| A New Way To Practice Tennis To Stay In Shape |
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| by Diet Detective Editorial Staff | |
| Tuesday, 04 July 2006 | |
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Trapped in your old practice routine? Try the Jimmy Conners method for a pulse pounding workout. Tennis is an anaerobic sport. That is, it is played in short bursts of normally four to ten seconds and requires a special kind of conditioning. Some players condition themselves by running long distances each day, but that has only limited value for playing tennis. The muscles and lungs trained in long distance running respond well to a consistent rhythm, while tennis often demands a sudden violent and inconsistent need for oxygen and muscle contractions. A question I often receive on my website is: "How long should I practice to stay in shape?" I will attempt to show you that it the answer lies in your genetic make-up and the nature of your practice. Having been involved in professional tennis for four decades, I have seen players who need four to five hours a day of hard practice before they feel ready to take on the world. On the other hand, I use to watch Jimmy Connors practice sometimes less than an hour and be exhausted because he had a clever system to stay in shape. Jimmy always played "flat out" tennis, which I admired. But he practiced in the same manner. I would see Jimmy get his heart rate up in a tough practice point. He would then walk briskly to get the ball and left little time between points. His entire practice session would be played in this manner. This caused his heart rate to stay up, an important component for conditioning. One year, Dr. Barry Unger and I decided to test the Connors system. I would get my heart rate up quickly and then allow no rest period between points. I would walk quickly to pick up the balls between points and stop the ball bouncing before serving. I was quite surprised that my heart rate stayed up and I discovered a new way to get into shape. If one is seriously considering getting into shape, one might want to play one set for competition and one "Connors-type set" for conditioning. Vic Braden is a licensed California psychologist and well-known author, sports educator and researcher, cinematographer, videographer and television commentator. If you have a question for Vic, please visit his website at www.vicbraden.com or email him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Bookmark:            Trackback(0)
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