FOREARM BONE MINERAL DENSITY AND STRENGTH RELATIONSHIPS IN TENNIS PLAYERS

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between bone mineral density (BMD) and muscular strength of forearms in competitive, young (23.3 yr) male tennis players who are predominantly unilateral. Secondary purposes were to compare bilateral forearm BMD and grip strength differences of the athletes with those of a control group. Tennis players (n=16) and controls (n=13) were bilaterally evaluated with dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) for BMD and with handgrip dynamometer for grip strength. The players had started their playing career in pre-puberty and averaged 15.1 hours of training per week. The bilateral BMD differences were largest (p<0.01) in all area of the forearm, in favor of the athletes’ dominant extremity. There were no significant differences in the control group. Dominant forearm proximal BMDs of athletes were significantly higher than controls (p<0.01). There were no correlations amongst forearm strength, BMD and athletic career. We concluded that, tennis players had enhancement muscle strength and bone parameters of the forearm, but as regards the relationship among the parameters, the small cohort size did not yield any significant correlations.