Our bodies are optimally functional when to posture is correct – slightly sway back, curvature in the neck, head sits directly over the shoulders (not forward as we can see everywhere around us). Shoulders should be aligned over the hips that are directly above the knees that are directly above the ankles. This is the ideal that we always want to strive for, or the joints will experience additional and unnecessary stress during the sporting activities.
Unfortunately, we spend most of our lives sitting – studying, working at the computer, writing, reading books, watching TV, or playing computer/TV games. Often we slouch a bit, shoulders and head leaning forward, upper and lower back rounded. Imagine what it does to our spine if we spend up to 8 hours a day like this, if not more!
Other activities like driving your car, riding bike, cooking, cleaning, repairing car, or gardening encourage the forward slouched posture as well. After many years, our shoulders turn forward permanently, where the chest muscles are shortened and the upper back muscles are weak.
Now imagine when you play tennis and hit thousands of forehands, backhands, volleys and serves, and all the movement of the arm originates in the shoulder. Think how much stressful it is on that joint, if it has muscular and positional dysfunctions!
So the problem that you are getting injured is not that you are playing on the tough hard courts of Los Angeles, but rather the life style that you live. The sooner you start taking care of your imbalances, the longer and less painful your tennis career will be.
Arm Circles
This is another seemingly simple exercise for the shoulders (read about another great one, elbow curls, here). You might be tempted to skip it because it looks too easy. You may be surprised though, it can be quite tough if you do it correctly and if you have severe shoulder dysfunction.
The exercise strengthens the muscles of the upper back, that make sure that the proper ball-and-socket function of shoulder happens, and that compete against the forces of misaligned hip-flexors.
Stand straight with your head up, feet parallel and hip apart. Curl your fingers into your palms and keep your thumbs pointing out. Now lift your straight arms up, to the sides of your body, parallel with the floor, and palms down (which means that your thumbs are pointing forward). Squeeze your shoulder blades together, keep your shoulders leveled at all times and start doing circles forward, in the direction of the pointing thumbs, about 6 inches in diameter. Do 20-30 nice and slow circles, feel every little muscle in your shoulders and upper back. Then turn your hands palms up (thumbs pointing back) and do another 20-30 circles backward, in the direction of your thumbs. Eventually, you can work yourself up to 70 circles.
It is important not to hurry, keep the shoulder blades squeezed together at all times, and keep your shoulders at the same height. You might notice that your dominant (hitting) arm has more issues than the other arm - maybe a lot of clicking, tightness and “weird” feeling. Keep doing the circles until they get easy for both arms.
If you liked reading this article, feel free to subscribe with the button above, so you wouldn't miss any future great articles on fitness and injury prevention. Until then, read also tips how to
- Rejuvenate your body in the morning or any time with Sun Salutations.
- Stretch your hips with the Pigeon, Frog, Crocodile Twist and groin stretch.
- Do the myo-fascial release for your feet, booty, and lower legs.
- Strengthen your booty with lunges, jump squats, and windmills.
- Work on your agility, coordination and balance with some fun footwork drills.
- And because the weather and conditions in Los Angeles are very hot, don’t forget to drink a lot of water, because it will increase your performance and well-being.
- Learn how to sleep well to feel good and increase your performance.
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