Paddle Tennis is one of the fastest growing sports in the nation. From post-college tennis transition to adult competitive leagues, people everywhere are joining the craze. Unlike some other adult activities that have more controlled motion such as running, cycling, golf for example, Platform Tennis takes in all aspects of athleticism.
Aerobic and anaerobic endurance. Explosive leg power. Balance and stability. Leg strength. Lower and upper body agility. Hand-eye coordination. Core activation. Rotational force production. Multi-directional stability. Joint flexibility. Power. And so much more.
Playing smart is equally as important as playing hard. Learning positioning on the court and anticipating your opponents’ next move allows you to play efficiently. Recovering from being pushed out of position – or from a great side screen, however, is another story. That involves fitness. Getting to the net after the ball leaves your paddle on serve. Shifting back after being pushed on a deep lob. Powering to a drop shot.
Making your game healthier and more successful has many parts:
- Having the proper strength to support your skill
- Learning proper mechanics to generate force
- Training for power, squat depth, rotational range to help protect from explosive injuries
- Understanding the importance of dynamic and functional warm-up as well as play preparation to minimize injuries
- Knowing how to recover after drill and matches
Remember, as it is tempting to simply get off the train and on the courts after sitting all day, or run to drill straight from dropping the kids at school, Paddle is a high-intensity sport. And you are an athlete. Your body deserves to be treated as such!
Our Complete Paddle Fitness, Strength, and Injury Prevention Program will:
- Identify your strengths and needs with pre-program baseline testing specifically for paddle tennis performance and diminished injury risk
- Meet weekly with like-minded people for in-person training
- Use the on-demand app created for this program at home on your own time to balance out drill, practice, matches and tournaments
- Learn proper strong>warm-up and recovery routines that you can go back to on the app as well
Our program is designed and run by the best that Chicagoland has in treatment, diagnosis, fitness and strength:
- Gina Pongetti Angeletti, Physical Therapist and Sports Medicine Biomechanics Specialist, and Owner of Achieve Orthopedic Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine, Paddle Tennis player, PT to many Paddle Professionals and athletes on Tour
- Co-Owners Jackie Errico and Linnea Lones of JustLift Fitness; Specialized Strength, Conditioning, Power and sport-specific performance training
Baseline Testing
The purpose of measuring anything in performance is to see where you start so that programs can be customized as well as held accountable. Efficiency is key in life- while balancing kids, jobs, other activities and playing. The goal is to identify what needs to be worked on, maintain what is already amazing, and the test to compare progress.
Years of research have been done on tennis and racquet sports in general. Tracking injuries and how they happened and working backward often to see if preparation could have happened to decrease risk. We have also identified which physical demands are most prevalent on the court and created programming to bring the athlete’s fitness as high as it can go.
We will have a group of people running themselves through stations of testing and then we will analyze, compare and educate each participant individually.
Some of the things tested will be:
- Shoulder flexibility, strength, power and joint health
- Spine mobility for overheads, drives, rotation and reach
- Leg power/jump height, plyometric ability
- Lower body agility and direction change capability
- Hip joint mobility and flexibility including hamstrings, hip flexors, glutes, rotators
- Core strength and stability
- Elbow and wrist health, strength, and proper use
- Ankle balance, stability, and prediction factors for plantar fascia, achilles, calf injuries and sprains
- Overall athleticism and fitness
JOIN US is making your game better. Whether you are starting out as a 16, or climbing the ladder as an 11, challenging the top as a 9 or a 7, or adding finesse to your years as a 5, or even a pro that needs a plan- THIS is for you!
Common Paddle Injuries
Spine
- Strained muscle
- Disc issues from rotation
- Nerve radiating pain from misaligned spine or disc issues
- Stress fractures
Shoulder
- Posture issues
- Rotator cuff strains, overuse or tears
- Impingement syndrome
- Bicep tendon Irritation/tendinitis
- Bursa irritation
- Mid-back strain
Elbow/Wrist
- Medial or lateral overuse/ epicondylitis
- Nerve entrapment issues
- Carpal tunnel
- Forearm splints
- DRUJ (distal radio-ulnar joint) pain, stress
- Grip strength deficit
Rib/Core
- Abdominal strain
- Stress to diastasis recti or hernia
- Pelvic floor strain/instability
- Rib strain/intercostal muscle sprain
Hip
- Hamstring, adductor or gluteal pull
- Quad/hip flexor issues
- Labral tear- rehab, pre- or post-surgical
- Sciatic nerve issues
- Stress fracture
Knee
- Arthritic changes
- Patellar subluxation/dislocation
- MCL/LCL strain
- ACL/PCL tear
- Meniscus tears, fraying, degeneration
- Patellar tendon overuse/tear
Calf/Ankle/Foot
- Calf muscle strain- gastroc, soleus, plantaris popliteus
- Ankle sprain- ligament injury including Jones Fracture
- Trauma with tibia, fibula or talus fracture
- Sesamoid foot issues
- Posterior tibialis stress, arch support issue
- Peroneal (lateral tendon) overuse, tear, or split
- Plantar fascia pain, tendon strain, fasciitis, calcaneal (heel) attachment pain
- Nerve entrapment
- Mid-foot bone contusion
- Neuroma
- Turf toe, Hallux limitus/rigidus
Program Options: SIGN UP NOW!
About Achieve Physical Therapy
Achieve is the perfect combination of the five aspects of therapy that allow for complete and long-lasting success
- Proper diagnosis, including community connections to physicians, and other medical professionals for nutrition, bloodwork and more
- Sport-specific knowledge to help with figuring the path to injury to prevent further incidence
- Manual therapy treatment techniques and certifications including Active Release Techniques (ART), Graston Technique, cupping, myofascial release, soft tissue mobilization, Trigger Point Dry Needling, Blood Flow Restriction (BFR), joint mobilization, Kinesiotaping and many more
- Biomechanics and strengthening for specific movement pattern analysis and training
- Return to sport guidance working with you specific paddle professional at your club or organization.
In order to treat the game, you have to understand the game. Play it. Be successful with a track record of elite-level paddle athletes and Olympians and World Champions from many other sports across the board. The staff at Achieve walks the walk. And that’s where you want to be!
About Just Lift Fitness Programs
JL Fitness is an intimate, luxury personal training studio offering personal training, small group private training, sports performance training, nutrition coaching, and online services through their mobile fitness app.
The trainers at JL Fitness take a holistic approach to your health and fitness journey by digging deep into your “WHY”. WHY do you want to reach these specific health and fitness goals? WHY do you want to lose weight? WHY do you want to gain muscle? Once we can determine your WHY, we can help create your personalized program for your health and fitness journey. We want this to be an intimate process that is designed for YOU – every human body is different, and we do not believe it is a one-size-fits all model. We believe in creating you a personalized experience.
Competing in paddle you already have your motivation behind your “WHY” but what can bring you to the next level? Assess and progress with the Just Lift team.