Use of nutritional supplements and ergogenic aids in professional tennis players.

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Abstract

Introduction: Nutritional supplements and ergogenic aids (NS&EA) are used between training/matches with the goal of enhancing tennis performance. Scientific literature about prevalence and use of NS&EA in professional tennis players is scarce. Objective: The aim of the study was to describe the NS&EA used by professional tennis players during a season. Methods: Using a validated self-administered questionnaire, 62 professional male and 9 professional female tennis players (11% in their gender specific top 100 tennis world ranking (i.e., ATP/WTA)) registered all the used NS&EA. Results: Eighty-one percent of the participants declared taking at least one NS&EA. Strength and conditioning trainers (S&C) and tennis coaches were the professionals who recommended most of the NS&EA in the players outside the TOP-100 (OT100; 50.7% and 39.1%, respectively). However, sports nutritionist were the principal advisors in the top-100 tennis players (T100; 62.5%). Sports drinks were the NS&EA most commonly used by all participants (81.7%). T100 participants used caffeine (p = 0.042), creatine (p = 0.001), iron (p = 0.013) and CHO-protein mix (p = 0.033) significantly more frequently that OT100 players. Conclusions: There is a high prevalence of NS&EA use among professional tennis players independently of their tennis ranking position. However, T100 tennis player have an increased use of certain substances such us caffeine, creatine, iron and CHO-Protein mix. For the rest of the studied NS&EA the use was similar between T100 and OT100 players. It is possible that the differences in NS&EA use between groups could be related to the different professionals on charge of nutritional advice in T100 vs OT100.