Managing heart rate and recovery during (recreational) matches

I observed that my heart rate can go up to 165-170 during intensive runs/gets and cross-court sprints (baseline to the net), and it usually does not go down quickly enough between the points.

When my rate stays high (~160 and above), I observe a drop in performance and concentration. Serve becomes weaker, I move slower and I miss more.

My questions are:

a) do you have any good tips for managing this during the recreational matches (no assigned breaks)?
b) do you also suffer a drop in performance and concentration at these heart rates?
 
I observed that my heart rate can go up to 165-170 during intensive runs/gets and cross-court sprints (baseline to the net), and it usually does not go down quickly enough between the points.

When my rate stays high (~160 and above), I observe a drop in performance and concentration. Serve becomes weaker, I move slower and I miss more.

My questions are:

a) do you have any good tips for managing this during the recreational matches (no assigned breaks)?
b) do you also suffer a drop in performance and concentration at these heart rates?
OP There is alot here to unpack.

First I'm guessing your HR max is somewhere between 170 and 180, maybe as high as 190. This would mean that you are in your zones 4 and 5 between 160 and 170. This is not sustainable and will lead to exhaustion within an hour and maybe sooner if you are not conditioned to it yet.

The good news is if you keep at it it will get better. For me I was stuck in zones 4 and 5 50 to 70 percent of my matches and seeing a sharp drop off in skill during second sets for over a year. In time, with regular play, this has shifted to where I am in zone 3 90% of the time in general, while playing.

Sometimes, I will go to zone 4 more than I would like but I rarely make it to zone 5 any more. My resting pulse also dropped from around 65 to around 55.

My recovery pulse drops 20 to 30 bpm once I slow down now. It used to get stuck revving till conditioning occurred.

The other great thing about getting into condition is that I can play every day now if I want to.

During the unconditioned period I would be so achy that I needed a week off after a singles match. Slowly that closed to where I am now.

The main thing is to stay healthy and keep playing. You should only play 1 or twice a week till conditioning occurs. Do supportive exercises on your off days and little by little things will improve. Good luck!
 
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First I'm guessing your HR max is somewhere between 170 and 180, maybe as high as 190. This would mean that you are in your zones 4 and 5 between 160 and 170. This is not sustainable and will lead to exhaustion within an hour and maybe sooner if you are not conditioned to it yet.
Thanks for a lengthy and thorough answer.

In addition to better conditioning, my question was also about the techniques to lower the heart rate between the points or games.
 

ollinger

G.O.A.T.
170 is pretty high for relatively brief periods of exertion. You didn't mention your age, which is very relevant, as a cardiac stress test may be in order for you.
 
50, athletic.

Note that I tend to sprint across the court to chase every ball and so my heart rate can get high. Especially if I did not warm up as effectively as I could.
 
Thanks for a lengthy and thorough answer.

In addition to better conditioning, my question was also about the techniques to lower the heart rate between the points or games.
As other posters have shown, deep breathing, calm thinking, stopping movement will encourage the slowing of the heart rate due to cues to the parasympathetic nervous system.

I did not mention them because, as a yogi, I know dozens of such techniques but do not use any of them except keeping a loose belly and breathing fully between points. This also protects my back which used to be an issue for me.

You want your body to get used to the exertion and not need so much blood circulating. This takes time and conditioning. Long slow distance training is particularly good for this. On your off from tennis days you want to be in zones 1 and 2 at least half an hour on most days. It takes me 6 hours to mow my lawn using a walk behind mower and this does the trick for me in the summer months ;--)

Artificially lowering the heart rate is not what you want, unless you are also having trouble sleeping or hyperventilating or having panic attacks. Then I would break out some breathing exercises that lead to relaxation.
 

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
Improving both your aerobic fitness (endurance) and anaerobic fitness should help to improve your HR recovery. Tennis fitness utilizes aerobic respiration (40-60% of your energy needs) as well as anaerobic respirations. To develop an adequate aerobic base, you can try long distance running, cycling, rowing swimming, etc -- perhaps for 20 mins or longer.

To develop both of your anaerobic systems, you will need interval training, such as HIIT. Some ppl can derive both aerobic & anaerobic benefits from HIIT. But, for many, only the 2 anaerobic systems are developed (and very little, if any, aerobic benefit is developed) with HIIT.

