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Danger lies ahead for all of us who play tennis!

With summer approaching and temperatures and the humidity guaranteed to rise, you must be aware of the possibility of heat injury and the measures you must take to lessen the possibility of sickness, injury and, in extreme cases, death.

The guidelines the United States Tennis Association have developed are for healthy adults and care must be taken to consider age, chronic illness such as asthma or cardiovascular disease, and general physical conditioning when applying these decision-making parameters.

The danger of heat-related cramping due to electrolyte loss begins to develop at a relatively low temperature of 80 degrees — if the humidity is upwards of 90 to 100 percent.

At 85 degrees with 100 percent humidity, heat exhaustion is quite likely to occur if sustained physical exertion is maintained for a prolonged period of time.

With the temperature at 90 to 95 degrees and humidity near or at 80 percent, it is highly likely that heat exhaustion or heat stroke will occur.

Protect yourself, first by avoiding strenuous activity in the hottest part of the day. Play your tennis in the early morning or after 4 p.m. If you belong to a club with lighted courts all the better. Play in the cool of the evening if your lifestyle and schedule allow.

Hundreds of people die every year from heat- related injury. The football players are the ones that grab the headlines, but tennis players are at risk as well.

For more information and a chart detailing heat dangers, log onto USTA.com and find the USTA high-performance newsletter. Click on resources.

Use common sense, stay healthy and enjoy tennis!

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Howie Burnett is a member of the United States Professional Tennis Association and tennis director at the Island Country Club on Marco Island. Burnett welcomes questions on strokes, tactics or etiquette. To reach him, call the tennis shop at 394-4464 or e-mail him at islandclubtennis@hotmail.com.