Return To Tennis After Joint Replacement

By Richard Berger, M.D., joint replacement surgeon at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush

Whether you are an elite tennis player with trophy aspirations or you are just yearning to be a regular on the court, no one welcomes these words from a doctor: “It’s time for a hip (or knee) replacement.”

But just as you don’t quit on the court, you shouldn’t throw in the towel after joint surgery. From robotic surgery to 3D printed personalized implants, surgical technologies and techniques are paving a manageable path for joint replacement patients who want to return to tennis. With the proper recovery procedures, you can get back to the court within four to six weeks.

And the data is promising as well. One study with players from the United States Tennis Association (mean age = 70 years) who had undergone total knee replacement found that at seven years, players reported a significant mean improvement in overall mobility, ability to play on various surfaces, weight shifting, and follow-through.*

The nice part of the minimally invasive surgery is that patients can get back to whatever activity level they want — whether it is competitive tennis or just playing with friends. I don’t put any restrictions on my patients. I want them to live life to the fullest.

Postoperative exercise all begins with the fundamentals, i.e., a proper warm up. And it is important to include dynamic stretching to prepare your body and muscles. I recommend the following:

• It is best to practice playing alone or with a partner before attempting a match. Practice hitting the ball against a wall or net before attempting a match to make sure that you’re properly healing.
• If you are planning on returning to competitive-level matches, you may want to find a coach who can fully assess your movement and work with you to help you regain strength.
• Start on a clay court first — it is softer and slower than a typical tennis court and reduces stress on the joints while giving you more time to prepare for your hits.
• Play doubles before playing singles to help to limit your movement, as it is smaller area of the court to cover and will be less demanding for both you and your recovering joint.
• Stretch before and after every game or practice and use ice for recovery. Stretches are needed for the WHOLE body, not just the recovering joint.

One high-level example of a swift recovery after total joint surgery is Master’s Doubles Tennis World Champion Joe Perdue of Peachtree City, Georgia. After undergoing minimally invasive knee replacement, he was back on the court in three and a half weeks, with his doubles partner, Oren Motevassel, proclaiming that Perdue was, “jumping at the net like a gazelle!”

Dr. Berger practices at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush and has performed over 25,000 surgeries and more outpatient joint replacements than any other U.S. orthopedic surgeon. Equipped with a mechanical engineering degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Berger has designed a unique technique that eliminates the need to cut muscle, tendons, or ligaments — meaning less pain and a speedier recovery. Learn more at www.outpatienthipandknee.com.

*Reference: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9934420/