Summers Here, get out of the gym...

hit the court!

With the summer approaching and the better weather just around the corner now is the time to take your exercise outdoors!  Over the next few months I will be writing a series of articles on getting fit for some popular sports. With Wimbledon approaching, Tennis came to mind for the first piece.

Racquet sports require many physical requirements, such as good flexibility, co-ordination, aerobic fitness, and strength.

Along with Tennis the above also applies for other racquet sports including Squash and Badminton as they all require the same type of physical training which include:

• Short bursts of intensive exercise with sprinting, jumping and dynamic swinging of the racquet.
• There is often short recovery periods between points/sets and games.
• If played at a reasonable level then all the sports include a lot running around on court in all planes of movement - forwards, backwards and laterally.

The matches can be of a long duration varying from a short sharp 30 minutes right up to several hours so endurance is key here.

Ideally you want to get fit prior to playing your chosen sport if you are playing at a high standard however if it is purely recreational then you can use your sport to get fit!

Let's go into the components of fitness required in more detail:

Endurance

You should be aiming to do some cardio vascular work for a minimum of 30 minutes 3 x per week and improving your time/distance or speed regularly and working at a pace that is suitable for your own current fitness levels.

This can include walking, running, cycling, swimming and bodyweight exercises such as star jumps and skipping.
Interval training is a great way to boost your fitness.

Explosive Power

Some sprint work and plyometric training should be incorporated once a week (although avoid if you have any injuries or are very unfit as these are demanding exercises and not for the beginner)

Shuttle runs - where you sprint from marker to marker.

Ball run - place some balls at random intervals and sprint to retrieve them and return them to a designated starting point.

4 walls - start in the middle point and run forwards/backwards/side to side, returning to the centre point to maximise all planes of movement.

Strength Training

The priority for improving the power behind your serve and return of the ball will come from a strong core - The torso is the body's centre of power, so the stronger you are in that area, the better. I am referring to the muscles deep within the abdominals and back, attaching to the spine or pelvis which supports the spine during all our everyday movements.

You should aim to include full body functional exercises such as the Plank, Side plank, Jack knives; pull ups/chin ups etc rather than endless isolated exercises such as crunches.

A full body general strength training program should also be followed to target the lower and upper body to provide greater power.

Aim to include a variety of squats, lunges, squat thrusts, push ups, dips and chin ups to name but a few.

It is also important to strengthen you wrists and grip - you can buy products from good sports shops/online seller that will help with this or use a lighter weight to perform rotations and lifts from the wrist.

Strength training should be performed a minimum of twice a week, ideally 3 times.

Flexibility

You should aim to perform full body stretching exercises several times per week to include shoulder mobility exercises and to make sure that prior to playing your chosen racquet sport you perform a dynamic warm up imitating the movements involved in the game i.e. moving your arm through the range of motion involved in making a serve or return and moving in the entire planes of movement forwards, backwards, sideways and diagonally.

Hand Eye Co-ordination

Reactions need to be quick with racquet sports and motor skills need to be developed so that your body can react quickly to what the eye sees.

Small ball work, ladder drills, and controversially computer/video games can have some effect on developing this skill.

If you follow the above rules then you should make considerable gains with your game and who knows we could be watching the next UK hopeful at Wimbledon very soon.

Outdoor fitness is the ideal way to get fit and have fun, meeting other like minded people and getting away from stuffy gyms and machines.  Contact me for details of my new outdoor fitness classes starting this summer which are guaranteed to get you in the best shape possible in the quickest amount of time - all locations considered if enough demand.

Or if you want a custom designed program for your chosen sport then call me on 07701 051287 or contact me via www.sarahbrookes.co.uk