How to be prepared for the season?

[Skanavis]

Hi everyone, My high school season is started in about a month, and i was wondering what type of training i can do for it. I have ressitance bands, which I will start using soon for isometric training. I was also thinking of putting some weights on a junk racquet, keeping it in my bag, and then swinging with it everyday before practice. Would that increase my arm speed too?

What other types of things can I do? Im in pretty good shape, and have great foot speed, but my footwork is lacking. Should I practice Dance dance revolution? (im already a beast at it, but I can always get better). In about a week it will be warm enough for me to start playing outside, what drills could i do for the season?

Im not that good of a player, probably like a 3.5 (I dont know that self rate stuff is pretty weird). I just started 11 months ago (started last year's season as a freshmen). So does anyone know any good drills or things I can do to train myself?

Also would lifting weights help? I've heard mixed things about them.

Thanks guys.

 

[ReopeningWed]

I don't think lifting weights would help, I've always felt that the time I spent lifting weights would've been better spent hitting and refining my strokes.
For high school tennis, I'd say the single, most important thing you can do is to develop a solid serve. Kiddos are inconsistent with returns in my experience, and if you can hold serve consistently all you have to do is get a lucky break or a lucky point in a tiebreak to win.

Good luck!

 

[cl76]

Let me get this straight. You think lifting weights will make you stronger in tennis? You think learning how to dance will make your footwork better in tennis?

If you want to get better at tennis, play more tennis.

 

[Skanavis]

Well i wasn't sure about the lifting weights part, but as for dance dance revolution yea i definitely think that will help me get better in tennis. That thing does wonders for footwork, speed, and balance. You get all that foot eye coordination.

But yea, Im going to play tennis as much as I can as soon as the weathers good, so that was why i was wondering what drills i should be doing.

 

[cl76]

I wasn't trying to diss your training methods. The more athletic you are the more physical advantages you have. It's a good thing to have other exercise on your off tennis days. Just don't over do it, allow your body to rest and recover.

The reason I say play more tennis to get better is because only through trial and error, practice and repetition do you learn the "feel" for shots.

 

[ReopeningWed]

I wasn't trying to diss your training methods. The more athletic you are the more physical advantages you have. It's a good thing to have other exercise on your off tennis days. Just don't over do it, allow your body to rest and recover.

The reason I say play more tennis to get better is because only through trial and error, practice and repetition do you learn the "feel" for shots.

I think the OP is saying that he needs something to do to whip him into tennis shape while the weather is too poor for him to play tennis.

Right now, in my area, it's been raining pretty much nonstop for the last 5 days. The whole time, I'm been digging up ground stroke compilations, how-to videos (Like FYB), and looking at tennis-specific exercises (I'll get around to doing them eventually ) while I wait for the weather to clear up.

You might want to look into studying doubles/singles strategy, depending on what you play. There's never such a thing as too much tennis knowledge

 

[Djokovicfan4life]

Learn the basic footwork patterns and drill them often. Do a search in this section. There's a boatload of info on it.

Matt

 

[Skywalker91]

You should take weights at your school. It's a lot of fun and you get stronger and faster. My weights class also had conditioning and worked on pro agility. I got really good at line drills because of the class.

 

[ReopeningWed]

You should take weights at your school. It's a lot of fun and you get stronger and faster. My weights class also had conditioning and worked on pro agility. I got really good at line drills because of the class.

Working on your abs, back and shoulder muscles will definitely help though; especially your abs. There's no such thing as having too strong of a core

 

[superlobber]

"If you want to get better at tennis, play more tennis."

This a good advise, but just let me make this a better advise.

If you want to get better at tennis, play more tennis with MORE RECREAIONAL PLAYERS. Amost every neighborhood with a good tennis courts have a group of oldies playing double everyweek. Try to ask these oldies if you can play with them and ask them for advise. These oldies can help you to improve your game mentally and physically.

