2. He was using a new kind of string made of polyester, instead of the traditional natural gut. Playing tennis will help strengthen your legs, but if you are a serious player, consider adding additional leg exercises to your workout routine such as squats, lunges and step-ups. The world's best players like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Juan Martin Del Potro and Stan Wawrinka use the forehand as a powerful weapon. O ne of the characteristics for the tennis evolution over the past decade is a preferential use of the forehand drive in the construction of the point (15) that appears as a key stroke of the modern game . In the core: abs, obliques, erector spinae, and latissimus dorsi. His swing style on the forehand featured a western grip and a follow through that ended by wrapping way past his left side so that his right shoulder was pointing toward the net with the racket head behind him. Br J Sports Med. The hand plays an integral role in generating racket speed. 1. For example: When the two handed backhand is hit with no trunk rotation the arms must swing harder, increasing the chance of an error. Furthermore, there is peak activity of the gastroc and quadriceps towards the end of this phase. The Modern Forehand Domination Ebook is guaranteed to improve your tennis technique, and increase power, topspin and accuracy of your tennis forehand! Front Cardiovasc Med. The athlete will need to move forward and across quickly to catch the MB (loading phase) and then while maintaining dynamic balance produce a forceful hip and trunk rotation to throw the MB. Assuming we're talking about a modern fh, I will respectfully disagree with this post. Preparation 4. The muscle that is contracting is called the agonist and the muscle that is relaxing or lengthening is called the antagonist. Its this stance that enables you to change directions and sprint across the court. More on how tennis works your body, below. Another tennis grip which can be used in a forehand shot is the continental forehand grip. He recommends doing a strength routine that targets the arms, legs, and core, playing other sports, and practicing yoga to ensure your non-dominant side gets attention, too. 18. Some of the energy stored in this leg is converted to predominantly upward (vertical linear) momentum but also forward (horizontal linear) momentum. Wolters Kluwer Health The backswing, commencing with flexion of the lower legs and irrespective of style, is characterized by a loop, which has shown to increase racket speed (as opposed to the straight backswing which provides control), and a large rotation of shoulders and trunk. The forehand specifically relies on the pectorals, deltoids and biceps to provide much of the upper body and arm activity in a tennis stroke, with the forearm and wrist "following along for the ride" after the hips open and generate internal shoulder rotation. SUMMARY. Like the tennis serve. This will turn the forehand swing into an arm swing by activating the muscles in the arm. JavaScript is disabled. 1. It hones in on the larger muscle groups listed below. Slowly raise the weights to your sides keeping your elbows almost locked out. (b) Supination (palm up). For the forehand specifically, the core and forearms are most important. Polyester strings were more durable and it allowed Kuerten to stroke the ball with as much racket head speed as he could possibly generate. Vigorous extension of the lower extremity in classic closed stance forehands creates greater axial torques to rotate the pelvis and hips than not using the legs (9). I guess that muscles aren't everything. Here are a few crucial steps any tennis player can take to avoid wrist injury: Use wrist guards: Even the most basic wrist guards can help stabilize the wrist and absorb shock. While this transfer of energy has not been tested in open stance forehands, it is logical that vigorous leg drive also transfers energy to trunk rotation. Concentric and eccentric contractions of the obliques, back extensors and erector spinae cause the trunk to rotate. If you want to jumpstart your forehand and play like the PROS, check out my 70+ page Tennis Ebook that will immediately show you how you can take your forehand to the next level. The forearm flexors and grip musculature are also important in the tennis forehand. There are differences in the use of the legs, trunk, and upper extremity between the 1- and 2-handed backhands. BASED ON THE AVAILABLE RESEARCH, IT WAS DETERMINED THAT TRAINING EXERCISES SHOULD EMULATE THE SEQUENTIAL COORDINATION INVOLVED IN GROUND STROKE PRODUCTION, AS WELL AS STABILIZING MUSCULATURE THAT MIGHT BE INVOLVED IN DEVELOPING FORCE OR IN PROTECTING BODY PARTS FROM STRESSFUL ACTIONS. Figure 1a-c show the preparation phase of the open stance forehand. Forearm drill. Always warm-up: Performing warm-up exercises for wrists can go a long way in preventing injury. Kinetic chain contributions to elbow function and dysfunction in sports. People think that 90% of the swing comes from hips/legs/core, but the arm is still swinging fast. I am on a tennis court and I do NOT have a good device to type. While practicing and playing tennis will strengthen your upper body, conditioning these muscle groups off of the court will help your game. The legs take the force and add to it by transferring the force to the hips, from the hips force is transferred to the trunk, from the trunk to the arm, and from the arm to the racket. Balls hit off these forehands were faster and more heavily spun than ever before. In the end, the role of the wrist on the tennis forehand was there all the while, but for a long time, it was just attributed to the wrong part of the swing! 10. Agility, balance and strength all come from your core your lower back and stomach muscles which is used during every shot and movement during a tennis match. This change in the coordinated use of the kinetic chain suggests that the loading and injury risk to major segments of the body may have changed in tennis (11). Tilt the face of your racquet down more on your backswing. Professional players and champions of the past utilized the tennis forehand wrist position in a static manner, with the wrist hardly moving throughout the forehand swing. Players were taught to use the windshield wiper forehand with the wrist brushing the ball at contact and they were getting results. Both these movements are used during tennis groundstrokes. Back in the day of wooden rackets when grass courts ruled and most professional players used eastern forehand grips or even continental grips, it was unheard of to be taught that you should use your wrist during the forehand swing, with good reason. The athlete starts on the