How did I get on when trying out the training exercise in the US Open’s video?

The US Open Tennis Championships posted a video of Maria Sharapova on their facebook page¹ doing a resistance band type of exercise while running around cones and hitting the ball. I replied I was keen to try it and they replied tell us how you got on. This made me think about starting this blog since I’m still a professional ITF tennis player, albeit very inactive in terms of tournaments. But I exercise every day and tennis is still very much a part of my life. I love constantly thinking about tennis and fitness training. I’m always learning and adding new ideas to my training to improve my game, fitness and future tournament match play. So I’m just blogging about how I exercise, train, play and think about all things tennis.

However, I wouldn’t recommend anyone do the exercises I describe because I’ve been exercising since a very early age so I have built up a fairly muscular physique (from both sport and dance training) so what suits me will not suit others. So as they say, don’t try this at home! I don’t want to be responsible for anyone injuring themselves. It’s important to see a qualified physical trainer first before embarking on an exercise regime or being too ambitious on a tennis court. Injuries happen all too easily. So take care and seek professional advice first.

So, how did I get on when trying out the training exercise in the US Open’s video of Sharapova?

I’ve had to adapt Sharapova’s exercise because I don’t have anything resembling her long elasticated band so I used what I have to hand and that is resistance bands of varying levels of resistance and I had a human rather than a metal post securing the other end of the band for me. I started with my yellow band, which is stretchy and has less resistance, and worked up to the one with most resistance. The yellow band I found the easiest to keep going forwards, sideways and backwards but the next resistance level up had me pinging backwards until I got the hang of it! I did use the same cones as her but ran around it (forwards, sideways, backwards) using 1 cone for 1 shot. The cones encouraged my footwork to work with the rest of the body. I felt my feet worked harder and I took smaller, more focused, intense steps which is good for me because I tend to take longer strides and steps which aren’t always what’s needed. This was a pleasant surprise because I’ve been trying to take small steps all my life, somehow never quite managing it but suddenly it came naturally without trying! I held a racquet and swung (shadow swings) but didn’t try to hit balls at the same time so I didn’t have too much to do and learn at the same time.

I love this exercise because I feel you need to engage your waist and legs to keep your movement even and controlled and that’s when you start to feel the benefit of moving differently on court. I noticed my body position had a lower centre of gravity so I’m better balanced and gain elastic energy meaning I can leap up for a high ball (useful for hard courts and clay) but can also stay lower to the ground (useful for grass) without feeling it in the knees. We’re often told as players to bend our knees or get down to the ball but it doesn’t come that easily or naturally, I find, because I can end up too low for the ball height as a shorter player. It’s a strain on my knees possibly because it’s like dropping my body-weight down onto my legs and knees.

My hitting stance was better with the band than without it, for instance my head did less bobbing up and down and I didn’t come up on the ball (straighten my body/back) when swinging my racquet. I also found it exposed my uneven side, which is something I remember Martina Navratilova saying was important ie both sides of your body and its muscles must be even! I thought my body was quite even on both sides but this exercise told a different story! It showed up what’s really going on when I actually hit the ball, unlike different, general off-court exercises eg if I run/sprint forward with the band around  my waist I seem more even than when I do it while swinging my racquet and doing on-court footwork. So this exercise really exposes and addresses on-court issues rather than developing fitness and strength in a more general, non-tennis specific way. I found I also engaged my back muscles differently, my back was at a different angle to the ground. My stronger stance with the bands addressed an issue I discovered in a match on clay against an opponent who was hitting high balls with lots of heavy topspin: I sometimes find my waist and core tend to be unstable and can shift about during my swing rather than staying completely firm and steady, which made my ball veer off causing unforced errors in matches.

I’m definitely going to continue doing this exercise and incorporate it into my training because I think it develops muscle memory for what position and movement I should be doing on court. Although I found it was effective immediately, I still need lots of repetition to sufficiently internalise how to reproduce this improved movement on court without the resistance band wrapped around my waist.     

¹ available at:

https://www.facebook.com/usopentennis/videos/vb.96832392186/10154897298287187/?type=2&theater&comment_id=10154897387437187&notif_t=like&notif_id=1511912781582839