10 Best Tennis Shoulder Exercises For Tennis Players

Shoulder injuries are one of the most common injuries in tennis players. Tennis shoulder exercises are the most effective way to treat tennis shoulder pain. This post includes 10 of the best tennis shoulder exercises with pictures, specifically designed for tennis players.

If you are suffering from shoulder pain you are not alone! Up to 50% of middle-aged tennis players suffer from shoulder pain. This post is here to help!

How To Avoid Shoulder Pain In Tennis

The best way to avoid shoulder pain and injury prevention in tennis is to avoid overtraining, have proper technique, incorporate a shoulder warm up tennis routine and use proper equipment designed for your body type and skill level.

Tennis shoulder can be prevented by performing a proper warm up prior to a tennis match. More importantly, you can perform these 10 tennis shoulder exercises to negate any muscular imbalance in the shoulder and prevent any future shoulder injuries or risk of injury.

What Is Tennis Shoulder?

Tennis shoulder is a common term used to describe either rotator cuff tear or rotator cuff tendinopathy. Both of these rotator cuff injuries are common in tennis due to the repetitive overhead motions involved in tennis. The rotator cuff muscles of the shoulder are responsible for stabilizing the head of the humerus or humeral head in the shoulder socket joint.

Tennis elbow is also a common injury in tennis players, which can cause elbow pain. Often times a player may have symptoms of a tennis elbow and tennis shoulder at the same time. It can be very challenging to play in a tennis game with these injuries, which is why it is so important to properly rehab the shoulder muscles.

If you are having elbow pain and suspect an elbow sprain you can find 10 Best Elbow Sprain Exercises To Rehab Elbow Injury here.

Tennis shoulder is most common in overhead athletes such as tennis players. It occurs when the soft tissue around the shoulder joint becomes inflamed or injured. The shoulder injury usually occurs in the dominant arm.

This injury can occur due to decreased shoulder strength or shoulder instability. This can be due to muscle imbalances in the body.

How Long To Rest Tennis Shoulder

It is typically recommended to rest for 2-4 weeks for tennis shoulder, however more severe cases may take 6 weeks to 3 months to fully heal. In most cases you do not need to completely stop all activity, however activity modification, including reducing frequency and resistance of tennis and shoulder exercises, is recommended.

It is best to see a doctor if you suspect a shoulder injury as they will be able to diagnose you and properly advise you on any restrictions you may have.

Muscles of The Shoulder (Rotator Cuff Muscles)

• Suprapsinatus
  • Responsible for lifting the arm and stabilizing the shoulder joint.
  • Shoulder abduction
• Infraspinatus
  • Responsible for rotating and extending the shoulder backwards.
  • One of the shoulder external rotators.
  • Shoulder external rotation and shoulder extension
• Teres Minor
  • Responsible for rotating outwards the shoulder.
  • One of the shoulder external rotators.
  • Shoulder external rotation
• Subscapularis
  • Responsible for rotating the shoulder inwards and stabilizing the shoulder joint.
  • Shoulder internal rotation, small movements in shoulder adduction and shoulder extension.

What Can You Do For Tennis Shoulder?

The best way to treat tennis shoulder is through simple exercises which will improve shoulder mobility and the muscles of the upper body and the shoulder joint. A physical therapist can evaluate you and prescribe physical therapy exercises which are best for you and your specific injury.

Tennis Shoulder Pain Treatment

These simple exercises are focused on facilitating shoulder stability and shoulder strengthening. If you do not have full range of motion you can check out 13 Helpful Exercises To Avoid Shoulder Replacement. These 10 shoulder exercises focus on a range of shoulder range of motion, shoulder strengthening, and shoulder stability.

Rotator Cuff Exercises For Tennis Shoulder Pain

These rotator cuff exercises with pictures include 1. External Rotation With Resistance Band 2. Internal Rotation With Resistance Band 3. 90/90 External Rotation 4. 90/90 Internal Rotation 5. Arm Circles 6. Rows 7. Shoulder Extension 8. Bird Dog 9. Overhead Press 10. Scaption.

