By Darren Woodford - USPTA Elite Professional and Instructor
One of the great advantages of tennis is that it is a sport that you can play for your entire life.
There is something truly inspiring about seeing two players in their eighties battling it out on the court in the Super Senior division. With that being said, if you do not take care of technique issues and keep your body in good working condition, then you will not be able to play in the 90 and over division one day. Therefore, in this article we will give you some hot tips to keep you on the court as long as you want.
Loosen Up
If there is one piece of technique advice that I could give to every recreational player, it would be to relax their grip. If you want to have wrist and elbow pain your entire tennis career, simply try to squeeze the life out of the racquet every time that you play tennis. Not only will you become completely exhausted in short order but you will be able to hit the ball with only a fraction of your potential power. Also, when you inevitably mishit a shot you will feel the destructive power that vibration can have on your joints. As such, to play tennis for a lifetime loosen up your grip.
Go With The Flow
Along similar lines as our previous tip, do not try to force the racquet or ball in a particular direction. The operative word here is momentum. The racquet is a tool to facilitate the creation and transfer of momentum. Your racquet should feel almost weightless as it moves through your swing. If you can feel a heaviness in any portion of swing or if you are rapidly changing the direction of the racquet, then chances are that your swing motion is not as efficient as it could be. If you are constantly battling physics in addition to your opponent, then your body is going to break down at some point in time.
