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!