Real Tennis Players - Like You! - Asking For, and Offering, Advice on the Sport They Love
Player to Player is USTA.com’s regular feature in which everyday tennis players are given a forum to ask advice on the sport they love – and their fellow players will dish out advice. We’ll post a number of the best responses we receive to our question of the week. PLAYER TO PLAYER DOESN'T WORK WITHOUT YOUR QUESTIONS, so please send any queries you’d like answered, or responses to other players' questions, to Player@USTA.com.
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This week's question from Jonathan: | "I just started tennis as a high schooler. As a runner, I have good speed on the court, but my positioning and footwork is rather poor. I also have trouble with consistency. I often can't decide whether to go for a winner or to hit it lightly and cautiously. My aim is also lacking. Finally, my first serve is pretty fast and hard, but I can only get it in about one-third of the time, and my second serve is very slow and ineffective. Could someone give me some general tips on running on the court, consistency and balanced hitting, aiming and serving?" | | Please share your advice with Jonathan by e-mailing Player@USTA.com and include your name and hometown.
Got a question of your own? Send that along, too! | |
READ OTHER PLAYERS' ADVICE
Last week’s question from Paul:
(Please note: There's no need to send additional responses to this question)"I am a 4.0 league player and came up with a right hip flexor injury a few months ago. I had to stop all tennis for two months and then started walking with light stretching. I am now trying to play again, but I still cannot seem to eliminate the pain and the “clicking" in the groin and hip area, although I continue to stretch. My mobility is limited to the right, as I am not confident I won't hurt myself worse if I go all out. Does anyone have further tips on how to get over this injury? Thanks!"
PLAYER RESPONSES:
From Coach Kenny S., Highland Park, IL:
Well, I have this problem also at the moment. Run in the pool, side to side, forward and backward. Ice it at night. Stretching is key; put your leg up on a bike rack, or something like this, from the front and from the back. Also ice some more, and run in the swimming pool. Losing weight will also help this problem, all of which I am doing at the moment, and it’s better, even after a loss in the opening round of the Midtown Tennis Club, Chicago, Men’s Open, on Friday. No pain, no gain!!
From Rick H., Licensed Massage Therapist:
Locate a sports massage therapist in your area. Check their training and length of time working with athletes. With proper assessment, work and stretching techniques for this type of injury, you should be able to "go all out" in a reasonable amount of time. Each person responds differently, but unless something more serious is going on, you should feel confident getting back onto the court.
From Carol W., Potomac, MD:
Hi Paul. The description of your hip pain sounds as if it could be a tear of the labrum of the hip. This could be why you haven’t gotten better. The labrum is cartilage in your hip joint. You need to see an orthopedic surgeon and have an MRI (insist). If there is a tear, there are surgeons who specialize in arthroscopic hip surgery who could repair it.
From Lou W.:
My best advice is going to a well-recommended chiropractor and acupuncturist in your area. I had a similar injury, and they did wonders for me.
From Laurence S.:
I had that injury last fall. I went for a few weeks of physical therapy. I learned the proper exercises to loosen the area, which includes the hip area and the “core” abdominal area. That, together with an occasional painkiller, had me back on the court within two weeks of the injury. Good luck.
From Bill K., Birmingham, AL:
Find a good physical therapist to work out this problem. I have had very good results with two separate injuries that wouldn’t go away until PT solved the problem. These professionals can get right to the source of the pain and put your body back into balance. I had my doubts initially, but the results convinced me that there are some injuries that you just can’t heal on your own.
From Mike B., Rhode Island:
You may have "Snapping Hip Syndrome." You may want to check that out first and seek a physical therapist at some point, regardless. I managed to get through it with just therapy and deep tissue work, but it will depend on how severe it is.
From Dave S., Saratoga, CA:
I am a 4.0 player, as well, and have the same issue. I'm 54 and developed this a couple of years ago. I am captain of several USTA league teams with 4.0 and 4.5 players, and many have had this injury at one time or another.
