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Posts tagged tennis
New book helps develop “Effective Functional Progressions in Sport Rehabilitation”
May 20th
Developing functional exercise programs for athletes is sometimes difficult, particularly for rehabilitation professionals without much experience in their patients’ sport. Human Kinetics recently released the book, Effective Functional Progressions in Sport Rehabilitation by Todd Ellenbecker, Mark De Carlo, and Carl DeRosa. The book is divided into 2 parts. Part I provides the benefits and guidelines for developing successful sports rehabilitation programs, while Part II reviews functional progressions for 3 body regions: upper extremity, lower extremity, and trunk.
Functional Exercise Progressions
Each regional chapter reviews relevant functional anatomy and describes appropriate functional tests with normative data. The normative data can be used to set goals for the athletes’ rehabilitation, which can be very helpful to practicing clinicians. Exercises are grouped into specific progressions and labeled with different stages in the progression. The exercises start with isolated, joint-specific exercises and progress to more functional movements. Some exercises also include “Pearls of Performance,” which provide additional hints on performing and progressing the exercise. The 3 chapters also include interval programs that provide specific exercise protocols for returning to sports such as tennis, baseball, football, soccer, and basketball. The exercises include easy to use and convenient equipment such as elastic tubing, dumbbells, and exercise balls, making them More >
Musculoskeletal Injury Prevention & Performance Enhancement Screening for Professional Tennis Players
May 16th
by Todd S. Ellenbecker, DPT, MS, SCS, OCS, CSCS
For the last three years, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) has provided musculoskeletal screenings to its players at the Italian Open in Rome Italy. Led by orthopedic surgeon Dr. Gary Windler of Charleston, South Carolina, and physical therapist Todd Ellenbecker of Scottsdale, Arizona, these screenings consist of a series of musculoskeletal tests focusing on scapula and core stability, rotator cuff strength, and both upper and lower body flexibility and range of motion measurement.
Testing with Thera-Band Soft Weights
One of the key components of this program is the immediate follow-up of exercises for tennis players following their testing. Results are immediately tabulated and shared with the player, his coach, and physiotherapist, and often their personal strength and conditioning specialist. Based on the test results, players are given a series of individualized, tennis-specific exercises which utilize the Thera-Band® product line. These include Thera-Band elastic bands, tubing, and loops; Stability Trainers, Pro Series exercise balls, FlexBars, and Soft Weights. These products have been chosen due to their effectiveness as well as for their portability since professional tennis players travel most weeks of the year and need to have their exercise programs accessible to them at all times. Exercises to increase the strength More >
Upper Extremity Plyometrics for Tennis Players
Apr 16th
Application of Upper Extremity Plyometrics for Rehabilitation and Performance Enhancement in Elite Tennis Players
by Todd Ellenbecker, DPT, MS, CSCS, OCS, CSCS
Thera-Band Soft Weight 90-90 Plyometrics
High level tennis play requires repetitive activation of the rotator cuff and scapular musculature to stabilize, accelerate, and decelerate the glenohumeral joint to prevent injury and allow for optimal performance. The modern game of tennis is highly dominated by serves and forehands. Some estimates report that 75% of all shots by elite level players are forehands and serves. Serves and forehands are characterized by powerful concentric internal rotation of the shoulder. Research performed on elite level tennis players with isokinetic testing has shown muscular imbalances due to selective development of the internal rotator muscles without concomitant development of the external rotators on the dominant “tennis playing” extremity. Additionally, research has not shown increases in posterior rotator cuff or scapular muscle strength following tennis play alone in elite players indicating the need for supplemental strengthening of the posterior rotator cuff and scapular musculature to improve muscle balance in the dominant shoulder of the elite tennis player. Exercises to improve muscle balance and local muscular endurance have been advocated to both prevent injury and enhance performance in tennis players.
New Lower Body Stretches for Tennis Players
Apr 16th
Application of Controlled Movement and Proprioceptive Challenge to Lower Body Stretching for Elite Tennis Players
By Michal Novotny PT and Todd Ellenbecker DPT, MS, SCS, OCS, CSCS
Injuries to the lower extremities in elite tennis players are prevalent due to the multidirectional movements inherent in tennis play coupled with the repetitive loading and often extreme ranges of motion incurred in some tennis strokes. Tennis is unique in that it is played on many surfaces with very different coefficient of friction and traction demanding different responses at the court/shoe interface affecting traction, lower body loading, and ultimately functional performance. An increase awareness of hip injuries in including hip impingement and labral tears has necessitated clinical strategies aimed at reducing intra-articular hip injury. Descriptive study of hip internal and external rotation range of motion have shown bilateral symmetry in elite level tennis players. Additionally, tennis players and other multidirectional sport athletes have long been plagued with muscular injury in the form of strains particularly of the two joint musculotendinous structures of the hip and groin. Finally, recent emphasis has been places on dynamic stretching and warm-up prior to athletic performance due to the finding of short term decreases in acute high intensity muscular power and explosiveness following traditionally More >
