A young man named Chris from Wisconsin wrote me and asked for some tips on staying in shape during the winter. Although winter is on the way out, I still thought I’d give some tips on keeping your tennis sharp when you can’t get on the court.
When I coached tennis at the local College, I always had my players do cross training. Cross training is playing other sports to enhance your tennis. Basketball is one of the best. It has short bursts sprints, balance, agility, changing directions and cardio-vascular endurance. Soccer is another good sport to play, it too has short sprints and longer sprints along with great cardio conditioning. Like basketball it builds leg strength and endurance. Swimming is an excellent sport for cross training. You can get a good aerobic workout and it’s great for flexibility.
For strength and endurance exercises through the full range of motion, I recommend tossing plyometric balls. Plyo-balls are large weighted balls that are used to toss under hand or overhead. When tossing plyo-balls, you want to use your body by coiling/uncoiling, bending/straightening while throwing, maintaining good balance. You can hold a plyo-ball on your shoulders and do lunges, squats or squat jumps. Some plyo-balls bounce so if you don’t have a partner to toss and catch with you can use a wall.
Jumping rope is an all around good exercise for stamina, coordination and balance. To maintain or increase your cardio-vascular endurance you need to exercise at least 3 times a week for at least 20 minutes each time, with your heart rate held at a steady 75% of your maximum. A rough guess of your maximum heart rate is to subtract your age from 220, then multiply by .75 to determine your heart rate for cardio-vascular endurance to take place.
Cross training for tennis has been around for a long time. Try using cross training even when the weather is nice and you can still play tennis. Above all, any off court tennis training should be fun and challenging.
Doug Hofer, USPTA February 11, 2005
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