Tennis gained a lot of popularity in recent years. With many successful tennis players becoming role-models to younger generations, tennis gained many new professional and recreational players recently.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re playing tennis professionally or just as a hobby. It’s essential to take good care of your body before, during, and after a tennis match. This doesn’t only include buying the best sneakers for tennis, as most of the injuries occur in the shoulder, hand, wrist, and elbow area.
So, to ensure you’re giving your maximum on the tennis court, try incorporating these four tennis shoulder exercises to keep your shoulders healthy and protected from injuries.
Why Exercises Are Important
Although many people play tennis as an exercise, remember it’s essential to have some exercise to play tennis correctly. As tennis is a kind of sport that includes many repetitive and intense hand movements always incorporated with strong grips, it’s vital to take good care of your muscles in that area.
Without regular exercises, you can injure the tendons, muscles, or even bones in your body. Depending on the injury level, the absence of exercises can bring you chronic pain and discomfort that can be treated by various methods, usually depending on the seriousness of the injury.
Some of the most common injuries are the tennis elbow, rotating cuff tendinitis or tennis shoulder, wrist strains, knee and back pain, and the tennis toe.
In addition to the correct movement on the court, proper way of holding and using the racquet, and good warm-up sessions, the exercises can help eliminate the injuries or at least minimize their pain in case they happen. So, make sure to include some of these exercises before or after an upcoming tennis match.
What Is Tennis Shoulder
Tennis shoulder, also known as rotating cuff tendinitis, is among the most common injuries in tennis. The rotator cuff consists of muscles and tendons connected to the upper arm bone and move along with the arm movements. With this, our shoulders are flexible and can move in many different directions if needed.
When playing tennis, you are using these muscles and tendons throughout the whole match. They make it possible for you to move the arm differently to hit the tennis ball at any angle. That’s why this part of our body often gets overused and sore after intense or longer tennis matches since the main actions tiring these muscles are in the overhead serve.
In case you suffer from tennis shoulder already, the best treatment is to get some rest and take a short pause from tennis or any other similar demanding activity, which can further increase the damage and pain of the injury. Also, applying cold packs or ice to the affected area for 15 minutes a couple of times per day can alleviate the pain and assist in the healing process.
If you don’t see any improvement in your tennis shoulder condition in 7-10 days, make sure to visit your local doctor. The doctor can prescribe you medication that will surely help with a smooth and fast recovery.
The Best Tennis Shoulder Exercises
To prevent tennis shoulder or help with its recovery, try incorporating these exercises in your workout session. For optimal results, repeat all of the exercises 8-12 times. The resistance bands are the best way to improve strength while also challenging your body’s flexibility, making them the perfect tennis exercise equipment.
- Shoulder extensions
Stand up with arms at shoulder height. Pull down the band with your arms behind your back, but ensure your wrists and elbows remain at a straight position. Your head and torso need to stay in place. Then, slowly release the pressure and return to the starting position.
- Band pull
You can do this exercise seated or standing. Simply take the band with both hands on each end, and keep the arms at shoulder height. Then, stretch the band with your hands while keeping the shoulders down. Slowly return arms to the initial position.
- Internal rotation
For internal rotation, bend your elbow at 45 degrees, keeping the wrist straight. Move the band towards your body, not allowing the shoulder or upper arm to bend forwards. Slowly return to the starting position.
- T-Row
Stand up with arms at shoulder height. Pull the band towards the sides of your body, making a T-shape with your arms. Make sure your wrists and elbows remain straight and your shoulders down. Then, slowly release and return to the initial position.
Conclusion
To sum it up, tennis can be an exciting sport. However, if injuries happen, it’s necessary to act upon them. Simple rest can often help, but if you want to minimize the risk of tennis shoulder, the best way is to incorporate useful shoulder exercises.
With resistance bands, you can do different exercises wherever you are. They don’t take up any space but give excellent results in strength and flexibility.