FACT SHEET
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Tennis can improve your overall health, including your mental and physical fitness.
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“Tennis ranks among the top five activities that one could participate in to burn the most calories and, in fact, burns more calories than swimming, rowing, weightlifting, jazzercise, hiking or golf.” Consumer Reports (2005, January).What workouts do for you! Re-
trieved March 28, 2008 from: http://www-erights.prod.consumerreports.org/cro/health-fit
ness/exercise-wellness/working-out-what-workouts-do-for-you-705/index.htm
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In the physical realm, there’s a natural oscillation of stress and recovery when a player
competes in a point and then has the rest period between points or on changeovers. Like
heart rate, muscle activity, brain waves, sleep cycles and glucose cycles, tennis oscillates
in a similar pattern.
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The psychological aspects of tennis mimic life. When you compete against another person, you must punch and counterpunch. This requires you to think under pressure, handle
an opponent’s tactics, prepare for what’s coming next, manage mistakes and deal with crises.
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People who participate in tennis three hours per week at a moderately vigorous intensity
cut in half their risk of death from any cause, according to the late Dr. Ralph Paffenbarger,
who was an internationally recognized exercise authority and studied more than 10,000
people for 20 years.
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Tennis players scored higher in vigor, optimism and self-esteem while scoring lower in
depression, anger, confusion, anxiety and tension than other athletes and nonathletes, according to Dr. Joan Finn and colleagues at Southern Connecticut State University.
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“Physical activity is key to a healthy heart, and all healthy adults should aim for moderateintensity aerobic physical activities for a minimum of 30 minutes five days a week, or a
vigorous-intensity aerobic activity – such as tennis – for a miminum of 20 minutes three days
a week,” said Daniel W. Jones, M.D., 2007-08 president of the American Heart Association,
and vice chancellor for health affairs at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
United States Professional Tennis Association Inc.
3535 Briarpark Drive, Suite One
Houston, TX 77042
800-USPTA-4U | www.uspta.com