Groppel Named Health & Wellness Advisor for the Tennis Industry

Dr. Jack Groppel, an internationally recognized authority and pioneer in the science of human performance, will become the Health & Wellness Advisor for the Tennis Industry. As the representative and spokesperson on the Tennis Industry Association (TIA) Board of Directors, Dr. Groppel will work with industry partners, including the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA), Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), International Health, Racquet, & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA), and others, on strategies to best convey the health and fitness messaging of tennis.

Dr. Groppel, who is the co-founder of the Johnson & Johnson Human Performance Institute, has a long history in tennis, including 16 years as chair of the National Sport Science Committee for the USTA.

“I’m thrilled to be able to give back to the game that has given me so much,” Dr. Groppel said. “I look forward to working with the Tennis Industry Association and all of the industry partners in helping to highlight the health, fitness and wellness benefits tennis can offer people of all ages.”

“With Jack’s background and expertise in fitness performance and health, the entire tennis industry will benefit from the strategic support he’ll bring,” said TIA President Jeff Williams.

Dr. Groppel is the co-chair of the Global Alliance for Health & Performance and is professor of Kinesiology & Community Health at the University of Illinois. He’s addressed the issue of worksite wellness and performance at U.N. and U.S. Congress policy events, and represented the worksite wellness industry at the Surgeon General’s Call to Action on Walking and Walkable Communities.

“We are very fortunate in the tennis industry to have someone of Dr. Groppel’s experience and caliber helping to push all the great benefits of tennis and reasons to play this sport,” said TIA Executive Director Jolyn de Boer. “No one has published more articles and research on the health benefits of tennis than he has.”

In March, Dr. Groppel was a key presenter at the TIA State of the Industry Forum during the Miami Open, held in conjunction with the third annual TIA Tennis Owners & Managers Conference, on using the health and fitness benefits of the sport to get more people active and playing tennis.

In April, the tennis industry became the first sports industry to endorse the new National Physical Activity Plan (NPAP) and the CEO Pledge for Physical Activity when the plan was unveiled in Washington, D.C. The NPAP was announced in a press conference at the National Press Club, followed by a Congressional briefing at the U.S. Capitol. During the announcement, the sport of tennis was cited by Dr. Groppel as “the first of hopefully many entire sports to endorse this pledge and this plan.”

This past August, Dr. Groppel participated in the annual TIA Tennis Forum in New York City during the US Open. As the National Spokesperson for the CEO Pledge for Physical Activity (part of the National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity), Dr. Groppel expanded the Pledge with the signing by International Tennis Federation President David Haggerty and USTA President Katrina Adams.

Along with his position with the Johnson & Johnson Human Performance Institute, Dr. Groppel is the co-chair of the Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO) Health, Performance & Productivity Study Committee. He wrote the book “The Corporate Athlete” on achieving the pinnacle of corporate performance, and he’s been featured in the New York Times, Fortune, Forbes, Shape, Fast Company and Huffington Post, among other publications.