Staying Strong: Fitness Fun

You know how important it is to have strong, healthy bones now and when you grow up, right? Here are some ideas of weight-bearing physical activities to get you started. Weight-bearing means your muscles (and bones!) are working against gravity — think jumping, running, lifting weights. Do some of these bone-healthy activities every day.

Choose an Activity

Interested in learning more about a new activity? Need to know how to play Basketball? Tennis? Soccer? Click a link below to learn more...

Ballet
Basketball
Cheerleading
Jumping Rope
Gymnastics
Hiking
Soccer
Tennis
Walking
Tae Kwon Do

Tennis

What You'll Need
What's all the racket about racquets? Well, you can't play tennis without one. If you're buying a junior racquet, choose the longest one that you can comfortably use. If you weigh more than 85 pounds you should look for an adult racquet.

When you have a racquet, you'll need to find a court. Look around at school or at parks in your neighborhood and don't forget to bring tennis balls!

Play it Safe
Tennis is a weight-bearing physical activity that forces you to turn your body quickly in many different directions, so make sure you warm up and stretch before playing. Wear tennis shoes with good support to protect your ankles. To prevent hand blisters, keep your racquet handle dry by using sawdust or hand chalk. Always bend your arm when you swing, or else it might start to hurt—a problem known as "tennis elbow."

To protect other players, never throw your racquet or tennis balls, and try to keep loose balls off the courts.

How to Play
Tennis is a fun way to help build strong bones that two people (a "singles" match) or four people on two separate teams ("doubles") can play. When you start playing tennis, some of the key strokes you should learn are: serve, forehand, backhand, two-handed backhand, volley, and smash. But first, check out these basic skills to get you started!

Holding the Racquet. The racquet handle has eight sides—four are flat and four are angled. Take the racquet handle between your thumb and index finger of your dominant hand (the one you write with) as if you were shaking hands. The knuckle on your index finger should be on the top right angle. Then, grip and make sure it feels comfortable. Separate your third and fourth fingers slightly.

Serving. Hold the ball with the thumb, index finger, and middle finger of your free hand (hand not holding the racquet). Extend the arm with the ball just in front of you and then raise it above your head. Toss the ball gently, so it goes a few inches higher than the full height of the racquet extended above your head. Keep your eye on the ball. Bring the racquet around above your shoulder and hit the ball while it's in the air. Try to use the same toss every time.

Receiving and Returning the Ball. Stand in the middle of the court and hold the racquet gently with both hands so you can run in either direction when the ball comes over the net. When the ball is hit to your forehand side (e.g., right if you're right-handed), step toward the ball with your opposite leg and swing! If the ball comes to your backhand side (left if you're right-handed), go for the ball with your dominant arm in front of your chest and your other hand holding the racquet as well. Swing without moving your wrists.

For more information, visit: www.bam.gov/sub_physicalactivity/activitycards_tennis.html