Tennis has deep roots in Williamson County. Between Williamson County Parks and Rec leagues, Brentwood Swim and Tennis, the Tennis Complex at Maryland Farms, and courts at clubs like Temple Hills, there is no shortage of places to play year-round, including indoors during the winter months. With that much court time comes a steady stream of tennis-related injuries walking into Amplify Health and Performance, from a stubborn case of tennis elbow to a shoulder that has quietly gotten worse over a season.

“You can really injure anything playing tennis,” says Dr. Haylee Borgstrom, a Mass General Brigham sports medicine specialist. That is not an exaggeration. Tennis asks your body to sprint, pivot, and generate power through a repeated overhead motion, all in the same match. If you have started feeling a new ache after playing, or you want to keep it that way, here is what is actually going on. If you spend time on the pickleball court too, our guide to pickleball injuries in Franklin covers a lot of the same overuse patterns.

Why Tennis Injuries Are So Common

Tennis injuries generally fall into two categories. Overuse injuries build up slowly from repeating the same motion, serving, swinging, gripping, over and over, and they usually show up in the upper body: the shoulder, elbow, wrist, and hand. Acute injuries happen suddenly, often from a hard sprint, a quick pivot, or an awkward plant, and they tend to affect the lower body instead.

Sports medicine specialists consistently point back to the same root cause: form and biomechanics. When one part of the chain, the core, the hips, the shoulder blade, is not doing its job, another part ends up absorbing stress it was never built to handle. Over a season of matches, that stress adds up into an injury.

The Most Common Tennis Injuries We See in Franklin

Tennis puts a unique mix of stress on the body, and the injuries we see most often reflect that.

Tennis Elbow and Golfer’s Elbow

Tennis elbow, pain on the outer part of the elbow, is the injury most associated with the sport, and for good reason. It comes from repeated gripping and the strain of striking the ball, and it tends to show up more in players who have been at the game for years. Tennis players can also develop golfer’s elbow, pain on the inner side of the elbow, from the same repetitive load working the tendons on the opposite side of the joint.

Shoulder Injuries

The overhead serve and swinging motion put constant demand on the shoulder, and the same flexibility that lets you reach for a big serve also makes the joint less stable. Common shoulder injuries in tennis players include rotator cuff tendinopathy, shoulder impingement, and labral tears, especially in players who rely on the shoulder to compensate for a weak core or torso. We cover this pattern in more depth in our post on shoulder pain that keeps coming back after traditional PT.

Wrist Injuries

Grip strength and repetitive wrist motion during groundstrokes can lead to tendon irritation, wrist sprains, or in some cases nerve compression that causes numbness and tingling. Players who use a racket with the wrong grip size tend to see this more often, since an oversized or undersized handle forces the hand to grip harder than it should.

Knee Injuries

Fast sprints and sudden pivots put real stress on the knee. We regularly see ligament sprains, meniscus irritation, and patellar tendonitis, sometimes called jumper’s knee, in tennis players. If you have dealt with knee pain that keeps returning after rest, or a more serious injury is part of your recovery, our ACL recovery timeline guide walks through what to expect.

Ankle Sprains and Tennis Leg

Cutting and changing direction on the court frequently leads to rolled ankles, and players who have sprained an ankle before are at higher risk of doing it again. Tennis players can also strain the calf muscle, sometimes called tennis leg, from the same explosive push-off movements.

Why Tennis Injuries Keep Coming Back

If you have rested a sore elbow or shoulder, felt better, and then had it flare right back up once you returned to matches, that is a familiar pattern for us. Rest calms symptoms down temporarily, but it does not fix the strength deficit, mobility restriction, or movement compensation that caused the injury in the first place. It lines up with what we have written about recurring back pain and other overuse patterns we see across different sports.

This is why a real recovery plan looks at the entire kinetic chain rather than just the joint that hurts. A weak core or a stiff shoulder blade can quietly overload the elbow or knee for months before it finally becomes painful enough to notice.

How to Prevent Tennis Injuries

Most tennis injuries are preventable with a few consistent habits.

