Tennis with YonexPureStorm

[MarinaHighTennis]

Originally Posted by 86golf

I know you are working on adding muscle mass and that's ok. However, have you ever been to any pro tournaments, or any Pro circuit events? If you have, you may have noticed how thin most of those players are. Much more thin in person than it shows on TV. Djokovic looks 20 lbs thinner in person. Some of the ladies/girls that play pro circuit are tiny, but they take the cover off the ball. Here is a video I shot last year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIyva-lcV08

Maybe she's 120 lbs and she hits harder than any 5.0 male. So racquet head speed can be achieved with the proper fundamentals without a lot of muscle.

I go to the Farmer's Classic and saw Marcos Giron and hes as big as a football player . I just think I'm underweight (compared to guys) and need to bulk up to take on 18s and mens. Its working so far, I don't get pushed around to much but I've been working with resistance bands not weights.

[spaceman_spiff]

Originally Posted by 86golf

I know you are working on adding muscle mass and that's ok. However, have you ever been to any pro tournaments, or any Pro circuit events? If you have, you may have noticed how thin most of those players are. Much more thin in person than it shows on TV. Djokovic looks 20 lbs thinner in person. Some of the ladies/girls that play pro circuit are tiny, but they take the cover off the ball. Here is a video I shot last year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIyva-lcV08

Maybe she's 120 lbs and she hits harder than any 5.0 male. So racquet head speed can be achieved with the proper fundamentals without a lot of muscle.

Originally Posted by MarinaHighTennis

I go to the Farmer's Classic and saw Marcos Giron and hes as big as a football player . I just think I'm underweight (compared to guys) and need to bulk up to take on 18s and mens. Its working so far, I don't get pushed around to much but I've been working with resistance bands not weights.

The difference is in the legs. Check out the legs in the video above. Even though she doesn't weigh much overall, she's got powerful legs (nice to look at as well ). All of her power comes from getting her body in position (footspeed) and then using her whole body (starting from the legs) in the swing, rather than just arming the ball.

Yes, a bigger upper body will help, but first and foremost, you need to build up your legs.

[NLBwell]

I agree with SpacemanSpiff. The top pro players are all getting thinner. Tsonga has lost a lot of weight - as did Djokovic, Fish, Roddick, etc. Even Nadal thinned out a bit. Not only does it make them quicker, but they are less prone to injury.
In college I was 5-10 to 6' and weighed 130 to 145 lbs (I kept growing in college) and hit as hard or harder as anyone (ie. guys I played that turned pro). I had thighs that looked like Guillermo Vilas', though. I got those thighs from running stairs and playing basketball.
I've been campaigning against the "getting bigger is good for tennis" for a long while. Good to see the pros starting to understand that they went overboard on strength and that quickness and flexibility are more important. Upper body strength helps some on high volleys - other than that, the excess weight is a liability.
Arthur Ashe hit the ball as hard as anyone in the history of tennis, and if you look at old videos he looks rail thin. Monfils is very thin (though certainly strong and cut) and he can hit the ball as hard as anyone (wish he would do it more). Remember that TV makes people appear 20 lbs heavier than in person. Explosiveness and flexiblity are your friend - plyometrics, high rep weights - bulk is your enemy.