Tennis has always been a game of your ability to move quickly and with precision. For every player, tennis demands fast reflexes, explosive movements and endurance. While many players believe mastering the right strokes and tactics is all that truly matters, enhancing a few other skills can help you stay on top of the game. Enter sprinting. Why would learning to be a better sprinter help you enhance your on court skills? Keep reading to learn more.

Four Ways Sprinting Can Help You Improve Your Game

Sprinting can actually do a number of things for your game. Take a look.

1. It enhances speed and agility. Nothing says speed training quite like sprinting because it requires such explosive bursts of energy. That can mean that you have what you need every time you have to rapidly change directions, make those short sprints to reach the ball, and make those swift movements so you can outmaneuver your opponent. Regular sprinting practice means you’ll learn how to accelerate quickly, reach the ball faster, and swiftly change your direction during a rally.
2. It helps you build more power. Remember that sprinting defines an explosive burst of energy, and those tend to engage your fast-twitch muscle fibers. Those muscle fibers equate to more power in your strokes. Whether you’re trying to improve the power behind your serve or create a solid forehand, that level of power can be vital if you’re looking to dominate a match, and sprinting can do just that for you.
3. It creates endurance. Tennis matches can be fairly short, but they often mean rally after rally and set after set. When you work on your ability to sprint, though, you’re improving your anaerobic capacity and your cardiovascular fitness. As a result, you can tackle that high-intensity play that is often required for those longer periods without dealing with the fatigue that often sets in.
4. It improves mental toughness. Sprints tend to be physically demanding, and that can mean that you have to push through discomfort and fatigue during training. By sprinting regularly, you’re toughening up your mind, and that may help you stay focused and composed while you’re on the court.

How to Add It To Your Training Routine?

What can you do to add sprinting to your training routine? Develop some drills you can add to your weekly training. Start with short sprints, and increase both distance and intensity as you improve. You may also want to mix things up a bit by adding interval training as well as hill sprints to target the various muscle groups you’ll use while you’re on the court.

Sprinting DOES Help Your Tennis Skills

Many players overlook the power of sprinting, but the reality is that it can help build skills that translate directly to on court success.