How to avoid tennis traumas
Taking care of action dads
The month of June sees the return of Wimbledon and you also get an opportunity to celebrate those significant father figures in your life with Father’s Day on Sunday 19th June. Sporty dads of all ages will be inspired to put on their sports kits and become weekend tennis warriors.
Here at the clinic we start to see more people coming in with sporting problems ranging from niggly aches and pains to full-on injuries.
As the weather gets warmer, it’s not just tennis that people are drawn to. Longer, sunnier days naturally make you want to be more active so you throw yourself into golf, running, hiking, and other physical outdoor activities such as gardening.
Of course, we have plenty of expertise and experience with elite pro athletes and enthusiastic amateurs alike to get you back to exercise safely, and to help you reach and maintain peak performance. As chiropractors, we are always looking for the root cause of any issue to help you to prevent it happening again, so let’s look at some common causes that we see.
Factors that are frequently involved in injury
Sedentary to sprint
Many of us are inspired to get active after a period of being more sedentary, particularly over the colder months. However going from 0-100 when your body hasn’t been used to it can be straining and can cause injuries.
Stress of sitting
Many of us now work from home and we are more sedentary than we ever have been. Prolonged sitting is one of the most stressful activities for your body and spine. So you are often stiff and more out of balance because of this. Often when you start getting active again, it can cause injury.
Strain
Whether you’ve been sedentary or not, it is always important to warm up those muscles to get them ready for action. Failing to prepare predisposes you to strains in the areas that you are using.
Superhero syndrome
Many people think it’s normal to get niggles, aches and pains when exercising, however just because you can push through something does not mean that the area is healthy and working well. If you do this repetitively, it creates chronic compensation and makes it much more likely to build up in to a more severe problem. It is much easier to treat a small imbalance than to leave it until it is acute and causing considerable pain.
So consider a more gentle approach to the start of your activity, and practice good habits for regular exercise.
- Make sure you warm up
- Work within a range which challenges you but doesn’t push you too hard, especially if you are new to an activity
- Address twinges as they arise or better still, talk to your chiropractor about your activity goals and help to prevent twinges or injury by coming in for your regular chiropractic care.
We will tailor your chiropractic or massage sessions to your lifestyle and activity levels. We can identify areas of imbalance before they have a chance to become a problem that could limit your ability to perform. Maintaining a healthy and well-balanced neurological system increases your performance because it improves precision, coordination, clarity of mind and stamina. That’s why so many elite athletes have a chiropractor on their team.
You or your dad may or may not be an elite athlete, but everyone deserves to be the best version of themselves, and chiropractic can help that vision to become an everyday reality.
*You’ll find excellent information and inspiration to enjoy and improve sports in the No1 bestselling book Thrive: 5 Key Steps To Living A Pain and Stress Free Life. It makes a great Father’s Day gift! You can pick up a paperback copy in the clinic or at Amazon, where you can also get the Kindle edition.
Try this before sport
This is an excellent exercise to do before tennis, golf and other sports, especially if you’ve been sitting for extended periods. It opens your chest, takes the pressure off your neck and helps to prevent tennis elbow.
Testimonial of the month
“I’ve been very fortunate through my professional career that I’ve met Dr Gould and I’ve had extensive treatment from him on my shoulder and neck. The treatment has helped me a great deal. I have a lot less pain which is fantastic and the performance in m shoulder is a lot better. I would highly recommend Dr Gould.”
Hal Luscombe – Former Welsh International (16 Caps)
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Wishing a happy Father’s Day to all the great guys out there, and an injury-free June for all the sports fans.
If you know someone who could benefit from this blog post, please share it with them. We offer a complimentary spine check to anyone who is interested in how chiropractic may be able to help them. You can book this online, or by calling 02082951733.
Filed Under: Health Tips
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