I would bet Paul is right-handed. My sore hip flexor is my right one, and I am right-handed, as well. I have the clicking, also, and it can be painful. I am pretty sure the injury is caused by loading the right hip for both a forehand and a serve, and then the sudden release of force where the right hip drives forward and rotates to create power. An open-stance forehand only makes this worse.
The first thing to do if it is really painful is to rest it. That means no tennis for awhile. My friend, a very good senior 4.5 player, kept ignoring his hip flexor injury and treating it with a lot of painkillers. Finally he had to take off for several months. He couldn't even bend down at that point. I gave him this advice, based upon my experience.
If Paul is in so much pain that he decides to take some time off from tennis, he needs to rehab the area. He should stretch the affected area and follow that with ice for about 15 minutes. Do this about three times a day for a couple of weeks. Massage also helps. I found that given the area, a self-massage was better.
He should look into taking yoga classes and tell his instructor what his issues are. I took 16 private yoga lessons to help with this and other back injuries I had. Now I have a routine that I perform AFTER I play. I find that the after-play stretching actually is better than a lot of stretching before playing. It speeds recovery and reduces chronic pain. If some area is particularly sore, I would ice it (although that is not the best area to stick an ice bag!).
He should work on strengthening his core. There are a lot of exercises he can do to help that. He should look into working with light ankle weights and doing some leg lifts to strengthen the hip flexors.
The last thing I found that really helps with pain are the chemical heating products made by Thermacare. Sometimes I wear a Thermacare belt designed for lower-back pain but shift it so that it covers the hip flexor. That helps, especially for evening matches.
If he has an open-stance forehand, he may consider changing that. If he runs around his backhand a lot to hit a forehand, he should make his backhand a better stroke. If he is trying to hit a hard first serve all the time, he may want to develop more spin and change of pace and use the hard serve only occasionally.
I downloaded a 12-page report from eMedicine that helped me diagnose and solve my problem. Right now, I am relatively pain free and have been for about a year. My winning percentage of league matches has actually gone up over that time period, as well. I think that is due to all the work I put in getting in better shape and changing some aspects of my game.
From Coach Poppie, Palm Bay, FL:
Hip pain, lower back pain and tooth aches are all similar. You feel like you are in a tree with a lynx, shoot amongst us – one of us needs relief. Seriously, I strongly advise you contact an orthopedic pain management team and a sports injury physical therapist. Many call themselves sports injury therapists, but here is the true test.
Ask the important questions: What have they done that makes them proficient with sports-related injury recovery? Remember you are interested in recovery, not just treatment. How many years have they excelled with this type of therapy? Now here is the Big Q: How many patients do they see at the same time during my initial recovery treatment? If it is more than one while you are doing your warm up, find another PT.
Of course, once you get beyond the initial treatment and are well on your way to recovery, things will change, and the PT will shift patterns. The really good PTs may cost more; however, if they are on your PPO, that’s perfect. Bottom line: It is recovery you are in need of. If a PT puts you on a machine and then gives you a list of stretches to do and walks away, find the nearest exit and use it. Good luck, and rapid recovery.
From Stephen:
I had a very similar instance not too long ago in which my knee kept giving out. I went to a doctor, and he said it was due to low cartilage, so I decided to do something about it.
My recovery from this injury was due mostly to lifting weights and limiting my court time to two days a week until I felt more comfortable out there. Along with tweaking my diet to cut out excess water weight and drop some body fat percentage, I also began a full-body weight resistance program, lifting moderate weights, focusing on the main compound lifts three times a week, playing tennis on the off days, and adding a supplement called MSM to my daily intake.
Your best bet would be to get a personal trainer for a couple of sessions. (S)he would know how to get you started, then the rest is up to you.
*Please note that any advice given out in this forum should in no way be confused with actual medical advice. Before starting any new exercise regimen or altering your existing one, we strongly urge you to consult with your regular physician.
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