Dumbbell workout

[BIGJ98]

I am a 14 year old junior player looking to hit my shots harder.
Does any one have any good workout plans for a week with dumbells?
I want to focus on arms and legs.

 

[Deleted member 232704]

Its the technique your lacking that's preventing you from hitting harder. Why would you want to hit harder? You will lose consistency if you have any.

 

[TennisLovaLova]

Op: I guess you already know this but there are tons of dumbbell vids on youtube.
Try the 300 or the spartacus workouts.
If you have an Iphone download the men's health workout app. It's very complete with tons of workouts for each muscle or objective you want to reach.

BUT: you're only 14 so go easy on your body.

 

[BIGJ98]

I want hit harder because I have the technique down but my hardest shot is just not good enough for the level I play at. I think being stronger will help put more pace on the ball.

 

[Nostradamus]

We need websites that uses dumbells to increase core strength. and muscles needed for Tennis

 

[charliefedererer]

The Thrower's Ten is a great set of exercises to help prevent the common shoulder, elbow and wrist overuse injuries that plague tennis players. http://www.muhlenberg.edu/pdf/main/athletics/athletic_training/throwers10.pdf

The following is a good total body workout:
Tennis Weight Training - Exercises of Weight Training for Tennis
http://optimumtennis.net/tennis-weight-training.htm


The following site does a good job of explaining WHY weight training is beneficial for tennis players, and provides information from progressing from an initial phase of multiple reps to a later phase of less reps but higher weight, and finally working on exercises to best develop power for tennis:
Sport Fitness Advisor Complete, Annual Tennis Weight Training Program http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/tennis-weight-training.html

 

[Deleted member 232704]

I want hit harder because I have the technique down but my hardest shot is just not good enough for the level I play at. I think being stronger will help put more pace on the ball.

The power comes all from the technique. I've seen plenty of scrawny guys hit some bombs of forehands. By you saying " I have the technique down " can you show a video example of you playing? By correcting your swing motion, follow through, and foot work, the power will come naturally.
Hitting harder is not always the best choice. -_-

 

[Deleted member 232704]

Read this page. http://www.usta.com/Improve-Your-Ga...-and-Strokes/Hitting_with_strength_and_power/
Not one bit of it mentions to build strength.

 

[charliefedererer]

Read this page. http://www.usta.com/Improve-Your-Ga...-and-Strokes/Hitting_with_strength_and_power/
Not one bit of it mentions to build strength.

Perhaps you ought to check out the following USTA recommendations for strengthening to help prevent the common overuse injuries common to tennis players:

"Prevention of shoulder and elbow injuries

Proper timing and coordination of the kinetic chain is critical for avoiding the types of injuries that can occur in the upper body when hitting an open stance forehand. Additionally, having adequate strength in the rotator cuff and upper back can help stabilize the shoulder and prevent injury."
- http://www.usta.com/Improve-Your-Ga...62_Prevention_of_shoulder_and_elbow_injuries/


"Prevention of abdominal and shoulder injuries

Maintaining the integrity of the kinetic chain, good rotation and proper leg drive are cornerstones of proper serve technique. Players need to be able to draw from the power of the legs and trunk to execute a serve safely and effectively."
- http://www.usta.com/Improve-Your-Ga...revention_of_abdominal_and_shoulder_injuries/


"Prevention of knee injuries

The knee is a hinge joint and for it to function properly, all the muscles throughout the leg (ankle, knee and hip) need to be strong and flexible. Training for knee injury prevention centers on developing overall leg strength, balance and flexibility.

Squat:

The squat is one of the best exercises for developing leg strength and should be a staple for most tennis players."
- http://www.usta.com/Improve-Your-Game/Sport-Science/340463_Prevention_of_knee_injuries/

 

[fuzz nation]

I want hit harder because I have the technique down but my hardest shot is just not good enough for the level I play at. I think being stronger will help put more pace on the ball.

A few years back, I got to watch an interesting kid play on more than one occasion. He was only 12 and had moved into my area with his family from Russia. At the time, he was the #1 12-year-old from his country and eventually finished the competitive calendar that year at #1 in the world for his age group. The little dude was nothing but your average 90-something pound kid who still needed to drink a lot of milk, but his game was absolutely man-sized.

