PLAY TENNIS FOREVER, A physiotherapist's guide to keeping fitter, younger and healthier, by Suzanne Clark, Panoma Press, 2014

Did you know that as we age, says author and physiotherapist Suzanne Clark, we can lose around 1% muscle mass a year from the age of 30 unless we work on it?  And, by the time you reach age 70,  you could have lost 30 - 40% of your original muscle mass!  The process is slow, and unless injuries call our attention to the decline, not all that noticeable.  The whole aging process, like falling downstairs, or slipping on ice in the athletic club parking lot, can be a terrible shock.

But if you are not ready to surrender your racquet or sign up for pickleball, Play Tennis Forever offers hope and experienced recommendations to tackle the aging body challenge, including nutrition and dehydration pointers, as well as exercise essentials.

Ageing readers may want to skip to the chapter on what to do if you get injured. Falling down, for example, doesn’t always signal a serious injury - and sometimes the injury doesn’t make itself known until later- but Clark’s sensible advice on how to handle an injury is worth remembering. On the tennis court, although there are plenty of 

players and trainers around, no one can truly appreciate the experience of a fall or getting hit in the face hard with a ball. Even when we play on a forgiving surface like clay, we know there are endless possibilities for torn muscles and pained shoulders- all part of the game. 

Want to speed up reaction time, lighten those feet?  And wouldn’t it be nice to know that tennis and tennis exercise can be a lever to cut the danger of osteoporosis, a common challenge with older female players?  It’s all here in a simple, detailed format that the reader can use as a guide to manage physical challenges. “”Tight muscles are the enemy of the sports player” says Clark, but do we know how and when to exercise so that tight or shortened muscles can be returned to a more flexible state?  The exercises she recommends, performed correctly, will benefit more than the area that needs work because there is a side benefit of psychological progress that most of us crave. 

Chapter 7 offers 23 simple but surprisingly challenging exercises in black and white photos directed at critical tennis essentials. Readers will recognize the usual tools- exercise bands, strap-on weights, table legs and stairs, yes stairs! as tools for at home work. You don’t need a gym or a professional trainer to work it. 

Finally, Play Tennis Forever lists web sources and health organizations that offer more in-depth help to recognize and improve the physical challenges of the game. Although the mental toughness and preparation are so important for players like Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, we know that solid physical abilities and performance enable positive mindsets. 

Patricia E. Moody

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