14 year old- back problems already?

[hpaiste]

Hi all,

I recently took on the goal of becoming Top 5 in my section and am filling up my day with double workouts and 3+ hours of tennis a day. After my first sectional tournament (in which I won 5 rounds, and lost the last) I started having lower back problems. I took some time off right away because I didn't want to make it worse, and it felt better. Now it's hurting even more when I bend down for groundstrokes, and even to serve (especially kick serves). Does anybody have any suggestion that I can do to fix my back, and maintain it so I don't have this problem again? Thanks to all for reading! Please help !

 

[ayuname]

Does your weekly schedule have a "Rest Day"?

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

Have you seen a doctor or physical trainer about this?

Are you lifting heavy object with your back rather than lifting with your legs? Do you arch your back significantly when hitting those kick serves? The arch should be mild, not excessive. Be sure to bend your knees and, very important, get your heels off the ground. This should allow you to lay back on your serve without arching back too much.

You might also look into back support of some sort. Heat is usually suggested for lower back problems rather than ice. Best to check with a doctor or expert on the support & the heat.

 

[sidzej]

I suppose you are growing a lot in your age...I also had back problems in the age of 13-14, but it was mainly overuse injury (as I also did 2 phase training per day) and I was growing too fast (I am very tall - 6.5ft). My back simply couldn't take that amount of load. Doctors made me stop playing tennis for one entire year. The only sport I was allowed to do was swimming and a bit of cycling. Hope it is not that serious with you, but you should certainly go to see a doctor, if the pain remains for longer...

 

[charliefedererer]

Definitely get checked out be a doctor to make sure that there are no structural problems causing your pain.

This is important not only now to get better, but will influence how much exercise you can do to further strengthen the back muscles for the rigors of tennis. I do sets of situps on an incline bench and back extensions on a Roman Chair, weightlifting like squats and deadlifts, and working out with cables, tubing and a medicine balls to develop the muscles for the twisting motion in tennis and the cartwheel motion on the serve. No way you want to be doing serious back exercises if there is a problem that would be made worse by exercise. Even if there is no stuctural problem, you will first need a period of rest to let your back recovery, then help with building up a routine to strengthen all your core muscles.

 

[hpaiste]

Thanks for all your replies!
1. On Wednesdays, I have a significantly reduced schedule. I go for an hour run rather than a double workout in the gym, and only play/hit for an hour rather than 90 mins of a lesson and 90 mins of match play. Thanks ayuname!

2. I am going to see a back specialist tomorrow, hopefully I'll get some answers. In the gym, I always start off with weighted squats, and I do arch my back, but I believe it primarily trains your thighs and legs than your back, correct me if I'm wrong. Now thinking about it, I really do arch a lot on kick serves. So it is best to lift my heels off the ground, and be on my toes? I'll definitely be trying that once I can again. I've been using the icy-hot back patches, and they seem to take the pain away, but I'll go out and buy some heat patches today if that is what works best. Thank you for all that help SystemicAnomaly!

3. Yikes, that kind of sounds like my case at the moment, and I hope that I don't have to take off that much time, let alone give up tennis for good. Thank you for your input sidzej!

4. My appointment is scheduled for tomorrow (8/5/10). So the point you're trying to get across is let the back heal first, then strengthen the muscles and continue to maintain back muscles to prevent this type of injury from happening again. I'll do that, and hopefully with time it'll all get better. Thanks so much charliefedererer!

To all: Does anybody know what kind of injury this could be? Could it be possible that nothing shows up at the doctors tomorrow, and I'm left clueless? I'll be sure to update this thread tomorrow and what the doctor said.

Thank you to ALL!!! I hope this help will get me back into 100% shape soon!

 

[RogerRacket111]

Might be a good time to look at the cause of the problem. Usually caused by balance issues. Even a pro like Nadal had to recently add some corrective foot inserts in his shoes. It can also be caused by bad posture.

