How to increase your racket speed-Part 2 The stark truth about physical conditioning for tennis

Sorry about the long hiatus from the last post... I just got caught up in all the holiday madness, and some new business leads appeared with the new year and I am just getting back into things.

OK, last time I gave you a rundown on the conventional approach taken by today’s tennis establishment regarding the quest for increasing your racket speed.

Developing optimal stroking technique IS the conventional way to increase your racket speed.

However, I also mentioned that there might be other methods or approaches to increasing your racket speed…. Well, at least there’s one now proven option that I know about.

So, what’s the other option, you say?

Friends, the answer to this question depends on WHEN you asked it…

What I mean is if you asked this question BEFORE February 2006, the answer would be:

THERE IS NO OTHER OPTION!

Why?

There’s no other option because there are NO known conditioning exercises that have been shown to definitively increase racket speed in tennis players.

There is no proof that performing conditioning exercises such as weights, tubing exercises, plyometrics, stretching, yoga, etc. help you to swing your racket faster.

In fact, sports scientists have shown time and time again that known conditioning exercises have NO IMPACT on the speed at which complex athletic movements—i.e. multi-plane movements that involve the simultaneous coordination of multiple muscle groups in a complex sequence such as golf and baseball swings, hockey slapshots, tennis strokes, soccer kicks, baseball and softball pitching, etc.—are executed.

Are you surprised at the answer? I’ll bet you are!

All the weight training, plyometrics, and stretching performed by competitive tennis players as staples of their off-court conditioning programs have no significant effect on their racket speed.

On foot speed maybe, but racket speed, no.

So what’s all this business about off-court conditioning being so important to competitive tennis? Proper conditioning is critical to performing at an elite level in any sport without a doubt…

BUT…

Have you noticed that the vast majority of tennis-specific conditioning information is focused almost solely on three areas:

1) Overall general fitness (general strength and endurance)

2) Improving court movement (foot speed and quickness)

3) Injury prevention (flexibility and body balancing)

Have you also noticed that there is no specific information about how to swing your racket faster beyond modifying and optimizing your stroke technique?

Take a moment to reflect on what I’ve said here… Because now it’s time to connect some dots!

Has it dawned on anyone that there isn’t a single shred of off-court conditioning instruction in books, magazines, videos, or on the Web that tells you EXACTLY how to achieve more racket speed?

Why?

Because no one knows how to do it using methods outside of the modification of stroke technique!

Remember, even the most decorated and knowledgeable sports scientists and strength and conditioning experts in the world haven’t come up with a viable solution to this problem of increasing the speed of complex, sports-specific movements such as tennis serves and groundstrokes!

So, am I telling you that there’s no real, viable way to increase your racket speed?

No, I am not telling you that at all…

If you recall, I said that the answer to the original question posed at the beginning of this entry depends on WHEN you asked me the question.

Oh, sorry to interrupt this broadcast, but I have to run ...

I'll reveal the answer to this burning question next time!

TTFN!

Welcome to my world of Tennis Speed

Hello everyone! Welcome to my blog.

The focus of my blog is exactly as written in the title... The conversation here will focus on how speed impacts the sport of tennis.

We'll cover anything and everything that has to do with speed in tennis: how to think faster, how to react faster, how to move faster, how to swing faster, techniques that maximize control over your speed, how to maintain your speed over the course of a long match, tactics to take maximum advantage of your speed, among many other speed-related topics.

In this "New Power Age" (thanks, Mr. Bodo), speed is the essence of the game. Thinking fast, moving fast and swinging fast are fundamental to being a successful competitor at the highest levels of tennis today.

The increase in the overall athleticism of the players combined with improvements in tennis training philosophies and methods have made speed, in its three primary forms, the fundamental basis of your potential to compete successfully at the pro level.

If you hope to become a world champion in tennis, you must maximize these three core components of tennis speed (and yes, these are listed in their order of importance):

1) MIND SPEED

2) LEG SPEED

3) RACKET SPEED

Without maximizing these three core speed components, you will not be able to fully realize your true performance potential in tennis.

Wait a minute... Mind speed? What does that have to do with being a successful tennis player?

Having a quick, agile, and focused mind is the starting point of being a high-performance competitor...

Your brain is the "master and commander" of your fantastic human body machine. Your body does not move on its own! The body moves only under the direction of the mind, so if your mind is too slow to process what's happening when you're playing a competitive tennis point, you're already behind that proverbial 8-ball...

A fast mind is a mind that is clear of any and all distractions and is only focused what's going on right now, in the present. A fast mind pays attention only to what's going to help you perform at your highest level right then and there. A "fast mind" in tennis is the product of mental discipline (the term I prefer) or "mental toughness" as it is commonly known.

A fast mind pays little or no attention to anything that distracts it from the task at hand (that's the definition of "being focused", right?), because these distractions (winning and losing, girl/boyfriend issues, parent issues, wondering about where to eat later, which bar to visit later, etc.) are what turns a fast mind into a slow one.

A slow, distracted, and undisciplined mind slows down the legs and racket, so it's really a triple whammy... With a slow mind, you can't produce the physical consistency to string together enough points to win a tennis match. No wonder players who lack mental discipline play poorly and don't achieve the results they're really capable of.

So, if mind speed is so crucial, can having a fast mind overcome shortcomings in the other two core speed components, leg speed and racket speed? The answer is no, if you want to be a successful touring pro. All three components need to be maximized to be successful at the tour level.

Put it to you this way, if you can't get to the ball, you can't hit it. And because every touring pro today can move and swing faster than ever, when you get to the ball, you need to give the ball a massive hit or you'll forever be at the mercy of your opponent.

And the only way to hit the ball massively under full control is to have optimal technique, and if you want to move quickly and hit massively with total control over the course of a long match, you need to maximize your fitness, and, and, and...

As you can see, we will have a lot to talk about when it comes to the subject of "tennis speed"...

The bottom line is, if you want to get anywhere in tennis today, you need to maximize speed in its three main forms: mind speed, leg speed and racket speed.

So, if you are interested in maximizing your tennis speed and becoming the best player you can be, you have come to the right place!

See you next time!