Strength training for tennis players: how to improve performance

Why is strength training essential for tennis players?

Strength training for tennis players is not just an add-on — it is an integral part of modern tennis. Tennis demands repeated explosive movements: serves, powerful groundstrokes and quick changes of direction on the court place coordination, strength and endurance demands on the body all at once, which court training alone cannot meet. Studies confirm that sport-specific strength training reduces the incidence of overuse injuries in tennis players and significantly improves both serve speed and the efficiency of the stroke sequence (Kovacs, 2007).

Tennis is one of the sports where asymmetrical loading of the body — one arm, one side — creates muscular imbalance. If this imbalance is not compensated for, the risk of knee, elbow and shoulder injuries rises considerably. Women and strength training: Part I covers in depth how strength exercises also support physically different athlete profiles — this principle applies fully to tennis players as well.

Which muscle groups are the priority for a tennis player?

A tennis player has three key muscle-group complexes:

1. Core and rotational strength
The strength behind a shot does not come from the arm but from the kinetic chain — from the legs through the hips into the trunk and arm. A weak core breaks this chain and reduces both shot power and control. Exercises: ball woodchop rotations, Russian twist, side plank.

2. Lower-body explosive strength
Over the course of a match there are 300–500 short sprints on the court, most of them 3–5 meters (Kovacs, 2007). Lower-body plyometrics — squat jumps, box jumps — develop speed-strength, which is the foundation of court mobility.

3. Shoulder and rotator cuff stabilization
Because of serves and repeated strokes, shoulder overuse injuries predominate among tennis players. The NSCA guidelines (Haff & Triplett, 2016) recommend including preventive rotator cuff work in every training cycle. Exercises: external rotation with a resistance band, Y-T-W raises.

How do you build an effective strength training program for a tennis player?

Thorough strength training periodization for a tennis player is divided into three phases:

Preparatory phase (pre-season, 6–8 weeks)

The focus is muscle mass and base strength. According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) position stand, the recommended volume phase for exercisers is 3–4 sets of 8–12 repetitions at a load of 67–85% of 1RM (ACSM, 2009). For a tennis player, mobility work and balancing of muscle structure are added to this.

Sample plan (2× per week):
– A1: Squat 4×8
– A2: Horizontal ball woodchop rotation 3×12 (each side)
– B1: Barbell row 3×10
– B2: Rotator cuff external rotation 3×15
– C1: Box jump 3×6

Specific strength phase (closer to the season, 4–6 weeks)

Volume drops, intensity rises. The share of plyometrics increases: the emphasis is on the rapid strength output of tennis-specific movement patterns. Reid and Schneiker (2008) emphasized in their review article that a sport-specific transition phase improves on-court measures (serve speed, lateral movement) to a statistically significant degree.

In-season maintenance phase

1–2 strength training sessions per week, lower volume; the goal is to maintain pre-season strength levels and prevent the accumulation of fatigue.

Strength training and aging explains how the planning of strength exercises changes as you get older — tennis players over the age of 40 should allow more time for recovery and adjust volume accordingly.

Is strength training suitable for younger tennis players too?

Yes — with sensible training load and correct technique, strength exercises are safe and beneficial for young tennis players. Strength training and children and Strength training and children cover both age limits and safety principles in depth. The main differences compared with adults:

• Under 12: the main emphasis is on bodyweight, coordination and technique — free weights kept to a minimum.
• Ages 12–16: strength training with moderate load can be added, always under adult supervision.
• 16+: the periodization is similar to adults, taking active growth into account.

The World Health Organization recommends in its physical activity guidelines that children and adolescents do muscle- and bone-strengthening exercises at least 3 times per week — tennis combined with strength training covers this norm ideally.

What are the most common strength training mistakes among tennis players?

1. Training only the upper body
Many players focus on strengthening the arms and shoulders and forget that the strength of the serve starts in the legs. Lower-body work is just as important in tennis.

2. Ignoring asymmetry
The dominant elbow and shoulder bear more of the load in tennis — this calls for deliberate compensatory work to strengthen the other side.

3. Accumulating fatigue during the season
Mid-season it is tempting to drop strength training. In fact it should continue — with lower volume, to preserve its injury-prevention function.

4. Adding explosive exercises too early
Plyometrics requires an existing base of strength. ACSM (2009) recommends starting plyometrics only after the stability phase, when the athlete can perform a squat jump with controlled movement.

References

• Kovacs MS. (2007). Tennis physiology: training the competitive athlete. Sports Med. 37(3):189–198. PMID: 17309965
• Reid M, Schneiker K. (2008). Strength and conditioning in tennis: current research and practice. J Sci Med Sport. 11(3):248–256. PMID: 17618181
• American College of Sports Medicine. (2009). ACSM Position Stand: Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 41(3):687–708. PMID: 19204579
• Haff GG, Triplett NT (eds). (2016). Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning (4th ed). NSCA / Human Kinetics. ISBN: 9781492501626