Injuries are not an uncommon thing in sports of all kind and table tennis which is one of the safest is not in denial of this painful occurrence. Some of the most common table tennis injuries and the best ways to avoid them are delicately explained in this publication.
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Top 5 Table Tennis Injuries
1). Sprained Ankle :
At one point or another, most table tennis players have had a brush with a sprained ankle due to intensive play. It’s important to recognize that ping pong is a weight bearing game, and this goes on to affect lower parts of the body without forewarning. Sprained ankles are most likely to happen during sharp turns or putting too much effort on your stroke while not in complete foot balance.
Sprained ankles tend to be acute unlike other injuries, and for this reason, it’s advisable to reduce the energy you put on small and quick unpredictable movements, and rather get into a ready position quicker after delivering every shot. It’s also very advisable to seek treatment from a qualified doctor or physiotherapist and rather not take care of it by yourself.
See Also : 5 Health Benefits Of Playing Table Tennis
2). Knee Joint Injury :
This is also very similar to sprained ankle as they are products of the same unpredictable movements when delivering a shot or saving a point by trying a little more than you can. Instead of getting caught in such positions, focus your training on getting into a ready position after each shot so that you don’t get stuck in the delivery while another shot has been fired at you.
More so, this could also happen during training. If you’ve had such an experience before, don’t overlook it. The fact that it has happened before is an indication that you’re more likely to get into that position soon enough. When you do, throwing yourself at the shot while stuck like that could make the injury worse. Have a physiotherapist take a look.
3). Tennis Elbow :
Like other injuries, a poor use of techniques is the main cause of elbow injuries. For example, hyper extending your elbow during backhand shots makes you very susceptible to an elbow injury. Other times, this is aggravated by using a heavier weight than you should, and when your delivery is poor, the energy backfires into your nearest joint, – the wrist, sometimes the elbow.
Elbow injuries can be very severe and take very long periods before you heal. For this reason, it’s very important that you don’t ignore any pain in your body as a result of play, wherever it is. These things don’t necessarily occur immediately, they’re more severe when they’ve accumulated over long periods of time.
4). Shoulder Pain :
Basically, the most mobile joints in your body while playing is the shoulder. Therefore, they are the most exposed to a tremendous range of motion, and are more likely to get injured after long hours of play.
Apart from long hours of play, a consistent overuse of a particular technique or a wrong use of a technique is more likely to cause shoulder injuries. Actually there’s no need to use so much shoulder when delivering shots. The energy is more efficient when it comes from an evenly distributed force originating from your center mass. If your general weight transfer is poor, you’re more likely to injure yourself after some time.
5). CALF Strain :
Calf strains mostly occur as a result of excessively using the calf muscles without taking enough rest. Standing on those calves for a long time alone is enough work. For ping pong players however, the rapid twists and turns make it feel like a deliberate hurt. This is why you need to give yourself enough rest while practicing or even during tournaments. Injuries are quite ugly.
To reduce the strains, you could do a warm up every once in a while, or mild exercises that aren’t replicating the same movements on your calf. This could also reduce the chances of you having this injury as it gets your blood pumping and warm, and your body ready for a challenge.
Conclusion :
As explained earlier, most of these injuries accumulate over time. Therefore, don’t overlook any slight pain you’re feeling at all. Get your physiotherapist to look at it as soon as possible before it becomes a complication.
Stay tuned to Pingthatpong for more table tennis articles.
Hey! , I am Roland Campbell , a recreational table tennis player for over 5 years and counting. I do a lot of research on table tennis (Ping Pong) and publish my findings here at Pingthatpong.
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