After watching this wee slugger knock the crap out of college players and teaching pros over the next year or so (and his manners were excellent!), my concept of a "strong player" was changed forever. Okay, so he was blessed with incredible coordination and timing that can't be bought, but he wasn't a gorilla of a 12-year-old. He had quickness and outstanding stroke preparation that provided him the necessary time to take full cuts at the ball more often than not.

If you want more power, get faster. All of us can hammer the ball, but the trick of it is getting ready and starting that full swipe before the ball shows up. No it's not easy, but it's essential for learning to hang with harder hitters.

Pushups, pullups, core exercises... lots of this stuff will help your strength and endurance on the courts. But if you want more power in your game, you also need to consider learning more efficient movement and preparation.

 

[Chas Tennis]

Learn the Relationships of Weight & Reps to Results

There are very simple relationships between the weight and number of repetitions and the results that exercises produce on the body. For example, if you use a weight that is very light it is very unlikely that the size and strength of your muscles will increase very much.

This thread had a lot of information on the issue of reps and weight. There are internet calculators for examining issues of weight & reps as in this reply.

The rep rate of 5 with increasing weights is usually described as a rep range for muscle hypertrophy.

Hypertrophy is difficult to come by, with five pounds of added body muscle per year being a much above average gain. Easy to back off if you should see too much hypertrophy in any muscle.

When you begin exercising the first considerable strength increase, maybe over several weeks or a few months, is said to be mostly due to your nerves and muscles adapting to work together to produce more strength, not much real hypertrophy. After the nerve adaptation phase if you increase weights farther the next adaptation is hypertrophy.

There may be an increase in the size of blood vessels for some rep ranges, again not exactly muscle hypertrophy. For that rep range I believe that the 'pump' will swell your muscles during and for maybe a few hours after you exercise. Maybe more the 12-20 rep range. ?

Speculating - I have suspected that if you exercise using very heavy weights, for some days there may be damage and swelling in the muscle, a little size increase. That temporary size increase, if it really occurs, would not be true muscle hypertrophy.

For hypertrophy an approach for reps is to do 8 reps with a weight that is very difficult to do on the last rep (or to failure??). Gradually increase to 12 reps always with the last rep being very difficult or failure. Then increase weight, drop back to 8 reps and repeat.........

There is a very well know relationship between the most weight that you can lift one time, 1rep max (1RM), and how many repetitions you can do with a weight that is a percent (0-100%) of 1RM. There are many calculators on the internet.
http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/OneRepMax.html

Rules of thumb for reps related to 1 rep max.
You can lift 80% of 1RM 8 reps.
You can lift 75% 1RM 10 reps.

The simple relationship starts to become less accurate at reps above 12 or 15. Not applicable above 20 reps I believe.

Rep range information
http://weighttrainingexercises4you.com/rep-ranges-to-develop-muscle.html

 

[kid-tennis-1980]

I am a 14 year old junior player looking to hit my shots harder.
Does any one have any good workout plans for a week with dumbells?
I want to focus on arms and legs.

I would agree with most of the other comments that you should focus more on your form, ground stroke and techniques as opposed to worrying about building up your arms and legs.

Just look at the best players in the world (Federer, Nadal), I can tell you that those guys are not hitting the gym to workout with dumbbells. They focus more on core strength training and working on their game.

Hope this helps.
Carl

 

[WildVolley]

I would agree with most of the other comments that you should focus more on your form, ground stroke and techniques as opposed to worrying about building up your arms and legs.

Just look at the best players in the world (Federer, Nadal), I can tell you that those guys are not hitting the gym to workout with dumbbells. They focus more on core strength training and working on their game.

Hope this helps.
Carl

A number of pros do work with dumbbells for injury prevention. Roddick claimed that he religiously did rotator cuff work (think like the Thrower's 10) during his career with dumbbells to prevent injury and keep his shoulder strong for serving. Murray is definitely doing strength work with weights since (and probably prior) to hiring Jez Green as his conditioning trainer. I'm almost certain those aren't the only two guys doing the work.