  • Strengthen your core and hips. Your torso generates power for your swing and stabilizes your body during sprints, so weakness there tends to show up as overuse elsewhere.
  • Build shoulder strength and mobility. A stronger, more mobile shoulder handles the demands of serving without relying on compensation.
  • Check your racket. Grip size and string tension matter more than most players realize. A handle that is too small forces you to grip harder, which strains the elbow and wrist.
  • Warm up before you play and cool down after. This is especially important in a sport built around sudden, explosive movements.
  • Tape or brace a history of ankle sprains. If you have rolled an ankle before, you are more likely to do it again without extra support.
  • Cross-train instead of playing tennis exclusively. Staying active in other ways supports recovery and reduces the risk of overuse injuries, especially for younger players who should avoid specializing in one sport too early.

How Amplify Health and Performance Treats Tennis Injuries in Franklin, TN

Every visit at Amplify is one-on-one with a Doctor of Physical Therapy, so we start by identifying the biomechanics behind your injury instead of just treating the symptom. If you want to see how that compares to a typical clinic, we have broken down one-on-one physical therapy versus traditional clinics in more detail. Depending on your injury, treatment might include:

  • A one-on-one movement assessment to find the strength or mobility gap driving your pain.

Dry needling to release tight tissue behind stubborn elbow, shoulder, or calf pain, similar to what we cover in our dry needling versus massage breakdown.

  • Focus shockwave therapy for chronic tendon pain, like long-standing tennis elbow, that has not responded to rest alone.
  • Blood flow restriction training to rebuild strength safely while an injury is still healing.
  • Red light therapy to support tissue recovery between sessions.

We also build tennis-specific [PRE]habilitation programs so you can address strength and mobility gaps before they turn into an injury that sidelines you for a season.

When to See a Physical Therapist for a Tennis Injury

A little soreness after a long match is normal. It is time to get evaluated when:

  • Pain lasts more than a few days or returns every time you play.
  • You notice your serve or swing changing to avoid pain in a certain area.
  • A joint feels weak, unstable, or catches during specific movements.
  • You have been relying on anti-inflammatories just to get through a match.

Tennessee has direct access laws, so you can schedule an evaluation with a Doctor of Physical Therapy at Amplify without a physician referral first. That means you can get a real answer about what is going on before the injury has a chance to affect your entire season.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do tennis players get tennis elbow so often?

Tennis elbow comes from the repeated gripping and impact involved in striking the ball, which places constant strain on the tendons on the outside of the elbow. It tends to show up more in players who have been playing for years, since the tendon irritation builds up gradually with repeated use.

What is the difference between tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow?

Both are overuse injuries affecting the tendons of the elbow. Tennis elbow causes pain on the outside of the elbow, while golfer’s elbow causes pain on the inside. Tennis players can develop either one, since both come from repetitive strain during the swing and grip.

Can I keep playing tennis with a minor injury?

Mild, short-lived soreness is usually fine to play through as long as you warm up properly and pay attention to your form. Pain that changes your serve or swing, returns every match, or involves swelling or joint instability is a sign to get it evaluated, since playing through those issues is one of the main reasons they become chronic.

Do I need a doctor’s referral to see a physical therapist in Tennessee?

No. Tennessee allows direct access to physical therapy, so you can schedule an evaluation with a Doctor of Physical Therapy at Amplify without seeing a physician first.

How long does it take to recover from a tennis injury?

It depends on the injury and how long it has been going on. A mild strain might improve in a couple of weeks with the right rehab, while a longstanding issue like tennis elbow or a ligament injury in the knee can take several weeks to a few months of consistent physical therapy to fully resolve. A one-on-one evaluation is the best way to get a timeline specific to your situation.

Does Amplify Health and Performance offer tennis-specific physical therapy in Franklin, TN?

Yes. Tennis is one of our [PRE]habilitation specialties, and we regularly treat tennis-related elbow, shoulder, wrist, knee, and ankle injuries using one-on-one physical therapy, dry needling, and shockwave therapy.

If tennis has left you dealing with an elbow, shoulder, or knee that will not quite calm down, our team at Amplify Health and Performance in Franklin, TN can help you find the actual cause and build a plan to fix it, not just manage it. Reach out to start your intake and work one-on-one with a Doctor of Physical Therapy who understands the game.