Abstract
The aim of this paper was to determine and explain the prevalence and topology of pain in professional tennis players. In accordance, 42 male and 38 female tennis players, who participated in the ITF tournament in Turkey (Antalya, 2012) filled out a modified SEFIP questionnaire, which was constructed with regard to the specificities of tennis. More precisely, male and female tennis players evaluated pain intensity for each of the 14 body parts on a Likert-type scale from 0 to 4. The results show that in male tennis players, 92.1% of subjects have experienced pain of average intensity of 1.60 in one or several body regions. On the other hand, 91.7% female tennis players reported pain of average intensity of 1.59. The highest incidence of pain was reported in the lower back area, both in male and female tennis players. Regardless of the gender, a relatively high sum of intensity was reported for shoulder, wrist and knee pain, and somewhat lower for elbow pain. A high sum of pain intensity in the upper back is the specificity of tennis players. By analysis of differences, it has been established that female tennis players had a significantly higher sum of pain intensity in the upper and lower back areas, as opposed to male tennis players. In conclusion, gathering information about pain incidence should be just the first step towards the goal – prevention, i.e., reducing the number and gravity of tennis injuries.
