reduce your chance of injury.
Call 9873 2770 or book online https://bookings.nookal.com/bookings/location/39XKS.
Written by Bryan Chen, Physiotherapist and Professional Tennis Coach