US OPEN TENNIS

Tennis elbow is very common and also very treatable. In the game of tennis, tennis elbow is generally caused when a player uses bad body mechanics or incorrect equipment weight/sizes or a combination of the both. Basically if you play tennis regularly with a racquet that is too heavy for your arm and you strike the ball using incorrect technique you could cause a repetitive stress injury. Technically, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) defines tennis elbow as a degenerative condition of the tendon fibers on the outside of the elbow. These tendons are responsible for anchoring the muscles that extend or lift the wrist and hand. AAOS statistics show that while it occurs mostly in patients aged 30-50 it can and does occur in all age groups. As many as half of athletes in racquet sports (tennis, squash, racquetball) are affected - and there is not usually a specific trauma reported that sets off the symptoms. That means it can sneak up on you before you ever figure out yo …

Sure, you could think the same way but, you would be missing one of the greatest tools that can help you improve your tennis game immensely. The key is to make the stats work for you. What do you need to do? Focus on one part of your game only. For example unforced errors. Have your coach or a friend chart the statistics of a full match 2 or 3 sets (practice or tournament play). Whatever the result, if you are playing an opponent of identical level as yours, you will have a number and this number looked at in the overall context of the match can tell you if it was a determining factor or not in your win or loss. Once that is determined the kind of consistency level you are at will also be evident to you as well as the need to work intensively on it or not. This is a simple step to improvement but an important one, because the ability to be consistent on any shot is key to playing higher level competitive tennis. The quicker you find the culprit, be it the forehand or backhand the fast …