By Jack L. Groppel, Ph.D.
Its
historic moniker has been the “sport for a lifetime”. But is this really
true? According to world-renowned scientists from a variety of
disciplines, there is no doubt that tennis is one of the best sports for you to
play.
Here
are the facts:
1. People
who participate in tennis 3 hours per week (at moderately vigorous intensity)
cut their risk of death in half
from any cause, according to physician Ralph Paffenbarger who studied over 10,000 people over a period
of 20 years.
2. Tennis players scored higher
in vigor, optimism and self-esteem while scoring lower in
depression, anger, confusion, anxiety and tension than other athletes and
non-athletes according to Dr. Joan Finn and colleagues at Southern Connecticut
State University.
3. Since tennis requires alertness and tactical thinking, it may generate new connections between nerves in the
brain and thus promote a lifetime of continuing development of
the brain, reported scientists at the
4. Tennis outperforms golf, inline skating and most other sports in
developing positive personality
characteristics according to Dr. Jim Gavin, author of The
Exercise Habit.
5. Competitive tennis burns
more calories than aerobics, inline skating, or cycling, according
to studies on caloric expenditures.
With
these results in mind, let’s take a look at 34 specific reasons why you should consider
playing tennis regularly!
Physical Reasons to Play Tennis
Tennis
helps your:
1. aerobic fitness
by burning fat and improving your cardiovascular fitness and maintaining higher
energy levels.
2. anaerobic fitness by offering short,
intense bursts of activity during a point followed by rest which helps muscles
use oxygen efficiently.
3. ability to accelerate by practice in
sprinting, jumping and lunging to move quickly.
4. powerful first step by requiring
anticipation, quick reaction time and explosion into action.
5. speed
through a series of side-to-side and up and back sprints to chase the ball.
6. leg strength through hundreds of
starts and stops which build stronger leg muscles.
7. general body coordination since you
have to move into position and then adjust your upper body to hit the ball
successfully.
8. gross motor control through court
movement and ball-striking skills which require control of your large muscle
groups.
9. fine motor control by the use of
touch shots like angled volleys, drop shots and lobs.
10. agility
by forcing you to change direction as many as 5 times in 10 seconds during a
typical tennis point.
11. dynamic balance through hundreds of
starts, stops, changes of direction and hitting on the run.
12. cross-training
by offering a physically demanding sport that’s fun to play for athletes who
are expert in other sports.
13. bone strength and density by
strengthening bones of young players and helping prevent osteoporosis in older
ones.
14. immune system through its
conditioning effects which promote overall health, fitness and resistance to
disease.
15. nutritional habits by eating
appropriately before competition to enhance energy production and after
competition to practice proper recovery methods.
16. eye-hand coordination
because you constantly judge the timing between the on-coming ball and the
proper contact point.
17. flexibility
due to the constant stretching and maneuvering to return the ball toward your
opponent.
Psychological Reasons to
Play Tennis
Tennis helps you:
18. develop a work ethic because
improvement through lessons or practice reinforces the value of hard work.
19. develop discipline since you learn
to work on your skills in practice and control the pace of play in competition.
20. manage mistakes by learning to play
within your abilities and realizing that managing and minimizing mistakes in
tennis or life is critical.
21. learn to compete one-on-one
because the ability to compete and fight trains you in the ups and downs of a
competitive world.
22. accept responsibility because only
you can prepare to compete by practicing skills, checking your equipment and
during match play by making line calls.
23. manage adversity by learning to
adjust to the elements (e.g. wind, sun) and still be able to compete
tenaciously.
24. accommodate stress effectively because
the physical, mental and emotional stress of tennis will force you to increase
you capacity for dealing with stress.
25. learn how to recover by adapting
to the stress of a point and the recovery period between points which is
similar to the stress and recovery cycles in life.
26. plan and implement strategies
since you naturally learn how to anticipate an opponent’s moves and plan your
countermoves.
27. learn to solve problems since
tennis is a sport based on angles, geometry and physics.
28. develop performance rituals before
serving or returning to control your rhythm of play and deal with
pressure These skills can transfer to taking exams, conducting a meeting
or making an important sales presentation.
29. learn sportsmanship since tennis
teaches you to compete fairly with opponents.
30. learn to win graciously and lose with honor.
Gloating after a win or making excuses after a loss doesn’t work in tennis or
in life.
31. learn teamwork since successful
doubles play depends on you and your partner’s ability to communicate and play
as a cohesive unit.
32. develop social skills through
interaction and communication before a match, while changing sides of the court
and after play.
33. have FUN… because the healthy
feelings of enjoyment, competitiveness and physical challenge are inherent in
the sport.
Summary and Reason #34
Is it
any wonder that scientists and physicians around the world view tennis as the
most healthful activity in which you can participate? There may be other
sports that can provide excellent health benefits and some which can provide
mental and emotional growth. But no sport other than tennis has ever been
acclaimed from all disciplines as one that develops great benefits physically,
mentally and emotionally.
Tennis
is a sport for kids to learn early in life. What parent wouldn’t want
their children to get these benefits through their growing years?
It’s
not too late for adults and seniors too! The human system can be trained
and improved at any stage of life.
Here’s
the key… you must begin playing tennis now to get these benefits throughout
your lifetime. And that brings us to reason #34: Tennis is truly the
sport for a lifetime! It’s been proven.