center service line and the coach/trainer throws the MB about 3 to 5 feet in front and to the athlete's right. Background:The open stance forehand has been hypothesized by tennis experts (coaches, scientists, and clinicians) to be more traumatic than the neutral stance forehand as regards hip injuries in te. Generally the forehand is the first stroke that beginners learn when they start playing tennis. PURPOSE To broaden our understanding of muscle function during the tennis volley under different ball placement and speed conditions by examining the activity of selected superficial muscles of the stroking arm and shoulder (flexor carpi radialis, extensor carpi radialis, triceps brachii, deltoids, and pectoralis major) and muscles related to Front-leg extensor torques are larger in the 1-handed backhand than the 2-handed backhand (19). I'm sure forearm strength helps with endurance. A student is never taught to stop his racket at impact because the ball has already left and any extra motion of his racket is useless, even though in purely physical terms there is truth to this statement. A final aspect of inefficiency takes place when the kinetic chain is not properly synchronized. The purpose was to develop forearm strength and endurance in pronation and supination (Figure 10). Ir Med J. Other players simply keep the non-dominant arm dangling down next to the body from the start to the finish of the forehand. Using your core in tennis is the core of better control and balance when hitting your shots, Phiri tells Bustle. Ultra-heavy topspin drivers like Rafael Nadal as well as flatter power hitters like Novak Djokovic took the tennis world by storm. Tennis demands movement in all of these planes - and at times, multiple planes simultaneously. Lauer L. United States Tennis Association. Therefore, in a way, the coaches are correct to teach such a technique. Tennis Forehand Exercise #1: Squat find the power rack at your gym, put minimal weight on it to start and stand with your feet at shoulder's width apart. The extensor carpi radialis was more active than the flexor carpi radialis during both forehand and backhand volleys, suggesting the importance of wrist extension/abduction and grip strength. In truth, there had been numerous video analyses done during this period of the new modern tennis forehand. The next sections will summarize recent research on technique issues specific to each groundstroke that are important to consider when planning conditioning programs. The game of tennis has changed dramatically in the past 30 years. Every time you hit a groundstroke, you're primarily working the transverse plane (i.e. The athlete places their forearm on a table or bench while grasping a head heavy instrument (a weighted bar and hammer are both good options). In the upper-body: the muscles of your chest, upper back, shoulders, and arms. may email you for journal alerts and information, but is committed . J Back Musculoskelet Rehabil. During a tennis match, all the major muscle groups are used and the energy exertion required during play can burn over 200 calories in 30 minutes, depending on your height and weight. The arm is one of the weaker parts of the body. Forward rotation of the upper trunk coincides with a lag in the upper extremity resisted by eccentric muscle actions and large peak shoulder horizontal adductor and internal rotation torques (3). The athlete flexes and extends the wrist to lower the weight. How well these factors are perceived by the coach will dictate how well the players will respond and initiate the movement needed to perform. Core Muscles Agility, balance and strength all come from your core your lower back and stomach muscles which is used during every shot and movement during a tennis match. Knudson and Bahamonde (16) reported nonsignificant differences in racket path and speed at impact between open and square stance forehands of tennis teaching professionals. Forward swing to impact consists of trunk rotation initiating racket movement and is responsible for the forward movement of the hitting arm. Your racquet face naturally opens up (tilts upward) as you swing forward. You may search for similar articles that contain these same keywords or you may Practical exercises have been offered that will emulate the stroke coordination to improve the efficiency of stroke production as well as exercises that will improve the athlete's ability to decelerate specific body parts to assist in recovery after the execution of the specific stroke. In order to build up maximum racket head speed at contact, it has to be moving continuously even after contact. Natural gut provided power, control and feel but it broke easily as players started to swing harder and harder. To make the most of your tennis game, Mentus recommends playing for a half-hour at least twice a week. For more information, please refer to our Privacy Policy. On the other hand, from a biomechanical standpoint, the follow through is just as important a part of the entire swing all the other parts. What kind of muscles are used to hit the tennis ball? I'd like to see any evidence that bears on how Titin is triggered for the SSC. It throws the timing of the bodys kinetic chain out of synch, forcing the arm to swing with excessive action. 4. Ajay Pant, senior director of racquet sports, TJ Mentus, ACE-certified personal trainer, Trainers Reveal How Long You Should Rest Between Sets, How Many Squats Should You Do? Forehand fast serve. This piece will give you five basic tips to improve your forehand . Look at the players at a open level tournament after their match, and see their bulging forearms, with veins popping out everywhere. Backhand sidespin serve. Jack Groppelis co-founder of the Human Performance Institute. Tennis Forehand Tips - Improve the Tennis Forehand Shot, The Tennis Forehand And The Role Of The Wrist, Learn How to Hit a Forehand Like Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, Some quick tips to improve your tennis serve, Keys of the ATP Tennis Forehand Technique - Differentiating World Class Forehand Technique. Fast forward to the late 70s and early 80s when wood started giving way to graphite and the majority of courts started changing from slick grass to higher bouncing asphalt and slow clay, players began adapting by moving to stronger eastern and semi-western grips. When watching a game, youll notice that tennis players are holding a squat pretty much throughout the entire game. If impact is viewed as the most important part of a tennis stroke, and it is accepted that there are several backswings and follow-throughs a player could use, then the next step is to identify the other important attributes of sound stroke production.