Tennis and racquet sports

Abstract

Racquet sports are amongst the most popular recreational sports activities in young and older people. The risk of injury is similar to other individual recreational sports without the catastrophic risk of collision. Patterns of injuries to the lower extremity differ between amateurs and professional players as well as between young and older players. Acute injuries tend to be more frequent in professional and young players whereas older and recreational players sustain more overuse injuries. Moreover there are distinct differences between tennis, badminton and squash. This chapter discusses the epidemiology, incidence, pathomechanism and treatment strategies of injuries in racquet sports. Furthermore player specific factors like volume of play, age, sex, skill level and playing surface have an influence on the prevalence of injury. Lastly, recommendation for return to sport and treatment strategies are discussed in this chapter.