Weight Training

[vmiller]

I wonder why Paul Roetert and Pat Etcheberry recommend more of an isolation type of workout.

Typical strength training usually involves compound exercises like squats and deadlifts and usually with heavy weights, but the exercises these guys recommend isolate a smaller number of muscles and are not really geared towards developing overall body strength.

Maybe they're suggesting that strengthening for tennis is more about durability and fitness rather than pure strength? We all know hitting the ball hard doesn't come from muscle. Just look at Federer!

Or maybe the more typical strength training programs are too demanding for a tennis player? Personally, between work and playing tennis almost every day, I have a really tough time staying motivated to do squats and it's not likely that I'm getting adequate recover either. It's also not fun playing matches with sore muscles.

Thoughts? Any other lifters in here?

Vin

[CrazyLefty]

Physical Training

I think those articles have focused on tennis players that do not have a planned workout routine. A player that is a novice in physical fitness needs to build strength before moving on to more demanding exercises (compound exercises). Elite players are extremely fit in terms of muscular strength and durability and use a variety of on court and off court training. Watching the training over the past few years I've noticed many of the players using the medicine ball in tennis specific drills.

[leon]

A player that is a novice in physical fitness needs to build strength before moving on to more demanding exercises (compound exercises).

Sorry, but I absolutely disagree with this. Compound exercises are usually safer then isolation exercises. Since in compound exercises more muscles involved and the other muscles help the main muscles (work like a spotter). So if you do isolation exercise, you can do a lot of damage, since you isolate muscles, and if you took too much weight you might just pull it, there is no help involved.

Now, to original poster. Weight lifting - as a body building is not the best solution for tennis, IMHO. Since weight lifting emphasizing slow repetitive motion, which help you to gain muscles mass. While in tennis you need more speed and explosiveness.

I have a short collection of exercises I like to incorporate in my work out routine:
Olympic lifts (fast explosive motion, works virtually all muscles in ones body, a lot of stress on a core muscles).
Overhead squads, you squad with barbell over you head. You will have to balance which again stress the core and put a lot of stress on the muscles all over the body.
Gorilla pull ups
Diff versions of crunches on medicine ball - again have to balance - a lot of stress.
barbell lunges, while down do a trunk rotation.
Push ups with legs on the medicine ball

And so on. The diff here is that you work many muscles at ones and you also force them to help you to balance, which in my opinion will help you to improve ones tennis.

[CrazyLefty]

Reply to leon

I guess Dr. Paul Roeter and Pat Etcheberry are giving poor advice. If you use too much resistance in any exercise you can tear muscles (not pull leon). Any trainer will start a novice weight trainer with basic exercises. No one wants to hear about your retarded exercises. Let the pro's in the sport give the advice.

CL

[johnyandell]

Hey Lefty--they may or may not be right for tennis, but they don't sound retarded. The prevailing view is that of Paul and Pat. But what do you say about Agassi? As I understand it, he benches 300lbs plus--and in general trains more like someone going for size.

[vmiller]

There's a long debate on the TW board about Agassi's 300+ lb bench. Amazing if true given the physical demands of tennis and the ATP tour. I can't imagine how he'd be getting the proper rest and recovery to get that strong. Or maybe he just has super efficient neurological pathways for muscle recruitment.

For now I think I've solved my own problem. I'm sticking with the typical compound exercises (squat, deadlift, incline press, chin ups) with the exception of shoulders where I do several isolation exercises instead of overhead press.

I've changed my routine to working out in the morning before work and doing more volume and less intensity. With the morning workouts I don't have to worry about being unmotivated after coming home from work and the 3 sets of 12 keeps the weight a bit lighter and is less strenous both physically and mentally. Hopefully it will work out for the long haul.

[johnyandell]

Awesome. You're inspiring me to get back into the gym. I know regarding bench presses and especially incline presses that they WILL help most players. I lived with football players my first two years in college--a brutal experience, but they did get me into lifting. We did traditional power training--up the weights drop the reps from set to set. 3 sets, 12-8-4. That first summer was the first time I could hit a topspin backhand pass. That was with a Pancho Gonzales autograph wood with a 65 sq inch head. Not that easy. My serve went up in speed and spin too. My girl friend said my pecs looked better in a tshirt, which was also a plus.

I've done the same thing over the years with a few female juniors I trained. They couldn't bench 40 lbs to start. By the time they got up to 60lbs they could actually hurt someone their age with a first serve.

Now I think you do have to do the tennis specific isolation exercises too. And many players may be plenty strong enough without any pecs--Lendl, Federer, etc, but the answer isn't black and white in my opinion.