When you look at professional tennis players, it’s clear from their toned muscles that they do plenty of work to maintain their upper body strength.
And it’s not just the pros that need to think about it – having strong shoulders and arms is just as important for the amateur player, too.
How to Increase Your Upper Body Strength
There are a variety of exercises that tennis players can do to develop and improve their strength capacity. Even the pros don’t choose the same exercises from the many variations: some prefer exercises influenced by classic weight training, others pay more attention to the prevention of injuries, while other players follow the current trends from the fitness world.
Training to improve upper body strength involves powerful yet smaller muscle groups. In order to preserve maximum function from the muscles in question, every exercise involving weights should be preceded by an exercise with bands and followed by a throwing test with a weighted ball.
Here’s a set of three exercises you can try to help build your upper body strength for the courts:
- French band
In a standing position, hold one end of the band against the wall with one shoulder and the other end with two hands out in front of the same shoulder. Carry out 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 10 repetitions of small circular movements in front of you in a figure of eight shape.
- Dumbbell shoulder press
Sit on the vertical press holding two dumbbells. Push strongly with your arms and shoulders to raise the dumbbells above your head, being careful to fully lock your pelvis so as not to arch your back, particularly in the lumbar area. Repeat the exercise for 3 sets of 10 to 12 repetitions.
- Ball throw forehand/backhand
Standing with your legs apart hold a weighted ball of between 6lb and 8lb; carry out 10 to 12 throws on the right and left simulating forehand and backhand shots, including the movements of the lower limbs and the twisting of the chest.
Need a full body workout for your tennis game?
Check out our tips for leg strength training.
Dial up your serve and your tennis game by spending some time training on and off the court. Focus on smaller muscle groups and build your upper body strength to develop more power in your swing and stamina for the match.
Also to help aid your training, make sure you're wearing the right type of footwear to push your tennis performance to new levels and view our collection in tennis shoes today.