US OPEN TENNIS

Make an appointment with a physiotherapist if the pain does not go away within a day or two. If you are active and play sports regularly, you can sustain a rotator cuff injury. Tennis, golf and basketball players are particularly susceptible to this type of injury as they rely heavily on the shoulder muscles - imagine the muscle power needed to serve a tennis ball at the incredible speeds recorded at top level competition! The force of such actions can also cause impingement, shoulder muscles swelling and pinching the nerves on top of the shoulder. This causes “electric shock” jolts of pain all the way down the arm to the elbow (sometimes past it). Pins and needles and numbness in the fingers can also happen. Any symptoms such as these should never be ignored as medical treatment may be necessary. Again, a physiotherapist is a good person to go to as he will refer you to a clinician if needs be. The shoulder is a very mobile joint, but can be unstable. Some people’s shoulders dislocat …

In watching the pros, when they hit the ball, they are at least 6 inches off of the ground. Power is generated with proper technique. A rule of thumb is get ready early, bend low, put your hips in the “swinging motion”, keep your head steady and your eye on the ball, hit the “sweet” spot, and follow through. By combining all the above elements, and applying them at the same time you can achieve maximum power. To create racket speed, make sure you turn your body; turning your body brings your racket back automatically. Don’t pull your racket back, turn your body with the racket stationary. Moving your racket as you turn, insures your racket will be parallel with your shoulders, even when you turn again and meet the ball at contact point. This allows the ball to go where your belly button points when you make impact. Also, hit through the ball by letting your racket follow the ball down the court toward the spot where you intended it to go. Also, buying a racket with a larger “sweet” sp …

Grip is how you hold the tennis rackets. A faulty grip may ruin your service and injure you badly. Hold the racquet head perpendicular to the ground, the edge of the racquet frame pointing towards the ground and the handle facing towards your body. It is sort of a hand shake gesture if put plainly. Ensure that the line of the racket, the handle, your arm and hand is one. This is ideally your forehand grip. The backhand grip should be about ninety degrees turn of the handle from what it was for a forehand grip. The hand should be on top of the handle and the knuckles of your hand should be facing up (as in pointing up). It is advisable that the natural grip is modeled around these grips for maximum output and efficient play. Do not give up your comfort but try to reach a middle path if need be. Once you have your grip in place, you need to learn the stroke. Returning the ball will be impossible unless you learn strokes - the forehand and the backhand. Shoulders parallel to the ball or …

Power is generated with proper technique. A rule of thumb is get ready early, bend low, put your hips in the “swinging motion”, keep your head steady and your eye on the ball, hit the “sweet” spot, and follow through. By combining all the above elements, and applying them at the same time you can achieve maximum power. To create racket speed, make sure you turn your body; turning your body brings your racket back automatically. Don’t pull your racket back, turn your body with the racket stationary. Moving your racket as you turn, insures your racket will be parallel with your shoulders, even when you turn again and meet the ball at contact point. This allows the ball to go where your belly button points when you make impact. Also, hit through the ball by letting your racket follow the ball down the court toward the spot where you intended it to go. Also, buying a racket with a larger “sweet” spot and a bigger head helps give more power. The biggest trick is practice, practice, practic …