From Breakpoint to Advantage

Muscle imbalance, microtrauma, insufficient recovery, and biomechanical compensations are
among the top health risks that tennis players encounter when they compete and practice too
much, a common habit among professionals and avid players. This guide to playing healthy
tennis offers descriptions and illustrations of the physical complexity of every tennis motion,
demonstrating the astonishing array of potential injuries threatening the unprepared player.
Optimal performance and low risk of injury are the top results for tennis players who adhere to
the training program, proper nutrition, and equipment selection recommendations in this sports
medicine manual. Consideration is given to the specific physical risks that juniors, veterans,
female competitors, and wheelchair athletes may encounter.

"At the top levels, I need to be faster and more accurate than the other guy. Any injury is an obstacle on my way to the top. This book is a good tool to better prevent and treat injuries. Every coach, therapist, player, and parent should know what's inside it." —Juan Carlos Ferrero, French Open champion

"Forty years of experience and ten years on the ATP Tour have taught me that players are careless with their bodies. The take-home message of this book is to take better care of your body, because you only have one!" —Jan Naaktgeboren, physiotherapist, Dutch Davis Cup Team

Babette Pluim, M.D., Ph.D, is a sports physician and medical director of the Royal Netherlands
Lawn Tennis Association. She is the editor of the newsletter Medicine and Science in Tennis,
a coeditor of Tennis Medicine for Tennis Coaches, and a contributor to the IOC Handbook of
Sports Medicine and Science: Tennis. Marc Safran, M.D., is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon
specializing in sports medicine and biomechanics. He is the coauthor of Instructions for Sports
Medicine Patients and The Spiral Manual of Sports Medicine. He lives in San Francisco,
California.