Tennis Injury Prevention & Rehab in St Kilda: Keep Your Game Court-Ready

Tennis is a sport of explosive power, repetition and asymmetrical movement.
Serving places enormous stress on the shoulder, spine and trunk. Groundstrokes require rapid rotation. Matches can involve repeated accelerations, decelerations and sharp changes of direction.
These physical demands mean tennis injuries are common, even in fit and experienced players.
For tennis players in St Kilda, Albert Park, Elwood, Windsor, Prahran and surrounding Melbourne suburbs, looking after your body is just as important as working on your serve, forehand, backhand or match fitness.
This article explores common tennis injuries, recent research insights and how physiotherapy can help you stay on court longer, move better and reduce your risk of recurring injury.

The Physical Demands of TennisTennis places significant physical stress on the body.
Long matches, year-round competition, hard court surfaces, social competition, coaching sessions and sudden increases in playing volume can all contribute to injury risk.
Injury incidenceResearch has reported injury rates in tennis ranging from 2 to 20 injuries per 1,000 hours of play, with overuse injuries making up a large proportion of these injuries.
The risk of workload spikesSudden increases in training or match load can significantly increase injury risk, particularly in the upper limb.
This is common when players return after a break, join a new competition, increase coaching sessions, or suddenly play multiple matches in a week.
The 60% ruleResearch on high-performance junior tennis players found that high acute workload, or a large jump in weekly training volume, can substantially increase injury risk.
In simple terms, tennis performance requires smart load management, not just more court time.

Common Tennis InjuriesShoulder PainShoulder pain is one of the most common tennis-related issues.
Repeated overhead serving places high rotational and compressive forces through the shoulder.
This can contribute to:

• Rotator cuff overload
• Biceps tendon irritation
• Labral irritation
• Shoulder impingement-type symptoms
• Poor scapular control
• Reduced thoracic spine mobility

Shoulder pain in tennis is rarely just a “shoulder problem”. It often involves the trunk, shoulder blade, spine and whole kinetic chain.

Tennis ElbowDespite the name, tennis elbow is not only caused by tennis.
It is usually related to repetitive gripping, wrist extension and tendon overload around the outside of the elbow.
In tennis players, contributing factors may include:

• Grip size
• Racquet string tension
• Sudden increases in hitting volume
• Forearm weakness
• Poor load tolerance
• Technique changes

Tennis elbow often starts mildly, but can become persistent if players continue to overload the tendon without modifying training.

Lower Back Pain and Stress InjuriesServing and groundstrokes require repeated trunk rotation, extension and side bending, often biased to one side.
Over time, this can contribute to:

• Lumbar joint irritation
• Disc-related pain
• Muscle overload
• Bone stress injuries, particularly in competitive juniors or high-volume players

For tennis players with recurring back pain, physiotherapy should assess more than just the painful area. Hip mobility, thoracic rotation, core control, workload and serve mechanics may all be relevant.

Hip and Groin PainLateral movement, open-stance hitting and rapid changes of direction place high loads through the hips and groin.
Common issues include:

• Adductor-related groin pain
• Hip flexor overload
• Hip joint irritation
• Reduced hip mobility
• Poor single-leg control

These issues can affect court coverage, change of direction and confidence moving into wide positions.

Knee and Ankle InjuriesHard courts and repeated changes of direction increase stress on the knees, ankles and calves.
Common tennis-related lower limb injuries include:

• Patellar tendinopathy
• Achilles tendinopathy
• Calf strains
• Ankle sprains
• Knee overload related to fatigue or poor lower limb strength

A recent sports medicine review highlighted that overuse injuries are common in tennis, particularly around the shoulder, elbow and lower limb, reinforcing the importance of early intervention and load management.

Why Tennis Injury Screening MattersInjury prevention is often more effective than waiting until pain becomes a major problem.
A tennis-specific physiotherapy screen may include:

• Shoulder strength and range of motion
• Rotator cuff and scapular control
• Thoracic spine mobility
• Hip, knee and ankle mobility
• Calf and lower limb strength
• Single-leg control
• Trunk rotation and control
• Workload review
• Return-to-play planning

This is especially useful for players returning after a break, increasing competition load, recovering from injury, or noticing recurring niggles.
Evidence around workload management shows that athletes exposed to poorly managed spikes in training load are more likely to develop overuse injuries, particularly when returning from rest or injury.

Physiotherapy for Tennis Injury Recovery in St KildaAt Acland Street Physiotherapy, we help tennis players recover from injury, improve movement quality and return to play with a structured plan.
Effective tennis rehab is not just about reducing pain.
The goal is to restore movement, rebuild tissue capacity, improve strength and reduce the chance of the same injury returning.

Our Clinical ApproachTennis injury management may include:
Accurate assessmentWe assess the painful area, but also look at the wider movement system that may be contributing to the problem.
This may include shoulder mobility, spinal movement, hip control, strength, workload and sport-specific demands.
Targeted treatmentTreatment may include manual therapy, education, exercise rehabilitation and progressive strengthening based on your injury and goals.
Strength and capacity buildingFor tennis players, rehab often needs to include:

• Rotator cuff strength
• Scapular control
• Forearm and grip strength
• Core and trunk control
• Hip and glute strength
• Calf and lower limb capacity
• Change-of-direction control

Load managementMany tennis injuries are linked to doing too much too soon.
We help you plan a graded return to hitting, serving, coaching, matches and competition so your body has time to adapt.
Return to tennisAs symptoms improve, rehab should become more tennis-specific.
This may include graded serving, rotational drills, lateral movement, acceleration, deceleration and progressive return to match play.

Take Home MessageWhether you are a weekend social player, competitive junior, club player or tournament athlete, your body is your most important piece of equipment.
The key to staying on court is not just playing more tennis.
It is building the strength, mobility and load tolerance to handle the demands of the sport.
If you are dealing with shoulder pain, tennis elbow, back pain, hip or groin pain, knee pain, ankle injuries or recurring tennis-related niggles, physiotherapy can help you recover properly and return with more confidence.

Need Help With a Tennis Injury?Acland Street Physiotherapy is located in St Kilda, supporting patients from St Kilda, Elwood, Albert Park, Windsor, Prahran and surrounding Melbourne suburbs.
Book an appointment with Acland Street Physiotherapy for tennis injury assessment, rehabilitation or injury prevention advice.

References

1. Fu, C. et al. Epidemiology of injuries in tennis players. Current Reviews in Musculoskeletal Medicine. 2018.
2. Moreno-Pérez et al. Association of acute and chronic workloads with injury risk in high-performing junior tennis players. European Journal of Sport Science. 2021.
3. Johansson, F. et al. Association Between Spikes in External Training Load and Shoulder Injuries in Competitive Adolescent Tennis Players: The SMASH Cohort Study. Sports Health. 2022.
4. ITF Sports Science Review. Tennis injury epidemiology and prevention. 2023.
5. Hulin, B.T. et al. Acute: chronic workload ratio predicts injury. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2014.