Training the Upper Body For Tennis

Key Elements

Horizontal Pulling

Improving the muscle mass and strength of the upper back will be an important element of training the upper body for tennis. As will moving the shoulder joint through a challenging range of motion in order to improve function. An exercise like a ring row will be perfect for a tennis player looking to build muscle and a single arm ring row with rotation for trying to improve shoulder function and prevent injury.

Horizontal Pushing

Horizontal pushing will be important for gaining muscle mass in the upper body. Having adequate levels of muscle mass for tennis is important, it is not required to have high levels of muscle mass, but having enough in order to perform at the top of your game is essential. It is important to move the shoulder joint through its full range of motion when training the horizontal press, often times when performing the bench press of press up the final portion of the lift is not performed, for sports performance this is something to avoid.

Vertical Pulling

The latissimus dorsi is one of the largest muscles in the body and vertical pulling is one of the most effective ways to make it both larger and stronger. Vertical pulling is typically done through training the pull up, which is a very effective way to train this movement pattern. However pull ups can be very difficult, so if you are not able to perform pull ups yet, replace them with a lat pull down or a banded pull down.

Vertical Pressing

Training the anterior deltoid will be very important for tennis players, strong shoulders and a stable shoulder joint will be crucial to performing powerful serves on a regular basis. Mobility restrictions are common in the vertical press, so again make sure you are moving through the full range of motion and really reaching towards the ceiling at the end of your reps.

Shoulder Stability

The shoulder joint is crucial to tennis longevity and performance. This is why a tennis player may want to perform some specific stability drills to ensure they are building extremely stable shoulder joints. For non-sport specific training, general weight training will be very effective at this, but for sports where the shoulder joint is put under a great deal of pressure it can be good to make sure you are doing some additional work to prevent injury.

Why Understanding This Is Important

Below I provide you with a single workout, but with the knowledge of how to design your own training programme you will be able to pick your own exercises and build your own sessions. Essentially, tennis players need to move through all the ranges of motion of the upper body and build some extra shoulder stability.

Upper Body Workout For Tennis

A) Bench Press

5 x 5 @heavy load

B1) Half Kneeling Landmine Press

4 x 10 @moderate load

B2) Pull Up

4 x 5-8 (depends on ability)

C1) Ring Row

4 x 12

C2) Single Arm KB Overhead Carry

4 x 20m

*note that a section (A,B,C) is performed in a super set when there are multiple movements in the section.

This is a perfect session for a tennis player looking to build strength and muscle mass in their upper body. Start with light loads that you can build over multiple sessions. Once you have performed the session 4-8 times, change the session with a new batch of movements.

Videos of Exercises In Session