Blog 6: The Art of Tennis

Welcome back everyone! Last week, I addressed that you could use the experience of being outside in nature for exercise, self-reflection, meditation, and overall stress prevention. It is a great way to positively impact your well-being and calm your mind from overwhelming or stressful thoughts. However, today we will be focusing on one of my passions and that is the art of tennis playing. I have been playing tennis for several years now and it was first taught to me by my dad, who was taught by his dad. I consider tennis to be a family sport, since my entire family and I can play together and get inspired by the greats of our time in tennis, such as Roger Federer, Serena Williams, and Rafael Nadal, world-renowned professional tennis players.

Tennis is a sport with significant health benefits for individuals of all ages. According to the British Journal of Sports Medicine, tennis can improve aerobic fitness, lower body fat percentage, reduce an individual’s lipid profile (consisting of cholesterol and the presence of fats), reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, and improve bone health (Pluim, Staal, Marks, Miller, & Miley, 2007, p. 760). In my community, tennis is also played by individuals in their 50s and 60s, who have mastered how to play and truly enjoy the sport for its ease of play, and how it can work out the entire body without placing too much stress on it. In addition, the longer tennis is played, individuals develop “. . . better bone health not only in tennis players with lifelong tennis participation histories, but also in those who take on the sport in mid-adulthood” (Pluim, Staal, Marks, Miller, & Miley, 2007, p. 763).

However, one has to know how to play in order to incorporate it into their exercise regimen. First, you need proper equipment, which is a tennis racquet with gripping tape (tape that you wrap around the grip of the racquet that will help you as a player to hold onto the racquet better when hitting strokes) tennis balls, and tennis shoes. Second, if there is a park nearby in your neighborhood, there will be public tennis courts to hit on. Lastly, you need a friend or family member who you can hit with and have a good time, while getting your daily exercise. I hope you guys have the chance of incorporating tennis playing into your exercise regimen as it is a fun sport for everyone. I have listed a couple links below from other sites for further instructions on how to play tennis. Stay tuned and stay healthy!

#theartoftennis #feeltheheat

Please reach out or comment below on any personal experiences that you feel comfortable sharing!

Informational Tennis Links

· https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgmzdLQ4hdQ

· https://tenniscompanion.org/how-to-play-tennis/#the-court

· https://www.wikihow.com/Play-Tennis

References:

Pluim, B., Staal, J., Marks, B., Miller, S., & Miley, D. (2007). Health benefits of tennis. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 41(11), 760-768. https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/bjsports/41/11/760.full.pdf