If you are starting to learn to play tennis or you are a already keen club player you are probably approaching training as a beginner.
Firstly you should approach the training understanding what you want to achieve. Then develop a process or routine that suits your lifestyle and capabilities. Reputable clubs such as Tennis World North Sydney have professional coaches that can devise a personal training schedule for you.
Tennis is a sport that calls upon a whole range of muscle groups, movements and motor skills. Your training should encompass all of these areas.
Footwork / Agility
Benefits for tennis:
- Helps to get in the best possible position for stroke play
- Improves your ability to react to play
- Allows for good movement patterning and lower body motor skills
Training Tips – Ladder drills, using a combination of footwork and stepping patterns. Open drills, get a partner to direct balls at different heights and positions to you so you can work on your footwork. Reactive lateral movement, whilst moving along the baseline push off as quickly as you can to the direction of the ball.
Speed
Benefits for tennis:
- Helps to get to the ball more quickly and time to execute shots
- Encourages you to be more aggressive
- Makes you a better retriever
Training tips -Power gym work, utilising squats and leg presses. Any activities that mimic areas of play such as sprints and ladder agility runs.
Core Strength
Benefits for tennis:
- Most of the power and movement generation for tennis comes from the core
- Aids in a better serve and execution of shots
- Helps with injury prevention, especially lower back ones that are common with beginners.
Training tips – Sit-ups. Pilates, start with a 30 minute session once a week then progress to longer sessions more times a week.
Power
Benefits for tennis:
- Gives your stroke play more force and speed
- Improves force generated through your legs, helping you push off and up more effectively, which equals more speed and a better serve
Training tips – Sprint work, from a standing start push off hard into a sprint. Bounding, start in a semi-squat position with arms high then thrust forward as you bring your arms down to jump forward.
Circuit Training
Benefits for tennis:
- Good for improving cardiovascular health and conditioning
- Addresses all the main muscle groups
- Aids essential variety and can be performed anywhere
Training tips – Set up a circuit, cardio tennis
These training tips and exercises are specifically designed to help your agility, speed and power on the court. They will also help you keep injury free as you are building muscle groups that are used in tennis.
Obviously it is most important to do the correct warm up’s and down’s to prevent muscle pulls and strains. Even if you are purely a social player it is advisable to do some form of warm up before a match, you are more at risk of serious injury than somebody who performs a tennis fitness regime.
