Tennis is one of those sports where you require a full range of motion from your entire body. From your wrist to your ankles, you’ll need to develop your muscle memory to win the most crucial points. It also goes without saying that whether you’re a novice or a veteran, you’ll still need to do warm-up drills and technique practices to keep yourself in tiptop form. And, aside from conditioning your stamina for longer hours of play, practicing also trains your decision-making skills on the court.
Moving fluidly on any type of tennis court entails various types of techniques and strategies. Before you go practicing for hours on your movements, knowing why you are doing it is important so that you can master the basic aspects of the game. Learning techniques in split stepping, controlling your body weight while in motion, and developing the instincts on when to go for those smash returns are just some of the aspects you will need to keep working on regularly.
Why is practice important?
Like any other sport, consistently practicing and having that genuine dedication to improve your game has three target points. First, it trains your muscles to swiftly adjust from both starting positions and while in motion. This is called muscle memory and is quite important when delivering forehand or backhand groundstrokes. Muscle memory hones your motor skills and registers them in your brain so that your physical movement works automatically without requiring maximum mental attention. Doing a technique for hours will help you perfect movements that are efficient and, more importantly, minimize injury.
Aside from this, regular practice also teaches you the right choreography, if you will, while playing on court. It improves your hand-eye coordination and gets your full body balance for every shot type so that your range of motion becomes more fluid and graceful. Have you ever noticed how Grand Slam champions have their own signature footwork on court? Those took hours of practice before they could master successful plays. Improving your body coordination increases your agility and trains your upper body to work cohesively with your legs every time you are set to receive the ball.
Another important thing that practice gives you is the mental preparation to time your shots and movements which can prevent injury to your wrists, ankles, shoulders, and elbows. The dreaded but common tennis elbow affliction is much like what carpal tunnel syndrome is to writers. Lateral epicondylitis is a condition wherein you experience pain outside of your elbow due to your forearm muscles’ repeated motion and use. It puts stress on your elbow joints and will eventually affect your game if not treated. By learning how to time your shots correctly, you give your elbows less strain while also perfecting your specialty shots.
Best drills to try out now
Now that you know just how important practice is to your tennis game, we move on to some of the best drills that can bring on your A-game in no time. Before you try any of the drills below, make sure you’ve performed the proper stretching warm-ups to avoid injury and keep a handy water bottle plus a towel nearby.
It’s always great to have a coach around to keep your moves in check but you may also practice on your own if no one is available. Better yet, have a friend join you when you practice so you can train together and test your respective improvements right after.
If you’re ready, let’s dive into three basic tennis exercises that even world champions still perform regularly today.
Dribbling
For starters, learning how to dribble the tennis ball with your racket may seem like a superficial technique but many consider it to be one of the first things you should master before playing on the court. The importance of ball control is a significant element in the game of tennis because that’s what the game is all about. You will always be playing against an opponent for points to see who controls the ball better.
For this exercise, you’ll need to concentrate on your hand-eye coordination. Lift your racket via a forehand grip and try to control the ball by dribbling or bouncing it up and down or racket to the ground. The more you can keep the ball hitting the same spot on your racket’s strings, the better you control it. What you’d want to do next is gradually increase the speed of your dribbling to gain some useful recall and focus on your serves.
Adding arm muscle
Regularly changing your racket strings is important especially if you want to work on your groundstrokes. Poor strings can give you wrist and arm injuries, so you’d want to build some joint strength in your arms. You can do this with one basic drill wherein you throw tennis balls as hard as possible to prepare your elbows and wrists for the inevitable stress levels during a game.
If tennis balls seem too light for your arms, try throwing other balls like a football or basketball for more weight. This gives you more arm power for your serves, but do make sure that you train your joints and muscles slowly so you won’t get tennis elbow after hours of practice.
Working on your groundstrokes
If you have a partner or coach in tow, ask him to face you from a distance while bouncing a tennis ball your way so you can exercise both your forehand and backhand. Start with a simple game of catch then once you get a good feel of your hand-eye coordination, get your racket and hit the balls as they are tossed your way.
Ask your coach or tennis partner to go a few steps back with each toss so you can master the range of arm power and speed you’ll need for your shots. If you are working out on your own, go to practice parks where ball machines are available and work on your split steps by placing the machine in various areas of the court.
Starting with these basic drills can quickly improve your ball and power control before you try out more advanced drills for volleying, lobbing, and overhead techniques, among many others. What’s always important in tennis is taking things slowly, step-by-step, and understanding the concepts behind techniques. These three drills will help you train your muscle memory so you can direct the ball to any spot on the court during actual play.
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