Musculoskeletal injuries in real tennis

Figures & data

Table 1 Baseline demographics and playing details

	N with data	Mean (SD) or number (%)	Range
Age 18–24 25–34 35–44 45–54 55–64 65–74 >75	485	14 (2.9) 26 (5.4) 37 (7.6) 89 (18.4) 144 (29.7) 133 (27.4) 42 (8.7)
Male gender	485	438 (90.3)
Right-hand dominant	478	411 (84.7)
Height (cm)	474	178.11 (8.97)	150–196
Weight (kg)	474	84.72 (118.45)	47–210
Handicap	471	44.95 (14.57)	1.8–91.0
Years playing	478	18.75 (13.07)	0.5–58.0
Hours play per week	469	2.13 (1.56)	0–12
Pre-stretch performed Not at all 0–5 mins 5–10 mins >10 mins	484	205 (42.3%) 237 (49.0%) 32 (6.6%) 10 (2.1%)
Warm-up Not at all 0–5 mins 5–10 mins >10 mins	484	119 (24.5) 272 (56.1) 84 (17.3) 9 (1.9)
Warm-down Not at all 0–5 mins 5–10 mins >10 mins	484	379 (78.1) 86 (17.7) 13 (2.7) 6 (1.2)
Injury sustained Yes No	485	368 (75.9) 117 (24.9)
No. injuries/player	662/485	1.36 (1.16)	0–7

Table 2 Anatomical locations and tissue structures involved in real tennis injuries

Anatomical location	Injury percentage	Tissue structure	Injury percentage
Elbow	15.6% (103/662)	Muscle	24% (161/661)
Knee	11.6% (77/662)	Tendon	23.4% (155/661)
Face	10.0% (66/662)	Other	10.4% (69/661)
Lower Leg (calf)	8.8% (57/662)	Ligament	7.0% (46/661)
Shoulder	8.2% (54/662)	Soft tissue bruise	6.5% (43/661)
Head	5.7% (38/662)	Eye	6.2% (41/661)
Wrist	5.4% (36/662)	Meniscus	4.7% (31/661)
Lower back	5.4% (36/662)	Abrasion/Laceration	4.1% (27/661)
Ankle	4.7% (31/662)	Fracture (bone)	3.4% (23/661)
Other	3.8%(25/662)	Articular Cartilage	2.9% (19/661)
Achilles tendon	3.5% (23/662)	Nerve	2.0% (13/661)
Hamstring	3.3% (20/662)	Other Bone	2.0% (13/661)
Foot	2.7% (18/662)	Synovitis	1.4% (9/661)
Groin	2.1% (14/662)	Concussion	0.8% (5/661)
Forearm	2.0% (13/662)	Dislocation	0.5% (3/661)
Hip	1.7% (11/662)	Dental	0.3% (2/661)
Hand	1.7% (11/662)	Brain	0.2% (1/661)
Thigh	1.5% (10/662)
Upper arm	0.6% (4/662)
Neck	0.6% (4/662)
Upper back	0.6% (4/662)
Ribs	0.5% (3/662)
Pelvis	0.5% (3/662)
Clavicle	0.2% (1/662)

Table 3 Results of multivariate analysis determining which factors were independently associated with the number of injuries

Variable	Standardized beta co-efficient	t	P-value
Height	−0.096	−2.113	0.035
Years playing	0.106	2.332	0.020
Hours play per week	0.148	3.189	0.002
Pre-stretch	0.119	2.379	0.018
Warm-up	0.042	0.826	0.409
Warm-down	0.082	0.082	0.106

Note: Bold value indicates the strongest independent predictor of the number of injuries was the hours of play per week.