Improve Your Tennis and Golf Game with these Strength Training Tips


 Posted by Samantha Clayton, AFAA, ISSA – Vice President, Worldwide Sports Performance and Fitness  0 Comment

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You’ve got to train for your game.

If you play tennis or golf and want to improve your game, adding some stability and strength training to your fitness program can help you get that edge.

Tennis and golf each involve a lot of rotational movement, especially at the shoulder joint and through the torso. Complex movement patterns place a lot of strain on the stabilizing muscles in those parts of the body. In order to prevent unnecessary injury and gain strength to improve your performance, focus some extra attention on these key muscle groups involved in your game.

The shoulder is made up of a group of four muscles called the rotator cuff. This muscle group stabilizes the shoulder and allows it to move. These muscles need to be worked using light resistance, and properly stretched to avoid common overuse injuries.

Side-Lying External Rotation

    • Lie down on your side.
    • Bend your elbow to 90 degrees and rest the elbow on your side. Your forearm should rest down across your abdomen.
    • Hold a light dumbbell and keep your elbow against your side, then slowly raise the dumbbell toward the ceiling. Stop rotating your arm if you feel strain.
    • Hold the dumbbell up for a few seconds, then return it to the start position with your arm down.
    • Repeat for three sets of 10. Increase reps to 20, after 10 gets too easy.

Lawn Mower Pull

    • Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Place one end of a resistance band under your foot. Hold the other end with the opposite arm so the band goes diagonally across your body.
    • Keeping your other hand on your hip, bend slightly at the waist (don’t lock your knees) so the hand holding the band is parallel to the opposite knee.
    • As if starting a lawn mower in slow motion, straighten upright while pulling your elbow across your body. Keep your shoulders relaxed and squeeze your shoulder blades together as you stand.
    • Repeat three sets of 10 on each side.

Your core is the powerhouse in tennis and golf. Both games require rotational movement, so adding specific exercises to strengthen the lower back and core can really boost your performance.

Core Focus Obliques

The muscles at the side of your waist are called the internal and external obliques. The obliques are important for stability, especially for movements that involve lateral (sideways) movements.

To activate these muscles, you’ll need to perform exercises that involve side bending or twisting.

Bicycle Abdominal Crunch

    • Lie on your back on the floor. Stretch your legs out straight and clasp your hands behind your head.
    • Raise your legs one at a time so that your thighs are perpendicular to the ground, and bend your knees so your calves are parallel to the ground. Keep your feet together.
    • Contract your abdominal muscles and touch your right elbow to your left knee. At the same time, straighten out your right leg, keeping it several inches off of the floor. Then alternate, bending your right leg and straightening your left similar to the motion you’d make while pedaling a bicycle.
    • Use your abdominal muscles to crunch your body forward so your elbow can reach your knee. Do not pull on your neck. If you can’t quite reach your elbow to your knee, that’s ok.
    • Aim to do 30 seconds of bicycle crunches 3-5 times.

Core Focus QL

The Quadratus lumborum is a deep, stabilizing muscle that connects the upper and lower body. It’s an important muscle for stabilizing the hips and spine, and it also works with the diaphragm to allow deep breathing.

Side Plank

    • Lie on the floor on your side. Place your lower hand on the floor and straighten your arm, raising the top half of your body off the ground. Raise the other arm straight over you or let it rest on your side.
    • Keep your legs straight, resting the lower half of your body on your bottom leg. Raise your hips to hold a side plank position. This will engage most of your core muscles, including your Quadratus lumborum.
    • Hold this position for 45-60 seconds and then repeat on the other side.

Back Focus Stretching

Perform a standing hamstring stretch to help loosen up your hamstring muscles to provide relief from tight lower back muscles.

    • Hold on to a supportive railing or wall. Place your right leg on a slightly raised surface, like a step or a curb.
    • Keep your hips facing forward and your standing knee slightly bent.
    • Slowly bend your left knee until you feel a very mild pulling or stretch on the back of your right thigh. Hold for 20-30 seconds and switch legs.

Back Focus Strength

This exercise engages the muscles in the whole posterior chain, including glutes and hamstrings.

    • Lie on the floor face down, extending your arms and legs as far forward and as far back as possible, while keeping a neutral spine, head and neck position.
    • Engage your core to lift your arms and your legs off the floor. Be sure to have no arch in your lower back. You can achieve this by lifting your arms and legs up only an inch or so.
    • If you have weak muscles, lift one arm and one leg at a time. Hold for 15 seconds and repeat for 4-5 sets.
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Samantha Clayton is responsible for all activities relating to exercise and fitness education for Independent Herbalife Members and employees. Through in-person training sessions, educational tools and materials, and her blog (www.discovergoodfitness.com), she ensures that the important role of exercise as part of a healthy, active life is understood by all. She also helps create, organize and promote employee fitness programs and activities as an integral part of the company’s corporate wellness program. A native of Liverpool, England, Samantha initially worked as a consultant for Herbalife for two years and led the Herbalife24-Fit program, the company’s first comprehensive fitness training program and DVD series. Before joining the corporate ranks, Samantha was a professional athlete. She represented Great Britain in the 2000 Sydney Olympics in both the 200m and the 4x100m relay events. Prior to the Olympics, she won two medals in the Olympic AAA trials – a silver medal for the 200m and a bronze for the 100m – as well as a silver medal in the 4x100m relay during the European Junior Championships in 1997. Her personal records include 11.40 seconds in the 100m and 23.02 seconds in the 200m. Samantha is a personal trainer and group exercise coach through the American Fitness and Aerobics Association (AFAA) and International Sport Science Association (ISSA).