Fitness Training for tennis is one of the keys to become a great tennis player. Strength and conditioning can be start at any age and the better the players are the most important it will be. Beginners and young players should start some fitness training by doing footwork drills and balance exercises because this will help them to move well on the court, be set up properly and to execute efficients shots.
Tennis players have to be complete athletes and fitness training should represent 30% of their practice time when they start to reach a high level. They need to follow a specific fitness program for tennis which will include strength, agility, cardio and flexibility training. All those different areas need to be worked regularly, focusing only on strength training for example will not be enough. A right balance needs to be found between tennis training, strength training, agility training and cardio training.
At a good level, pretty much all the players know how to execute groundstrokes, but the difference will be in the power of those shots, the way they are moving on the court, and how long a player can last before being tired. Tennis is an activity that can last over 5 hours with a repetition of short and intense efforts. Following a specific cardio training will help the players to have a good endurance and stamina. This will allow them to recover better an faster between points and also they will be able to keep a high intensity from the beginning to the end of the match.
Agility training can be done on or off court and this needs to be done with intensity in order to see results. During those workouts, players need to focus on the right technique to move to the ball but also to recover right. Agility training should be done almost every day before, during or after practice. It will help players to become a lot quicker on the court which is fundamental to compete at a high level.
The main purpose of strength training is to prevent injuries. Tennis is an intense activity on the lower and upper body and it is very important to be strong enough to handle this. Once players are older they should follow specific strength training at least twice a week. This will also increase their explosive power. The more explosive a player is the quicker and more powerful he will be while he is playing.
Flexibility training will also help players to prevent injuries. Stretching everyday after practice will help the recovery and good flexibility can be very helpful to reach some balls with extremes range of motion.
Fitness training for tennis should therefore be completely integrated in the practice if you want to be able to reach your highest level. You can learn more about fitness taining for tennis on http://www.fit4tennis.ws
