Your wrist is one of the places on your body that you need the most when playing tennis. An injury, big or small, can take you out of the game for weeks- and when you’ve been practicing hard to get somewhere, that can be frustrating. Here are three great tips on preventing your wrist from knocking down your championship dreams.

Overuse

Oftentimes, tennis injuries develop from overusing your muscles. If you’ve had a grueling practice regimen, a tough week of play, or even just got into a new workout, it’s likely that you might be suffering from overuse. Since your wrist is such a crucial piece of playing tennis well, it can be debilitating to suffer an injury there. To prevent overuse injuries, though, the cure is simple- just lower your practice schedule. Take some time to relax. Make sure to properly warm up and cool down during practice.

Tendonitis

Tendonitis might sound familiar, and it’s incredibly common among tennis players. Even tennis legends like Serena Williams have suffered from it at one point- and it’s caused by the inflammation of the tendons between your hand and forearm. These are used extensively in tennis, and this injury can be bad- but if you rest between matches, don’t overwork yourself during practice, and practice flexibility, it shouldn’t be an issue.

Scaphoid Fractures

The scaphoid is a small bone in your hand, along the edge of your hand and under your thumb. Because of the way a player holds a racket, it’s often under stress when the ball hits the racket. Sometimes, this can cause the bone to fracture and even break, sending the player off the court for months while the bone heals. This can be caused by heavy ball strikes on the racket and unusual wrist movements, so be careful while on the court so as to not incur these injuries.

Talk with your doctor if you’re concerned about these common wrist injuries on the court.