 
Improving both your aerobic fitness (endurance) and anaerobic fitness should help to improve your HR recovery. Tennis fitness utilizes aerobic respiration (40-60% of your energy needs) as well as anaerobic respirations. To develop an adequate aerobic base, you can try long distance running, cycling, rowing swimming, etc -- perhaps for 20 mins or longer.

To develop both of your anaerobic systems, you will need interval training, such as HIIT. Some ppl can derive both aerobic & anaerobic benefits from HIIT. But, for many, only the 2 anaerobic systems are developed (and very little, if any, aerobic benefit is developed) with HIIT.

OK, so I think I need to add some new training days to my routine.

For the last couple of years playing singles lead me to high intensity spikes and lots of time in zones 4 and 5. I took those matches as high intensity days and did long slow distance training on other days. Now I rarely get above zone 3 while playing. I'm still playing as hard or harder but I'm conditioned to it.

I guess if I want to continue to see improvement I need a different regimen for HIIT!

Very interesting. Thanks!
 

Jst21121

Rookie
To keep it simple- you need to train on your off days.

Rec tennis players do one thing- and that’s play tennis. All of my hitting partners only play tennis… while I

Bike 60-120 minutes in the morning hit or zone 2.
Run 60 minutes and alternate between endurance or hit.

And it shows- my ability to sustain long points and or sets- I can always have more then enough energy while my opponents don’t.

Get training in your off days you will be better.
 

ryohazuki222

Professional
Thanks for a lengthy and thorough answer.

In addition to better conditioning, my question was also about the techniques to lower the heart rate between the points or games.
Thanks for a lengthy and thorough answer.

In addition to better conditioning, my question was also about the techniques to lower the heart rate between the points or game
I know this is old, but it got bumped and I never saw some answers to certain OPs questions.

1- does this happen to you?
Yes. I actually think wearing a watch now is a form of legal cheating. Why? I’ve noticed if my heart rate goes above 160 bpm, I get more stupid. My brain tells me it’s ok to play low percentage tennis. My brain tells me I’m more of a shot maker than I am. Especially walking up to serve. Things like going to tight spots or aces or over hitting. So what do I do? I pay attention to my heart rate, if it’s high I trust logic over “feel” because I know what I’m feeling is wrong.

2- ways to reduce between points and matches?
Breathing and maximizing dead time are obvious so here are the others. Let’s say I’m really high. 170s would be really high for me. I will try to strategically play a point that results in less movement on my end. Hit slower balls. Maybe moon ball a little. Maybe more slices. More up the middle and deep rather than opening up the court via angles. More leaning to the high percentage shot and challenging my opponent to go for the low percentage shot —- and if he goes for it, I’m not going to rush to get it. I’ll sacrifice the point. Usually it takes 1 point to recover down. Maybe 2. But think of ways to buy you time. Lobs, slices, etc.

I’m general, heart rate is high because you’re using your muscles a lot. Limit movement, breathe, sit down (if change over), would use less muscles and “require” less heart rate.

Last thing (already covered) —- and I’m not joking —- it helps to play someone worse than you. My sustained and peak heart rate against a 10-11 UTR vs a 7-10 UTR vs a 5-7 UTR is drastically different. At some point you’re just outmatched. See other posts about training. My guess is that if i were to play an extremely high UTR, I’d have a pretty low heart rate because I couldn’t compete whatsoever.

Example: when I catch up with and play a buddy of mine that still teaches and has continued to get better and better after I left to work an office job…. I can’t rest. The problem compounds. I’m just dead. When I play another buddy of mine that I used to teach, I go out of me way to run around extra, prolong rallies, open up the court, etc to get my heart rate up (for cardio).
 
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Ronaldo

Bionic Poster
I know this is old, but it got bumped and I never saw some answers to certain OPs questions.

1- does this happen to you?
Yes. I actually think wearing a watch now is a form of legal cheating. Why? I’ve noticed if my heart rate goes above 160 bpm, I get more stupid. My brain tells me it’s ok to play low percentage tennis. My brain tells me I’m more of a shot maker than I am. Especially walking up to serve. Things like going to tight spots or aces or over hitting. So what do I do? I pay attention to my heart rate, if it’s high I trust logic over “feel” because I know what I’m feeling is wrong.

