In working with some young female tennis players who were ranked fairly high in the junior standings, I ran into several problems that seem to be standard practice in tennis development today. These players were considered to be up-and-coming stars and were brought to me for increases in strength for greater power in their groundstrokes.
Before prescribing specific strength exercises for greater power production I had to first analyze their groundstrokes. I needed to see their hitting technique to determine which muscles and actions were in need of greater improvement in order to produce greater power..
In so doing, several major stroke execution flaws related to power production were uncovered. For example, the players did not make effective use of weight shift and hip rotation prior to shoulder rotation. Their swings were essentially executed by shoulder rotation and the arm swing.
The girls did however, have good shot production. By this I mean they hit the ball with good placement but not with great power. However, greater power is very important in contemporary women’s play especially on the professional level. Without ample power they would probably never be able to achieve success on the professional, and to a good extent, on the high school or collegiate levels.
In talking to the players I discovered that they spent considerable time working on specialty shots and game strategy, not their hitting skills. But, without better technique to improve their power production they would not be able to achieve success in their adult years. They had to master the tennis strokes first. Only then would it be possible to do strength exercises specific to their technique to increase power.
Women players, who want to succeed as great players, should be showing professional level technical and physical abilities in their early teens. Because of this it is important that young players learn how to hit more effectively for more power from the very earliest years. Just becoming stronger but still hitting the same way will not show major improvement in their hitting power.
Understand that general strength does not transfer to specific joints or actions in their hitting technique. In order to see positive improvement the strength must be developed in exactly the same manner as is displayed in effective execution of the tennis strokes first.
The parents were inclined to agree, but they did not give improving ball hitting skill high priority. They felt that it would detract from their playing time and competing in tournaments. Understand that it would take up to one to two months for stroke modification changes to be mastered. During this time they would not be able to compete or play games. If they continued playing they would not be able to establish the neuromuscular pathways needed to solidify the new techniques for hitting the ball.
Because the girls were relatively successful in competition, parents believed that the player’s skills were already good and that they would get better with greater general strength and playing. As a result, the strength training was limited to their ineffective skill execution and did not have much impact. Suggestions that I made to master tennis strokes first to hit with more force were not followed up and their practices were devoted to making better shots and playing strategy. This is a very slow way of becoming better but it appears to be standard practice in developing up-and-coming tennis players.
If the young players worked more on better skill execution and developing strength specific to each stroke, they would have made faster progress in hitting the ball with authority and would have less trouble mastering specific shots. This would allow them to play on higher and higher levels. This is why learning tennis strokes first is much more effective and should be the top priority in the young years, not on winning tournaments or executing specific shots.
Once the strokes are mastered, specialized strength exercises will improve power and accuracy faster and more effectively. As a result the learning in the teenage years will be faster and more effective. This is the true key to developing up-and-coming tennis players and winning tennis.
For more information see Explosive Tennis: the Forehand and Backhand. It is an e-book only available on a CD at this time. In addition, see The Revolutionary 1 x 20 RM strength training program book for information on the most effective strength training program for youngsters.