Move Better and Hit Harder on the Court: An Exercise Program to Prepare You for Tennis Season
Summer is right around the corner, and with the French Open concluded and Wimbledon here, I am sure we are all rushing out the door to lace up those tennis shoes.
Players like Alcaraz and Coco have certainly shown us why working on our physical strength can make such a big impact on the court.
Whether you are looking to compete in local tournaments or get together for a casual doubles match with your friends, here are 5 exercises for the lower body, upper body and core that I would consider!
Lower body
- Squats: Great for building lower body strength, do these if you don’t want to have knee pain.
- 3-way lunges (forward/side/back): With tennis being such a dynamic sport, there is a strong requirement to be able to lunge in all directions.
- Single-leg hinges: Great for strength, balance and stability while targeting your glutes, hamstrings and core. These are all the important muscles for movements such as sprinting. Do this exercise if you don’t want to lose points from drop shots.
- Monster walks: Great for lateral movement on the baseline during groundstrokes or when you do your split stance at the net to get that volley winner.
- Calf raises- double leg or single leg: Important for explosive movements such as jumping, running and quick directional changes. Do these and your Achilles will thank you.
Upper body
- ½ kneeling single-arm dumbbell shoulder press: Enhance your core stability and power: more aces, more free points. You’re welcome.
- Supine dumbbell pec flies: Whether you like to hit the ball flat or with top spin, strong pectoral muscles will help with the power of your groundstrokes and serve.
- Pull-ups or lat pulldowns: Strengthen your back and improve your posture so you don’t use the sun as another excuse for missing that easy overhead smash.
- Rows: Strong scaps, healthy shoulder, enough said.
- Forearm stretch and strengthening: Do these unless you like tennis elbows?
Core
- Bird dogs: Improve core stability, balance and coordination. Lower back pain? No thanks
- Side planks: Improve your rotational power and stability. KEY to generating power in your forehand and backhand.
- Forearm plank: Upper back, shoulder and core stability. This is your 3 in 1, talk about efficiency.
- Palloff press in split stance: Core stability to unleash your forehand and backhand.
- Dead Bugs: Coordination and core stability, never wiff a ball again!
Check out this video to see examples of each exercise:
All jokes aside, these are not the only exercises to help your tennis game. But these foundational movements will certainly help with injury prevention, so you can keep playing the game you love!
Written By: Victor Choy