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Improve Your Forehand with Medicine Ball Training Ian Barstow One of the greatest areas of improvement in the modern era of tennis is in the physical domain. The players are bigger, stronger and faster then ever before. To enhance performance players are relying on breakthrough strength and conditioning methods. I have had the good fortune to see many of the stars of the court in action and off the court.
I have seen Federer performing cleans at Wimbledon Gym, Mauresmo performing bench throws at Roland Garros, Andy Murray performing prehab exercises at the Aussie Open, and Djokovic throwing the medicine ball at the US Open gym. In a series of articles I would like to share some of the strength and conditioning techniques they are using to help you improve your game. Med Ball Training One of the most common forms of training the pro players are using is medicine ball training. Medicine (Med) ball training is a form of plyometric training for the whole body and it can really help you become a more powerful player. Often it is thought of as core training because the core is where people are weakest and therefore where they will feel the benefits of the med ball training the most. In truth med ball training emphasizes the development of power by working the whole kinetic chain as described in the sequence below. Legs + Core + Upper = Power Power is developed by using the body from the ground up to throw a ball that can vary in weight (usually from one to ten pounds). Power is defined as the ability to rapidly apply a force and is represented by the formula force x velocity. Power is therefore dependent on the force you can exert and the speed at which you can do it (the rate of force production). In practical terms if you make the medicine ball very heavy, then the speed of the movement will be very slow and little power is generated. Researchers have shown that the most power can be gained when we use about 30% or our maximum capacity. In short, heavier is not always better. So in regards to med ball training, you should use a medicine ball between 2-8 pounds depending on your individual strength.. With medicine ball training you learn to fire the legs, core, and upper body in a sequenced and explosive manner to throw a ball toward a target. Maximizing velocity of the throw through rotational sequencing of the body forms the basis of an excellent strengthening program for the whole kinetic chain. The table below describes med ball training in relation to three segments of the body, the movements required, and the muscles used.
Sports Are All About Acceleration
Acceleration, the rapid change in velocity is the buzz word in nearly all athletic activities today and is one of the reasons that med ball training is so frequently used. The best athletes are able to rapidly accelerate, that is change velocities in a very short time. Acceleration (change in racquet speed) of the racquet is a very important component of the modern tennis stroke. Med ball training is one of the best methods of training the body to produce increased racquet head speed. With increased acceleration we are able to impart more spin (increase safety margins over the net) and speed on the ball. Med ball training will condition your body to the rotational forces needed to accomplish these goals imparting more spin and speed). If you can learn to "use your body" to throw the medicine ball more powerfully then you can use the same sequencing of the kinetic chain to accelerate a tennis racquet. Scientist Dr Ben Kibler describes this sequencing occurring from "proximal to distal." The proximal end of the chain is the legs and distal end is the arms. The tennis shot should begin in your legs, move through your core to your arm and finish with your wrist transferring the energy created to the racquet. Mimic the Shot From the Ground Up to Find the Missing Links
In physical therapy we are taught to analyze movements from the ground up, with particular focus on using the kinetic chain from proximal to distal. With proper positioning of the feet and emphasis on technique, we can make medicine ball training very specific to tennis shots. Specifically, by mimicking the preparation and finish positions of tennis strokes, we can improve a player's power. The closer we mimic the movement to the stroke, the greater the benefit. In the first video you can see that the legs and core are used in almost exactly the same manner throwing a medicine ball as hitting a tennis ball. This makes the med ball training specific to tennis as it uses almost the same neuromuscular patterns to develop power. You will note that we're demonstrating an open stance in the first video, and we'll demonstrate semi and closed stances in the subsequent videos. I have found that the biggest technical gains can be made in improving the dynamic between the hips and core, something that receives very little emphasis in traditional tennis coaching. Compare the amount of rotation power in Federer's swing and say, your swing, and you will start to understand what I am talking about. A Co-Coordinated Chain Improves Your Feel Due to the weight of the ball you will not be able to arm the shot and will be forced to use the kinetic chain. Many players tell me they feel their body, especially their core, working much more with the medicine ball than with hitting a tennis ball and swinging the much lighter racquet. If you learn to use your body better you will be able to accelerate not only the medicine ball but the tennis racquet better. Increasing racquet speed enables more spin and velocity, the major goals of the modern forehand shot. As your power improves the med ball can be lightened, emphasizing speed training over strength training. Alternatively the weight of the ball can be increased for physical strengthening (but not too heavy).
