Tennis can be played as a sport or as a recreational activity with friends and family. Either way, playing tennis is a good sport to maintain your health, strength and agility. It has been calculated that an hour-long game of singles tennis burns around 600 calories for men and 420 calories for women.
In addition to the fitness and physical health benefits, tennis also provides numerous social and mental health benefits including:
· Increasing aerobic capacities
· Lowering resting heart rate and blood pressure
· Improving metabolic function
· Increasing bone density
· Improving muscle tone, strength and flexibility
· Increasing reaction times
If you find yourself struggling with some tennis basics, take a look at these quick tips to improve your game. It’s important to remember that there is no perfect way to play a tennis stroke, but these tips offer some fundamentals to help you hone your skills.
1. Early preparation
You can never prepare yourself soon enough. Turn your hips and shoulders before the oncoming ball bounces on your side.
2. Exaggerate your follow through
Follow all the way through your shot after your hit. Hit the ball, follow through, and move your feet.
3. Hit-recover
Instead of focusing on your shot after you’ve made it, focus on the recover. Hit, finish and get back into position.
4. Keep your head still
If you find yourself mis-hitting shots, be sure that you aren’t moving your head as you swing. Follow the ball onto the racquet and keep your head still until the shot has been played.
5. Get your back leg behind the ball
Getting your back leg and weight behind the ball allows for easier weight transfer and a more consistent shot.
6. Pull back on your serve speed
The serve is the most important shot in tennis, but that doesn’t mean you should wail on the ball. Focus on accuracy versus force.
7. Prepare early for groundstrokes
Once you know where the ball is going to bounce, move yourself into a position where you feel comfortable playing the shot. The higher you make your backswing, the more power you will likely generate. Finding the right balance between the swing and the force is key.
8. Don’t be too hard on yourself during matches
It’s easy to be overcritical of yourself, especially if you miss an otherwise easy shot in a competitive environment. If you miss a shot just move forward in the match and keep playing to the best of your ability. Practice your stroke afterward to improve and perfect your skills.
Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced player, without proper preparation, you can injure yourself fairly quickly when playing tennis. Here are five tips to help you prevent tennis injuries:
1.Use the right gear.
Using the right equipment when you play tennis can greatly reduce your chances of injury. For instance, wearing the right shoes can help prevent knee and ankle injuries. Your tennis shoes should fit correctly, support your arches and ankles, and suit the court surface you’re playing on.
Hard court tennis shoes have more durable outsoles, while clay court tennis shoes have better traction. To help prevent tennis elbow or wrist strains, use the correct grip size for your tennis racket, and string your tennis racket at a lower string tension to lessen the load and shock on your elbow whenever you make contact with the tennis ball.
2. Take breaks.
Take breaks frequently to avoid constant repetitive movements and help prevent overuse injuries. This recovery time prevents overexertion and reduces the likelihood of tennis elbow, rotator cuff-related injuries, and muscle strains.
3. Exercise.
Tennis is a sport that requires full-body support. Injury prevention is more effective when you exercise your full body. For example, exercising the area around your rotator cuff muscles can help build strength and support, increasing your range of motion, making it less likely to tear during vigorous play.
4. Warm-up and practice.
A dynamic stretching routine and proper cool-down stretches are essential to preventing tennis elbow, and other sports injuries. A warm-up routine that incorporates stretching and practicing tennis strokes can help solidify your technique and prepare your body for the game. Create a warm-up routine that you can comfortably perform before each training session or match to prevent injury.
