Dissecting Tennis, an Effective Racquet Sport for Long-Term Health

More than just a popular sport, tennis turns out to have significant health impacts if done regularly. Quoting research from The Copenhagen City Heart Study – a large-scale study of more than 8,000 participants followed for 25 years, it was found that people who regularly played tennis had an average increase in life expectancy of up to 9.7 years compared to those who led an inactive lifestyle. This is obtained from the characteristics of tennis which combine high-intensity interval movements, to agility and coordination training in one activity.

Multidirectional movement patterns such as running, the ability to stop suddenly, turn, and react quickly contribute to increased cardiovascular fitness and the efficiency of the heart’s work. This benefit becomes increasingly relevant considering that heart disease is still recorded as one of the highest causes of death in the world and in Indonesia, including in the productive age group.

Responding to these findings, Liga.Tennis Founder Dima Shcherbakov (familiarly known as Dimas) said, “Playing tennis is more than just exercising and having fun. The combination of intense physical activity, cognitive engagement and social aspects makes tennis not just a sport, but part of a healthy lifestyle that can also help reduce the risk of the most deadly diseases, such as heart disease.”

Judging by its adoption, tennis remains one of the world’s most popular sports, with a strong and growing player base in Asia. In Indonesia itself, the trend of playing tennis has continued to increase rapidly in recent times.

This is what makes the racket sports club network, Liga.Tennis, committed to providing easy access to playing tennis for the wider community. The various activities at Liga.Tennis are designed to make the sport of tennis accessible, regardless of age and level of playing ability. One of them is through the Junior Academy program, where Liga.Tennis teaches tennis to children aged 5-12 years at four levels of ability through an inclusive approach, not only oriented towards achievement, but also towards forming long-term active habits.

Apart from that, Liga.Tennis regularly holds community-based competitions to maintain playing motivation and build a sense of togetherness, including for beginner players. Like at the end of this month, Liga.Tennis will hold the Ubud Double Smash, a beginner level doubles tournament in two categories, namely Men’s Beginner Doubles and Ladies’ Beginner Doubles. Dimas emphasized that all these initiatives were carried out in line with Liga.Tennis’ vision to improve the quality of life of the community through racket sports.

“Our vision at Liga.Tennis is to improve people’s health and quality of life through racket sports, especially tennis, with an approach that is fun, relevant and sustainable. We want tennis to be a sport that is easy to access, enjoy and live throughout life, not only for athletes, but for all groups,” concluded Dimas.

About Liga.Tennis

Founded in 2017 as a digital platform, Liga.Tennis has developed into an integrated racket sports club network focused on developing the tennis, padel, pickleball and squash ecosystem in Indonesia. With international standard facilities, Liga.Tennis provides inclusive access to sports for all ages and levels of ability, from coaching academies, junior to adult programs, community training sessions, to recreational and competitive competitions. Liga.Tennis currently operates six clubs in Bali and one in Sumba-East Nusa Tenggara, complete with multi-sport facilities, certified coaches and community courts designed to provide a friendly, affordable and community-oriented sporting experience. Through the Liga App, a platform used by nearly 100,000 active users from within and outside the country, Liga.Tennis makes it easy to book courts and classes, social matches, and tournament participation. In line with the increasing public interest in racket sports in Indonesia, Liga.Tennis is targeting expansion to 77 clubs in Indonesia and regional markets within a decade to expand access to healthy lifestyles and community-based sports.