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| Conditioning for Tennis |
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By
Loretta Corcoran,
Master Personal Trainer and tennis player |
There
are two requirements needed to be a good tennis player:
tennis-specific skills and proper conditioning. Weight
training will not directly improve your tennis skills, but it will
make your entire body stronger and more powerful, which will give
you greater racquet and foot speed. It will also enhance your
technique by improving your flexibility and increasing your range of
motion.
The goal of strength training for tennis in not to
build stiff, bulky muscles; it is to improve your game by increasing
your speed, agility, quickness, power, flexibility, muscular
endurance, and balance. Another benefit of weight training is to
help reduce or prevent injury. Stronger muscles supporting your
bones, tendons and ligaments will make you much less injury-prone in
tennis and all aspects of your life.
The most vital areas of the body for tennis are the calves, hamstrings,
hips, mid-section or core, shoulders and wrists. Weight training for
tennis should provide special emphasis on these areas.
Too much body fat leads to several problems for tennis players.
Extra weight in your stomach disrupts your body's balance by causing
you to unintentionally lean forward, putting stress on your lower
back. Of course, it is physically impossible to reduce fat
exclusively from one area of the body, but a a healthy diet and
proper weight training will reduce your body fat uniformly
throughout your body.
Training should consist of different approaches throughout the year:
Tennis Off-Season Training - working on endurance and power;
Pre-Season Training (5 weeks prior to the start of the
season) - focusing on making you as powerful as you can become;
In-Season Training (2 days per week) - focusing on gains while being
careful not to over-train in addition to your practices and match
play.
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