Tennis Technology and Training
The cardio fitness stations that I stumbled across last month at a DFW area tennis court continues to provide fodder for the “Tennis Technology and Training Tuesday” coverage. Last week I started in on “Squats” and assumed that the direction was simply to perform body weight squats. However, in the interim it has occurred to me that for a cardio workout the intended squat variation might have been “Jump Squats” which are also great for tennis.
Jump squats are a plyometric exercise good for developing explosive movement in tennis. It is the functional motion required to quickly leap into the air to hit an overhead off a lob that might otherwise be out of reach. Another really good variation of the squat jump is the split squat jump which in addition to the explosive movement also works on hip flexibility. Split squat jumps were included in a tennis strength training workout that Andy Murray shared with Men’s Health in 2018. Apparently across the pond this exercise is called a cycle split jump.
To perform a squat jump, you crouch down into a squat position and then jump in an explosive manner. The goal of the exercise is to jump as high as possible.
The split squat variation changes the starting position from a straight squat to a low lunge position with one leg forward and the other extended behind you with the knee almost touching the floor. On each jump, the position of the front and back leg are reversed.
Jump squats are physically taxing. Split squat jumps are insane. Working these into your regular routine will probably help you get up to the net faster. I… only do the jump squats. I have never fully mastered enough explosive strength to perform the split squat variation with good form or consistency. I rationalize that shortcoming with the idea that my opponent would probably just lob me anyway if I approached the net with high velocity.
- Andy Murray’s Strength Workout, Men’s Health, May 5, 2018.
