Tennis and golf can improve your fitness, but it is essential to warm up, stretch and wear proper footwear to protect your joints and prevent overuse injury.
Summer Sports Enhance Physical and Mental Wellness
Summer is an ideal time to try outdoor sports like tennis and golf. Engaging in these activities can provide a range of advantages, such as reducing heart rate and blood pressure, enhancing cognitive function and boosting overall mood and positivity. Even though sports like golf are low impact, you still can sustain injuries like sprains, fractures and strains.
Arthritis Can Increase the Risk of Overuse Injury
You are even more prone to injury if you suffer from any form of arthritis. Repetitive motions and stress can cause joint damage to the shoulders, hips, knees and elbows.
Repetitive stress injuries (RSI) can occur from repeatedly swinging a golf club or hitting a tennis ball, causing pain and affecting the joints in the shoulder, elbow and knee. Cumulative trauma disorder (CTD) is a small injury to a ligament, tendon, muscle or bone and occurs when exerting too hard or not allowing your muscles to recover.
Common Overuse Injuries
Tennis and golf can make you more susceptible to overuse injuries, such as the following:
- Shin splints — Shin splints are overuse injuries that cause inflammation and tenderness in the inner shin. The tissue around the shin can throb or feel like dull pain.
- Runner’s knee — This condition does not just affect runners. Playing a sport on uneven or hard surfaces can cause swelling and pain around the patella (or kneecap).
- Shoulder impingement — When a tendon in the shoulder rubs against surrounding tissue or bone, it can cause persistent pain. Shoulder impingement can affect the rotator cuff and lead to weakness and decreased mobility.
- Tennis/golfer’s elbow — Gripping a tennis racket or golf club during a swing can increase muscle strain and cause tendons to get microscopic tears. Inflammation builds over time and causes the tendon to break down.
Proper Equipment Protects Your Joints during Golf and Tennis
Quality footwear can help reduce your risk of joint injury during sports. Golf shoes are typically more rigid than athletic shoes. The grip — provided by a unique sole design or detachable studs crafted from durable materials like hard rubber, plastic or alternative non-metal options — ensures the foot stays secure for an extended period.
Tennis requires different footwear. Because of all the lateral movement of tennis, you need shoes with a high level of support and cushioning. The soles of the shoes are flat to keep the foot stable and prevent ankle rolling and knee injury.
Choosing lighter tennis rackets and golf clubs can help reduce the risk of tennis elbow, wrist tendonitis and rotator cuff tears. Using a bigger racket head can also help by reducing strain on the arm when hitting the ball in the middle of the racket, rather than the edges of the frame.
Gripping too tightly to clubs and rackets can increase vibration load on your arm, so remind yourself to loosen your grip. Reducing string tension can also make a significant difference.
Warm Up and Stretch Before You Begin Playing Sports
Doing simple stretches before exercise will help protect your joints, reduce pain and prevent injury.
Try these easy warm-ups before stepping out on the golf course or tennis court:
- Shoulder rolls
- Leg swings
- Torso twists
- Toe touches
- Body weight squats
- Split stance rotations
- Speed swings
- Standing calf stretch
- Hamstring stretch
- Hip flexor stretch
- Arm circles
- Wrist extensor stretch
It is also essential to take regular breaks during exercise to allow your knee, hip and shoulder joints to rest. You should also be intentional about hydrating your body and wearing SPF protection for your skin.
How to Recover from Overuse Injuries
Rest is the best prescription for recovering from an overuse injury. Avoid activities that cause discomfort and may injure you further. You may need physical therapy to strengthen the affected muscles and regain range of motion.
How Soon Can You Resume Physical Activity after Joint Surgery?
Many people choose joint surgery to help them regain mobility they have lost due to joint deterioration. It is imperative to allow the affected joint adequate time to heal. Jonathan Levy, MD, director of the Levy Shoulder Center at the Paley Orthopedic and Spine Institute in Boca Raton, Florida, led two studies about returning to golf, pickleball and tennis after shoulder surgery. Dr. Levy found it took most patients about six months to play at their former level.
“It’s not an extraordinarily painful recovery,” Dr. Levy said. “If people are taking pain medication, it’s for a very short time. It’s just going through the stages of recovery where you go through healing, stretching and then strength recovery and return to activity.”
Returning to play sports often depends on how much stress you put on the new joint and the type of sport you play. Golf usually causes less strain than activities like pickleball and tennis or biking and skiing.
Make an Appointment with Your Orthopedist Before the End of the Year
If you are suffering from persistent pain caused by overuse, it is advisable to contact either your orthopedist or orthopedic surgeon. You may need physical therapy, medication or a small procedure to alleviate discomfort. You may also be a candidate for total joint replacement.
Procedures like rotator cuff surgery or total knee or total hip replacement surgery may help you regain or improve mobility and allow you to resume the daily activities you previously enjoyed. Following joint replacement surgery, numerous patients report experiencing a notable improvement in their quality of life, as they regain a sense of independence.
Call today to make an appointment before the end of the year. You may want to call your insurance company to ask if you have already met your deductible. Your out-of-pocket costs may be less than you anticipated, so do not delay in scheduling a consultation.