Tennis and Health: Why Tennis May Be One of the Best Sports for Longevity at Any Age
When people look for the best sport for long-term health, they usually ask a few simple questions: Is tennis good for you? Can it improve fitness? Is it worth starting later in life? And is tennis really one of the healthiest sports overall?
One major long-term study gives tennis a strong case.
In the Copenhagen City Heart Study, tennis was associated with the largest estimated gain in life expectancy among the sports examined. Compared with the sedentary group, tennis was associated with a 9.7-year higher life expectancy estimate after adjustment for multiple variables. Other activities in the same analysis included badminton at 6.2 years, soccer at 4.7, cycling at 3.7, swimming at 3.4, jogging at 3.2, calisthenics at 3.1, and health club activities at 1.5.
That does not mean tennis automatically adds 9.7 years to every person’s life. This was an observational study, so it shows an association rather than direct proof of cause and effect. But even with that limitation, the result stands out. In a large cohort followed for many years, tennis showed the strongest life expectancy association of all sports studied.
What the Study Found?
The paper, “Various Leisure-Time Physical Activities Associated With Widely Divergent Life Expectancies: The Copenhagen City Heart Study,” followed 8,577 healthy adults for up to 25 years. Participants were tracked from 1991–1994 until March 22, 2017, and the researchers examined how different leisure-time sports were associated with all-cause mortality and estimated life expectancy.
The analysis adjusted for major factors including age, sex, smoking, education, income, alcohol use, diabetes, and total leisure-time physical activity. That matters because the result was not just a raw comparison between one group and another. Even after these adjustments, tennis remained the strongest signal in the study.
Why Tennis May Stand Out
The study does not prove exactly why tennis performed so well, but the authors pointed to one important possibility: sports with more built-in social interaction may be associated with better long-term outcomes. Tennis fits that pattern especially well.
That makes sense because tennis combines several things people often struggle to find in one activity. It is physically demanding, mentally engaging, and naturally social. It involves movement, coordination, reaction, balance, and repeated bursts of effort, but it also gives people structure, enjoyment, and a reason to keep coming back.
This may be one of tennis’s biggest strengths. Many people do not stop exercising because exercise has no value. They stop because it becomes boring, isolated, or hard to maintain. Tennis often solves part of that problem by combining fitness with skill development, routine, and human connection.
Why Tennis Works at Any Age?
Another reason tennis is so appealing is that it can stay with a person through different stages of life.
For children and teens, it helps build coordination, discipline, body awareness, and confidence. For adults, it offers a form of exercise that feels active, engaging, and worth making time for. For older adults, it can provide movement, rhythm, mental focus, and social connection in a format that can be adapted to different abilities and goals.
That is one of the rare things about tennis: it is not limited to one age group or one type of player. It can be competitive or recreational, intense or moderate, technical or social. The sport changes with the person, which makes it easier to carry through life.
Tennis Compared With Other Activities
The Copenhagen City Heart Study does not suggest that other forms of exercise have no value. Several activities were associated with better life expectancy estimates than being sedentary. But tennis stood out clearly, with the highest adjusted estimate among the sports included in the analysis.
That is what makes tennis especially interesting for people who are not only looking for short-term fitness results, but also for a sustainable, enjoyable sport they can continue for years.
A Balanced Reading of the Research
It is important to present the findings honestly. This study shows a strong association, not absolute proof that tennis itself directly causes longer life. People who play tennis may also differ from sedentary individuals in ways that are difficult to fully isolate, even in a well-adjusted study. The authors themselves were careful about this point.
Still, the overall message is clear: tennis emerged as the most favorable sport in this analysis, and its combination of physical activity and social interaction may be part of the reason.
Why This Matters?
Tennis is not only a sport for competition or for young athletes. It can be a lifelong activity. A child can begin with basic skills. An adult can start for fitness, energy, and enjoyment. An older beginner can return to movement and routine in a way that feels engaging rather than repetitive.
That is why tennis deserves to be seen as more than just a game. It may be one of the smartest long-term choices for people who want something active, enjoyable, and sustainable.
Sometimes all it takes is the right place, the right coach, and the feeling that this could become something meaningful in your life.
At our academy, we believe tennis can be much more than training. It can become a source of energy, joy, confidence, and connection. Our coaches work with children, adults, and older players, and we always try to meet each person where they are — with patience, care, and real attention.
Whether you are picking up a racket for the first time or returning to tennis after many years away, we would be happy to welcome you, support you, and help you enjoy the game step by step.
We would truly love to see you on court - Contact Us
Sources
This article is based on:
Schnohr P, O’Keefe JH, Holtermann A, Lavie CJ, Lange P, Jensen GB, Marott JL.
Various Leisure-Time Physical Activities Associated With Widely Divergent Life Expectancies: The Copenhagen City Heart Study.
Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 2018. DOI: 10.1016/j.mayocp.2018.06.025.