Hey guys,

Unfortunately, last week was an awful one in the eyes of professional women’s tennis. The tennis injury bug escaped again and ran wild, taking massive bites out of some of the highest ranked players of the WTA: Serena Williams, Francesca Schiavone,  and Lucie Safarova.

And now the consensus among the fans is that there’s no way they can be ready to the take the court in Flushing Meadows, New York this year.

Many believe they might as well throw in the towel because by the time late August hits, they’ll be out of shape, their conditioning will have dipped, and their sharpness and reaction skills will be nowhere near up to par.

Well, that’s certainly possible but nowhere near guaranteed. And see, that’s a problem. Too many players actually give up on preparing for a match or a big tournament after an tennis injury (…like tennis elbow), because they were led  to believe that nothing could be done. They had the “what’s the point” mindset.

So that’s why I wanted to take a quick second to really address this and debunk a myth that has been swirling around the sports world for a long time.

Many are under the impression that you MUST stop everything, plop yourself in a lazy boy, and rest-it-out until you’re 100% pain free – otherwise you won’t heal properly. And deterioration of fitness is inevitable and just something you have to work through.

Not True.

If you have a tournament or a big match coming up and you go down with a minor but nagging injury (…a tweak of the wrist, soreness in your knees, or even a quirk in your shoulder), you can still exercise, train and be physically ready to go come match time! In fact, you HAVE to!

Your training may have to be revised, depending on the severity of your tennis injury, but it’s incredibly important that you continue your strength work and your cardiovascular exercises.

2 Great Ways To Keep The Motor Running On All Cylinders During Your Tennis Injury Recovery Period:

1.  Jump In The Pool: Being in the water is great for many muscle related injuries, and it also takes a heap load of pressure off your joints. So whether you chose to do a light free-style, breast stroke, or even dog paddle, your  muscles are active.  You’re revving up your metabolism and burning calories as you would while running on the court. You’re also  building more strength by pushing through the resistance of the water.

This enables you to get stronger without heavily impacting the injury. Oh and don’t think this is easy stuff or this somehow will be a push over. You’re really going to  be working! In fact, swimmers are some of the fittest athletes I’ve ever seen.  Just check out my good buddy from the USA Olympic Water Polo team, Tony Azevedo in google images.

2.  Restructure Gym Workouts: Weight training is crucial to keeping up your core strength and endurance.  But when you get injured, that doesn’t have to (…and shouldn’t) change.  Just because one part of your body is less than 100%, that doesn’t mean you have to shut down your entire body. In order to keep your edge, you want to make your training sessions as similar to your non-injury sessions as possible.

So, if you have a foot tennis injury, you might go lighter on the foot, but you don’t have to neglect the lower body all together. You can do light-weight leg extensions (…sitting or laying down). Having a strong lower base will make getting down to those low balls and volley shots 10 times easier.

If you’re suffering from discomfort in the knee, you can still work your back, arms (…bi-ceps and tri-ceps), chest and abs. Elastic bands, free weights, or machines for resistance are great too.

NOTE: If your joints are what’s giving you trouble, avoid the treadmill. Use the elliptical machine instead. With the elliptical machine, it’s a very smooth, rotating motion so you don’t have the pressure of your body weight constantly going up then landing on the injured body part.

It’s very much like your riding your own bicycle.  Not only that,  it’s been proven that you can burn close to double the calories than when using the regular treadmill. So, you’ve got 2 BIG positives!

But listen, just like with any medicine or remedy, this “staying in shape” prescription does come with a “warning” and a “do not use unless” label.

Tennis Injury WARNING:

Don’t overload your body with too many exercises, too fast. Start off light and slow and see what your body can handle.  If you try to do too much too quickly, you can cause yourself yet another tennis injury.

DON’T USE UNLESS: Before you resume training, make sure you check with your doctor, training staff, and coach before doing any sort of exercises.  These guys know what they’re doing and can save you a lot of time by making sure you do things the right way and won’t risk further tennis injury.

Not only will keeping your training consistent, benefit you physically, but you’ll see the effects mentally as well. Because when we suffer a bad injury, the immediate response that is triggered is negative. Of course, who enjoys pain right? Nobody!

And when that happens, our minds flood with regret, anger, and anxiety – which cause our muscles to tense up.  Plain and simple, we’re stressed. And this stress can actually cause the healing process to slow down a great deal.

But check this out…

TMC MIND FACT: Numerous scientific studies have shown that by continuing to exercise, you’ll decrease your ‘stress hormones’ like cortisol, better regulate your adrenaline flow, and increase endorphins production …(your body’s ‘feel-good’ chemicals), giving your mood a natural boost. And ultimately, you recover faster.

So, if you revise and continue your recovery workout program, you don’t have to worry about not being physically able to take out your next big opponent that you’ve spent so much time preparing for. Keep a positive mindset.  See yourself accomplishing this goal and getting back out there.  Do that and you’ll be out on the court, playing like a pro in no time.

Oh, and don’t worry about Serena, Fran, and Lucie as long as they’re training the right way, you’ll see them blasting balls on the hard court come August (baring any major complications.

For more info on mentally tackling a tennis injury, click here

Update on Strategy Secrets 101, early next week. Yes, it’s finally here . The Pre-order list is filling up fast, so email me asap or place a comment below so I can add you .

All the best,

Brian