Tennis Tricks

Yoga for tennis fitness?

One of the more interesting tennis recommendations comes courtesy of Andy Murray, who has incorporated a powerful and vigorous form of yoga into his training routine. Andy Murray at the suggestion of this conditioning coach Jez Green, has been practising Bikram Yoga for some time now. There is quite some evidence to suggest that this [...]

Avoiding These Common Injuries

Tennis is a high impact sport and as a result you can become injured as a result of this. You need to be mindful of this and always try and avoid becoming injured. It is a reality though that no matter how carefully you are there is always a chance of injury. Knowing how to [...]

What You Should Look For In A Tennis Shoe?

Tennis is a high impact sport so it is vital that you select a pair of tennis shoes that are capable of protecting your feet. Unsuitable tennis shoes will result is tired sore feet and even blisters. They can also cause back problems and even impact on your performance on the court. This is easily [...]

Where To Find A Tennis Venue?

There are lots of great places where you can play tennis , and most large cities have a quite a few options to suit your requirements. Choosing the right venue will largely depend on where you live , your available time and surface preference. There are a number of surface options ranging from grass , [...]

Essential Tennis Equipment

You don’t need a lot of expensive equipment like you do in golf to take up tennis. However there are a few essentials that you will need to get started. Being adequately equipped is the difference between actually enjoying a game of tennis and watching from the sidelines. The first item you will need is [...]

Yoga for tennis fitness?

July 13th, 2011

Admin

One of the more interesting tennis recommendations comes courtesy of Andy Murray, who has incorporated a powerful and vigorous form of yoga into his training routine.

Andy Murray at the suggestion of this conditioning coach Jez Green, has been practising Bikram Yoga for some time now. There is quite some evidence to suggest that this is powerful conditioning for anyone serious about sport, and in particular in reducing his or her chances of sustaining injury.

Rumours are that Andy Roddick and Serena Williams have practiced this type of yoga. John McEnroe is a fan too.

Recently many members of the Welsh rugby squad preparing for the World Cup in New Zealand have turned to Bikram Yoga too, in addition to many top professional sportsmen and women.

What is Bikram Yoga? It is a series of 26 traditional yoga postures and 2 breathing exercises that are practiced in a room heated up to 40 degrees C with humidity of up to 40%. Classes last for 90 minutes.

We can tell you from experience that it is tough. As Andy Murray says:

“Until you do it you can’t comment on how difficult it is. It’s tough. It’s ugly.”

The yoga undoes the wear and tear, helping the body back to way it is naturally meant to be. It will loosen joints, hips and the back, and of course it improves flexibility tremendously. All of this will not only improve performance, but it will also help avoid injuries.

Bikram yoga stretches and strengthens the muscles, and students are able to stretch further due to the heat. It works the internal organs, the cardiovascular system and detoxifies the body whilst generally re-aligning the skeletal system.

The sequence of postures has been designed to bring oxygenated blood to the entire body.

Tennis players will tend to have imbalanced bodies as they will have a dominant right (or sometimesleft) side. They can also suffer repetitive strain injuries to the wrist, elbow and knee.

“It’s helped a lot with my fitness and mental strength,” said Murray. “If I keep doing it then in about six months I think there’ll be a huge improvement in my flexibility.”

The mental element should not be overlooked. The exercise is tough. You need to really focus and grit your teeth to get through what Bikram Choudhury, the founder, half-jokingly calls his “torture chamber”.

Avoiding These Common Injuries

October 15th, 2010

Admin

Tennis is a high impact sport and as a result you can become injured as a result of this. You need to be mindful of this and always try and avoid becoming injured. It is a reality though that no matter how carefully you are there is always a chance of injury. Knowing how to avoid these injuries and which are the more common tennis injuries will give you an advantage and hopefully enable you to recover quicker.

One of the most common injuries is tennis elbow. It occurs on the upper arm near the elbow – hence the name. It impacts on the movement of you arm and can result in even more injury to the arm. The best cure for tennis elbow is plenty of rest and a way to prevent and limit tennis elbow is to stretch before and after playing tennis. Stretching is one of the best ways to avoid injuries.

Tendinitis is another common problem afflicting tennis players. The more common types include , shoulder , rotator cuff and Archiles tendinitis. Basically its an inflammation of the tendons. Typically the tendons become irritated , inflamed and in worse cases swollen. It can take from a few days up too weeks for tendinitis to heal.

Osteoarthritis can be a painful problem affecting the knees. Tennis causes a lot of impact on the knees – thats why your tennis shoes are so important. Proper cushioning in your shoes is vital to protecting your knees from damage.

Tennis injuries can be either cumulative or acute. They either build up over time or occur immediately as a result of trauma. Using the right equipment and taking the correct precautions can help prevent and reduce the impact of any injuries.

A specialist is sports injuries can also help reduce the impact of any injuries. Having any injuries properly taken care of is important especially if you want to enjoy playing tennis for a long time.