As a tennis player getting older, we need to practice prevention. As a youth, your attitude is usually, "nothing can hurt me." As we get older we need to think - Prevention. Here are a few things that might help you:

• Wear sunscreen, you should have started as a youth.
• Wear sunglasses, also should have started as a youth.
• Wear a hat, again should have started as a youth.
• Wear long sleeve shirts and pants (SPF clothing).
• When something hurts on your body, stop playing for a few days.
• Do not forget the medical value of plain old ice. Ice your injuries ASAP.
• Take anti-inflammatories (sparingly).
• You are not going to win every point. Learn to say "nice shot" more often. Start thinking about being able to play tomorrow or next week un injured. A terrible injury caused by poor judgment might keep you off the courts for weeks.
• Don't forget to get your racket restrung more often to help prevent tennis elbow. Approximately, string the racket per year, the number of times you play a week.
• Remember, through tennis, you will receive: fitness, fairness of play, friendships and camaraderie, just to name a few.
• See yourself as an athlete, eat and drink accordingly.
• Keep your friends, on and off the court.
• Do not get overuse injuries, modify your schedule to allow your body to recover.
• Go to the gym, do yoga, Pilates, ride a bike. Do things that do not involve shocking your body to save your joints. Give up running and replace it with the treadmill, Stairmaster, or bike. Save the running for the courts.
• Add cross training to your fitness regimen.