TENNIS IS GOOOOOD FOR YOU! MISSION

By now, we’ve all heard how good tennis is for your health and wellness. Tennis leads to a longer life expectancy compared to other sports and, especially, a sedentary lifestyle.

Throughout 2023, we will highlight some of the core benefits associated with tennis, focusing specifically on the physical, mental, social and educational benefits that come from playing tennis. We all know tennis is good for you. Now let us show you exactly how tennis is good for you.

Physical Mental

4 C O R E T E N N I S B E N E F I T S

Social Educational

Physical: Playing tennis can help improve multiple aspects of your physical health and well-being. It helps lead to a longer life, improve your heart health, lead to strong muscles and bones and increase overall physical fitness.

Mental: Playing tennis helps improve your capacity to deal with stress. Tennis players have also been known to exhibit higher self-esteem, as well as showing lower levels of tension, anger and depression.

Social: Playing tennis helps us build and maintain friendships and social relationships. This, in turn, leads to higher levels of happiness and well-being.

Educational: Studies have shown that children who play tennis generally earn higher grades in school. Playing tennis also leads to increased brain function, including problem-solving skills.

New USTA Missouri Valley President Steve Henry is passionate about the health benefits tennis can provide to all who play. As the Tennis Director of Oklahoma City Tennis Center, he has seen firsthand how much

“We know how good tennis is for you, but as an industry we don’t do a good enough job of tooting our own horns and publicizing that,” Henry said.

To that end, we sat down with Steve to discuss why he feels so strongly about the benefits of tennis and some of the most important benefits in his eyes. His main focus is on the physical and mental benefits that come with regular play.

Studies show that people who play tennis tend to live longer lives and remain mentally sharper for longer. Throughout the year, we will be releasing “Health Hits with Steve” to highlight individual stats and figures to go along with these benefits.

By: Mark Collins

Everyone knows the importance of officiating in sports, especially tennis. This year, USTA Missouri Valley is putting our money where our mouth is when it comes to making sure we have the best officials possible.