Tennis is a game that is enjoyed by athletes of all ages throughout the world. On any given day, especially here in Florida, the courts are packed with the athletes competing in singles, doubles, mixed doubles matches-some serious, some for fun, but mostly for the feeling of accomplishment, exercise, camaraderie, and fresh air.

This past year, I have worked with one of the top pros in Florida, Wally Norwich, helping him develop a conditioning program for his ‘Senior’ and junior tennis players. I introduced him to Renegade Training for his athletes to address the following mutually agreed upon concerns for continued tennis improvement: footwork, agility, body mechanics, injury prevention, increased work capacity, and strength.

Tennis conditioning, as taught by some Tennis Pros, consists of hours of Sports Specific Preparation, i.e., volley drills, serving, forehand/backhand returns, etc., with little or no General Physical Preparation, i.e., preparing the body and increasing the fitness level for the stresses of tennis. Tennis is a unilateral sports, excepting for two-handed backhands, that can overstress the dominant arm shoulder girdle, elbow, and wrist (notice the number of ‘tennis elbows’ and Cho-Pat[R] straps on athletes). Also the unprepared athletes can suffer from knee and back injuries by the pounding upon the court surfaces and torque of the strokes.

Tennis is not an aerobic sport, but an anaerobic sport consisting of short bursts of activity followed by rest periods. The aerobic capacity should be addressed because some matches can last 1 1/2 to 3 hours, but not as the main energy system. Hours of slow jogging will not address the phosphagen and glycolysis systems adaptations necessary for success in tennis matches.

With the above parameters in mind, Coach Davies designed Renegade Tennis Conditioning, which is the model for my training regime. I have added some sports specific drill and injury prevention drills (not all injuries can be prevented-disclaimer) which have worked with my athletes. Any mistakes in training are mine, not his.

Dynamic Warm-up: (set cones 10-15 yards apart and athletes go down and back for each drill)

High knees

Butt Kickers

Walk on toes-down/ walk back on heels (keep legs straight for both drills-like Frankenstein)

Hamstrings-walking, raise straight leg to waist high or higher depending on flexibility, alternating leg swings per step

Lunge walk-alternate lunge walk-concentrate on good upper body posture

Side Shuffle-from athletic position (knees flex, butt down) shuffle down and back facing same way both directions

Carioca-face same direction both ways

Fast feet carioca-same as above but with short steps-as many as possible

Arm circles-rotate arms 10 reps-forward, backward, one forward/one backward (everyone loves this one!)

Body Circles-hands on hips-bend back-to right-down-to left in circle both clockwise (cw) and counterclockwise (ccw)

Hulas and ‘Disco Ducks’-see Get Hip Training in The Code

Agility-for this we use both cones and the agility ladder. Description of the agility ladder techniques appear in Renegade Training for Football. Concentrate on good body movement, transference of ground forces, vision, keeping torso over hips.

Agility ladder-

Single step, double step, Icky shuffle, up and back, crossover, side shuffle, shuffle turn, hop scotch, double leg hop, single leg hop

Cones-cones are set up 5-10 yards apart in the following patterns. Runs are made: a. facing toward the cone; b. facing forward; c. facing backward. Run both cw and ccw directions.

Box X and M Chair Zig Zag* Clock#

X X X X X 9Xf

8X

X X X 7X

6X

X X X X X X 5X

4X

2X

3X

1Xs

Zig Zag*-patterns= a. from s, face toward f, zig zag inside (plant and cut on inside of cones-like slalom); b. outside- from s face toward f zig zag run around outside of cone; c. from s face 90 degrees Right from f, sprint up to next cone, back peddle to next alternating each cone; d. same as (c) except 90 degree left; e. up/ across/back-start at s facing f-sprint 1 to 2, side shuffle back to 3, sprint up to 4, side shuffle back to 2, sprint to 5, etc.; f. same as (e) except start at s and face away from f (run backwards)

Clock#-set 8 cones in a circle resembling a clock face at 12/3/6/9 (ten yards from 12-6 and 3-9) and the other 4 halfway between the 12/3/6/9 call them 2/4/8/10. a. CW-Start in middle (where clock hands would pivot) and sprint from middle to 12, back to middle to 2, back to middle to 3 back to middle, etc around till return to 12. face toward cone running to. b. CCW-same as (a) except go 12 to 10 to 9, etc. c. CW-face forward, run as in (a) except always face toward top of clock. d. CCW forward, run as in (b) except always face toward top of clock. e. start at 12, always facing the 6. run from 12 to 3 to 9 to 2 to 10 to 4 to 8 to 6. f. same as (e) but start at 12 and face away from 6 (run backwards).

In Part II, we will present the strength sessions, mobility exercises, and medicine balls.

Good Training!!

NEWKERK TOTAL FITNESS
CHARLIE NEWKERK, C.S.C.S.
NEWKFIT@DIGITAL.NET

Charlie is a National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, currently studying under Coach Davies' Power-Speed Development Mentorship Program.

He has worked as Intern Strength Coach for the Brevard Manatees, the Fla Marlins Class A Baseball Team, conducted tennis conditioning camps, Martial Arts Conditioning seminars, 'I Got Skillz' football clinic presenter, IDEA Advanced Personal Trainer, author of the 'Women's Athletic and Knee Injury Prevention' series on www.Intensitymagazine.com, and creator of the Save Our Athlete's Knees (SOAKS) program.

Charlie is available for group or one-on-one training sessions for athletes of all ages.