BODY TALK Issue 21

The Top 10 Training Tips for Tennis Success

By Paul Gol
Many people seem to have forgotten that the main objective of every strength training programme you
do should be to improve your performance.
If your sport was power lifting, that would mean lifting heavy weights but because your sport is tennis
that means improving your ability on the court.
Ive seen many players over the years with amazing bench press abilities but are still to win a
meaningful match!
So! follo" #hese 1$ #ennis #raining #ips #o ensure your success%
1) Bodyweight before external resistance
ven now Im still surprised at the eagerness of some people to get !under the bar".
If you can#t stabilize, control and move efficiently with only your bodyweight then you have no
business using heavy e$ternal loads.
%ome of the strongest athletes on the planet are the gymnasts who spend most of their time
manipulating their own bodies around the gym thin& about it!
If you cant stabilize your shoulder girdle and core doing push'ups, then there is no way you should be
under a bench press bar.
(an you sit in a full bodyweight s)uat or perform full range single leg bodyweight s)uats*
+ strength program in the beginning stages may actually include no weights whatsoever but that will
wor& better and faster than a program that relies primarily on weights and machines. Muscle
recruitment and control are far more important than ma$imal strength.
%trength is ,%-%% without control!!
2) Train in a standing position - GROUN B!"#
.he majority of your training should ta&e place /0 1/,2 3. standing, as hopefully you spend
most of your time playing in that position. 4hile there are e$ceptions to this rule, we always lose
something when we go from a standing position to seated or lying.
$) Train with free weights
I almost feel silly bringing this up, but I still see programs out there that include leg e$tensions and leg
curls. +ny machine limits your range of motion and controls the movement. .his may have some
limited use for beginners but you need to learn to stabilize and control your body in all three planes of
motion simultaneously.
!5ow can anyone e$pect to possess co'ordination in active wor& when his muscles have never
wor&ed together in groups*" arle -iederman 6789.
7: years ago and still people do it today. Machines that isolate have a limited place in the preparation
of you as a tennis player.
%) Train with explosi&eness
%ome people feel that e$plosiveness is dangerous but if you want )uic& rac&et speed and to hit with
power, then training e$plosively is a must as it mimics what happens on court.
') Train (o&e(ents not ()scle gro)ps
+s above, isolated muscle group training ;outside of rehabilitation< should have no place in your
training. 1ou should focus on strengthening specific movements by focusing on using your body to
wor& in an integrated fashion ;true muscle isolation is impossible anyway<.
*) Train )nilaterally and ()lti-planar
Most strength training programs train you in one plane ;sagittal< with bilateral ;two< movements,
however the majority of sport ta&es place in all = planes simultaneously with primarily unilateral
;many< movements so train in this manner!
+n interesting fact to consider is that >?@ of the gait cycle ;wal&ing, running< is spent with one leg in
the air. In fact most of the shots you play rely primarily on the dominance of one leg, therefore all your
leg training should include the following e$ercisesA split s)uats, step ups and lunge variations.
+) Use !,, pri(ary (ethods to de&elop strength
a< Ma$ %trength ' heavy loads
b< 2epeated fforts Method ' multiple sets and reps
c< Bynamic ffort Method ' using relatively lighter weights and moving them at ma$ speed
;this is %.I-- the least used method in most programs<
.raditional strength training programs have wrongly borrowed from outdated body building concepts
and focused overwhelmingly on building ma$ strength.
5owever you need to remember that the most important factor is the 2+. of force production. In the
world of sport, Spee is King.
-) .ariation
verybody &nows that a training load should be progressively increased dont they*
0ot many people understand that the training stimulus must also be progressively and periodically
varied. If you spend too much time on one program, youll habituate to the positive aspects while
accumulating the negative aspects.
.his creates performance plateaus and injury situations. Ceep things varied and &eep your body
guessing.
/) !&oid (i(ic0ing s0ills
Ma&e sure the roles of strength and conditioning, and s&ill training are separate.
/verloading a techni)ue affects the mechanics of the techni)ue negatively. If there is any danger that
the training you are doing forces you to change your techni)ue then %./D immediately!
.he role of conditioning training is 0/. s&ill training.
11) Balance yo)r training
Ma&e sure you address pushing and pulling on both horizontal and vertical planes and attempt to
balance the loading.
If you are bench pressing 9::lbs but can only do a chest supported row with ?:lbs, your shoulder
girdle is going to suffer.
If you cant handle the same loads for two opposing movements then increase the volume of the
wea&er movement ;e.g. by doing an e$tra e$ercise or an e$tra set or two< to compensate.
&onclusion
Bo not get caught up in the numbers game and do not confuse gym improvements with on court
improvements.
.he greatest players in the world do not have the greatest bench presses in the worldE they have an
ability to produce useable force on the court
Improve your winFloss numbers, not your lifting numbers.