Working in Movement

Movement-related injuries aren't uncommon among anyone who plays any sport, even among those at the top of the game. Tennis, in particular, seems to be going through a particularly nasty phase of elite players being forced out of the game or having to take significant amounts of time off to mend. For Tennis Players, Twists, Turns, Topspin and Oh, the Pain attributes this to many factors, but the one I find most interesting is coordination.

You don't normally think of those who reach the highest levels of sport as uncoordinated -- and they aren't. But as competition stiffens, newer ball striking techniques place a greater emphasis on the need for absolutely perfect timing and coordination to execute shots. Even small deviations aren't tolerated. Multiply this by the extraordinarily demanding schedule on the pro tennis circuit, and the potential for injury multiplies greatly.

According to the article, the tennis strokes of today are a lot different from those of a while back. And that means that the coordination needed to execute them well time after time is also a lot different:

Tennis players have long run the risk of suffering for imperfect technique. "If you do an open-stance forehand correctly, the arm moves rapidly along, and you can flick your wrist easily, because the whole trunk and body are moving," Kibler said. "But if you get out of sync and don't have good core stability, you end up using the wrist to propel the racket."

And the old somatics saw of "know what you're doing so that you can do what you want" also applies here:

"The biomechanics have changed, and when that happens, the training has to change," said Dr. Brian Hainline, chief medical officer of the United States Open. "For the training to change, sports science has to determine what's happening. The problem is that this lags behind.

So, players are certainly much stronger and faster than they used to be. But the need for body awareness and coordination still seems to make a big difference.