Research
Mixed
Tennis players require specific shoulder flexibility training to prevent injury, as playing alone does not improve external rotation and may lead to imbalances.
Add specific shoulder flexibility training to your routine, focusing on external rotation. Playing tennis alone increases internal rotation but decreases external rotation, creating an imbalance that leads to injury. Perform this training year-round.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
This suggests that playing tennis alone, without any external shoulder ROM training, is not enough to improve shoulder ROM, which would increase performance. Thus tennis athletes should undertake a shoulder ROM programme, both during the pre- or off-season and during the main competitive season.
Why this rating
Based on studies showing lack of ROM improvement from play alone and correlation with injury risk.
Source
Applied physiology of tennis performance
Mark S. Kovacs · British Journal of Sports Medicine · 2006
DOI 10.1136/bjsm.2005.023309
narrative_reviewCited 374×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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