Tennis Safety Risk Mitigation

Tennis Safety Risks and Risk Mitigation Suggestions

Risk Description	Likeli-hood	Severity	Overall Risk	Mitigation suggestions
Heat Stroke	Low-Medium	High	High	Call 911.  Stop playing, move to shade, cover with wet cloth, fan the person, drink water.  Life threatening. [See Endnote 1.]
Heat Exhaustion	Medium	Medium	Medium	Don’t play when heat index is high.  Switch to night play. Don’t play if sensitive to heat. Begin drinking water one hour before play. Drink a gulp or two of water at every side change. [See Endnote 1.]
Heart attack	Low	High	Medium	Get an annual physical and get your physician’s OK to play tennis.
Bruises or broken bones due to fall while running or backing up.	Medium	Medium	Medium	When running forward, run within your control limits. Feel free to say, “Great shot.” Don’t back up much while looking up or you may get disoriented.  To get a lob, turn around, run back, turn again, stop (or slow up) and hit.  Occasionally peek at ball while running only if it is easy to keep it in view.
Torn inflamed tendons in forearm--tennis elbow.	Medium High	Medium	Medium	Get racquet back early and accelerate it smoothly. Do not use wrist flick motion.  Follow through on swing—avoid jerky motions. Warm up prior to play. Strengthen arm by repeatedly flexing wrist up and down while holding 1-lb weight. [See Endnote 2.]
Torn muscles in legs	Medium	Medium	Medium	Warm up prior to play; trot in place, speed walk or bicycle to court.
Sun damage	High	Medium	Medium	Use SPF 30 or higher.  Wear a hat.  Wear glasses with UVA and UVB protection.
Bruised toenail	Medium	Low	Low	Clip toe nails shorter than toe.  Lace shoes tightly.
Bruise oneself with racquet	High	Low	Low	Ensure follow through doesn’t intercept your body:  Serve should avoid shin; topspin should avoid head.
Get bruises when hit by ball	Medium	Low	Low	Depending on your opponents and the speed of your reflexes, adjust the distance between your opponents and yourself especially when they have an overhead opportunity. If you are server’s partner and partner has a hard wild serve, stand back, not at net.
Sore muscles after play	Medium	Low	Low	Stretch immediately after playing to squeeze lactic acid out of your muscle tissue. Take a warm shower or sit in a hot tub.
Muscle cramps	Low	Low	Low	Stay hydrated.  Take potassium or eat potassium rich foods (bananas).
Fire ant bite	High	Low	Low	If fire ant mounds are in the area, before picking a ball up that is at the edge of the court, inspect it then hit it against the court with the racquet to shake off ants you may not see before pocketing ball.

Endnote 1:  Excerpt from Mayo Clinic Website on Heat Exhaustion / Stroke:

How Hot Weather Affects Your Body [http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/exercise/HQ00316]

Exercising in hot weather puts extra stress on your heart and lungs. Both the exercise itself and the air temperature increase your body temperature.  To dissipate heat, more blood circulates through your skin.  This leaves less blood for your muscles, which increases your heart rate. If the humidity is high, your body faces added stress because sweat doesn't readily evaporate from your skin — which only pushes your body temperature higher.

Under normal conditions, your skin, blood vessels and perspiration level adjust to the heat. But these natural cooling systems may fail if you're exposed to high temperatures and humidity for too long.  The result may be a heat-related illness, such as heat cramps, heat exhaustion or heatstroke.

How To Avoid Heat-Related Illnesses

Take it slow.  If you're used to exercising indoors or in cooler weather, take it easy at first.  As your body adapts to the heat, gradually increase the length and intensity of your workouts.  If you have a chronic medical condition or take medication, ask your doctor if you need to take additional precautions.

▪             Drink plenty of fluids.  Your body's ability to sweat and cool down depends on adequate rehydration.  Drink plenty of water while you're working out — even if you don't feel thirsty.  If you're planning to exercise intensely or for longer than one hour, consider sports drinks instead.  These drinks can replace the sodium, chloride and potassium you lose through sweating.  Avoid drinks that contain caffeine or alcohol, which actually promote fluid loss.

▪             Dress appropriately.  Lightweight, loose fitting clothing promotes sweat evaporation and cooling by letting more air pass over your body.  Avoid dark colors, which can absorb the heat.  A light-colored hat limits your exposure to the sun.

▪             Avoid midday sun.  Exercise in the morning or evening — when it's likely to be cooler outdoors — rather than the middle of the day.

▪             Wear sunscreen. A sunburn decreases your body's ability to cool itself.

Know when to call it quits.  During hot-weather exercise, be on the lookout for heat-related illness.  Signs may include: Weakness , Headache , Dizziness , Muscle cramps , Nausea or vomiting , Rapid heartbeat
.

If you suspect a heat-related illness, stop exercising and get out of the heat.  Drink water, and wet and fan your skin.  If you don't feel better within 60 minutes, contact your doctor.  Heat Stroke:  If you develop a fever higher than 102 F (38.9 C) or become faint or confused, seek immediate medical help.             

Endnote 2:  Tennis Elbow Causes and Treatment (By Mayo Clinic staff)

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/tennis-elbow/DS00469/DSECTION=causes]

Tennis elbow is an overuse injury.  The cause is repeated contraction of the forearm muscles that you use to straighten and raise your hand and wrist.  The repeated motions and stress to the tissue may result in inflammation or a series of tiny tears in the tendons that attach the forearm muscles to the bone at the outside of your elbow.  As the name “tennis elbow” indicates, playing tennis — particularly, repeated use of the backhand stroke with poor technique — is one possible cause of the condition.  However, many other common arm motions can cause tennis elbow.

Talk to your doctor if self-care steps such as rest, ice and use of over-the-counter pain relievers don't ease your elbow pain and tenderness. Seek immediate care if:   elbow is hot and inflamed and you have a fever; you can't bend your elbow; your elbow looks deformed; you suspect you've broken a bone.