tennis-related fitness question

[tenniskid14]

So i am a junior tennis player that has been doing what i am to improve my fitness. I am on the thin side and while i am not out of shape, i do get tired during long matches and whould like to get quicker footwork also.
Anyways, my parents own what they call an eliptical machine. I have been told before that the best way to train for tennis is to do something as fast as possible and then rest and repeat. But if I do the "performance" workout on the machine, would it still be benefitial to my tennis or would it have a negative effect on my quickness?

sorry to be so long and thank you for any possible answers

 

[Larrysümmers]

yeah that is a pretty solid machine. i say get on it at lower speeds for longer amounts of time for cardio-endurance-and faster speeds short periods of time for sprinting speed

 

[fuzz nation]

Not a terribly long post - don't worry about it.

In my opinion, quickness comes from actually sprinting around. I was never faster on a tennis court than at the end of my high school soccer seasons and that was a direct result of all that repetitive sprint-and-jog work we had to do to chase the ball and cover other players. If you want more quickness, I'd say do some sprints, but also check out other routines to give you better lateral movement. You might want to sprint the length (or width) of the court using only those lateral shuffle steps or find some exercises to give you a better initial burst like plyometrics (sp?).

Haven't tried an elliptical machine myself, but if it helps with your cardio endurance, that's a good thing for longer outings on the court. I like riding a bicycle to help boost my tennis fitness and I love that there's no impact on my knees, etc. like with running. As far as I know, that's one more benefit with those elliptical machines, too.

 

[dman72]

Not a terribly long post - don't worry about it.

In my opinion, quickness comes from actually sprinting around. I was never faster on a tennis court than at the end of my high school soccer seasons and that was a direct result of all that repetitive sprint-and-jog work we had to do to chase the ball and cover other players. If you want more quickness, I'd say do some sprints, but also check out other routines to give you better lateral movement. You might want to sprint the length (or width) of the court using only those lateral shuffle steps or find some exercises to give you a better initial burst like plyometrics (sp?).

Haven't tried an elliptical machine myself, but if it helps with your cardio endurance, that's a good thing for longer outings on the court. I like riding a bicycle to help boost my tennis fitness and I love that there's no impact on my knees, etc. like with running. As far as I know, that's one more benefit with those elliptical machines, too.

Agreed.

Sprints on a soft track or grass field for speed.

Elliptical or bike for endurance.

 

[charliefedererer]

The place of that elliptical in your fitness training will depend on your goals, amount of tennis you are playing, and the amount of time you have.

Nearly everyone agrees that all out sprints with short intervals of rest best simulate the sport of tennis and the type of fitness it requires. This is best known as high intensity interval training (HIIT): http://www.intervaltraining.net/hiit.html

Long slow jogs, bike rides, time on an elliptical, etc. can add some to your endurance, but it you have only a limited amount of time, you will get more fit for tennis with HIIT workouts.

Elipticals are not really made for sprint work, even though they can provide a good workout for cardiovascular fitness. You can "google" eliptical HIIT workouts and find discussions similar to the following: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/archive/index.php/t-707320.html
Just be mindful that sprinting involves more than just good cardiovascular fitness. Your legs run faster with practice because you whole neuromusclular system is being trained to fire faster and in a more coordinated fashion. So eliptical HIIT could be great cardiovasular exercise, but not make you much faster.

But tennis is much more than running fast. It involves quick starts, stops and turns. That is why agility drills done as sprints/HIIT work can help your on court performance: http://dps.usta.com/usta_master/usta/doc/content/doc_437_269.pdf

You can even put HIIT and agility drills together to make up a super tennis specific workout: http://www.xlathlete.com/xl/export/drill_sheet_Game Speed Conditioning - Field_1284390840826.pdf

So by all means take advantage of your parents elliptical. But the main place for it in your routine may be more for days of inclement weather and in addition to other fitness work you are doing.

Good luck!