Contents
What the research says about injuries
| Question | Finding | Evidence type |
|---|---|---|
| Junior incidence | 2.1 to 3.5 injuries / 1,000 h | Systematic review (37 studies, 2025) |
| Adult incidence | 1.25 to 56.6 / 1,000 h (heterogeneous definitions) | Systematic review |
| Junior seasonal prevalence | 46 to 54 % | Systematic review |
| Lower-limb share | 48 to 56 % | Systematic review |
| Lumbar share | 12 to 39 % | Systematic review |
| Load predictor | An acute:chronic workload ratio (ACWR) ≥ 1.3 is the strongest extrinsic predictor identified | Systematic review |
| Prevention effect | Reductions reported “up to 21 % / 26 %”, heterogeneous programmes; confidence intervals not extractable | Systematic review: weak evidence |
| Elite junior sites | Lumbar spine the most common (incidence 4.3), shoulder 3.1 | Cohort (abstract only, 2018) |
| Age trend | From 2.0 at age 13 to 2.9 at age 18, per 1,000 h | Cohort (abstract only, 2018) |
How to read this table. The prevention percentages cannot be tied to any specific programme: they are indicative, nothing more. The 2018 elite cohort was read at abstract level only. The ACWR is a predictor: the review does not convert it into a serve count or an hour cap, and no federation does either. Not found in the sources read: data on the elbow (lateral epicondylalgia), wrist and ankle, the effect of the surface, a named prevention programme, and serve volume and shoulder load in juniors.
Federation limits: what exists, what does not
| Question | Answer in the sources read |
|---|---|
| Serve cap (juniors) | None at the FFT, Swiss Tennis, DTB, ÖTV or USTA |
| Training-hour ceiling | None |
| Recommended number of tournaments | No guidance found |
| Matches per day | FFT: at most two matches per day for players aged 11, 12, 13/14 and 15/16 in formats 1, 2 and 4 (Règlements sportifs, edition unverified). No equivalent rule found elsewhere. |
| Recovery during a match | ITF Rule 29: no extra time is given to recover condition; one 3-minute medical time-out for a treatable condition |
In practice: load monitoring in tennis is a coaching tool, not the application of a federation rule. The signal the research supports is the change (recent load relative to usual load), not an absolute number of serves.
Heat
| Body | Provision | Threshold? |
|---|---|---|
| ITF | Optional 10-minute rest, if announced | No |
| FFT | The referee may grant an optional 10-minute rest in very strong heat | No |
| Swiss Tennis | 2026 heatwave advisory (“health comes first”), no numeric rule | No |
| DTB | Nothing at national level; a heat-protection rule at state level (Tennisverband Rheinland-Pfalz) | Not extracted |
| ÖTV | Not retrieved | n/a |
| USTA | One section (Mid-Atlantic, adult league championships) has extreme-heat guidelines, including a switch to No-Ad | Not extracted |
No temperature or WBGT threshold was found in these texts. Professional-tour heat policies are not club rules and were not consulted for this guide.
Conditioning by age (Swiss Tennis / J+S)
The Swiss Tennis and J+S training programme sets physical competencies by age band (summaries translated from German):
| Age | Target competency |
|---|---|
| 5 to 10 | Can climb, support, hang and pull; “can run my age in minutes” |
| 11 to 15 | More demanding coordinative strength exercises |
| 16 to 20 | Methods to increase muscle mass |
| 21 to 50 | Tennis-specific strength |
| 51 to 100 | Reducing muscular imbalances, maintaining general strength |
For the youngest, conditioning comes through play: “Wobbly balance tag” (a chase game on the lines, ball balanced on the racket) and the 14-station “Indoor stations circuit”, two children per station. The 2005 Kids Tennis orange-level “condition” test gives a simple measure: 50 alternate rope skips non-stop, then 4-4, 3-3, 2-2, 1-1 two-foot jumps with an intermediate hop, one fault allowed per attempt, three attempts.
The physical profile of doubles
The doubles booklet (2009) describes the demand profile: leg speed (short sprint) and arm speed (effective serves), reaction at the net, strength of the shoulder-arm axis and of the postural muscles, and “no major deficit” in endurance or mobility. The forms that train it: “Catapult” (volley against volley to 20, 30 or more exchanges), “Heavy legs” (difficult volleys and half-volleys; stop the series when footwork quality drops), “Sprint” (the point opens as soon as a drop volley is played, full recovery between points). In Paak, these drills belong to the physical theme of the tennis library, and the session builder offers the “Speed & footwork” focus.
Frequently asked questions
How many serves per session for a junior?
At what temperature should play stop?
Does a prevention programme really reduce injuries?
Sources
Systematic review of injury epidemiology and risk factors in tennis (37 studies), open access, 2025 (PMC12568103). “Injury epidemiology in an elite junior tennis programme”, J Sci Med Sport 21(7), 2018 (abstract). OFSPO / J+S Tennis, mobilesport practice booklet no. 55 “Tennis – Double” (2009), demand profile p. 3, forms pp. 4–5. OFSPO / Swiss Tennis, practice booklet no. 3 “Tennis” (April 2005), pp. 8, 14 and 15. Swiss Tennis and J+S, “Tennis: Ausbildungsprogramm” (training programme, August 2023 file), physical competencies by age. FFT, Règlements sportifs (sporting regulations; edition unverified), art. 13 and heat rest. Swiss Tennis, “Hitzewelle am Wochenende, Gesundheit geht vor” (heatwave this weekend: health comes first), 2026. Tennisverband Rheinland-Pfalz, heat recommendations and heat-protection rule. USTA Mid-Atlantic, Extreme Heat Policy (adult league championships). ITF, Rules of Tennis 2026, Rule 29. Paak tennis corpus, files 02 (age structure and load) and 05 (sport science and injury prevention), checked in September 2026.