 

[Overdrive]

A number of pros do work with dumbbells for injury prevention. Roddick claimed that he religiously did rotator cuff work (think like the Thrower's 10) during his career with dumbbells to prevent injury and keep his shoulder strong for serving. Murray is definitely doing strength work with weights since (and probably prior) to hiring Jez Green as his conditioning trainer. I'm almost certain those aren't the only two guys doing the work.

But then you have guys like Verdasco who only hit the gym and spend less time on the court. He would be a more dangerous player if he would have managed to balance booth.

Speaking of weights, I need to get back into strength conditioning...

 

[WildVolley]

But then you have guys like Verdasco who only hit the gym and spend less time on the court. He would be a more dangerous player if he would have managed to balance booth.

Speaking of weights, I need to get back into strength conditioning...

Well, it worked for Agassi, but perhaps not so well for Verdasco.:-?

I've started doing some mild strength training and it seems to be helping my game and being able to play without injury. I do rotator cuff with elastic tubing, started doing pull ups (from sets of 4 to 10 in about 2 months) and should really start deadlifting and squatting again. I'm able to hit a first serve at about 110mph at the moment without shoulder pain, so that's always a positive.

 

[Posture Guy]

Lots of things have to be in place to create "power" in a rotational sport. On that list of things, raw strength is WAY down the list. At the top are technique and proper kinematic sequencing. What is kinematic sequencing? It's a fancy term for the speed and sequence in which the body unwinds to execute a movement or task, like hitting a golf or tennis ball. If you have even a light amount of strength but sound technique and excellent kinematic sequencing, you can hit the hell out of the ball. Conversely, you can be incredibly strong and have poor sequencing and you won't put any power on the ball.

Think of the guy who is all coiled up and ready to unload a power forehand. As he executes the shot, what needs to lead the motion is hip rotation, followed by trunk rotation, followed by the shoulders, then the arm, then the racquet head. As we move away from the body's core, the speed of rotation increases. If that sequence is disrupted, speed goes in the toilet.

Ever been setup to hit a shot and then the wind pushes it into you faster than you expected or it takes a weird bounce right into you and now you have to just swing with your arm quickly just to make contact without executing full shot movement? The shot has little power, right? that's because you're out of kinematic sequence. The arm and racquet rotated ahead of the rest of the body and lost power.

Most amateur players have poor technique and faulty kinematic sequencing. If I was working with a tennis player or golfer who wanted to improve power, working on raw strength, especially of the extremities, would be WAY down my list of priorities. If I was going to do strength training at all, I'd be focusing on ensuring the deep rotators of the hips and trunk were able to properly fire, and that the individual had sufficient range of motion and flexibility to be able to properly coil, then unload in proper sequence.

And as RogueFLIP and I have been pointing out on other threads, to the degree an individual has postural dysfunction or myofascial limitations, the ability to execute a proper kinematic sequence will be compromised.

Here's a nice link talking about it from a golf perspective.

http://www.biokineticspt.com/blog/tag/kinematic-sequence

Think, for example, of Fred Couples or Ernie Els. When they hit a driver it doesn't even look like they're swinging hard. It's so fluid and graceful, but the ball goes a mile. Why? Because their technique and kinematic sequence is just spot on. It's why a 5'2" 120 pounder from the WTA will typically hit a harder, heavier ball than most of the guys here. It ain't about raw strength in most cases.

 

[Posture Guy]

And this also explains why so many amateur players develop wrist, elbow and shoulder issues. They are fundamentally compromised in some fashion from executing proper kinematic sequencing, so they try to muscle the ball with their arm. That's a prescription for both erratic play and injury.

 

[mr_fro2000]

I want hit harder because I have the technique down but my hardest shot is just not good enough for the level I play at. I think being stronger will help put more pace on the ball.

If your hardest shot is not good enough, you probably do not have your technique down.

I agree w/ the other people here that say form and good fundamentals will give you the most bang for your buck in the power department.

You are young. Learn the proper technique first before you start hitting the weights.

 

[Aedan]

If you want more power, get quicker, all of us can sort the football, but the key of it is getting ready and beginning that full run before the football reveals up....