Tennis: Epidemiology and Injury Mechanism

Abstract

Tennis injuries have been reported throughout all regions of the body with more common areas being the spine, the ankle and the shoulder. Tennis injuries can occur as a consequence of a trauma (acute injuries, more common in the lower extremity), but most of the injuries in tennis can be defined as overuse injuries (chronic injuries, more common in the upper extremity and trunk) coming from the repetitive microtrauma inherent in the sport. Upper extremity injuries were most frequently located in the elbow and the shoulder regions, with tendon injuries of the shoulder and tennis elbow (humeral epicondylitis) as most frequent injuries. Lower extremity injuries were most frequently located in the ankle and the knee regions, with ankle sprain and patellar tendinosis as most frequent injuries. Usually upper extremity injuries are associated with kinetic chain dysfunction, scapular dyskinesis and GIRD. The repetitive stressors and loading sequences in tennis create muscular imbalances specific to the sport that requires preventative interventions believed to lower injury risk. This chapter will show an overview of the epidemiology and the mechanism of the most common injuries in tennis players.