Blood Glucose Responses and Incidence of Hypoglycemia in Elite Tennis Players.

The physical demands of tournament tennis players can be and usually are very grueling. The body is using both anaerobic and aerobic metabolism along with anaerobic and aerobic muscle fiber types. Tennis is a high intensity sport requiring hundreds of short bursts of activity. Most points only last around 10 seconds(anaerobic) but there is only 25 seconds of rest in between points and 90 seconds of rest in between games which requires the player to have endurance(aerobic). Tennis matches can be long and drawn out, lasting hours or they can be fast, intense and only last an hour. This means having adequate nutrition along with an efficient metabolism is key to being able to compete at the highest level.

Ferrauti et al did a research study on top level tennis players. Their study was to see how blood glucose levels fluctuated over the course of multiple tournaments and practice matches, as well as to verify how many of these tennis players encountered hypoglycemia as a result of playing too much and not getting adequate nutrition to keep blood glucose levels balanced. Ferrauti et al interviewed 147 tournament tennis players. Their purpose was to find out how many of those athletes experienced hypoglycemic symptoms. Of the 147 male tennis players, 94 of them confirmed that they had encountered hypoglycemic symptoms. That means that over half of the players had decreases in their blood glucose levels. This study had the players play one singles match and one doubles under tournament conditions and practice conditions.

Glucose consumption in the tissues and glucose production are balanced when the body is at rest. At the start of exercising the energy the body gets quickly is from the anaerobic metabolism using mostly muscle glycogen...

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... should be around 0.5 to 0.8 grams of protein per pound per day. Balancing a tennis player’s fluid intake is also key. Too much fluid can weigh the athlete down and too little can make the athlete become dehydrated. Two glasses of water two hours before a match is recommended. During a match keep 5 to 10 ounces of a sport drink in your bag and drink during every change over. After a match replace the water that is lost. Drink as much fluid as you need until your thirst is quenched. Having and using this knowledge can be very beneficial to a tennis player’s performance on the court especially during the latter stages of a tournament.

Works Cited

Ferrauti, A, Pluim, B, M, Busch, T, & Weber, K (2003). Blood glucose responses and incidence of hypoglycemia in elite tennis under practice and tournament conditions. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 6 (1): 28-39.