 

[ogruskie]

Honestly, weight training won't help you if you only intend on doing it for a month. You gotta work out for monthS to see results. 4 weeks really isn't much to see significant improvement in strength, unless you're going to lift DURING the season as well.

During the next month, focus on the basics. Strokes, footwork, etc. Play everyday with PURPOSE. Don't just go out and rally, since that will amount to nothing in match play. Rather, play matches with people until you get comfortable with that competitive atmosphere.

 

[cl76]

I disagree supperlobber.

When I said "play more tennis" I was referring to:

* Hitting partner
* Group or 1on1 coaching
* Local comps/tournaments

I class this as tennis training. Playing rec players I consider social tennis (especially if it's doubles), not training.
Unless of course you're playing high calibre opponents.

Bottom line: hit more balls, get better faster.

 

[Skanavis]

Honestly, weight training won't help you if you only intend on doing it for a month. You gotta work out for monthS to see results. 4 weeks really isn't much to see significant improvement in strength, unless you're going to lift DURING the season as well.

During the next month, focus on the basics. Strokes, footwork, etc. Play everyday with PURPOSE. Don't just go out and rally, since that will amount to nothing in match play. Rather, play matches with people until you get comfortable with that competitive atmosphere.

Yea thanks, That's what i was planning to do this summer too, because last summer all i did was play games and stuff. I didn't focus on getting better. But this year i will be, thats why i bought a tennis ball machine.

 

[fuzz nation]

I'd also say that if you want to be generally more fit and capable, lifting will help you toward that goal. While you won't make huge gains in four weeks, you'll be headed in the right direction if you start now. Just don't go nuts - you want to use a moderate program that you can stick with over the long haul. When I'm lifting to help with my general fitness, I try to keep after a schedule where I'm hitting it once every three days - one day on, two days off. That's a routine that I can sustain over time along with my tennis and cycling. When I'm making the effort to do it, I know that I'm in significantly better shape as a tennis player.

Since you'll be pounding on the courts pretty much every day, do some running now (in case you're not) so that you're not breaking down over the first few weeks of the season. That will help to keep you healthy.

You can also follow the advice above in terms of getting some court time under your belt. You're a relative newcomer to the sport, so don't try to play like a rock star. You won't impress anyone that way - trust me, I'm a coach. Get yourself more consistent with your strokes and serves and you will be a more reliable player. Even working our against a backboard can be really good for helping you to be comfortable putting the strings on the ball.

 

[Nellie]

I think that at this point, your training would focus on preparing for the tryout/season. I found that I always got hurt due to the heavy increase in tennis (a couple hours per week to a couple per day). So I would use the resistance bands to work on your shoulder, do ab work (crunches to get that core going), and jump so rope to improve footwork/tennis conditioning. You could also start bouncing a ball on your racquet to work on the eye-hand.

 

[BullDogTennis]

i dont think DDR will help that much...

ill use this for example.

my friend has just started tennis for the first time this year, just to have fun with it. but i have noticed that his footwork is also really lacking. but when i watch him in basketball he has great footwork, hes super quick and light on his feet, but when he gets on the tennis court he looks like he put lead boots on his feet. with that being said, DDR is not gonna automatically help your footwork. Im sure it cant hurt. thats kind of like saying guitar hero is gonna help you play real quitar.

 

[Skanavis]

i dont think DDR will help that much...

ill use this for example.

my friend has just started tennis for the first time this year, just to have fun with it. but i have noticed that his footwork is also really lacking. but when i watch him in basketball he has great footwork, hes super quick and light on his feet, but when he gets on the tennis court he looks like he put lead boots on his feet. with that being said, DDR is not gonna automatically help your footwork. Im sure it cant hurt. thats kind of like saying guitar hero is gonna help you play real quitar.

Well I'm not sure about it, it's just a theory of mine. But during the time i played soccer, I played DDR and I noticed a good improvement.

And guitar hero would help you play real guitar. I Mean not in the sense of learning how, But it would sure make it easier with all the coordination you learned from it.