2- ways to reduce between points and matches?
Breathing and maximizing dead time are obvious so here are the others. Let’s say I’m really high. 170s would be really high for me. I will try to strategically play a point that results in less movement on my end. Hit slower balls. Maybe moon ball a little. Maybe more slices. More up the middle and deep rather than opening up the court via angles. More leaning to the high percentage shot and challenging my opponent to go for the low percentage shot —- and if he goes for it, I’m not going to rush to get it. I’ll sacrifice the point. Usually it takes 1 point to recover down. Maybe 2. But think of ways to buy you time. Lobs, slices, etc.

I’m general, heart rate is high because you’re using your muscles a lot. Limit movement, breathe, sit down (if change over), would use less muscles and “require” less heart rate.

Last thing (already covered) —- and I’m not joking —- it helps to play someone worse than you. My sustained and peak heart rate against a 10-11 UTR vs a 7-10 UTR vs a 5-7 UTR is drastically different. At some point you’re just outmatched. See other posts about training. My guess is that if i were to play an extremely high UTR, I’d have a pretty low heart rate because I couldn’t compete whatsoever.

Example: when I catch up with and play a buddy of mine that still teaches and has continued to get better and better after I left to work an office job…. I can’t rest. The problem compounds. I’m just dead. When I play another buddy of mine that I used to teach, I go out of me way to run around extra, prolong rallies, open up the court, etc to get my heart rate up (for cardio).
Whenever I played a better player I would asked if we could play cutthroat and I get the third wheel. After a set I retired and let them play while I drank. Recall 20 yrs ago my HR would start at 120 bpm to over 175-180 during points. Visited a cardiologist and prepared for the first of three open heart surgeries. Last year had to splain all the scars.
 
I think my issue is game and point management. I try to chase every ball down.

I am fit but not young any more. Also, when I play against a very strong opponent who takes the time away from me, I should just let it go.

What I started practicing is taking my time a little bit better to recover between the points and between the games.

This is where I could still take some advice on the best ways to recover.
 

ryohazuki222

Professional
I think my issue is game and point management. I try to chase every ball down.

I am fit but not young any more. Also, when I play against a very strong opponent who takes the time away from me, I should just let it go.

What I started practicing is taking my time a little bit better to recover between the points and between the games.

This is where I could still take some advice on the best ways to recover.
So if you think about strategy, you want to think about your ideal recovery spot based on the last shot you hit, relative to your opponents high percentage play.

Cross court rallies are your friend. You hit high percentage and you travel very short to recover. Just have a better cross court shot than your opponents :).

Playing above will reduce your need to cover the other half of the court. If you take your backhand down the line from the baseline, you took your (assuming) weaker shot to your opponents stronger shot. And your opponents high percentage shot is cross court forcing you to quickly move from the ad to deuce side and increases the chances you go on defense.

Above is one way.

Another way is to just take more risks (smartly). Meaning… if it became a battle of attrition who would win? If your opponents fitness level is above yours, then you’d possibly be better off gambling more and thinking differently. As in… “how can I win this point in less than 5 shots?”.

It depends on your natural talents a bit, but it was an effective change for me back when I played tournaments. I hit well but was more out of shape (cardio) than most people I played against. At some point I realized that the likelihood of me winning a point or a match with long rallies is pretty low in that scenario. I have also been blessed with a bit serve and some natural power. So I just started going for more. Nothing to lose. I’d lose fast or win fast. But in a tournament scenario that’s better than losing slow or winning slow since match after match compounds.

You know… or you can do some extra cardio and turn that into a strength :p.

I’ve since changed from playing competitively to moreso for exercise. So for the first time in my life I’m playing more of counterpuncher style, which is interesting and new for me. But otherwise I don’t get enough cardio in.

Laaaaast thing I’ll add:
Equipment matters.
Lighter racket, looser strings, or more forgiving racket reduces the cardio fitness necessary to get into good positions and hit decent shots.

The heart rate difference between me rallying with my functional tennis saber (37sq in) vs with my 98 sq in regular frame is drastic. To get into position to hit a tiny head over and over and over is much more tiring than being able to get away with lazier footwork and poorer contact.

