A Lean and Powerful Roger Federer
Tennis requires a combination of strength, speed, agility, fast reflexes and above all, endurance. Legs provide the base of a tennis player, and they have to be strong and agile. Shoulders and arms are essential for power play, and the core should be able to hold it all together. Tennis players are amazing athletes and have to dedicate a lot of time to fitness and conditioning to reach the top of their game.
“If you really want to go deep in a major tournament then just look how hard the top guys work”. John McEnroe
Tennis is now a very physically demanding sport that requires superior fitness as well as excellent tennis ability. Many good players have failed in recent years because they did not have the stamina to allow them to stay focused for an entire match. Like any other activity, as soon as you start to become physically tired, your mental processes start to deteriorate rapidly. Tennis players have to be “fighting fit” just like solders and martial artists.
How to Stay Fit in Tennis
Interval Training For Tennis
Tennis involves relatively short periods of intensive exercise followed by rest. So just jogging 5 miles a day will not create a good player. Interval training is the key. If you can use a tennis court for training, then after a warm up perform sprints along the length of the court, followed by a recovery exercise such as jogging along the base line, then do another intensive sprint. Also run backwards and sideways along the widths of the court. The key is to learn to endure short intensive periods, and then take ‘active rest’ i.e. jogging to recover, but it is vital not to stop. On court often the fitter player will win.
Circuit Training for Tennis
Press ups, crunches, star jumps, squat thrusts, squats and lunges are all excellent ways to prepare the body for tennis. Performing body workouts / callisthenics helps to improve muscular endurance and also strengthens supporting muscles, tendons and ligaments.
Strength Training for Tennis
Tennis, as with all sports, is as much a game of strength as skill. In the last decade we have seen players become stronger on court. Games are often now dominated by the big servers – they are tall and powerful.
The core strength exercises are squats, lunges, calf raises, flyes, leg extensions and curls. All strength training should be done in moderation during competition season to ensure recovery is made before a match. Squats and lunges provide strong legs, but aim for muscular endurance rather than attempting to hit your one rep max on every training session. Learn how to build muscles for power.
- All types of bicep curls should be performed: standard curls, hammer curls, concentration curls, preacher curls and also wrist curls. You want to build athletic biceps not just big biceps.
- Flyes can be done on a bench with dumbbells or as cable flyes. These help to improve your hitting power.
- Lateral raises, done with dumbbells, can help improve back hand power too.
- Stretching all muscles well after training is essential, so always allow time for at least 10 minutes of stretching after your workout.
- Tennis requires a perfect balance between core strength, agility, flexibility and endurance….More at Workouts and Fitness Exercises for Tennis | MotleyHealth
