SPORT SCIENCE - Professional Tennis Registry

Areas of Athleticism That Can Be ImprovedLike all sports, tennis requires athleticism. Although some individuals are natural athletes,many people can be trained systematically to improve their athleticism. Often playingdifferent sports develops skills that may be useful for tennis. For example, playing soccer(international football) is excellent for improving footwork in tennis. Participating in differentphysical activities is known as cross training.Basic components of athleticism that should be trained include:• Balance• Flexibility• Agility• Muscular Endurance• Cardiovascular Endurance• Speed• Muscular Strength• PowerA tennis player may be strong in some areas, but need improvement in others. Childrenrequire development in all areas, but usually their load is far less than older individuals. Manyareas can be started early when training children, but it must be understood that some areaswill have limited improvement due to limitations in hormone production and other factors.The Difference Between Strength and PowerMany people confuse the last two components of athleticism - strength and power. Strengthis the ability to exert maximal force. For example, lifting a very heavy object requires strength(regardless of the time it takes to the lift the object). Power is the combination of strength andtime over which the force is produced. Lifting a very heavy object quickly requires more powerthan lifting it slowly.Applied to tennis, loading the legs and driving a big forehand requires more power than hittinga drop shot. In addition, a serve traveling 125 mph requires powerful use of the body. Speedisn’t power, since it doesn’t discriminate between loads or stress. Rather, power is related to(strength) x (speed).PTR Practical On Court Applications for Sport Science 11