1. External Rotation With Resistance Band

• Start with your elbow bent to 90 degrees.
• Stand so that your affected shoulder is the furthest shoulder from the band.
• For example, if your right shoulder is the injured shoulder you will stand with the resistance band closest to your left shoulder while holding the resistance band with your right hand.
• Now hold a resistance band and slowly rotate your arm away from your body while maintaining the 90 degree bend in your elbow.
• Now slowly bring your arm back to the start position.

2. Internal Rotation With Resistance Band

• Start with your elbow bent to 90 degrees.
• Stand so that your affected shoulder is the closest shoulder to the resistance band.
• Now hold a resistance band and slowly rotate your arm towards your body/belly button while maintaining the bend in your elbow.
• Now slowly bring your arm back to the start position.

3. 90/90 External Rotation

• This is a progression to the first exercise.
• Do not perform this exercise until you are able to perform the first one with proper form and without pain.
• Start by standing and facing the resistance band.
• Your shoulder and elbow will both be at 90 degrees of flexion.
• The resistance band should be at least at shoulder height but ideally even higher.
• Now hold the resistance band and slowly rotate the shoulder backward while pulling the resistance band.

4. 90/90 Internal Rotation

• This is also a progression exercise.
• Start by standing and facing away from the resistance band.
• Your shoulder and elbow will both be at 90 degrees of flexion.
• The resistance band should be at least at shoulder height but ideally even higher.
• Now hold the resistance band and slowly rotate the shoulder forward while pulling the resistance band.
• It is ok to feel gentle pressure with this exercise but if it becomes painful then stop.

5. Arm Circles

• This is a great warm up exercise for tennis players.
• Start with your arms raised out to the side at shoulder height.
• Now slowly start moving them in small circles forward and then small circles backward.

6. Rows

• This is a great exercise for any shoulder injury and for the upper back.
• The starting position for this exercise is with your feet shoulder-width apart.
• Start with your elbows straight and holding onto a resistance band.
• Now pull the resistance band back by bending your elbows.
• Now squeeze the muscles of the back of the shoulder together.
• These muscles will bring the shoulder blade inward.
• Another way of thinking about this is to squeeze your shoulder blades together.

7. Shoulder Extension

• This exercise strengthens the posterior deltoid muscles and the back muscles.
• Start with the resistance band above shoulder height.
• Now keep your arms straight and your palms down while holding onto the resistance band.
• Pull the resistance band down until both of your hands are at your sides and then slowly return the resistance band to starting position.

8. Bird Dog

• This is a great exercise because it strengthens the muscles of the upper body, and lower body and creates a strong core.
  • It can also help to improve lower back pain
• Start on your hands and knees.
• Tighten your core and lift your arm and the opposite leg.
• Now bring them back to the starting position and lift your other arm and opposite leg.
• This exercise will challenge your dynamic balance and core strength.

9. Overhead Press

• This exercise can be performed with a resistance band, dumbbell or barbell.
• As a starting point this exercise should be performed with a resistance band.
• Start by standing on a resistance band with your foot.
• Start with your arm at shoulder height at a 90 degree angle and then push up until your arm is fully above your head.

10. Scaption

• Start with your arms out in front of you in a “Y” shape with your thumbs up.
• Now slowly bring your arms up to shoulder height and then slowly bring them down.

Upper Body Tennis Workout

The best upper body tennis workout will include shoulder exercises focused on the rotator cuff muscles. This includes resistance exercises in the neutral position as well as overhead position.

Summary of Tennis Shoulder Exercises

These tennis shoulder exercises will get you back to the sport that you love! As always it is important to first see your healthcare provider prior to starting any new exercise routine.

If you know you have a rotator cuff tear and suspect it may be due to a subscapularis muscle tear you can check out 7 Best Subscapularis Muscle Exercises For Rotator Cuff.