Archive for the ‘Stretching’ Category
Flexibility training is possibly the least popular and the most underrated element of tennis fitness training. Even though you might have heard a lot of contradicting opinions about the importance of stretching in the injury prevention, it is obvious that the flexibility of the muscles and joints plays an important roll in any athletic movement. The muscles that are not tight can move more efficiently and in a bigger range of motion resulting in better performance and less injuries, because the limb can move further before an injury would occur. A flexible athlete is a supple athlete. With better flexibility your movement and agility on the court will improve. Another benefit of flexibility training is that the stretched muscles get more relaxed, and with relaxed muscles, it is easier to learn new skills. Your body awareness will increase and that itself will help with your movement and performance.
Content
1. Static stretching routine
2. Calf stretch
3. Glute stretch (pigeon)
4. Hamstring and hip stretch
5. Quadriceps stretch
6. Seated groin stretch
7. External hip stretch
8. Supine groin stretch
9. Hip crossover stretch
10. Straight legged hip stretch
11. Spinal twist
12. Rotator cuff stretch
13. Backbend: the total stretch
14. Dynamic warm-up
Price: $2.99
The legendary tennis coach Oscar Wegner (modern tennis methodology) has interviewed me about my book “Tennis Fitness for the Love of it.” We were chatting about the importance of fitness and stretching for maximum tennis performance and life. Watch, listen and enjoy!
You can find more of Oscar’s teachings at www.tennisteacher.com
Click to buy on Amazon.com
To make sure that you are completely satisfied with your decision to buy “Tennis Fitness for the Love of it”, you can view sample material from the book in the resources below. Enjoy the viewing.
Amazon’s Search Inside Feature
Sample Chapter 13 — Calf Myofascial Relase
Tags: tennis fitness
I am glad to announce, that the book “Tennis Fitness for the Love of it. A Mindful Approach to Fitness for Injury-free Tennis” that many have been so impatiently waiting for, is available on Amazon.com for $14.95. Get your copy here now! For bulk orders, please contact me.
To all the tennis players of any age and skill level, who always strive for improvement and who never stop believing that the impossible is possible, and who know that there are no limits to growth and performance other than the human mind.
It is Never Too Late to Become Functional, Fit and Healthy
It is possible to play pain-free tennis for the rest of your life. One of the prerequisites is improving your fitness. However, it is not just any fitness. It needs to be mindful, purposeful, and perfectly suited for you. Nobody can tell you what is perfectly suited for you, only your body can. Listen to it because it will ask for what it needs. In your pursuit for maximum fitness and tennis performance, you need to be aware, patient, and disciplined.
Carry this little book with you always and reread the chapters often. Each time you will discover something new. Learn to understand your body. Every exercise you do should be performed with the goal of increasing awareness of your body, and gradually building a new relationship with it. Learn how to free up the tightness and how to balance your strengths. The less pain you experience, the healthier and more functional you are, and the more your energy will increase. Treat the moments of stretching and myofascial release as time for meditation, relaxation, and introspection.
Create daily routines that fit your lifestyle and treat them as essential for your fitness, well-being, and tennis performance. Think of your health and fitness in the long term. Be patient and disciplined in applying the new ways of exercising and treating your body. Remember that even modest effort applied over the long term will bring excellent results. Therefore, do not postpone your fitness until tomorrow and start today, even if it is just a little bit. Treat your body with respect and love. Treat the fitness as one of the necessary elements of your tennis game. Become fit for tennis and you will become fit for life, and tennis will be in your life forever. Practice your tennis fitness, for the love of it.
Strained or torn calf muscle is a frightening thought for every tennis player. It can easily happen when you push off or lunge after a ball. Often it happens when the athlete hasn’t warmed up properly or the calf muscles are de-conditioned and tight. Previous calf injuries make the calf muscles more vulnerable for future injuries as well. Calf muscles are deceivingly powerful—they help the body to sustain its upright posture, they propel the body forward in running or walking and assist in lifting the body to stand up. They are strong and thick even on slender individuals.
