Taunton Tennis Club
  • Home
  • Play
    • Club sessions
    • Adult timetable
    • Singles
    • Juniors >
      • Tennis tasters
      • Events, camps
    • Wheelchair tennis
    • Memberships
    • Court prices
  • Compete
    • Teams
    • Club tournament
    • Indoor doubles league
    • Competitive singles
    • Upcoming tournaments
  • Improve
    • Coaching
  • Blog
  • Upcoming events
  • About
    • Club
    • Club committee
    • Centre management team
    • Facilities
  • Contact

Natalie on how to get fit for the restart

23/2/2021

1 Comment

 
We’re going to have to wait until 29 March to play tennis outdoors again, but at least that gives us some time to get fit – and make sure our bodies are ready to do what we ask of them without too much complaint.
 
I’m very grateful to Natalie Ackland for agreeing to contribute something here on the subject of tennis fitness. Natalie is one of the most experienced coaches at Taunton Tennis Centre, helping players of all kinds to get the most out of their game, including many young players who have gone on to play at a high level.
 
As well as coaching full time, she competes regularly both nationally and internationally and has represented Great Britain in the over-35s age category. So she’s obviously well worth listening to when she says something about fitness. Here she is:

 
 
Hi everyone
 
I hope you're all managing to keep active in some form.  Mike has asked me to give some insight into what I have been doing training wise. As most of you can imagine, I'm not very good at sitting around doing nothing.
 
I've set myself a few goals over lockdown. 
 
Firstly, for myself, to get myself fitter so I'm less injury prone (strength, core and flexibility). Secondly to support my junior players (and parents) through lockdown with strength and conditioning programmes, racket challenges and quizzes.
 
So what do I do to get fit?
 
I generally do something every day. It always starts with a warm-up, jogging or cycling, followed by some dynamic stretches.
 
I then do some shoulder stability work with my band. For me this is crucial to stay fit for tennis. I'd recommend every tennis player to have a band. If you're interested here's Jamie Murray's band work out for ideas.
 
https://youtu.be/SITvsI0wsg0
 
I then do some form of strength and conditioning. It may be a HIIT workout (high intensity interval training), or if my body isn't feeling it, a lower intensity workout. Joe Wicks is a very popular one to follow for HIIT workouts. Here's an example of one I use.
 
https://youtu.be/tXOZS3AKKOw

My favourite source of information is an Australian based fitness company which has trained many pro players over the years such as Leyton Hewitt and Martina Navratilova to name a few. They do a programme for the over 40s and you can get it for free on Facebook. It's more linked to injury prevention, and improving balance and core. This is a good example of a lower intensity workout, but just as good.
 
www.tennisfitness.com/overs-40's-tennis-workout
 
If you're not over 40, there are lots of good ideas to tennis specific training. I follow them on Facebook as there's lots of free videos to get new ideas.
 
I always finish with 10 minutes of core (abs, hips, glutes, shoulders). This is crucial for tennis players and again I recommend doing at least some core work. A strong core is key to reducing tennis injuries. Here’s a video I made of some of the exercises I do.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYv5WuY7HaE&ab_channel=TauntonTennis
 
One thing I always do is listen to my body. If it's tired I rest (normally 1 in 7 days). If an exercise aggravates something, I do something else. But I also like to really push myself. 
 
I've also set my challenge of doing a 5k in under 25 minutes. I'm not a natural runner at all, in fact I'd call myself a plodder!! But I like a challenge, and I'm about 3 minutes quicker already.
 
Good luck and I hope to see you all back on the court soon!
 
Nats
1 Comment
David
24/2/2021 07:28:33 am

Super helpful tips. Sure we’ll all find something that works for us in there and some inspiration too. Good luck on the 25 min challenge!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Subscribe

    Archives

    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    October 2019
    May 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018

    Categories

    All
    Tennis Fitness

    Local league results

    Results for all teams.pdf
    File Size: 40 kb
    File Type: pdf
    Download File

    Winter league results 2018-9
    File Size: 32 kb
    File Type: pdf
    Download File

    summer local league standings

    ​Yeovil & District League
    Men's team
    North Somerset League
    Men's team
    Women's team
    West Somerset League
    Mixed A team
    Mixed B team
    ​Mixed C team
    ​Men's team
    West Somerset final tables
    File Size: 43 kb
    File Type: pdf
    Download File

    winter local league standings

    North Somerset League
    Mixed team
    ​
    Vets' team

    Culm and Exe Valleys League
    Men's team
    Taunton Tennis Club

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Play
    • Club sessions
    • Adult timetable
    • Singles
    • Juniors >
      • Tennis tasters
      • Events, camps
    • Wheelchair tennis
    • Memberships
    • Court prices
  • Compete
    • Teams
    • Club tournament
    • Indoor doubles league
    • Competitive singles
    • Upcoming tournaments
  • Improve
    • Coaching
  • Blog
  • Upcoming events
  • About
    • Club
    • Club committee
    • Centre management team
    • Facilities
  • Contact