With increased kinesthetic input med ball training develops the co-ordination of your body parts to allow for increased accuracy of the modern shot. The modern shot begins with the legs, moves through the core, and finishes with the arm. The co-coordinated movement of literally hundreds of muscles occurs in hundredths of seconds. Medicine ball training helps co-ordinate these very complex movement patterns and a player learns to use the whole chain in the right sequence. When you begin throwing the medicine ball you usually do not have very good accuracy. This shows that the base (legs and core) from which you are firing is not allowing for a consistent release of energy. Usually in tennis we are very focused on what happens at the arm end of the kinetic chain with the hands, and we often overlook the importance of having a very stable base of power (legs and core) to work off. You should remember that no specific link in the chain is more important than the other. Often the greatest gains to your forehand can be made by working on the legs and core, which have had little attention paid to them. These are the weak links in many players' chain and where most of your forehand power can be gained. Dr. Ben Kibler has shown the large muscles in your legs and trunk are responsible for over half the force and kinetic energy that is ultimately funneled to and controlled by the hands. In the modern game I simply like to think of the legs and core loading the upper body for the hit. If you do not load your upper body through the kinetic chain you can only make up the loss of energy by putting extra stress on the upper body which inevitably leads to injury. Of course medicine ball training puts the focus on your legs and core and can take some of the stress off your upper body. Even the Pros Can Be Better
When I first start working with a professional player, I often find as the player tries to maximize the power of their release they will spray the ball. The co-ordination of their kinetic chain is not as good as you might think it would be. To enhance their control, many players minimize the the use of the legs and or core. In fact, many of the pros training with med balls are, unbeknownst to themselves, practicing throwing the ball like this. While this can stabilize the shot because of the reduced body movement, it will greatly diminish your power (by over 50%) and can lead to pushing or slowing down the racquet head to get the ball in place. Dr Bruce Elliot has shown that the modern forehand used by the pros emphasizes power developed by all the segments of the kinetic chain. You must learn to use all the muscles of the body in a co-coordinated way and not block energy from the legs and core. If you repeatedly learn to use your legs and core in a consistent pattern to load your upper body, it will allow for more consistent strokes.
In the video we're showing you how to use med ball training to increase the power and accuracy of your forehand from three positions that are very specific to tennis. These positions are open stance, semi-open stance and closed stance. After each drill, Melinda will model the forehand shot from the same set up position so you can see how specific the training is. Finally we will do a drill on the court that will enable you to literally start using the kinetic chain more effectively today.
Conversion Training The final stage we will use in training is called conversion training. Conversion training uses the medicine ball training to enhance the firing of the kinetic chain and immediately convert this improvement in chain kinematics into your forehand. In particular after the medicine ball drill for the forehand is performed you will hit tennis balls trying to facilitate the use of the legs and core to increase racquet head speed. Strength and conditioning experts believe the first action of the medicine ball primes the fast twitch fibers throughout the kinetic chain needed to hit the modern forehand. Conversion was often used as the final stage of periodization but it can be very useful neuromuscular facilitation technique to teach you to use your body better. Transferring what you get off the court on the court is a very special area that is often neglected and medicine ball training enable you to bridge the gap. By analysis of what the best players do we have been able to make the motor patterns of medicine ball throws very specific to tennis. In doing so you should find it becomes easier to transfer the power from the forehand medicine ball drill to the forehand strike in tennis. If you start thinking from the ground up you will be surprised that it may just cure some of your technical problems and give you a lot more power when you feel the chain in action. Medicine ball training is for the pros and it is for you too. Your comments are welcome. Let us know what you think about Ian Barstow's article by emailing us here at TennisOne. |