Chest muscles, or pectorals, are very often overused and shortened in a tennis player. They can become stiff from overtraining and cause shoulder problems, poor breathing and hunched back. Stretching of your chest muscle is important, but sometimes doesn’t do the job because it is difficult to reach deep. It is very common that trigger points form in the chest muscles. Trigger points in the fascia of the muscle can restrict and alter the motion of the joint, changing the feedback to the nervous system which becomes less efficient over time, and you can experience premature fatigue, chronic pain and injuries.
Stretching after your tennis practice has enormous benefits. If you play on the hard courts a lot, the muscles and joints get a lot of beating. A thorough stretch afterwards will lengthen the tight and overused muscles and recreate balance between the left and right side of your body. Remember that you don’t want to do any static stretching before your practice; rather perform dynamic and ballistic movements that produce better results in speed, strength and power movements. Here is a sample of a dynamic workout to review, and the difference between static and dynamic stretching.
After your tennis practice, focus on all the major muscle groups with a center of attention on the hips. You can include as many stretches as you wish, or you can follow this example of an efficient stretching routine. It will take about 20 minutes to complete. You can hold the stretches longer if you wish.
- Child pose – kneel on the ground, sit on your heels, lean forward and rest your upper body on your thighs, arms and head on the ground, and relax. Feel how all the tension from your hip-flexors, thighs, low back and shoulder lets go.
- Glute stretch – hold it for 2 minutes.
- Hamstring stretch – remember that if you do this stretch regularly, you will be surprised how deep you can eventually go.
- Kneeling quadriceps stretch
- Lying groin stretch – one of the more comfortable ones, yet very important. Hold it for at least 2 minutes. Don’t force, just relax.
- Seated groin stretch – you can move your body to one leg or the other for different feel.
- Seated external hip stretch – stretches the outside of the hip, and the hamstring and calf of the other leg. Hold it for at least 1 minute. Don’t resist the feeling of discomfort, breathe and relax.
- Hip crossover stretch – not as painful but can reveal some imbalances of the left and right side.
- Crocodile stretch – harder than it seems.
- Spinal twist – one of more comfortable stretches, yet very beneficial.
- External rotator cuff – every tennis player should do this stretch regularly.
- Wheel – an extreme stretch for the daring and flexible. Once you are able to do it, it will feel really great because it opens all the front side of your body – a movement that we do very seldom.
Be disciplined in creating this new habit of static stretching after each tennis practice. It could be the most important 20 minutes in your tennis fitness and longevity.
In tennis you execute a lot of upper body rotations, and if your muscles and spine are flexible, you can load and unload better and have more powerful shots. Every tennis player can benefit from twisting and stretching their spine; and with better flexibility, you are reducing the risk of injuries as well. If you sit a lot during your day and feel low back pain frequently, stretching your spine with twists will relax your back muscles and ease the pain. Often we stretch our spines forward and backward but it is also important for them to be twisted laterally. This twisting in different direction than they are used to helps to better relieve the tension. This side twisting rhythmic and gentle motion limbers the muscles, aligns the vertebrae, boosts the blood circulations, loosens the hips, and even chest and shoulder muscles.
Most of the shoulder injuries happen because of the excessive forces that tennis creates on the tendons of the shoulder muscles. If the shoulder muscles are weak or tight or if there are imbalances, the motion in the shoulder doesn’t happen correctly and the constant repetitive forces of tennis strokes will create problems and injuries over time. In the past article you have learned how to strengthen the notoriously weak external rotator cuff. Besides strengthening you should always stretch the shoulder muscles – give a lot of attention to your rotator cuff! And include a little chest stretch too.
Hamstrings, the muscles in the back of the thigh, are very important for effective sprinting and powerful running strides on the tennis court. They bend the leg in the knee and straighten at the hip joint. Hamstring injury is a common occurrence in tennis. There are many reasons: insufficient flexibility, poor strength (especially in comparison to the quadriceps muscles in the front of the thigh), or faulty running mechanics. Our life style with a lot of sitting doesn’t add to the optimal well-being of our hamstrings – they are put in a shortened position and get tight and short even more. For that reason stretching of the hamstrings should be an important part of your tennis fitness and injury prevention regimen.
