Tennis is the game of endurance, fight, speed and the occasional injury. It is a great sport for the human body. Its historic moniker has been the “sport for a lifetime”.

But is this really true? According to world-renowned scientists from a variety of disciplines, there is no doubt that tennis is one of the best sports for you to play. People who play tennis three hours a week (at a moderately vigorous intensity) cut their risk of death in half from any cause. This is according to physician Ralph Paffenbarger, who studied over 10,000 people over a period of 20 years.

Tennis players scored higher in vigor, optimism and self-esteem while scoring lower in depression, anger, confusion, anxiety and tension than other athletes and non-athletes,  according to Dr. Joan Finn and colleagues at Southern Connecticut State University.

'With powerful first steps requiring anticipation, quick reaction time and explosion into action, tennis keeps you alert'


Tennis helps your aerobic fitness by burning fat and improving your cardiovascular fitness and maintaining higher energy levels. It also helps your anaerobic fitness by offering short, intense bursts of activity during a point followed by rest which helps muscles use oxygen efficiently. The ability to accelerate by practice in sprinting, jumping and lunging to move quickly is good.

With powerful first steps requiring anticipation, quick reaction time and explosion into action, tennis keep you alert. Tennis helps when you speed through a series of side-to-side and up-and-back sprints to chase the ball. It also assists through hundreds of starts and stops you do which build stronger leg muscles.

Tennis is good for gross motor control through court movement and ball-striking skills which require control of your large muscle groups. Also it helps create fine motor control by the use of touch shots like angled volleys, drop shots and lobs. Agility is a plus by forcing you to change direction as many as five times in 10 seconds during a typical tennis point.

In creating dynamic balance through hundreds of starts, stops, changes of direction and hitting on the run, tennis does a lot to the body. It creates bone strength and density by strengthening bones of young players and helping prevent osteoporosis in older ones. Your immune system gets a boost by playing tennis, through its conditioning effects which promote overall health, fitness and resistance to disease.

Eye-hand coordination is No.1 because you constantly judge the timing between the on-coming ball and the proper contact point. We can't forget about flexibility due to the constant stretching and manoeuvring to return the ball toward your opponent.

Playing on different surfaces can also have an effect. You will get occasional cramp or muscle spasms. When Serena Williams got a major calf spasm at Wimbledon last year in her fourth-round match against Daniela Hantuchova, she winced and pounded her racket on the visibly bulging muscle in her left calf.

But it didn't work. Williams crumpled in pain with what was later diagnosed as acute muscle spasms. After several painful minutes and the attention of trainer Amber Donaldson who tried to massage the knot out, she was eventually able to continue and went on top win the match.

This is just one example of the unpredictability of the game of tennis. Many famous players have suffered injury, including  Australian Open winner Maria Sharapova and men’s finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, both of whom battled back to fitness.

Finally I want to mention my own tennis coach Father Kenard (an 88-year-old St. Louis University priest/professor) who plays like a 22-year-old. Father Kenard is a living testament to the longevity of playing tennis and knowing the follow-through on the different shots to avoid injuries. So keep playing tennis and keep living healthy.