Most Dangerous Moves On A Tennis Court

In tennis, there are so many different circumstances in which you have to move in different directions. You might be running up to reach a drop shot, or perhaps you get pulled off wide and you need to chase the ball to the left. Now, it doesn’t only come down to the feet. Your shoulder is moving differently on a serve than on a forehand or on a backhand. One time you rotate your body this way and the other you rotate the other way.

However, when it comes to uncommon situations on a tennis court, our brains aren’t accustomed to these scenarios and hit the ball in irrational ways. In some cases, there are chances that you even get hurt. Therefore, I want to show you the top five most dangerous moves on a tennis court.

Serving Full Blast

The first move that you want to avoid is serving full blast when you're not warmed up. I am guilty of committing this dangerous move, and what can happen to you if you serve at full speed without warming up your shoulder is pretty obvious – you can blow out your shoulder. It is important to avoid going onto the court and start serving fast without warming up your shoulder. One of the simplest warm-up exercises for your shoulder is simply going through your service action dry, like a shadow stroke. This will loosen up your shoulder.

Also, you want to perform stretches where you're stretching the inside of your shoulder, the backside of the shoulder. You can also use bands; these are going to be great to warm up your shoulder. Or you could simply step up to the baseline and serve very gently at first, maybe 20 miles an hour, and do five serves like that. And then you slowly start increasing the speed, and then once you're ready to go fast, your shoulder is going to feel just fine.

Sliding

On hardcourt, I'm going to be honest with you, I've tried many times to slide. I have been successful numerous times, letting me reach balls I couldn’t get to before. In other instances, my foot has kind of caught itself on the surface, but fortunately I never rolled my ankle.

So unless you're a high-level junior who can naturally slide on a hard court, under no circumstance should you attempt to ever slide on a hardcourt because the risk of injury is enormous. You are guaranteed to do something to your ankle or your knee.

How about clay courts? Well, here you might be surprised that I'm going to tell you a very similar thing. We don't have red clay in the United States; we have har-tru. Sliding on har-tru is tricky because a lot of times, the lines might be raised a little bit, and you slide, and your foot gets caught on the line, and you go flying.

I've seen more injuries at the recreational level on the har-tru courts than I've seen on hardcourt, why? Because on the hardcourt, the footing is secure; you can get out of the blocks safely; you can stop safely. Where on the har-tru, the clay on the surfaces, unfortunately, is not as evenly distributed as it would be on a red clay court, and also the maintenance is not of the same standard usually.

If you slide and you catch one of these spots that has a ton of clay, your foot might get caught. On the other hand, a spot with very little clay, super slippery, and then your foot slides out, and all of a sudden, you pull a muscle. For those reasons, if you're playing tennis at the recreational level and if sliding is something that doesn't come naturally to you, in other words, you want to learn it, I'm advising you to not slide, even on har-tru. You can play on the har-tru surface just like you play on the hard courts.

Closed Hips

The third most dangerous move that you can make on a tennis court is the closed stance hip destroyer. Choosing a stance usually depends on the depth or pace of the incoming ball. There are a few scenarios on the court where you either have to do closed stance or open stance, and one particular scenario is when you're pulled out laterally and forward at the same time. This doesn't affect the backhand; this is only an issue for the forehand.

Hence, if I get a ball that's wide but also short, in other words, I'm moving towards this corner right here. If I attempt a closed stance forehand, I'm going to lock my hip without the ability to rotate, and I'm going to destroy my hip. When you're moving this way, the momentum is carrying you to the right, and if you do a closed stance forehand, you lock yourself from having the ability to rotate.

So if you try to rotate, and your weight is on this foot, but at the same time, the momentum is still carrying you this way, you're going to destroy your hip. What you have to do under these circumstances is do something that I call open-close. Try to hit the ball off your dominant leg, and have the movement be dynamic. When you continue to swing through your forehand, the other foot comes through.

Moving Backwards

The fourth most dangerous move on the tennis court is moving backward. Yes, you are going to move backward in some cases, but under no circumstances should you ever move backward with your chest pointing toward the other side. This is one of the most dangerous moves at the recreational level.

I've seen players fall backward and hit their heads because they don't have a good sense of balance. You're not looking backward where you're stepping; you're looking at the ball. And when you move backward like this, your foot can get caught, and you go flying to the ground and hit your head on the court.

Instead, you have to initially turn your body. And now, the movement is going to be more secure because you're going to be moving laterally. You have several options; you can move side-step, or you can even cross-over step. Now, because of this lateral backward movement, you are less likely to fall backward, in other words, your balance is not going to be affected as much. And on top of that, you're going to be moving backward much faster.

Let's say that I'm running down a lob; it's going to be the same sequence. I'm not going to go back up facing the net; I'm not going to turn around and lose sight of the ball. I'm going to track the ball, and I'm going to turn my body sideways and run sideways.

Hitting Yourself

And last but not least, the fifth most dangerous move on the tennis court is hitting yourself with the racket. A lot of players will hit different body parts with their racket, and this is due to technique. Let me tell you why a lot of players hit themselves on the serve or the overhead, for example. Players will attempt a flat serve, usually where the racket is more going forward. A lot of times, these players will not have any torso rotation, and they will swing forward with the racket and stay sideways.

Naturally, when you don't have torso rotation, look where the racket goes; it's not going to swing out around your left pocket if you're right-handed; it's naturally going to go right toward your non-dominant shin. If you don't properly rotate, the same is true for the overhead. If you don't have torso rotation and you accelerate really fast forward, you're going right toward your shin.

You have to execute your serve and your overhead with torso rotation so that naturally the racket can swing out towards your non-dominant pocket. Is there such a thing as a dominant pocket and a non-dominant pocket? I'll let you be the judge. But in any case, if you have to be right-handed, go towards your left pocket. But the serve is not the only shot where players have a tendency to hit themselves.

Final Thoughts

Will avoiding these top five dangerous moves guarantee that you won't get hurt on a tennis court? No, because tennis is quite dangerous for the body; it puts a lot of stress on the body, and some of these things that happen to your body you're not in control of. In other words, nobody plans to pull their muscle or throw their shoulder out in the context of a normal match. Nevertheless, the things that are listed in today's article are definitely things that you have full control over and things that you should definitely try to avoid.