Hydration is of critical importance in tennis for optimal performance and safety, yet maintaining sufficient levels during tournaments poses many challenges to athletes’ hydration needs.
One challenge faced by players prior to competition is dehydration deficit as evidenced by urine specific gravity readings above 1.025 (Bergeron et al, 1995a). Furthermore, tournament schedules often consist of same-day repeated bouts of match play with insufficient rest periods between bouts for proper recovery.
1. Dehydration
Dehydration can have an enormously detrimental impact on tennis performance when playing in hot and humid conditions, so having an effective plan in place to manage hydration and thermal strain during tournaments is vital for their success. This is particularly pertinent early rounds where multiple matches take place on one day with short rest/recovery times between contests.
Dehydration can significantly hinder athletic performance and cause muscle cramps, fatigue and poor concentration. Studies have revealed that endurance performance reduced due to dehydration can be partially reversed when drinking a carb-rich drink during exercise; however, many research volunteers may adjust their performance during experiments in response to discomfort caused by unfamiliar dehydration methods used.
Hydration needs for tennis athletes can vary considerably between individuals. Sweat rate and sweat sodium concentration are two key variables which will ultimately determine their needs for hydration. Hydration needs may fluctuate during tennis due to changing postural positions; this is especially evident when undertaking seated activities like changeovers. Given this context, it should come as no surprise that more than half of tennis athletes who participated in one specific four-day tournament had less-than-optimal hydration as evidenced by urine specific gravity readings of over 1.025. USG can provide an indication of athlete hydration status during training and competition; it should therefore be regularly measured to ensure adequate hydration is being achieved.
Though consuming CHO drinks promote greater fluid absorption than water, no performance benefits have been observed in tennis matches and practices lasting under 90-120 minutes. Therefore, real fruit drinks provide the optimal solution as their fructose-based fructose metabolism slows over time in comparison with glucose’s fast oxidisation process.
2. Muscle cramps
Muscle cramps (spasms) experienced by players during and immediately following play are caused by imbalances to their mineral and electrolyte content within muscles, including excessive water loss, insufficient sodium replacement and decreased availability of oxygen to muscles. Additional contributing factors could also include fatigue or psychological stress as contributing agents.
Tennis’ intense nature and rapid pace generate significant sweat loss that must be replaced through regular fluid intake to prevent performance decline and exertional heat illness. Unfortunately, however, many players competing in longer matches fail to meet this hydration requirements, leading to decreased performance levels as well as the possibility of exertional heat illness.
While consuming water ad libitum may seem like the obvious solution to keeping yourself hydrated, this approach doesn’t account for individual’s sweat rates and sodium concentrations that vary drastically – studies have even revealed that an athlete can lose 15 times more sodium per liter of sweat than another athlete!
Variation can also be observed when comparing sweat rates of players playing under similar conditions. To prevent muscle cramping and maintain performance, players need a good understanding of their sweat rate and sodium content – which Precision Fuel & Hydration’s Sweat Test service accurately quantifies.
Athletes can use this data to calculate how much water they should drink during training and competition, and ensure they consume an appropriate level of sodium through beverages and supplements. Furthermore, players may benefit from taking pre-loading their bodies with sodium by taking high-sodium electrolyte supplements before commencing their matches.
Coaches and medical staff must understand the effects of heat stress and dehydration on player performance and take necessary measures to alleviate these problems. This should include prioritising well-organised scheduling as well as taking into account that carry-over effects from previous match play may contribute to physiological strain and risk of heat illness.
3. Muscle fatigue
Muscle fatigue is one of the key contributors to poor tennis performance and results from an inability of the body to replenish energy sources. When muscle performance decreases, metabolites and ions build up and inhibit contractile proteins’ action leading to decreased force production. Many factors can contribute to muscle fatigue such as insufficient nutrition availability, dehydration, age and stress.
Muscle fatigue often results in an incremental decline of groundstrokes and service accuracy for players, with its rate dependent on factors like fitness preparation level and experience in high-intensity matches.
Player recovery between points has an enormous effect on their rate of muscle fatigue, particularly for players who practice more frequently and whose match play tends to be less intense than professional tennis players.
One way to reduce muscle fatigue when playing tennis is to consume an ample supply of carbohydrates prior to starting play. This will fuel the muscles and increase endurance; however, carb consumption must also take into account intensity and duration of matches; too many carbohydrates could lead to imbalanced electrolytes leading to muscle cramps.
Tennis is classified as an anaerobic-dominated sport, necessitating high levels of aerobic conditioning to prevent premature fatigue and allow athletes to recover between points. Unfortunately, no consensus has yet been reached as to what type of aerobic and anaerobic training would best suit tennis athletes.
18 senior county tennis players (9 males and 9 females) participated in two performance tests, beginning with a pre-skill test of groundstrokes and service, followed by the Loughborough intermittent tennis test (4 min work plus 40 s recovery until volitional fatigue). As expected, groundstroke and service accuracy decreased with increased fatigue over the duration of this intermittent test, particularly among lower ranked players; EMG data also revealed that at near exhaustion activity decreased more in proximal anterior deltoid and distal wrist flexors/extensors than other muscle groups.
4. Concentration
Perform well on the court requires high levels of concentration and focus. In order to maintain this focus, players should ensure they are adequately rested, eating nutritious food and staying hydrated prior to taking to the court – any gaps can lead to poor concentration during matches and games. Furthermore, emotional regulation strategies and coping mechanisms must also be employed so players remain composed during high stress situations during play.
Tennis players face one of their main challenges during matches and tournaments in maintaining proper hydration levels, due to the intensity and environment of tournament play leading to increased sweat rates and relatively short time between matches, making dehydration a greater risk. Muscle cramps or low blood pressure could occur quickly if dehydrated enough for players.
Recent research examined the effects of sodium ingestion on hydration status and groundstroke performance of nationally-ranked junior tennis players during tournament competition.2 To conduct this controlled trial, participants consumed either a placebo beverage or one with 50 mmol/L of sodium; 20 minutes prior to every training session they emptied their bladders and provided urine samples into a 30-ml clear plastic sterile container; then their UOsm measurements were assessed with a portable osmometer.
The findings of this study revealed that drinking 50 mmol/L sodium solution significantly reduced UOsm and enhanced groundstroke performance among nationally-ranked junior tennis athletes, through attenuation of symptoms associated with hypohydration such as thirst and gastrointestinal discomfort.
Researchers cautioned that these results should be interpreted with care as the relationship between preactivity hydration status and on-court thermal strain is complex and depends on several environmental, physiological, and individual factors. As a result, more research must be conducted in order to gain a full understanding of youth and adult tennis athletes across varying environmental conditions, venues, and competitive scenarios in order to accurately prescribe optimal hydration and heat safety protocols.