Improve Power? No!

Improve Agility? No!

Improve Speed? No!

Improve Quickness/Footwork? No!

Before you write a bunch of f-bombs about me and my blog, let me explain to you that all of the aforementioned focal points of performance enhcncement are very importent for one’s game improvement, but “Injury Prevention Training” must be the #1 priority and is absolutely the most impotant tennis success factor.  Keep in mind that one should do injury prevention training aka “Prehabilitation” in order to prevent injuries and  at the very least help one recover much quicker from an injury. Yes, strengthening ones bones, tendons, and other connective tissue will keep away those nagging injuries.

Off the top of my head, the following are the most common areas of the body that can get injured while playing tennis:

ankle

hamstring

knee   

hip flexor

groin

lower back

stomach

shoulders

wrists

(I wrote the above list quickly, and am sure to have left a few areas out!)

Just make sure that while you are improving your fitness, you are also focusing on keeping your body healthy throughout the year.

Please note that since there are really no built-in off weeks from competition in tennis, it is important that several strategic “off periods” are included in ones yearly schedule. These off periods are an excellent time for doing game improvement skill training as well as strength and conditioning for tennis.

Bottom line…………………..There are many advantages for you and disadvantages to your opponent when you are able to run down balls and feel fresher. It is not just about how good your strokes are!!!

The video shows the Director of the International Performance Institute doing fitness for tennis at the tennis academy with Maria Shishkina who is one of the top junior prospects in the world. She has potential to become a junior tennis and perhaps a professional superstar. I need to emphasize that it is crucial for strength and conditioning professionals to focus on injury prevention first.  Parents truly must be aware and they are really the ones who must use common sense and look out for the welfare of their junior tennis playing children. 

Standing on top of a stability ball may look really cool and look great in a tennis academy advertisement, but are you aware how unsafe it truly is? You get the same benefits and do excellent balance training without putting people at risk of a potentially catastrophic and career ending injury by having the player stand on a bosu ball(1/2 stability ball), balance discs, or a balance board? One must be extra cautious when doing physical training for tennis with a junior tennis player because their growth plates are not yet closed. There is just no excuse for this type of negligence in the fitness profession!  Notice that during the video the junior tennis phenom comes very close to smashing her head into a brick wall while chasing a soccer ball that goes over hear head… Holy cow!!! That had potential catestrophic consequences written all over it. It does not matter what credentials and degrees a strength coach has, they must be able to use some common sense when working with junior tennis players or. Should a fitness for tennis coach have kids do fast  feet drills in a fire pit?  Perhaps the fitness for tennis coache should do some reaction drills with an alligator’s mouth?   or……standing on top of a stability ball!!!

In this article, the two general components of speed (distance over time) that will be looked at are stride length and stride frequency. Stride length is the distance covered in one stride while running. In order to increase the length of a stride, maximum force during sprints must be increased. Stride length can be increased through resistance training such as weight training, sled or tire pulling, running uphill, running with weighted vests, plyometrics, elastic cord resisted runs, running with chutes, harness/cord resistance etc. Stride frequency is the number of steps taken over a specific distance or time. In order to improve stride frequency, sprint assisted training such as running downhill or cords that pull the athlete may be used.

When performing drills for stride length and stride frequency it is of utmost importance to make certain that proper running form is not sacrificed. During stride length training, stride frequency must be kept at normal levels and during stride frequency training; stride length must be kept at normal levels. Therefore, the fitness for tennis coach should make sure that the overspeed devices or resistances used are not too great or too heavy for the athlete. 

Please note that for this article we have only placed our focus on getting from point A to point B as quickly as possible. This absolute measure of tennis speed is only one basic element of getting to tennis balls faster. There are many aspects of court coverage that must be looked at when developing a fitness program for tennis. Along with raw speed, some tennis footwork court coverage necessities are reaction, agility, anaerobic conditioning, first step explosiveness, balance, and flexibility.   All of those aforementioned tennis footwork elements should be focused upon and enhanced for a physical conditioning program for tennis program to be most effective.   

Functional Training may be one of the most overused and least understood terms in the history of physical conditioning.  Quite frankly,  it does sound quite impressive, but what in the world is functional training?  Simply stated, functional training is training the body for the purpose of enhancing a specific activity. Tennis specific functional training  focuses on the muscles, movements, and energy systems that are specific to tennis. The majority of a functional training program focuses on the training of movements similar to the sporting acivity.  Performing exercises that isolate the training of a specific muscle and are not functional generally have no place in a fitness training for tennis program. 

In the following video by trainer Todd Norman of Cutting Edge Sports Training, demonstrates one good example of a functional for tennis exercise. This is exactly the type of fitness training for tennis that creates real results that you can see on the court.  The following will explain why this would be considered a functional training for tennis exercise.

1)Simulating the forehand and backand strokes by throwing a 2lb-8lb medicine ball  is great for strengthening the  rotational power for tennis.  The player should focus on staying low duing the throws and bending the knees. (not the waist)  

2)Player in this video is working on agility (changing direction from one cone to the other cone) and quickness (taking fast feet steps around the cone)

3)Repeated sets of this drill can also enhance cardiovascular conditioning because it simulates the time of a long point

4)Using a heart rate monitor would further enhance the benefit of this drill. One could write down their heart rate just after completion of the drill and then write down their heart rate after a 25-90 second recovey rate. (recovery time depends on conditioning of athlete and may be changed over time)

5) Since this type of drill focuses on several tennis necessary muscle groups, intensity tends to be high      

6)Performing beteen 2 and no more than 5 sets of this drill would be the norm for this and any exercises used in a fitness training for tennis program