Perimenopause for Tennis Players: Staying Competitive When Your Body is Changing

When Your Game Starts to Feel Different

You have played tennis for years. You know your serve, your footwork, your baseline game. Then perimenopause arrives and things start shifting. Your shoulder feels sore after a session in a way it never did before. Your reaction time feels slower. You get more fatigued in the second set than you used to. A hot flash hits during warmup and you spend the first few games trying to recover.

None of this means you are losing your game. It means the physiological conditions your game runs on have changed. Estrogen affects connective tissue health, cardiovascular efficiency, temperature regulation, and cognitive sharpness. Tennis depends on all of these. Knowing what is happening lets you adapt your approach rather than just wonder what went wrong.

What Perimenopause Does to Tennis Performance

Tennis is an intermittent high-intensity sport. Short explosive bursts, rapid direction changes, overhead movements, and reactive footwork are all part of the game. Perimenopause affects each of these in distinct ways.

Connective tissue health declines when estrogen fluctuates. The shoulder, elbow, and knee joints are the most common pain points for tennis players during this transition. Rotator cuff tenderness, tennis elbow that takes longer to heal, and lateral knee strain after fast lateral movements are all more common during perimenopause. This is not just wear and tear. The hormonal shift reduces tendon resilience and slows tissue recovery.

Cardiovascular efficiency changes too. Your heart rate may reach higher values at the same effort level as before, and recovery between points takes longer. This is partly age-related and partly hormonal. Some players notice that their stamina holds up well for one set but deteriorates faster in a second or third set than it used to.

Reaction time and split-second decision-making are supported by estrogen's effects on the brain. Some women notice that their net game, anticipation, and reading of opponents feel less sharp on high-symptom days. Brain fog is a real phenomenon in perimenopause, and on the tennis court it shows up as slower decisions and more unforced errors.

Managing Heat and Hot Flashes During Play

Tennis is often played in warm weather, in direct sun, with high-intensity bursts that raise core temperature quickly. Perimenopause adds unpredictable internal heat surges on top of that external load.

Dress for thermoregulation, not just performance. Lightweight, light-colored, moisture-wicking fabrics help your body manage heat. Avoid dark colors or dense fabrics in warm conditions. A cooling towel around your neck during changeovers can bring your temperature down meaningfully.

Hydrate consistently throughout the match, not just at set breaks. Electrolyte drinks help maintain hydration better than plain water during sustained effort, especially when hot flashes are adding to sweat loss. Bring more fluid than you think you need.

Use changeovers strategically. A hot flash during a changeover is your body asking for two minutes, not pushing through. Use that time to sit in shade, apply a cold wet towel, and breathe slowly. The tennis rules already build in changeover time. Use it for actual recovery. Rushing back to the baseline before your core temperature has settled costs you concentration in the next game.

Protecting Your Joints and Preventing Injury

Joint care is one of the most important adaptations a tennis player can make during perimenopause. The demands of the game on tendons and joints do not decrease, but the resilience of those tissues does.

Warm up longer than you used to. A proper warmup before play, not just a few groundstrokes to start rallying, means at least ten to fifteen minutes of progressive movement. Start with easy jogging, add dynamic stretching for the shoulders, hips, and ankles, then progress to slow-paced groundstrokes before you start hitting at full pace. Cold starts are where perimenopausal tennis injuries happen most often.

Strength training off the court reduces injury risk significantly. Strong rotator cuffs protect the shoulder through your serve and overhead game. Strong hip abductors and glutes support lateral movement without overloading the knee. Calf and ankle strength reduces the risk of ankle sprains on quick direction changes. Two sessions per week of upper body, core, and lower body work directly translates to better on-court durability.

Recovery time between sessions is longer now. Playing back-to-back days every week may have been manageable before. During perimenopause, that pattern often leads to cumulative joint soreness and overuse injuries. Building in a rest day between sessions, or varying intensity across the week, keeps you playing more consistently across the month than grinding through pain.

Fueling Your Tennis Game

Tennis is a sport with short recovery windows between points and variable duration across sets. Fueling it well during perimenopause requires some specific attention.

Protein is the foundation. Muscle mass declines faster during the hormonal transition of perimenopause, and tennis involves enough explosive muscular demand to make protein intake genuinely important. Aim for adequate protein at each meal, with a protein-focused snack within an hour after play to support muscle repair.

Do not play a match hungry. Pre-match nutrition, a meal or snack with complex carbohydrates and moderate protein one to two hours before play, supports the sustained energy tennis demands. Blood sugar instability during perimenopause can make the energy drop in a long third set feel worse than it used to. Starting with full glycogen stores reduces that risk.

Bone health is also relevant for tennis players. The impact of running, jumping, and serving is weight-bearing exercise that supports bone density, which perimenopause begins to reduce. Adequate calcium and vitamin D support that protective effect. Talk to your provider about whether your intake is sufficient, since needs increase during the hormonal transition.

Adapting Your Playing Schedule

One practical way to work with perimenopause rather than against it is to think more carefully about when and how often you play.

Early morning and evening are generally better tolerated than midday in warm weather, both for heat management and for energy levels. Many women find their energy and focus are higher in the morning, making that the better slot for competitive play and harder training sessions.

If symptoms are cycling with some regularity, you may notice patterns in when you feel strongest on the court. Some women feel sharper and more powerful in the first half of their cycle if cycles are still occurring. Others find that tracking their symptom days and play quality over several weeks reveals patterns they can use to schedule more competitive matches on better days and more casual hitting on harder ones.

PeriPlan lets you log both symptoms and workouts so those patterns become visible over time. Knowing your body's rhythms gives you an edge, even when those rhythms are less predictable than they used to be.

When to Talk to Your Healthcare Provider

Some tennis-related perimenopause challenges go beyond adaptation strategies and warrant medical support.

Persistent shoulder, elbow, or knee pain that does not improve with rest and strengthening should be assessed. Tendinopathy during perimenopause can take longer to heal than it did before, and some cases benefit from physiotherapy or targeted treatment. Do not play through joint pain that is progressively worsening.

Severe fatigue, cognitive changes, or sleep disruption that significantly affect your daily function and your ability to play the sport you enjoy are legitimate reasons to discuss hormone therapy or other treatment options with your provider. Many women find that addressing the underlying hormonal disruption improves their athletic performance alongside their general wellbeing.

This content is for informational purposes only and does not replace medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider about your specific situation.