Energy Systems and Work to Rest Ratios
Michael La Monica, BS, CSCS
Benefits of Resistance Training for Tennis
For a tennis player to perform at their best they must have just the right mix of aerobic and anaerobic stamina, as well as explosive strength, power and agility. In fact, tennis requires a balanced combination of endurance, speed, fast reaction time, overhead strength, core body strength, strong arms and legs, and flexibility.
Upper Body Exercises
2. Dumbell Row
3. Dumbell Bench Press
4. Reverse Bicep Curl
5. Dumbell Tricep Extension
6. Twisting Sit-up
2. Power Clean
3. Squat
4. Side Lunge
5. Leg Curl
Bench Press – Starting Position
The Importance of Agility Training
Patra Krinis, MS, CSCS, NASM-PES
Sports Performance and Rehabilitation
Agility is the ability to decelerate, accelerate, and change direction while maintaining good body control and without losing time in the transition. It has been said that outside of sport-specific skills, agility is the primary determining factor for success in sport. In the game of tennis, no player is going to run longer than 40 feet without having to either stop, change direction, or change speed. The player that can do this in the most efficient manner will be the player that has the overall athletic advantage in the match. It is important to train agility in the same manner that any other skill would be trained. Using the proper progression is a necessity.
1. The first steps would be training the specific movement patterns and improving the quality of the movement. In order to be able to stop or cut properly, core control and hip mobility are a must.
When the legs stop, the core must be able to turn on and be strong enough to stop the rest of the body. You do not want the chest to drop, the shoulders to round, or the upper body to continue moving in any direction. Core strength can be accomplished by using neuromuscular activation, planks (front and side), bridging, and various abdominal exercises.
Also, when stopping or cutting, it is important that the hips have the ability to drop down and load up. This will protect the other joints in the legs, as well as make the athlete more efficient in their change of direction. If the athlete does not have the ability to drop their hips and stick them out, they will be putting a lot of force on their more vulnerable joints, such as their knees and ankles. Dropping their hips in the proper manner will also allow the athlete to push back in another direction using their glutes as the primary mover, and making their push a more powerful one. Hip mobility can be worked on by using overhead squats, deadlifts, and lateral lunges.
2. Once a baseline of core strength and hip mobility are gained, the athlete can start practicing their stops. Stopping is a precursor to cutting, and it teaches the athlete the proper way to lower their hips and control their core. The three main stopping techniques that should be practiced are jump stops (stopping in athletic position), forward lunge stop, and lateral lunge stop. The jump stop allows them to efficiently get into athletic position, setting their feet and body up to react in any direction. This is best used when it is unknown what direction the athlete is going to cut. The forward lunge stop comes in handy when a cut in the forward direction, of any angle, is going to be needed. This requires the athlete to run forward and stop in a lunge stance, with their hips lowered to about 45 degrees. The lateral lunge stop is best when the athlete has to go back in the direction in which they came. This stop requires them to stop in almost a lateral lunge position, with the front leg loaded up, ready to push back in the direction they came. Learning to stop will prepare the body for the force that is required to cut and change direction. Start off going 50% of max intensity, and progressively increase to 100%. Make sure the athlete’s body is in control and their hips are lowered and ready to push in another direction.
3. After learning to stop, the athlete is ready to start cutting and changing direction. This is progressed in intensity just like the stops. Start off going 50% and gradually increase to 100%. Make sure the athlete’s body is under control and they are pushing themselves in the direction they need to go, not pulling themselves with their front leg. Start off rehearsed, meaning the athlete knows where and in what direction they will be making the cut. Then the athlete can be progressed to reactive cuts, where they do not know when or in what direction they will be cutting. This can be done by pointing, throwing a ball, or simply yelling to them where to go. It is important that there is a proper rest while practicing agility skills. While still learning the skill, it is important that the muscles are allowed to recover prior to performing the drills. Quality is more important than quantity.
