Long distance running/Aerobic training

[kenknight]

Is it beneficial to have an aerobic base for tennis, and be able to run moderately long distances (lets say...5 km) besides the explosive dashes?

Or would it hurt performance? Some people say it's bad because it's possible to turn fast twitch muscle fibers into slow twitch ones, hurting explosive performance, is that necessarily true? And would the time be better spent doing more tennis specific drills?

I'm asking because before I started tennis, I was a serious (and pretty successful) track athlete. I did all the sprints, high jumps, long jumps, whatever pretty well, but I always liked long distance for some reason. I'm thinking of getting back into it a little and doing cross country before the school tennis season starts, but I don't want to hurt any potential performance.

Thanks.

[nickybol]

Long distance running is no good for tennis. It definitely makes you slower. I`d say 5km is the absolute maximum you should run, less is better,