Tennis News You Can Use
I am excited to announce that I am a USTA Tennis Champion! Over the next six months I will be participating in USTA sponsored challenges to promote tennis in North Texas. In the true spirit of this blog, I will chronicle my experiences. I am anticipating that some of the challenges may result in raucous adventures. Hilarity may ensue.
To kick things off, today I am sharing all the reasons that I think everybody should play tennis. People who follow this daily tennis blog are probably already tied into the tennis ecosystem. As a consequence, I am assuming that the information in this post may be old news. To that audience I issue a challenge: Forward this post to someone you know who needs to add some tennis into their life.
The Health Benefits of Tennis
People who engage in tennis have higher levels of health when measured across multiple dimensions. That includes physical measures as well as social and mental health factors. That isn’t just feel-good marketing hype. The health benefits of tennis are well documented in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
Tennis players have generally lower Body Mass Index (BMI) scores than the general population. Additionally a study published in 20201 reported that BMI scores improve both with frequency of play and for players who play tennis at higher levels. Better BMI scores are tied to all sorts of positive health benefits beyond tennis.
Chance are, if you have not been playing tennis and start now, your BMI score will improve. On the downside, the improvement could be so dramatic that you have to buy an entirely new wardrobe. You won’t mind because you’re going to look great in your new clothes.
The Social Benefits of Tennis
People who play tennis tend to develop extensive networks of friends who also play tennis. This happens because in order to play the sport, you have to have someone to play with. For beginners, I always recommend group lessons to start out. The reason for that is the social connections from meeting more people and realizing that a lot of people struggle through the initial learning curve of tennis.
The tennis ecosystem is full of leagues, tournaments, and drills in addition to arranged play with friends. All of these represent opportunities to meet people and forge deeper connections. Additionally, since tennis is a sport that can be played at all phases of life, those social connections tend to last through life changing events. You may discover that your tennis friends become the backbone of your support network.
The Mental Health Benefits of Tennis
When a player is engaged in playing tennis, worries and life stress fades completely into the background. After particularly stressful days at work I have discovered that not only does my brain dismiss those thoughts from my brain while I am playing, that the effect lingers significantly beyond the actual time on court.
Some people claim that they get the same effect from running, biking, or yoga. It doesn’t work for me. I dwell on life stressors when doing those activities. Tennis is an effortless mental diversion.
Tennis Builds Confidence and Self-Reliance
I can trace almost every positive thing that has happened to me in life back to lessons learned and life skills developed on a tennis court. While this potential is greatest during junior tennis, I don’t think that the benefits ever fade. A tennis match is an exercise in problem solving, overcoming adversity, and learning to both win and lose gracefully. These are things that are useful at all stages of life.
Tennis taught me to advocate for myself and how to think on my feet. Additionally, playing tennis establishes a foundation for a lifetime of learning and continuous improvement. Those are valuable skills both in the workforce and in life.
Parents of young children should especially take note. Exposing a child to tennis will build foundational skills and tenacity required to succeed. We all want that for our children.
Tennis Is Fun
I have saved the best for last. Playing tennis is fabulously entertaining and fun. Time flies when you are on a tennis court. Competing in tennis releases the endorphins and dopamine associated that enhances pleasure. Win or lose, you just feel better after playing tennis.
Get Out and Play!
If you received a pointer to this blog post from a tennis playing friend, I strongly encourage you to find a way to give tennis a try this week. Chances are that there are beginning tennis lessons currently offered at a facility near you. Alternatively, there may be someone within your existing social circles who would also be interested in giving the sport a try. Get out and play!
To my regular readers, now is a gentle reminder to forward this to someone in your social circle that could benefit from adding a little tennis into their life. Even better, invite them out to give tennis a try with you. We should all be ambassadors to our great sport. Forward this post to someone you know who needs to add some tennis into their life.
#usta #tennischampion #getoutandplay
- Improved General Health Outcomes in US Recreational Tennis Players, Jared Tishelman, et al, Journal of Medicine and Science in Tennis, July 2020.
My tennis stories are too many and too long but I applaud your efforts to promote the sport! It has been an invaluable pursuit. Carry on!