 

[Itagaki]

Thanks for all your replies!
1. On Wednesdays, I have a significantly reduced schedule. I go for an hour run rather than a double workout in the gym, and only play/hit for an hour rather than 90 mins of a lesson and 90 mins of match play. Thanks ayuname!

2. I am going to see a back specialist tomorrow, hopefully I'll get some answers. In the gym, I always start off with weighted squats, and I do arch my back, but I believe it primarily trains your thighs and legs than your back, correct me if I'm wrong. Now thinking about it, I really do arch a lot on kick serves. So it is best to lift my heels off the ground, and be on my toes? I'll definitely be trying that once I can again. I've been using the icy-hot back patches, and they seem to take the pain away, but I'll go out and buy some heat patches today if that is what works best. Thank you for all that help SystemicAnomaly!

3. Yikes, that kind of sounds like my case at the moment, and I hope that I don't have to take off that much time, let alone give up tennis for good. Thank you for your input sidzej!

4. My appointment is scheduled for tomorrow (8/5/10). So the point you're trying to get across is let the back heal first, then strengthen the muscles and continue to maintain back muscles to prevent this type of injury from happening again. I'll do that, and hopefully with time it'll all get better. Thanks so much charliefedererer!

To all: Does anybody know what kind of injury this could be? Could it be possible that nothing shows up at the doctors tomorrow, and I'm left clueless? I'll be sure to update this thread tomorrow and what the doctor said.

Thank you to ALL!!! I hope this help will get me back into 100% shape soon!

Squats train damn near everything, and if done incorrectly can lead to back issues.

if you're actually maintaining an arch throughout the squatting motion, this is bad and will lead to issues

Of course if your back rounds, issues will also arise.

Take a close look at your squat form, video yourself if you want. Consider posting this video here or on the forums at stronglifts.com or startingstrength.com. Probably better off going with the forums, Im no squat expert, and there's only a handful of poster here that i think could help

Not that this is for sure the source of your problem, but it may be or it may be a contributing factor

 

[hpaiste]

I'll do my best to get a video of myself doing squats, but I can't promise anything. Hopefully this is the problem, and we can fix it easily.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

...

2. I am going to see a back specialist tomorrow, hopefully I'll get some answers. In the gym, I always start off with weighted squats, and I do arch my back, but I believe it primarily trains your thighs and legs than your back, correct me if I'm wrong. Now thinking about it, I really do arch a lot on kick serves. So it is best to lift my heels off the ground, and be on my toes? I'll definitely be trying that once I can again. I've been using the icy-hot back patches, and they seem to take the pain away, but I'll go out and buy some heat patches today if that is what works best. Thank you for all that help SystemicAnomaly!
...

You'd actually be on the balls of your feet (rather than on your toes). The "heat" patches or ointments may help to alleviate pain. However, I was talking about actual heat. Before you go out for tennis or other exercise get your lower back under a warm/hot shower. Or you could use a heating pad to warm up the muscles and tissues of the lower back.

 

[hpaiste]

Balls of my feet. Got it. Jeez everybody thanks for all this help! Especially to you SystemicAnomaly, you're really making this a lot easier on me. Thanks so much !

 

[fuzz nation]

I got to sit in at a USPTA on-court presentation headed by Nick Saviano a few years ago. It generally focused on elements of the serve, but Nick took time to specifically address the importance of teaching young players a service motion that can be safely used as they grow toward adulthood. This guy has run a high performance tennis academy for years, so he has an especially keen understanding of the long term ramifications that come with learning a radical serving motion at an early age.

In the same way that younger gymnasts have greater flexibility and resilience, younger tennis players with more highly developed skills may embrace a more extreme service motion when learning a kick serve. The problem is that the bill comes due when they grow up and can't repeat the same moves without putting much more pressure on their bodies, including their lower backs.

