Tennis Training Theme #7 – Tennis Conditioning

Objective

Develop a fitness conditioning program to improve complex coordination and movement, dynamic balance, linear/multi-directional speed, strength, endurance or stamina, flexibility, core and shoulder stability and explosive and reactive power.

1. For all components of your program, look to include tennis-specific exercises with comparable work intervals and work-to-rest ratios.
2. Work on exercises to stabilize and strengthen the core. Work on your ability to maintain core stability and muscle integrity in execution of all strokes.
3. Include exercises to build foundational leg (lower body) strength and exercises to build explosive power in the legs to enhance ground force (push-off) in the first kinetic chain link.
4. Work on movement patterns to improve dynamic balance, coordination and agility. Include movement patterns to develop speed and quickness (particularly in the first step to the ball), acceleration and deceleration. Include adaptive and reactive movement patterns to simulate the variability of play.
5. Include vertical-based extended kinetic chain (whole body movement) and fascial line exercises to improve ground force transmission of power and synchronization between muscle groups for all strokes.
6. Include exercises to address flexibility and range of motion to improve efficiency of movement, enhance stroke production and prevent injuries.
7. Commit time for unilateral (both contralateral and ipsilateral)/offset, anti-rotation, torsional buttressing and rotational force patterns and exercises to correct strength imbalances and increase core stability, strength and dynamic balance. Include other applicable exercises to address imbalances in the muscle length tension relationship (inherent in the nature of the game with one-arm dominance and the requirement for a lower center of gravity).
8. Include in your program steady-state and interval-based cardio training to improve stamina and endurance.
9. On a more daily basis include static, myofascial (with foam roller or ball), proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) hold-relax, contract-relax and/or hold-relax with agonist contraction and/or active isolated stretching (AIS) exercises.
10. Establish training blocks to systematically vary training volume, intensity and complexity based on your goals and priorities.