Tennis- A Lifetime Sport
Are you involved in a high school sport? Do you plan to continue playing this sport throughout your life? Some people participate in sports in high school and never play again. They may lose interest or they suffer debilitating injuries that prevent them from playing. This is a trade off because they will have fun and do the sport now, but maybe won’t continue it later. Their opportunity cost could be joining another club, having more time for homework, or getting a job.
Lifetime sports are physical activities that people can enjoy throughout their lives. Some activities such as tennis, badminton, golf, and swimming are less strenuous and suitable for people in all stages of life. To view more lifetime sports, click here to watch a video. They also serve as a way to get physical activity in later stages of life when people aren’t as active. People can have a reason to get out and be social if they are passionate about a sport such as tennis. As seen frequently, groups of women or men will get together on their own, or form leagues and play a match of tennis at a local club or park. Another aspect of lifetime sports is that one can continue to improve and increase their skills as they play. There is always room for improvement in tennis which gives people a goal to work towards.
With most all of these lifetime sports and activities, they can be done by yourself or with as little as one other person. This makes it easy to pursue what you love, without having to rely on others. Tennis players only need one other person to play with them for a game to occur. Team sports such as football, volleyball, soccer, and basketball require a group to get together and play, making it harder to play more frequently.
Additionally, some sports take a large toll on your body. With football, players are more prone to injuries because of the physical contact in the sport. Football players may experience concussions, ACL injuries, muscle contusions, and MCL injuries. With tennis, there is no contact and a less chance of injury. Some of the most common tennis injuries are tennis elbow, rotator cuff tendinitis, or an ankle sprain. These injuries do not occur frequently with the proper prevention. Since tennis can be played in singles or doubles, people can choose to play doubles for a less strenuous game. Another pro about tennis is that one can decide how hard to hit the ball, therefore, they can decide how hard to push themselves. This means that anyone can play, no matter how old. One doesn’t typically see a group of people over the age of 40 playing a game of football. Even in the NFL, players tend to retire before they are 40 years old and may have lifetime serious injuries. Here is a graph from 2011 from Missouri High School showing the number of concussions in high school sports. About 75% of these concussions occurred from football.
To become a good athlete at any sport, one must put in time and effort to get into shape which is the cost. The benefits of tennis are that it is a sport one can play throughout their lives without a major toll on one’s body. In the end, it really comes down to what you love to do. If you are looking to play in a sport professionally and have a passion for it, then that is the path you should take. If you are looking for a fun sport to play your whole life, choosing something like tennis, swimming, or golf are great choices.
Sources:
Holecko, Catherine. "Lifetime Sports." Web. 15 Feb. 2015. <http://familyfitness.about.com/od/bearolemodel/g/Lifetime-Sports.htm>.
"What Is a Lifetime Sport?"LIVESTRONG.COM. LIVESTRONG.COM, 30 Jan. 2014. Web. 15 Feb. 2015. <http://www.livestrong.com/article/406620-what-is-a-lifetime-sport/>.
"Become an Advocate for Sports Safety."Football Injuries. Web. 15 Feb. 2015. <http://www.stopsportsinjuries.org/football-injury-prevention.aspx>.
"Become an Advocate for Sports Safety."Football Injuries. Web. 15 Feb. 2015. <http://www.stopsportsinjuries.org/football-injury-prevention.aspx>.
I agree that investing in lifetime sports, such as tennis, can benefit you in the future. It's important to stay active your whole life, but as you get older, your body is less willing and cannot participate in very physical sports. I think the benefits of playing a lifetime sport as a high schooler outways the costs of playing more dangerous sports. The benefits to your health probably increase your life expectancy and since you learned the sport early on, it is easy to pick up when you are older. Besides the personal benefits of tennis, what economic benefits does tennis bring to a community or country? Do you think tennis brings more or less economic benefits than rougher sports like football and soccer?
ReplyDeleteI thought it was really cool how you were able ton incorporate economic terms in your post. I liked your argument, that there are trade-offs to choosing a play a lifetime sport, rather than just play it in high school. Playing it for life, you lose time to do other things, and may take a toll on your body, but playing it may be worth it. I like Madeline's questions: how does playing a lifetime sport effect someone's personal economy? Obviously they will have to pay for equipment, gear...I thought this post was really interesting and insightful. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteI think that tennis is sport that is very easy for anyone to start playing because all you need is a racket and a ball. Since there is little you need and it can be peaceful to hit a ball back and forth many people when they get older will play the sport just like golf. Since these are lifetime sports many kids in high school tend to play the sports that are not because they won't be able to play them in the future, so they play them when they are younger. I think because many kids play contact sports as children when they get older they don't want to learn how to play a new one because it is hard to learn. Therefore I think that children should be introduced to both lifetime sports and contact sports are children so they are more willing to play in a older age, to continue to stay healthy.
ReplyDeleteI think that tennis is sport that is very easy for anyone to start playing because all you need is a racket and a ball. Since there is little you need and it can be peaceful to hit a ball back and forth many people when they get older will play the sport just like golf. Since these are lifetime sports many kids in high school tend to play the sports that are not because they won't be able to play them in the future, so they play them when they are younger. I think because many kids play contact sports as children when they get older they don't want to learn how to play a new one because it is hard to learn. Therefore I think that children should be introduced to both lifetime sports and contact sports are children so they are more willing to play in a older age, to continue to stay healthy.
ReplyDeleteI agree that participating in lifetime sports is beneficial in comparison to highly strenuous activities like football and soccer. Especially in a society where kids are starting to play competitive sports at age 8 or 9. I would be interested to know what kind of economic benefits tennis would bring to a community? Or even what are the economic benefits of hosting a tennis tournament? Overall, great post and really thought provoking topic!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the idea that starting a lifetime sport is something beneficial for those who know they will want to continue their career in the future. It’s interesting to think that we don’t really start our children on sports like tennis or golf, it seems like soccer, football, and baseball (T-Ball) are the stereotypical sports majority of children begin their careers as. Something I’m wondering is, how can we make it possible that tennis can positively impact the community economically?
ReplyDeleteI agree with joining in on many sports and how much time it can take from your life. You must be devoted to the sport, rather than just doing it for fun. It's important to try not to become injured, but it happens, and you must always be prepared for it. I find it interesting that most parents start their kids in sports at a young age, but most of the time it's for soccer or basketball, then escalates to football or wrestling. I would find it interesting to see how many and who would all join and compete in a tennis tournament for a special event.
ReplyDeleteWow! Excellent Post, Great Content. Thanks for sharing such a great blog. Really Helpful. Keep up the good work. Woodbridge Tennis Academy
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