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Ready to Get Your Health Game On? Try Tennis, the ‘World’s Healthiest Sport.’
By: Our Medical Team | September 29, 2025
Did anyone watch the U.S. Open notice the logo on the U.S. Tennis Association’s banners? The claim is bold: “World’s Healthiest Sport.” Popular for centuries in one form or another, its basics are familiar: serve, receive, volley. But the intricacies of the sport make it mentally challenging and physically exhilarating, engaging every muscle in the body — including those it takes to grimace in frustration or smile exuberantly in victory.
The USTA calls it the ultimate sport for holistic health. Tennis provides optimal cardiovascular conditioning through interval training patterns that strengthen the heart and improve circulation. It improves flexibility and bone health. Adapative tennis makes it accessible for people of all abilities. In fact, the USTA says that tennis players add 9.7 years to their life compared to sedentary people. Those who take to the court just three hours per week can reduce their cardiovascular health risk by 56 percent. And in general, players are 20 percent more likely to report strong mental health than those participating in other sporting activities.
The physicality of tennis is on display every time a world-class player takes the court. Anyone who has watched a match is familiar with the powerful swings, miraculous extensions, and sprints to the net that define modern competition. While recreational tennis doesn’t reach those extremes, it requires the same torques, twists, backpedaling and lateral moves the pros deploy to move body and ball. With best-of-three-set matches typically lasting 90 minutes or more, the health benefits add up.
The more recently conceived ‘pickleball’, is a mashup of tennis, badminton and ping-pong. Like tennis, it offers myriad health benefits, from improved hand-eye coordination, balance and physical agility to muscular strength and cardiovascular fitness—though not to the degree tennis does. The court is much smaller, the net is lower, and the speed the ball travels is considerably less. This makes pickleball relatively easy to learn, which helps explain its exploding popularity. But that ease of immersion can be deceiving, lending a weekend warrior aura to a sport that can result in injuries for the unprepared.
Staying healthy starts off the court
When it comes to avoiding injuries, an ounce of prevention is truly worth a pound of cure. A daily practice that incorporates strength training, cardio fitness, flexibility exercises and movement that echoes what is experienced on the court can go a long way in keeping you an active participant rather than a sidelined spectator.
Also consider adding functional wellness treatments to your regimen. As a holistic discipline, functional wellness embraces physical behaviors such as proper nutrition, sleep and exercise, as well as mental and emotional regimens that strengthen clarity and resilience. Among the treatments beneficial to recreational athletes are:
- EMSCULPT neo®, a clinically proven, advanced treatment that helps court sport aficionados build muscle, improve posture and stability, and eliminate fat. By strengthening core muscles in the abdomen, the high intensity, focused electromagnetic technology reduces strain on the spine and lower back, eliminating a common source of pain and discomfort.
- IV wellness treatments comprising natural biologics that increase hydration, boost immune function, raise energy levels, and rejuvenate the skin. The Myers Cocktail blends calcium, magnesium, minerals, vitamin C and B vitamins. Glutathione is a powerful antioxidant. Athletes may use IV therapies to reduce muscle soreness, accelerate recovery and optimize overall performance.
- Platelet rich plasma (PRP) therapy that accelerates the body’s natural healing process using the athlete’s own concentrated platelets to enhance recovery by stimulating new muscle and soft tissue growth in injured areas. PRP is proven to be an effective, natural alternative to traditional steroid injections commonly used to treat joint pain.
Movement is medicine. Tune up for the season at Southwest Spine & Sports with a traditional and functional wellness practice that protects your bones, muscles and tissues on and off the court.
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