How Playing Professional Tennis Changes your Body | Secrets of the Human Body | BBC Earth Science

Due to repeated, high-impact use, the bones in a tennis players racket arms are 20% thicker and contain more bone mineral than their other arm! This dramatic growth helps them cope with intense workouts and reduces the risk of breaking.

Secrets of the Human Body (2017)
The human body is the most sophisticated organism on earth. It's a scientific marvel and much about it remains a mystery. Secrets of the Human Body uses cutting-edge graphics to effectively peel back the skin and reveal the surprisingly beautiful biological processes that keep us alive.

[JanitorIsBack]

can we see how pickleball gives you a beer gut?

[Tennisfiles]

This was pretty cool, perhaps a long term tracking of a player's physiological changes over a longer period of time would be a fun video.

[ispeakasiplease]

I actually give my left arm twice the reps in the gym as my right for the past two years (one handed backhand, UTR 6) and they're pretty symmetrical visually...but I'm pretty sure I can control my right arm more precisely for specific motor tasks and I'm pretty sure my right arm's muscles are probably denser as well.

[willybeama]

Nadal is probably the best example. His forehand arm is insanely huge in comparison to his backhand arm. I wonder why the differences aren’t as pronounced in other pro tennis players?

[dougieranger]

When examining Middle Ages archers we can see that their skeletons are similarly adapted to drawing a bow.

[troyrgates]

The real question is which blade is she using, strings, and tension.

[awesomeairplanememes]

Damn, I play college tennis and I have a one handed backhand I bet my body is really asymmetrical lol

[bigrobsydney]

That was a very interesting / informative piece. I just wish you could have gone into more detail. The CGI made it incredible. Thank you.

[nus]

that arm, bone and muscle animation was insanely good

[gibbleway]

was hoping this would be a more in-depth study with a more detailed analysis and conclusion.

[Oscar_Stone]

Of course this all makes sense. I played competitively for many years when I was younger and it's not just my right arm and shoulder that is bigger than my left, the right side of my back is also clearly bigger than my left side.

[hm-uqmc]

I practice tennis for almost 6 years since i was 7, and i had vaccumed playing tennis until now (13 years). But the impact of the training still affects. My muscle at the right shoulder to the right neck is bigger than my left ones when i stare at the mirror (i play right handed). even when driving, the right hand grip just feels different. i always wonder this asymetrical feeling and now this video kinda explained it. Thanks

[hank]

As a tennis player, I can now understand why my elbow is now in pain after taking a break from tennis for a year when I use to play 2-3 times a week. Now my elbow is unfortunately not the same and I may not be able to play competitively as I once did =(

[yt]

This is not surprising to me. I don’t pretend to understand all of the dynamics of this but I can tell you just like carpal tunnel, things like this have been happening to men for an long time and I can assure you at least 75 years in my friends case. Simply during the second world war a friend of mine‘s father worked at a Steel Mill. Because many men were in the service he did the work of two men at a forge. He was required to hold a piece of steel with certain implements called tongs and they were rested against his side. The impact from the forge was minimal with respect to him, moved his stomach. In later years he had an x-ray because of a malady he suffered not associated with the above job. They discovered that his stomach had moved and it moved away from the side of the impacts. Just to be clear two men would normally do this job and not rest of the tool against their side. I can tell you want additional thing, he was a man’s man.

[TrainLikeAProDaily]

This is the coolest most interesting documentary I've seen in a long time. I wish more people would see the similarity between the tennis training routine and the idea of health through functional movement.

[buckyphillips]

Tennis is a sport of a lifetime. This video will help keep the interest in a great sport of a lifetime.

[stanleyniezrecki]

Andrea Petkovic had incredible power in her prime and is still pretty impressive.

[citrus_bat]

Does anyone know what racket model is Freya using? I might upgrade mine in a few months.

[jdcharlie]

I happen to think tennis players have the best looking legs.

[L.C.Sweeney]

Might I add that when hitting a tennis ball properly you don't experience much of a shock in your arm, at all. Pros will actually experience less shock because they hit the ball with the most elastic part of the stringbed (the sweet spot) almost every time and they have a very relaxed grip.