The New York Times reports that racket sports are a great way to get a workout, but they’re not without risk. 

Tiana S. Woolridge, MD, MPH, sports medicine physician at HSS, shares how to protect your muscles and joints.

Compared with contact sports like soccer and basketball, recreational tennis poses a fairly low risk of acute injury, said Dr. Woolridge.

Even so, games like tennis and pickleball are full of repetitive and high-impact movements, such as lunging for balls and swinging the racket, and that can put a lot of stress on the body.

Dr. Woolridge explained that shoulder-strengthening exercises, like scapular rows and shoulder extensions with a resistance band, should be a staple in every tennis player’s routine. 

These exercises can also ward off tennis elbow, as can wrist-strengthening drills like wrist curl flexion and extension exercises. For both drills, work up to 30 reps and then add a light dumbbell of no more than five pounds.

Read the full article at nytimes.com. A subscription is required to access.