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Upper Extremity Musculoskeletal Profiles in Tennis Players: A Systematic Review

Natalie L Myers¹, James L Farnsworth², Sean M Kennedy¹

¹Memorial Hermann's Rockets Sports Medicine Institute, Houston, Texas.

|February 16, 2024

Abstract

Context:

Tennis-specific musculoskeletal (MSK) screening can assess range of motion (ROM) and muscular imbalances. Identifying normative values before implementing a MSK screen is essential in contributing to athlete performance and injury risk profiles.

Objective:

To review upper extremity MSK data in healthy tennis players across age, sex, and level of play.

Data Source:

The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines were followed for this review. A search was conducted in MEDLINE, SPORTDiscus, Embase, and CINAHL.

Study Selection:

This review included shoulder, elbow, and wrist ROM, isometric strength, or isokinetic strength in a tennis population. Each article was critically appraised to help identify the internal and external validity of each study.

Study Design:

Systematic review.

Level Of Evidence:

Level 3.

Data Extraction:

A total of 41 studies met the search criteria. Each contributor organized the data elements of interest into data tables, with a second contributor assigned for review. Data elements of interest included player and study characteristics: ROM, isometric dynamometry, and isokinetic strength.

Results:

A total of 3174 players were included in the final studies. Most of the players included were competitive adolescents and young adults; 15 studies included ROM data. Male tennis players consistently had more external rotation (ER) gain (range, 1.8º to 8.8º) and internal rotation (IR) loss (range, -15.3º to -3.0º) when compared with their female counterparts (ER range, -2.5º to 5.8º; IR range, -10.4º to -3º). Shoulder IR and ER strength were measured in the majority of all the strength studies, with the external rotators generating at least two-thirds the strength of the internal rotators.

Conclusion:

Overall MSK data of tennis players indicate that shoulder strength values are often larger than nontennis players, but equal to or slightly lower than comparable athletes in other overhead sports. Adaptive changes of the glenohumeral joint and subsequent rotational motion are similar to those of other overhead athletes.

Keywords:

musculoskeletal screening shoulder range of motion tennis athletes upper limb strength

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