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Pilates For The Tennis Player
Pilates is a form of exercise that emphasizes core stability and alignment as a means of effectively developing strength and stability in the whole body. Pilates has become very popular in the past few years; you can find people of all ages and athletic abilities using Pilates to build strength, to tone their muscles and to foster overall wellness. What makes Pilates different from other forms of exercise is that it not only focuses on strength, but also on muscle lengthening and flexibility, which can help to minimize muscle imbalances and postural problems. More importantly, it can help to prevent injury by improving strength and stability.
So how can Pilates help you improve your tennis game?
Improve core strength and stability: having a strong core (abdominal, back and pelvic floor muscles) will prevent injury to your back when performing the twisting or bending motions used in tennis. It will also help to optimize the strength and power of the muscles in your shoulders, hips and legs.
Improve the stability of joints, especially ankle, knee, hip, shoulder. The common sprains and strains associated with sport activities lead to joint weakness and instability. By emphasizing strength, motor control, and weight-bearing activities, Pilates exercises help develop the joint stability athletes need to prevent re-injury. More importantly, Pilates exercises do not overload bones or joints; thus, they minimize wear and tear on the body.
 Improve strength and flexibility: Over time, playing sports can lead to muscle imbalances due to overdevelopment and tightness of certain muscle groups and weakness in others. Pilates helps to restore normal muscle length and to strengthen those muscles that are not as developed. This helps to achieve an optimum balance in your musculature and posture.
Improve balance to give the tennis player better agility and overall performance. Good balance and proprioception are important to achieve precision and control allowing the tennis player to become more efficient in his/her game.
Overall wellness and body awareness: Pilates exercise emphasizes the mind-body connection; which makes it different from other forms of exercise. The increased body awareness gained with a Pilates regimen will enable you to achieve improved control and performance in your tennis game. or any other activity you may participate in.
Prevent injury: By integrating Pilates into your regular exercise routine, the tennis player decreases the chance of injury, thus preventing time off the courts!
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