Hip injury/surgery and tennis

[Lawn Tennis]

It seems many sidelined tennis players sight hip injuries. What is it about tennis that causes hip injuries. And what specifically in the hip is wounded/worn? Lastly, what is done to rectify the hip injury?

[Chas Tennis]

I have posted on knee injuries and known & possible associations to several muscles located in the hip and buttocks area. These muscles get tight or weak and can cause posture problems. I assume that besides the knees the hips themselves might be affected. For example, if you stop and look down and the feet point out more than normal that is a hip posture issue. If posture is an issue it is best corrected before the articular cartilage is damaged and progresses to serious arthritis.

search some of these terms on TW or the internet: rectus femorus + gluteus medius + posture + hip posture + anterior pelvic tilt + Chas Tennis

[Lawn Tennis]

Originally Posted by Chas Tennis

I have posted on knee injuries and known & possible associations to several muscles located in the hip and buttocks area. These muscles get tight or weak and can cause posture problems. I assume that besides the knees the hips themselves might be affected. For example, if you stop and look down and the feet point out more than normal that is a hip posture issue. If posture is an issue it is best corrected before the articular cartilage is damaged and progresses to serious arthritis.

search some of these terms on TW or the internet: rectus femorus + gluteus medius + posture + hip posture + anterior pelvic tilt + Chas Tennis

Would you say hip problems are usually caused by a certain repetitive 'set and stroke' or more the sudden acceleration/deceleration or both?

Thank you for your response.

[Chas Tennis]

I tend to study the injuries mostly after I'm hit. No hip injury. I have had two meniscus injuries and some bad looking MRIs regarding patellar-femoral joint conditions. When I looked into the posture side of it I found important risk factors. Also, those issues were easy to work on and correct as opposed to attributing everything to aging as many do. I've identified posture issues and have improved some of them.

To answer your question as to what causes hip injuries I'd would first research whether posture might play a part in the injury because you might be able to do something about that.

I was walking on a busy city sidewalk with lots of people walking toward me. I decided to look at the way people's feet aligned as they walked toward me. They ranged from close to parallel to considerably angled out. Easy to see. Also, there seemed to be a strong correlation with age, the younger people had more parallel feet and often the ones with the largest angles were older. I see that as a posture issue - hips externally rotated because of muscles, etc. - and not as an aging issue. If you hold your legs and sit with them in certain alignments for 10-20 years your body takes a 'set' with some muscles tight and short and others weak, etc. Books that I have read on posture support this view.

Peak Performance Fitness, Jennifer Rhodes, is an excellent & readable book describing several of the more common posture issues.

Evaluating posture is not always easy or familiar. Many tricky posture issues require a medically trained specialist. But most people have so many issues that the more obvious posture issues are easy to find. Measuring range of motion for each body joint is usually the starting point. Search: hip + range of motion + measure. Also, there are secondary signs of posture issues such as very uneven wear on shoes.

Risk factors -
1) aging
2) posture issues (over the years this looks a lot like aging)
3) repeated failure to allow healing by playing with pain and using NSAIDs, ice, etc. (over the years this looks a lot like aging)
4) stressful motions on the court such as "'set and stroke' or .....the sudden acceleration/deceleration"...?..
5) other causes

Publication- Individual risk factors for hip osteoarthritis: obesity, hip injury, and physical activity.
http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/147/6/516.long

[charliefedererer]

Originally Posted by Lawn Tennis

Would you say hip problems are usually caused by a certain repetitive 'set and stroke' or more the sudden acceleration/deceleration or both?

Thank you for your response.

Both.

The surprising thing is that with all the pounding and rotation in tennis that there are not more hip injuries.

Hips must be pretty tough.

[corners]

The loading phas of the forehand stroke was implicated in the hip injuries of both Kuerten and hewitt. I believe both their problems was with the labrum. The labrum is also injured in golf and it's known that golfers with reduced internal rotation ROM of the right hip are at risk. Nicklaus has this limitation and it lead eventually to a artificial.

[Lawn Tennis]

Thank you everyone for the participation.

Originally Posted by Chas Tennis

I tend to study the injuries mostly after I'm hit. No hip injury. I have had two meniscus injuries and some bad looking MRIs regarding patellar-femoral joint conditions. When I looked into the posture side of it I found important risk factors. Also, those issues were easy to work on and correct as opposed to attributing everything to aging as many do. I've identified posture issues and have improved some of them.

To answer your question as to what causes hip injuries I'd would first research whether posture might play a part in the injury because you might be able to do something about that.

I was walking on a busy city sidewalk with lots of people walking toward me. I decided to look at the way people's feet aligned as they walked toward me. They ranged from close to parallel to considerably angled out. Easy to see. Also, there seemed to be a strong correlation with age, the younger people had more parallel feet and often the ones with the largest angles were older. I see that as a posture issue - hips externally rotated because of muscles, etc. - and not as an aging issue. If you hold your legs and sit with them in certain alignments for 10-20 years your body takes a 'set' with some muscles tight and short and others weak, etc. Books that I have read on posture support this view.

Peak Performance Fitness, Jennifer Rhodes, is an excellent & readable book describing several of the more common posture issues.

Evaluating posture is not always easy or familiar. Many tricky posture issues require a medically trained specialist. But most people have so many issues that the more obvious posture issues are easy to find. Measuring range of motion for each body joint is usually the starting point. Search: hip + range of motion + measure. Also, there are secondary signs of posture issues such as very uneven wear on shoes.

Risk factors -
1) aging
2) posture issues (over the years this looks a lot like aging)
3) repeated failure to allow healing by playing with pain and using NSAIDs, ice, etc. (over the years this looks a lot like aging)
4) stressful motions on the court such as "'set and stroke' or .....the sudden acceleration/deceleration"...?..
5) other causes

Publication- Individual risk factors for hip osteoarthritis: obesity, hip injury, and physical activity.
http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/147/6/516.long

Hey, thank you for your sharing your knowledge! The walking pattern bit is quite interesting.. I'll pay attention to footprints in the snow.

[Lawn Tennis]

Originally Posted by charliefedererer

Both.

The surprising thing is that with all the pounding and rotation in tennis that there are not more hip injuries.

Hips must be pretty tough.

Good point.

Originally Posted by corners

The loading phas of the forehand stroke was implicated in the hip injuries of both Kuerten and hewitt. I believe both their problems was with the labrum. The labrum is also injured in golf and it's known that golfers with reduced internal rotation ROM of the right hip are at risk. Nicklaus has this limitation and it lead eventually to a artificial.

Doing research on the labrum. Thank you.