As a regular tennis player, you may not be so ready to give it up for months at a time. Can you play tennis while pregnant?

No sport is risk-free for pregnant women, but some can be much safer than others.

Tennis is a safer sport, and as long as you are an experienced player, you can play tennis for a good while into your pregnancy. Tennis can also be beneficial for pregnant women due to the exercise it provides. Tennis can also help with some back and muscle pains for pregnant women.

There is plenty of discussion about how safe tennis is as a sport and whether it’s safe to play during pregnancy.

We looked into what experts believe and what doctors recommend for pregnant women when it comes to tennis.

Playing Tennis While Pregnant

You can play tennis when you’re pregnant, and many regular players don’t want to quit for a straight 9 months because they want to keep themselves in shape and practice. But as a pregnant woman, your safety and your child’s safety are of utmost importance, and therefore you should make some considerations first.

Only Play If You Are Experienced

The first thing to remember is that you should only play tennis into your pregnancy if you have already been playing for a while, and are an experienced player. While tennis is one of the safer sports, learning a new sport requires a lot more effort than simply playing it. If you’re planning on taking up tennis while you’re pregnant, you should reconsider!

Beginners, and even intermediate players, are still learning the basics of the game, such as how to keep their balance, the necessary footwork, and sudden movements required. This means that they are much more prone to injury, since they are still inexperienced, and as such, could accidentally hurt themselves and their baby.

While experienced players are also at risk of getting hurt, they have a lot more control over their movements and are able to protect themselves much better.

Be Aware of Your Bodily Changes

Even for experienced players, pregnancy brings about certain changes in your body, which can make it challenging to play tennis, and sometimes even downright harmful. Because the body’s center of gravity shifts, your balance will also shift. This means that the way you used to move before is not the way you’d be moving now. In fact, you’d have a lot less control over your balance than you did before. This is particularly true in the third trimester.

In a sport like tennis, where balance is crucial, and you have to make a lot of very fast and directional movements, the changes in your body can also cause you trouble. Not just in playing the game, but also in protecting yourself.

On top of the change in your body’s center of gravity, there are also hormonal changes during pregnancy that can make joints more relaxed. This is a cause for concern when you look at it from the angle of sharp, quick movements in tennis, since the risk of injury goes up.

You can still play, but you’ll have to take it much easier on yourself. Avoid going after wide balls. If you stretch for balls that are hard to reach, you can end up losing your balance and fall, which can be dangerous for you and your baby.

It is best to avoid the championships and competitions the further you go into your pregnancy.

Play Doubles

Being pregnant means that you can’t scramble around the court as well as you could have before. Especially as you enter your third trimester, it is best to switch to playing doubles rather than singles. With doubles, you have to move a lot less, and there are a lot fewer side-to-side movements that can be dangerous during pregnancies and make you lose your balance.

With doubles, your partner can also do most of the running and carry the team. Even with doubles, though, you should avoid competitive play. Recreational and social doubles are relatively better, as long as caution is exercised – by you, and your teammate and opponents.

You can also play singles, but if you do so, play with a skilled partner who is able to hit the ball towards you, rather than make you move around too much. Since this kind of game is hard to find in competitive play, singles tennis is fine for recreational play if you are pregnant.

Be Precautious

Even if you are playing only for fun, and only doubles, it is still better to err on the side of precaution. It’s better to do too little than to do too much.

Make sure you warm up and cool down properly before and after games. In fact, it’s best to spend a little extra time on this. Since you’d be using up a lot more energy than you did before, and you don’t want to exhaust yourself before the game even starts, you should do your warm ups slowly and carefully.

Staying hydrated is also very important. Avoid playing in the heat and take breaks for water often. It’s also best to keep on a hat or a visor in the sun. If you feel like you’re becoming dizzy or nauseated, stop playing immediately instead of trying to hold out.

Consult Your Doctor

As always, when it comes to health-related things, you should consult your doctor to ask about what’s alright for you and what isn’t.

Some parts of the game may be alright for one person, but not for others, depending on their overall health and physique, and the stage of their pregnancy. That is why, even if tennis is a low-risk sport for pregnant people, it is always a good idea to ask your doctor about whether you can play, how long you can play, how often, etc.

There is always a risk. If you feel like you are getting a headache, or if you feel weak, you should bring these issues up with your doctor, and listen to their advice. Don’t go outside of what your doctor guides you to do.

Depending on your condition, and the doctor’s advice, you may have to stop playing for a while, or at least change your game schedule.

There have been plenty of women who continued with their tennis routine well within the pregnancy, and it is not impossible! Even Serena Williams, a famous tennis player, played the game into her pregnancy. Tennis can also be helpful in providing some of the exercises that are needed during pregnancy, and help with things like back pains, muscle pains, etc.

However, it is undeniable that you will have to make some changes in your gameplay keeping in mind the fact that you are pregnant. Your safety and that of your baby should be the first priority.