Arm and shoulder strength for tennis

[ramos77]

Hi all,

Which specific exercises would you recommend for strengthening the arm and shoulder for tennis? I want to improve power in my strokes. I guess you would also need to strengthen legs and core muscles?

Also what excercises would you recommend for strengthening power in the one handed backhand?

THanks

[Pacific lefty]

Refer to threads of Charliefedererer who has links to the Thrower's Ten exercises. They seem to be a very comprehensive way of strengthening shoulders and arms.

[NothingButNet]

Those machines that use cables are usually a really good idea and help you focus on smooth movement throughout your reps. Light dumbbells too - even resistance bands.

The throwers ten charliefed often points to involves using this type of equipment easy-to-find equipment.

Kettlebells and Vipr tubes are really good for dynamic balance, core strength and can incorporate cardio with a lot of the variations you can try. Doesn't hurt that you get nice and ripped in the meantime

[floridatennisdude]

Originally Posted by Pacific lefty

Refer to threads of Charliefedererer who has links to the Thrower's Ten exercises. They seem to be a very comprehensive way of strengthening shoulders and arms.

Not only the 10, but specifically focusing on muscles on the back side of the shoulder is important. Sme people just do cuff exercises and neglect the rear muscles, which are less convenient to train.

The rear muscles in the shoulder are what slows your arm down after forward thrusts. Very important to have them strong enough.

[tennisdad65]

Originally Posted by floridatennisdude

Not only the 10, but specifically focusing on muscles on the back side of the shoulder is important. Sme people just do cuff exercises and neglect the rear muscles, which are less convenient to train.

The rear muscles in the shoulder are what slows your arm down after forward thrusts. Very important to have them strong enough.

Do push ups help with the back side of the shoulder? I am not much of a weights/workout guy, and I need to strengthen my shoulder.

[scotus]

You want explosive power?

Train like Tipsarevic!

[scotus]

All kidding aside, there is a type of weight training that is good for rehabs, another type for strength gain. For developing more powerful strokes, I would think that throwing medicine balls would be one of the best.

[charliefedererer]

The thrower's ten will help prevent injury by especially working working on the muscles that help stop the forward swing. This allows you to practice longer with very fast swing speeds - the ultmate way to develop power in your strokes.
Thrower's Ten Exercises http://www.muhlenberg.edu/pdf/main/a...throwers10.pdf
(Note that even weightlifters do rotator cuff exercises like those in the thrower's ten to prepare for the rigors of the bench press, and even increase their bench press personal bests.)


I like the following online site for explaining why it is important to approach strength training in stages.
First, you must increase your overall level of fitness/strength so as not to injure yourself during the maximal strength training period.
Finally, only after increasing your maximal strength should you specifically turn to plyometric/power training. (Your stronger muscles will not only set the stage for ultimately more power, but getting the tendons, ligaments and joints strengthened will prepare them for the rigors of power training and help prevent injury.)
The Elite Approach to Tennis Strength Training http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com...-training.html


Some belong to a gym and use "machines" to help increase their strength. Most who really look into strength training come to the conclusion that "free weight" exercises actually are a better way to coordinate multiple muscle groups so they act in concert, just as they must for you to play tennis.
Thus, a squat trains the legs, core and the muscles that connect the core and legs - no machine does that.
So you may want to look at this site for a free weight program designed for tennis:
Tennis Weight Training - Exercises of Weight Training for Tennis
http://optimumtennis.net/tennis-weight-training.htm
If you do use free weights get instruction to be sure you have correct technique and don't cause yourself an injury.



Knowledge is power.

The more you know, the more you will appreciate that there is no "cookie cutter" approach that will work for all, be the best approach for you now, or be the best approach as your strength and tennis game improve.

For more in depth information about why/how to train consider buying:
Tennis Training: Enhancing On-court Performance by Kovacs, Chandler and Chandler http://www.amazon.com/Tennis-Trainin...ref=pd_sim_b_2

And for specific regimens in strength and power training it is hard to beat the information in:
Power Tennis Training by Donald Chu http://www.amazon.com/Power-Tennis-T...8655452&sr=8-1


Good luck!

[ramos77]

thanks for all the info guys, i'll start reading!

[Posture Guy]

Good stuff!

Yes, thrower's ten as a baseline.

Kettlebells are great for the arms and shoulders, if done properly.

Nice to see mention of VIPr. I was out in San Diego a few weeks ago and got to spend about 4 hours with the guy who invented VIPr, and have him take me and some of my colleagues through a VIPr workout. My first thought on being exposed to it was this is a tremendous training tool for tennis.

Functional body weight stuff like what Matt Furey does, Hindu Pushups, for example. Then throw in old school stuff like bear crawls, crab walks, inchworms. Want a kick *** old school workout? Go to a tire store and ask for an old discarded tire. Something medium to large sized. Then take it to a park. Put it in the grass. Now pick it up with a squat and throw it in front of you as you come up. Walk up, rinse and repeat until you get to the other side of the park. Proceed to vomit, then do it again coming back to your starting point.

Point being, there are a LOT of ways to build strength and if you think you need a gym membership or fancy equipment to do it, you're wrong.

[scotus]

Originally Posted by Posture Guy

Proceed to vomit, then do it again coming back to your starting point.

Is this your professional advice?

[Posture Guy]

Well, if you want to be technical about it, the vomiting part is optional, I suppose.

[floridatennisdude]

Originally Posted by tennisdad65

Do push ups help with the back side of the shoulder? I am not much of a weights/workout guy, and I need to strengthen my shoulder.

Pushups are one of the fundamental components of strength training and they certainly are included in the throwers 10 workouts. Depending on your baseline, they can be done against a wall, normal position, inclined, and even with sandbags on your back.

What charlifederer mentions is great advice. I'd take his recommendations to heart. What I see people doing in throwers 10 exercises is skipping or cutting down on some of the rear muscle exercises. Ultimately, those are as important or more than the cuff strengtheners. Those muscles help the shoulder stop the arm when it is in a throwing/serving motion.

If you're not much of a "weights guy" you should strongly consider becoming one. I don't do excessive weight training, but I have found it imperative to use some simple things like
- 5-15 lb dumb bells
- exercise tubing
- 10-30 lb kettle bells
- bosu ball

You could fully equip your home for a tennis workout program for a couple hundred bucks. Cheaper if you buy used stuff.

[GuyClinch]

Charlie's routines are great - and there is some excellent advice in this thread. Is your goal only to improve your tennis - or is to get all around stronger and fitter hope for some tennis crossover?

I like this workout for rec. athletes. It's pretty well put together..

http://www.elitefts.com/ws4sb/WS4SB.pdf

This workout is more for guys who want to be a strong athlete - and its not tennis specific.

Either way I think its best to find a professional workout that is designed to meet your goals. If you just do what you think might help - you can really create a muscle imbalance.

The advantage of a good profession a routine is that you will benefit from the accumulated wisdom of professional strenght coaches..