Common Tennis Injuries and How to Prevent Them
by: Chin Yi Khern, Physiotherapist, Regis Wellness
Last updated: Febuary 3, 2026
Tennis is a popular sport in Singapore and has only been rising in popularity in recent years. It is a sport that easily accessible, only requiring two or four players, and is a full body workout that is great for keeping your body physically active and in shape.
However, what people often are unaware of is how easy it is to get injured from playing tennis. Despite tennis being a non-contact sport, it is notorious for causing overuse injuries, such as tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis), shoulder strain, and ankle sprains due to repetitive, high-impact movements. Compared to another popular racket sport like badminton, the tennis racket is also significantly heavier and so it naturally places more stress on the arm.
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Common Tennis Injuries
While tennis is a sport that involves the entire body, it mainly uses the arm (holding the racket). Therefore, common tennis injuries usually involve the shoulder, elbow, wrist, or hand.
Tennis Shoulder Injuries
The shoulder is a very important joint when it comes to tennis and is involved in most movements from forearm to overhead swings. New tennis players may even accidentally overuse their shoulder in their movements instead of exerting force from their legs, hips, and trunk.
Common tennis shoulder injuries from include:
- Labral tear: the cartilage tissue that helps keep your joint in place is torn.
- Rotator cuff tendinopathy: irritation, inflammation, or degeneration (tendinosis) of the rotator cuff tendons from overuse, causing shoulder pain and weakness.
- Rotator cuff tendonitis (shoulder impingement): Rubbing or pinching of shoulder tendons on shoulder bones.
Do note that age-related degeneration may also contribute to these shoulder injuries, so older tennis players may need to be more careful when participating in the sport.
Tennis Elbow Injuries
Elbow injuries are also rather common in tennis. Lateral epicondylitis, also commonly known as tennis elbow or golfer’s elbow, refers to a painful condition caused by overuse of forearm muscles and tendon damage (specifically the ECRB tendon) near the outer elbow, often from repetitive gripping or twisting.
Tennis Wrist Injuries
Common tennis injuries include:
- Tendonitis, where the tendons in the wrist are inflamed
- Sprains
- Carpal Tunnel syndrome, where the median nerve in your hand becomes swollen and inflamed.
These injuries can be due to overuse; equipment change or poor technique.
Lower Body Injuries in Tennis
As mentioned earlier, tennis is a sport that involves the entire body. Beyond these arm injuries, it is also possible to get lower body injuries from tennis. These injuries include:
- Ankle Sprains: acute injuries to the ankle due to sudden lateral movements, quick stops, and pivoting.
- Knee Injuries: Jumper’s Knees, meniscus tears and general cartilage issues from jumping and sudden stopping.
- Lower Back Pain: due to the twisting and turning of the body, hyperextension during serves, as well as poor technique.
How to Prevent Common Tennis Injuries
Tennis injuries may sound scary but do not worry, as these injuries can be avoided.
Proper Warm Up
Too many people underestimate the usefulness of an effective warm up. Warm-ups not only get you ready for your games but also help to prevent injuries from occurring. In tennis, warm-ups help to:
- Increase blood flow
- Raising muscle temperature
- Improve flexibility
- Boost joint mobility, making tissues more pliable and ready for sudden bursts, lateral movements, and repetitive strokes
Basic squash warm-up exercises include:
- Light cardio
- Dynamic stretches for the hips, calves, shoulders, and wrists
- Tennis specific movements, such as strokes, half-swings or side-stepping
Use Proper Technique
This tip is especially important for newer tennis players, or self-taught players. Effective posture in tennis allows you to maintain a balanced and stable stance so that you can execute movements correctly, from serves to volleys and more. Proper technique will not only enhance your performance but also reduce your chances of injury. Poor technique often puts more strain on your muscles and ligaments, causing them to be more prone to injury.
Use Appropriate Equipment
Equipment also plays an important role in injury prevention:
Is your tennis racket too heavy for you? This can cause additional strain to muscles, joints, and ligaments in your arm. Are your court shoes too loose for your feet? This may cause you to be more prone to ankle sprains.
It is important to consider these questions if you intend to play tennis often and want to be injury-free.
Staying Injury Free
Tennis injuries may be common, but most of these injuries are preventable. Keeping yourself injury-free will allow you to enjoy your sport fully whether you are a casual or competitive player. The preventive tips above are generalised and should work for the majority of tennis players. If you require personalised professional advice, do consider talking with a Regis Physiotherapist for a professional assessment.
Prevent Common Tennis Injuries with Regis Wellness
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