Tennis is a valuable activity that attracts people who enjoy physical competition. However, as with almost every sports game, injuries often occur in practice. Moreover, since tennis can be played by people who perceive it as a professional sport, some might attempt risky moves to win. This report explores what scholars report on injuries among tennis players and what patterns are there in the topic.
The most important note before any information is discussed is that the data about tennis injuries need thorough evaluation when used. As some researchers point out, the data that medical workers provide for the studies used to be inconsistent in form. However, newly available data discovered many options for research since it is uniform and can be processed by a computer. Yet, one must be aware that researchers tend to be selective when studying injuries. It is a matter of human tendency to focus on one subject and ignore other important factors.
Returning to the damages during play, it is accepted that tennis injuries happen among elite players the most often. Namely, injuries occur after skillful, repetitive practices of the play that involve body movements aimed at extreme agility. Moreover, the most common injuries are that of the hip and thigh since these are used the most by a player. Interestingly, lower extremity injuries occur more frequently and tend to be acute, while chronic injuries tend to occur more rarely. The nature of these injuries is evidence that they happen if the players are concerned about the game; thus, these are elite players.
However, the situation with tennis injuries is more complicated than that, as recent data reveals. For example, injuries might also include damage to the trunk, although it is a much rarer outcome of the play. Furthermore, various factors impact the probability of injuries, such as speed, duration, and social pressure of the game. It appears that it is not only the fault of too perseverant players but also the conditions of the game session. Finally, the repetitive pattern that might lead to traumas in tennis can be described. Specifically, the process includes the use of the feet and knees, after which a player activates their core and trunk and proceeds with the movement of the shoulders and elbows, concluding with the wrist and hand stroke. It is important to highlight that not the process itself that causes the damage but the conditions and actions of a player.
To conclude, tennis is a peaceful and healthy way to spend time, but people who want to play it professionally might put themselves at risk. Although tennis is a safe game, helpful for recreational purposes, it involves threats to the health of elite players, which should be studied by nursing researchers. The traumas they receive in the play are caused by stressful movements used to win the competitions.
References
Félix, I., Draovitch, P., Ellenbecker, T. S., & Dines, J. (2018). Tennis injuries of the Hip and thigh. Tennis Medicine, 381–399. Web.
Fu, M. C., Ellenbecker, T. S., Renstrom, P. A., Windler, G. S., & Dines, D. M. (2018). Epidemiology of injuries in tennis players. Current Reviews in Musculoskeletal Medicine, 11(1), 1–5. Web.
Reid, M., Cormack, S. J., Duffield, R., Kovalchik, S., Crespo, M., Pluim, B., & Gescheit, D. T. (2018). Improving the reporting of tennis injuries: The use of workload data as the denominator? British Journal of Sports Medicine, 53(16), 1041–1042. Web.