Even on the same racket. Tighter strings vs looser strings generally impacts my heart rate a bit. Looser strings…. Racket just does more work and is more forgiving. Can keep heart rate lower. Compared to tighter strings where I have to work more, especially when forced out of position a bit.
 

Fintft

G.O.A.T.
Improving both your aerobic fitness (endurance) and anaerobic fitness should help to improve your HR recovery. Tennis fitness utilizes aerobic respiration (40-60% of your energy needs) as well as anaerobic respirations. To develop an adequate aerobic base, you can try long distance running, cycling, rowing swimming, etc -- perhaps for 20 mins or longer.

To develop both of your anaerobic systems, you will need interval training, such as HIIT. Some ppl can derive both aerobic & anaerobic benefits from HIIT. But, for many, only the 2 anaerobic systems are developed (and very little, if any, aerobic benefit is developed) with HIIT.

This.
I keep a close eye on the heart rate recovery. Easy to measure after one minute of achieving max HR. If it only goes down my less then 18 beat you may want to see your cardiologist. Over 30 it seems to be an indicator of good conditioning (personally I aim for over 50).

But meanwhile, you may want to shorten the points or at least control them?
 

Rosstour

G.O.A.T.
Max heart rate depends on age as a general rule.

So without knowing how old someone is, it’s impossible to really compare.

42 and I'm at like 12% BF

Never felt faint or anything on the court but I do like to stop for a bit after a long point
 
Given that, you’ve either got a bad tracker or in really good shape :)
The age formula gives a median. Half the population is above it and half below it.

At 65 my max ny the formula 220 - age is 155 but in reality is 180. To know your max you meet to do a high intensity test.

As I have gotten in better shape my max hasn't changed. I just need to work harder to reach it. My resting pulse has gone down though and is now around 55.
 

ryohazuki222

Professional
The age formula gives a median. Half the population is above it and half below it.

At 65 my max ny the formula 220 - age is 155 but in reality is 180. To know your max you meet to do a high intensity test.

As I have gotten in better shape my max hasn't changed. I just need to work harder to reach it. My resting pulse has gone down though and is now around 55.
Interesting. I didn’t know that. Any research on the distribution on the variance that you know about?

Forgot about the actual stress test.
 
Interesting. I didn’t know that. Any research on the distribution on the variance that you know about?

Forgot about the actual stress test.

All I got from this is the fact of wide variation but you might be able to understand the distribution...
 

ryohazuki222

Professional

All I got from this is the fact of wide variation but you might be able to understand the distribution...
“This equation, however, has been reported to have a standard deviation of between 10 and 12 bpm (15), as well as significantly over and underestimating HRmax in younger and older adults, respectively (17, 29). Although the limited predictive accuracy of this equation has been documented (11, 24, 26, 27, 31, 34, 35) it is still used in clinical settings and published in resources by well-established organizations in the field (1

So sounds like plus/minus 10 or so, but also accuracy using age method is less accurate for older/younger.
 
“This equation, however, has been reported to have a standard deviation of between 10 and 12 bpm (15), as well as significantly over and underestimating HRmax in younger and older adults, respectively (17, 29). Although the limited predictive accuracy of this equation has been documented (11, 24, 26, 27, 31, 34, 35) it is still used in clinical settings and published in resources by well-established organizations in the field (1

So sounds like plus/minus 10 or so, but also accuracy using age method is less accurate for older/younger.
Ok. That sounds reasonable. And it makes the formula worse than useless as a guide to training.
For me it would make my gentle workouts too gentle and my high intensity workouts not intense enough.
In my opinion, serious people should stop spreading these bad indicators, in favor of encouraging this.
Use felt sense indications for training until you are in good enough condition to safely do a heart rate max test.
 

ryohazuki222

Professional
Ok. That sounds reasonable. And it makes the formula worse than useless as a guide to training.
For me it would make my gentle workouts too gentle and my high intensity workouts not intense enough.
In my opinion, serious people should stop spreading these bad indicators, in favor of encouraging this.
Use felt sense indications for training until you are in good enough condition to safely do a heart rate max test.
I don’t know. For me it seems like it’s pretty effective.

Even without doing a max test, if I historically look at my highest bpm, the max is around where it “should” be.

Though who knows… that could just be software adjusted. I’ve never been able to find that much info on how Apple Watch bpm really works at a technical level.
 
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