SPORT SCIENCE - Professional Tennis Registry

PlyometricsPlyometrics exercises involve explosive, powerful movements. A plyometric exercise uses aninitial pre-stretch or countermove, which involves the stretch shortening cycle. There are threestages: a pre-stretch, a pause, and a shortening phase that releases the power. For example,to do a vertical jump, an athlete would first bend at the knees and hips, pause for a splitsecond, and finally jump.Plyometrics exercises are very specific to tennis, if performed correctly. They are useful indeveloping power and strengthening the body for the accelerative and decelerative forcesneeded in tennis movement. They help train stability and proprioception.Plyometrics is one particular training regiment in which one should carefully observe theprinciples of progression and overload. Bounding and depth jumps can exert significantforces on the body and should be developed gradually. Although some plyometric exercisesare demanding, light plyometrics should be in every tennis player’s regimen. For example,wheelchair athletes can use medicine balls to train the upper body.Is Plyometrics Safe for Kids?Original plyometrics from Eastern Europe were advanced explosive exercises incorporatingdepth box jumps and heavy medicine balls. Such high intensity plyometrics are notsuitable for children and depend on developmental and training age (i.e., experience withtraining routines). Children at play often do light to moderate forms of plyometrics ingaining coordination skills, including jumping jacks, leap frogs, hop scotch, skipping andhopping. Plyometrics for young children 42 are safe, provided they involve fun exercises oflow to medium intensity, including double hops over mini-cones or tennis court lines.Medicine balls for 10 year olds should weigh 4 pounds or less.PTR Practical On Court Applications for Sport Science 35