Benefits of Tennis Practice

Tennis is a very popular sport all over the world.

It is one of the most popular sports played by millions of people. Many of these people practice it even 2 or 3 times a week. It should be noted that it is a sport that can be practiced from the age of 3 years to old age, this being a determining factor for people who like it, can practice it throughout life. It is an ideal sport to improve the levels of physical activity of the population (Pluim, 2007).

Mind and Body

Modern tennis is an emotional sporting game characterized by varied and complex movements and sophisticated technique. It is a complex game of qualities: strength, solidity, endurance and dexterity. It is one of the most difficult sports as it requires a good technical execution for its correct practice. The technical skills (strokes) in this sport are numerous and can vary according to performance. The presence of an implement (racket) and a mobile (ball) requires precise and exquisite coordination. It is a very popular sport, difficult to mention other sports covering such a wide scope as age and gender. It can be practiced by all age groups and both sexes (Tomov, 2012).

The practice of tennis has many benefits for the mind and body.

Physically, playing tennis helps improve balance, mobility, agility, strength and fitness and also helps burn calories. Mentally, tennis works on concentration and your reactive and problem-solving behaviors. Emotionally, it can promote self-confidence, instill feelings of success, relieve stress and provide social outlets, such as meeting new friends, improving relationships between different people, etc.

The promotion of tennis as a healthy sport

It comes as a result of research into the health benefits of playing tennis. They investigated the benefits of this sport in the prevention of several risk factors and serious diseases related to sedentary lifestyles: low physical fitness, obesity, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases and osteoporosis. It was concluded that those who choose to play tennis may have a lower percentage of adipose tissue, more favorable lipid profiles and a better aerobic fitness that contributes to an improved cardiovascular morbidity risk profile (Pluim, 2007).

Pluim (2007) indicates that those who choose to play tennis appear to have positive health benefits. Body fat percentages are lower, lipid profiles are more favorable and there is an improvement in aerobic fitness, improving cardiovascular risk. Bone health benefits were also found. Thanks to the intensity that can be carried out in the game, this sport meets the exercise recommendations proposed by the ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine), and playing tennis on a regular basis can contribute to improved fitness levels. Long-term practice can lead to increased bone mineral density and bone mineral content in the arm, lumbar spine and legs.

Playing tennis on a regular basis has a number of health benefits. Playing tennis leads to loss of body fat, cardiac and pulmonary improvement, improved general fitness, lower blood pressure, etc. If its practice is combined with strength training sessions, it can be considered a sport for life.

Physical improvements

For Groppel (2009) tennis can help you improve:

  • Aerobic and anaerobic capacity.
  • Muscular power forcing you to react quickly and powerfully in order to hit the ball.
  • Speed due to short sprint runs.
  • The strength of the lower body due to the starts and braking.
  • General coordination as the body must adjust to the ball.
  • Control of the large muscles of the body by having to move the body and execute the strokes.
  • Agility by forcing you to change direction up to 5 times in 10 seconds.
  • Dynamic balance through starting, braking, changing direction and hitting the ball in motion.
  • Cross training for being a fun and very complete sport that can be used by athletes who specialize in other sports.
  • Bone density and strength by strengthening the bones of young players and preventing osteoporosis in older players.
  • Improves the immune system through physical conditioning effects that promote overall wellness.
  • Nutrition habits forcing to eat well before and after exercise.
  • Hand-eye coordination.
  • Flexibility through movement to be able to reach the balls.

Psychological Improvements

In terms of Psychological benefits, Groppel (2009) determines that tennis can help you to:

  • Develop work ethic because you improve through lessons and practice.
  • Develop discipline because you learn to work on your game and control your stroke rhythm.
  • Manage mistakes because you learn to play according to the skills you have available realizing that in tennis as in life itself, minimizing mistakes is essential.
  • Learn to compete.
  • Accept responsibility.
  • Handle adversity and the pressure that this sport can cause.
  • Plan and implement strategies because one learns to anticipate the opponent’s strategy and plan an appropriate response.
  • Learn to solve problems because the strategy of tennis is to solve the problems presented to you by the opponent.
  • Develop performance rituals.
  • Learning to compete with integrity.
  • Learn to win and lose.
  • Work as part of a team.
  • Develop social skills.

Do you agree with these authors that tennis is a sport with multiple physical and psychological benefits? Have you been able to prove it yourself?
Bibliography

  • Groppel, J., and Dinobile,N. (2009). Tennis: for your health. The physician and sports medicine, 2, 40-50.
  • Pluim, B., Staal, J.B., Marks, B., Miller, S., and Miley, D. (2007). Health benefits of tennis. J sports Med, 41, 760-768.
  • Tomov, D., & Ivanov, S. (2012). Methodology of teaching and coaching tennis in physical education classes in high schools. APES, 2, 57-61.

 

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