(Referenced from the article “Health Benefits of Tennis” by Jack Groppel, Ph.D.”)
Is there any wonder that scientists and physicians around the world view tennis as the most healthful activity in which you can participate? There may be other sports that can provide excellent health benefits and some which can provide mental and emotional growth. However, no sport other than tennis has ever been acclaimed from all disciplines as one that develops great benefits physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Tennis is a sport for kids to learn early in life. What parent wouldn’t want their children to get these benefits through their growing years?
Here are some of the best reasons (and key benefits) to getting your child started early with TennisKids!
Tennis helps you:
Develop a work ethic because improvement through lessons or practice reinforces the value of hard work.
Develop discipline since you learn to work on your skills in practice and control the pace of play in competition.
Manage mistakes by learning to play within your abilities and realizing that managing and minimizing mistakes in tennis or life is critical.
Learn to compete one-on-one because the ability to compete and fight trains you in the ups and down of a competitive world.
Accept responsibility because only you can prepare to compete by practicing skills, checking your equipment, and during match play by making line calls.
Manage adversity by learning to adjust to the elements (eg: wind, sun) and still be able to compete tenaciously.
Accommodate stress effectively because the physical, mental, and emotional stress of tennis will force you to increase your capacity for dealing with stress.
Learn how to recover by adapting to the stress of a point and the recovery period between points which is similar to the stress and recovery cycles in life.
Plan and implement strategies since you naturally learn how to anticipate an opponent’s moves and plan your counter moves.
Learn to solve problems since tennis is a sport based on angles, geometry and physics.
Develop performance rituals before serving or returning to control your rhythm of play and deal with pressure These skills can transfer to taking exams, conducting a meeting or making an important sales presentation.
Learn sportsmanship since tennis teaches you to compete fairly with opponents.
Learn to win graciously and lose with honor. Gloating after a win or making excuses after a loss doesn't work in tennis or in life.
Learn teamwork since successful doubles play depends on you and your partner’s ability to communicate and play as a cohesive unit.
Develop social skills through interaction and communication before a match, while changing sides of the court and after play.
Have FUN… because the healthy feelings of enjoyment, competitiveness and physical challenge are inherent in the sport.
Tennis helps your:
Hand-Eye coordination because you constantly judge the timing between the on-coming ball and the proper contact point.
Flexibility due to the constant stretching and maneuvering to return the ball toward your opponent.
Dynamic balance and agility through hundreds of starts, stops, and changing of direction.
Fine motor skills by the use of touch shots like angled volleys, drop shots, and lobs.
Gross motor skills through court movement and ball-striking skills which require control of your large muscle groups.
