Dehydration and Thermal Strain in Junior Tennis

Abstract

Playing tennis effectively and safely in the heat can be particularly challenging in junior tennis, especially during organized tournament competition when young players have to compete in demanding environmental conditions several times on the same day. With sweat rates ranging from 0.5 L to more than 2.0 L per hour, a young player can readily incur significant total body water and sodium deficits during a very long match or when participating in multiple matches on the same day over several days in a row. On-court thermal strain can be quite high, as tournament-level tennis can elicit appreciable metabolic heat production and storage, even during doubles; this can be exacerbated by poor hydration as well as carryover effects from previous same-day competition and heat exposure. Appropriate and effective safety and performance guidelines for young tennis players training and competing in the heat should focus on readily modifiable risk factors such as hydration management and scheduling of play versus any purported inherent thermoregulatory disadvantages in this specific age group.