4. The last step would be to incorporate metabolic conditioning. In a real game, the athlete has to be able to make these cuts while their muscles are fatigued. Once their form looks good from a low intensity to high intensity, rehearsed and reactive, then they can start working on cutting and changing direction while fatigued.
JUMP STOP (IN ATHLETIC POSITION)
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FORWARD LUNGE STOP
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LATERAL LUNGE STOPAre You “Hip” Enough For Tennis?
Paul Kolody, MS, ATC, CSCS
Tennis is a game of rapid stops, starts, turns and jumps. Every one of these moves can be linked back to the part of your body just below your low back, The Hip. When it comes to your movement on the court, the hip musculature is one of the most important to have ready. If you remember the last blog about assessment, the hip is the low back and knees best friend. The more mobile the hips are, the more your low back and knees are spared the work. When it comes to pain free, high performance tennis, this is the scenario you want day after day.
Muscles that help control the hip joint are the Glutes, Hip Flexor Group, Hamstrings, Quadriceps and Groin Muscles. In order for the hip to work efficiently, there has to be a balance across the hip joint so that dominance does not occur. Let me explain that last sentence a little more. Because many of us either sit at a desk or behind a wheel for a good portion of our day, we have a tendency to have a shortened front side of our hips, hip flexors, quadriceps. With that short front side comes a lengthened back side, glutes, and hamstrings. If a muscle remains lengthened for a long period of time without working, we tend to lose some of the function of that muscle or movement that that muscle may produce. You may see where I am starting to go with this. As we turn off some of our muscles, others have to work harder to produce the movements we desire, such as sprinting to the net to volley a drop shot from our opponent, cutting hard to get back for that tough lob shot. The muscles that are now compensating for those movements get tired pretty fast and start to break down. Here is where the injuries begin.
As you can see, having a mobile, efficient hip complex can be one of the most important parts of your game. Having a game plan for your warm-up is beneficial for you practice or competition every day. For our athletes, we have found a great routine that not only prepares the individual muscles, but the entire movement systems for whatever you ask of your body at practice, during speed and agility drills, lifting weights or playing a game.
If you have any questions about the following routine, please visit our website listed below or ask your fitness professional for help.
Soft Tissue Mobilization:
Very simply, soft tissue mobilization is a self massage to try and alleviate any trigger points in your muscles, or any areas that may be resistant to stretching or movement. This can be accomplished with a couple of different tools. Two that we prefer are a Foam Roller, or The Stick. Both of these tools are great to find trigger points and releasing them so that the muscles can function efficiently. These items can be purchased at http://www.performbetter.com/ and can be used daily to ensure that your muscles and muscle fascia are ready to stretch and work. The technique is to roll on or over your muscle to find any, “Hot Spots”, or areas that are a little sore. The trick is to stay on that spot for 20-30 rolls, even though it may be a little uncomfortable, to try and reduce the trigger point. This will allow the muscle to get some length and turn on the way it is supposed to.
Neuromuscular Activation:
Rolling out the trigger points is the first step in you warm-up process. Now we have to turn on the muscles, in the correct order, so that they can do what they are supposed to do. This can be achieved by some simple exercises that target movement patterns, to develop efficiency on the court.
Planks, (face down and side), Mini-band Walks and Bridges, (1 & 2 leg), are all examples of how you can get a good balance across your hip joint. You can pick up a great DVD on Neuromuscular Activation, by Robb Rogers, at http://www.sbcoachescollege.com/.
Dynamic Flexibility:
Several years ago, the Dynamic Flexibility/Warm-up/Movement Prep revolution was born. This lead to a lot of controversy on whether it was still good to static stretch, or that the dynamic method was now the way to go. We still static stretch our athletes, but do not spend a big chunk of our time, pre-workout, on it. If an athlete has a big asymmetry in his hamstring length, meaning one side is much more flexible than the other, we may spend more time with that athlete to develop symmetry. For this, using traditional stretches is fine. The following are some of the dynamic stretches we use, with our athletes, to promote good hip mobility/flexibility/stability.
High Knee Pull:
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