Tennis Tips

Tennis Elbow (technical name is lateral epicondylitis) is the term given to an inflamed tendon attached to the bony outer part of the elbow. The tendon tissues may be inflamed or partially torn in more extreme conditions. It is estimated that about 50% of recreational tennis players will get tennis elbow at some point in their tennis career. There is a similar condition called Golfer’s Elbow (medial epicondylitis) which affects the inside part of the elbow.

Tennis elbow is a repetitive stress type injury and is not just limited to tennis players. It is common to many manual repetitive tasks involving repeated shocks to the wrist and upper arm. In tennis, there are several factors which increase the likelihood of having tennis elbow which include:

1) Age (a greater tendency for people older than about 35)

2) Frequency of play (greater than 3 times/week)

3) Lack of flexibility or strength in arm and wrist

4) Poor technique on ground strokes

5) Frequent off-center hitting (not hitting the ball in the ‘sweet spot’ of the racket)

6) Holding the racket too tightly

The impact of the racket with the ball causes vibrations to travel up through the racket into the arm and elbow. In addition, with every shot there are repeated contractions of the forearm muscle. This can cause inflammation and sometimes degeneration of the tissue on the outside of the elbow.

Symptoms:

1) Sharp pain on outside of elbow

2) Pain radiates down arm (not in all cases)

3) Pain while extending wrist or lifting objects.

4) Outside of elbow painful to the touch

5) Loss of grip strength

Initial treatment:

1) Rest from tennis for about 1 week

2) Apply ice to the affected area for 15-20 minutes, 3-4 times daily

3) To relieve pain and inflammation take an appropriate medication over the counter medication.

4) Use an elbow brace to redirect pressure away from the inflamed elbow

5) Consult a doctor if pain persists.

Exercises to improve strength and flexibility:

1) Hold out your injured arm straight with your palm facing down

2) Hold the back of this hand with your other uninjured hand and press the fingers down gently so they point down towards the ground

3) You should feel a light stretch in your forearm.  Stop if you feel any pain.

4) Hold out your injured arm straight, but this time with your palm facing upwards.

5) Now press down your hand using your uninjured hand.

6) You should feel a light stretch in your forearm.  Stop if you feel any pain

7) Use your fingers to massage the muscles in your forearm and any tender areas

Use a massage stick on your forearm muscles and any tender areas.

9) There are some excellent wrist and forearm exercises given in “Complete Conditioning for Tennis” by E.Paul Roetert and Todd S. Ellenbecker.

To avoid getting tennis elbow one of the best tennis tips is to work with a tennis professional to make sure you are hitting the ball properly. You could also play using a racket with a more flexible shaft and with a lower tension in the strings. This should dampen any vibrations that travel through the racket to your arm. Also, try relaxing your grip and release your grip between points by supporting the weight of your racket with your other hand under the racket-head.

Choosing a tennis racket from the many hundreds available can be a daunting task. Should you buy a racket with more power or more control or a mixture of both? What are the major differences between rackets and why is it important? I wrote this article to give you a few tennis tips on factors to take into account when choosing a tennis racket:

1) Head Size. Head sizes can vary between about 85-135 sq. inch with the most common size being in the range 95-110 sq. inch. In general, the bigger the head size, the more powerful the racket and the bigger the “sweet spot”. A way to visualize this is to think of a trampoline.  With a large trampoline, you can jump higher than a smaller one because the material on the large trampoline can flex more than the smaller trampoline, ‘catapulting’ you higher into the air. These larger head rackets are also more forgiving of off-center shots (ie slight mis-hits). The smaller head-size rackets generally have more control.

2) Length of racket. Rackets can vary in length from about 27”-29” with the majority of rackets in the 27” range. With a longer racket, you can generate slightly more reach and because of the greater distance between your grip and racket head, you can generate more leverage and power on ground shots. However, the longer racket is more difficult to manoevre than the standard length racket.

3) Racket materials: Most rackets are made of graphite which is very light but gives good power and control. Aluminum and titanium are also light materials which can also provide good power and are suitable for beginners.  The lightest rackets are made of boron or Kevlar,  but they are also very stiff materials which means that vibrations from mishit shots can travel up the arm (possible tennis elbow injuries if not used correctly). These rackets are most often used by more advanced players.

4) Weight of racket: Light rackets in range 225-280g (generally more powerful, but this depends on the racket head speed in addition to racket head weight). Medium rackets are in the range 280-300g and heavy rackets are in the range 300-340g and generally have more control.

5) String Pattern: In general, a racket with a denser string pattern (more strings) will have more control than a racket with a lower density string pattern, but the lower density string pattern racket will have more power. Again, this is can be visualized using the trampoline analogy. With fewer strings, the weight of the ball is distributed against fewer strings causing then to flex more so there is more of a ‘catapult’ effect. With a higher density string pattern, the strings don’t flex as much, but this gives more control. A lower density string pattern can also cause the strings to bite the ball (flexed strings giving more contact area with the ball) which in turn can be used to generate more spin.

6) String Tension. In general, tighter strings equals more control whereas looser strings means more power.

7) Grip size. Grip sizes can be grouped as follows:

Grip size 1 = 4 1/8”

Grip size 2 = 4 ¼”

Grip size 3 = 4 3/8”

Grip size 4 = 4 ½”

Grip size 5 = 4 5/8”

A good rule of thumb for choosing a good grip size is to grip the racket in your playing hand and then slide the index finger of your other hand in between the tips of your fingers and the base of your palm. If your finger will not fit, then the grip is too small whereas if there is a lot of room then the grip is too large. If you are between two sizes, choose the smaller one because you can always increase the size of the grip using an over-grip tape (soft, padded tape that fits around the grip).

All this detail may seem overwhelming. So one of the most important tennis tips I can give to you is to go to your local tennis store and talk with the store owner. Usually, these owners are keen tennis players and can offer tremendous advice on choosing a racket suitable for your game. Even better, many of these stores allow you to try several rackets for a few days (for a reasonable deposit payment) so that you can try out the different models. Often, the deposit is used as a down payment on the purchase price of the racket you choose. This is the main reason I would always choose a local specialist tennis store than a large discount store unless you are 100% confident you know which racket you want.   It is often worth spending a few dollars more to make sure that you purchase a racket that suits your game and that you are happy with rather than just trying to choose blindly in a large store.