It may be the case that you need to address your mechanics and rebuild your motion into one that you can live with for the long haul. I wasn't playing on your schedule when I was your age, but I learned early on how to use that back bend to hit some funky kickers and I certainly can't get away with much of that now that I'm in my 40's. The good news is that my serve is still a beast because I've gained a better leg drive, etc. If you want to stay strong and sound over the long haul, it may be time to get away from an extreme bend.

 

[DonnyDarko]

I'll do my best to get a video of myself doing squats, but I can't promise anything. Hopefully this is the problem, and we can fix it easily.

Squats CAN be the culprit but it could be almost anything to be honest... Straight leg deadlifts are a back killer, as are regular deadlifts. Seated rows, or a multitude of back exercises can injure your back. Even lifting a weight plate incorrectly can strain your back. As a poster stated earlier, lift with legs, check your form on everything. Are you experiencing localized pain, radiating pain (like down the leg), sharp pains, dull pains?

I initially injured my low back while changing a tire in a really tight space. Since that initial back injury, I re-injure my back more easily and it is most often from small things when I'm not thinking like picking up my kids incorrectly.

Could be a slipped disc, pulled muscle or even a pinched nerve. Hard to say without a more clear description of your back pain, even then, I'm not a doc... three things I can say is: rest is your friend, check your form on everything (tennis and training) and do ALL of the PT your doc prescribes.

 

[coyfish]

Good advise here but I think it is important to address your mindset . . .

Why were you overtraining like that? Hitting the gym 2X and playing 3+ hours of tennis on the same day . . . Makes no sense at all. You seemed to have learned your lesson but the idea more = better needs to be eliminated from your head.

When you do too much you actually take steps backwards instead of forwards in tennis, cardio, or lifting.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

Some images that show players with knees bent & heels of the ground. This allows them to lay back without arching the back very much at all.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

​

 

[hpaiste]

Thanks everybody for the continuous help! I'm experiencing localized pain, and it never radiates to my legs (not yet at least). I really think the two major problems that caused all this was a.) overtraining and b.) incorrect form. I'm taking training to a more reasonable level now, and as for the form, my coach and I will spend more time on the strokes than the actual hitting. As for anybody else who may wonder, I went to the back specialist two days ago. I had a x-ray done which couldn't get a good angle of my spine, so I had a bone scan done. Boy was that something.... The specialist said after looking at the results that I had a stress fracture in my lower spinal cord, and that I really need rest more than anything to fix the problem. This really sets me back as I had plans to move to Florida full-time in January for tennis camp. As everyone on here as said, rest is your friend. Looks like I'll need a lot of that. Thanks everybody !

 

[ayuname]

Was I right or what?

 

[El Diablo]

No, actually, you weren't. You suggested a "rest day" each week which would not likely have prevented or helped the problem. The doctor means a month or two of rest to allow the fracture to heal.

 

[ayuname]

Urr, I was close though. :\

 

[120mphBodyServe]

Take a break.
NOW!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ubermeyer]

Hi all,

I recently took on the goal of becoming Top 5 in my section and am filling up my day with double workouts and 3+ hours of tennis a day. After my first sectional tournament (in which I won 5 rounds, and lost the last) I started having lower back problems. I took some time off right away because I didn't want to make it worse, and it felt better. Now it's hurting even more when I bend down for groundstrokes, and even to serve (especially kick serves). Does anybody have any suggestion that I can do to fix my back, and maintain it so I don't have this problem again? Thanks to all for reading! Please help !

You may have a genetic back problem. I also have a back problem, at 16. It sucks. Get to a doctor, and ask them ASAP. You may need to take serious action, although you will still be able to play tennis.

 

[ollinger]

Few things have more potential to become chronic than back problems -- Mario Ancic has practically disappeared with his back problems. Trying to play in spite of a signigicant back symptom is insanity.

 

[hpaiste]

Thanks everyone again ! I finally got results from my bone scan which I took about a week and a half ago. I have a stress fracture in my lower spine, and the back doc says to take a month off from any exercise (goodbye all those hard hours spent towards conditioning!) and that it should be better by mid September. Thanks !