Fluid explosiveness is the key to powerful movements on the tennis court. To change fast directions and to get in time to far placed balls it is crucial that the muscle groups necessary for lateral power support work fluently and effectively together. When talking about fluent explosiveness we always get back to the “coordination chain”, also known as the “kinetic chain”. Only a sound working energy transfer from the lower body to the upper body can realize great first-step quickness and help the body to overcome the laws of gravity.

Kinetic chain upwards (chain to chain) energy transfer.

The chain is only as strong as the weakest part of it. It is crucial to work on core stability. The core is the linking part of the lower and upper body. Only a strong core can ensure a full energy transfer. You can compare that energy transfer with a snowball rolling down the hill. As it rolls down it becomes bigger and more powerful. The same happens with the kinetic chain on the way down into the ground and reverse from the ground upwards.

We will focus on the two recovery steps today. The two main lateral movement steps on the tennis court to recover are the “lateral cross-over step” and the “lateral shuffle step”. The player uses both steps immediately after having completed the stroke and attempts to get to a position, where an efficient movement towards the next stroke is possible. The muscles that have to be trained with lateral focused agility training to improve the spinal reflex are the following: lateral medial due to anterior tibialis translation and vastus medialis. For a better cortical response the gastrocnemius hamstring. You can see the muscles that need to be trained in the following pics and video.

In the first video, the junior player is warming up with a resistance band. The first sequence shows the loading movement on forehand and backhand with a fluent transition from side to side. The second sequence shows a fast loading and fasts turning back into ready position on forehand and backhand also in an open stance. Here the pivot step is also trained.

In the video above the junior player is working on the kinetic chain energy with a Dynamax ball. He is loading on forehand and backhand in a semi-open stance, accelerates with fluent explosiveness the groundstroke with additionally executing a high jump with raised arms but not letting the ball off his hands. This exercise is working the kinetic chain in both ways.

After warming up the body properly the player is now ready for the agility work out on the lateral recovery movement. He is working on the lateral over cross step with different tasks. 1) over cross step with resistance band (hip bound) 2) over cross step with resistance band (hip bound) and additional hand weights 3) over cross step with resistance band (hip bound) and additional resistance with a tube band (core stability) 4) over cross step with resistance band and additional weight (Dynamax ball hug).

The same exercises should be done on the other direction.

The last video shows a progression of the lateral over cross step with elevation. Here the junior player has to reach a higher level with the over cross step (stepping onto the stool). You can see that he is struggling with explosive force. After a couple of tries, the player will feel more comfortable and will do the exercises with the needed intensity, explosiveness and balance. After a session like that, it is important to let the player make the moves with a racket in hand and without any resistance or additional weight. You will see an instant change to better performance on the lateral movement. I hope you can implement these exercises into your training and work that lateral power.

All the best COACH DIMI