Tennis: Stretch for Success!
Flexibility is commonly defined as the range of motion around a joint. Increasing your flexibility translates to your progressively stretching your muscles so that you increase or maintain your range of motion to within normal limits. Many experts suggest that one of the best and safest ways to do this is to use what’s known as a static stretch – which means gradually stretching the muscle and then holding it in that stretched position for a recommended minimum of 15-20 seconds.
Each time you swing your racquet, or run for the ball, one set of muscles is contracting or shortening, while another set is stretching or lengthening. For example, on your serve, as you hit the ball, the front of your shoulder muscle contracts while the muscles in your rear shoulder relax or stretch. During a backhand ground stroke, the opposite contraction and relaxation occurs. In order to ready your body for optimal performance under these and other flexibility demands, you should stretch before and after your game. Prior to stretching, you should warm-up by doing a brief jog, rope-skip, or some other activity that will increase your body temperature (just enough to produce a light sweat is a good gauge of how much warm-up is necessary). Then, do a few minutes of light stretching of at least the major muscles that you’ll be using (e.g. hamstrings, quadriceps, shoulders, and forearms). After your match, while you’re still warm, you can spend more time doing a post-game stretch for your entire body. Doing this each time before and after you play will help keep your muscle supple, and help you remain injury free. So do yourself a favor, and make sure that you add a consistent and safe stretch workout to your pre and post match routine.
As with all forms of exercise, you should consult with your physician or healthcare professional, and seek the advice of a qualified personal trainer before undertaking any of the fitness training discussed in this article. Any application of the techniques, ideas, and suggestions in this article is at the reader’s sole discretion and risk.
LaRue E. Cook is a certified personal trainer, and competitive tournament and league tennis player with over ten years’ training experience. He has successfully helped a variety of clients, achieve their fitness and health goals, including competitive and recreational tennis players, the elderly looking to increase their functional strength, “beginners” looking to start a general fitness program, and those looking to lose weight or firm-up. He is currently helping several nationally-ranked and regionally-ranked junior players improve their "tennis-fitness." He can be reached by email at: larue852@earthlink.net.