4 Tips to Improve Your Tennis Game

With the Davis Cup Quarter-Finals coming up in a few days, tennis enthusiasts the world over are getting ready for an exciting season. Watching top players such as Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev serve their top game can be a huge inspiration to aspiring tennis players looking to hone their skills. Professional tennis players have a hardcore training schedule and unforgiving coaches, so don’t be alarmed if you don’t find yourself on par with tennis legend Andre Agassi anytime soon. There are however, three simple but beneficial tips you can follow to improve your tennis game – yes, even the pros follow these basic rules. Here they are!

Eat Clean, Train Dirty

Following a clean and healthy diet to get the very best out of your tennis performance may seem like common sense, but you’d be surprised to know how many people let this, the most important practise of all, slide. Yes, things can get hectic when you’re playing a lot of tournaments, especially if you’re working or studying full-time as well, but no matter how stressful things get, you should always carve out some time to sit down and enjoy a balanced healthy meal. Lean proteins and complex carbohydrates are the best food types for muscle recovery, so try to sneak some fish, chicken, brown rice and whole wheat bread and pasta into your diet whenever you can. Keep protein bars and snacks on hand for when you’re on the run, or even to nibble on between change-overs, to ensure you keep your energy levels up. Suffice it to say, water should always be on top of your list of priorities – you cannot deliver your best game if you’re not hydrated enough.

Pre-Game Stretching

If you’ve noticed that it takes you a while to really get into the first twenty minutes of a match, stretching properly might be the kick you need to have you playing your best game from the get-go. Stiff muscles and joints have no place in a sport that requires such fine motor skills, so finding stretching exercises that suit you can go a long way. Some basic yoga postures and flows could really help to loosen up your muscles and give you an extra energy boost before you head out on to the court – and you don’t need to be an experienced yogi to do so. Check YouTube for yoga poses geared at tennis players and you’ll find a whole lot of great videos ranging from short stretches of under 10 minutes, to vitalizing flows of up to 25 minutes.

Treat Your Racquet Well

Your racquet is your trusty steed, a weapon that you take into battle every time you step out onto the court and it should be looked after as if it where your child. Well ok, maybe not that well but you do need to keep it well maintained if you want to get the most out of your game. Make sure to put new strings on regularly and learn how to regrip your racquet so that you can regularly replace the grip, it’s not hard once you know how! Make sure you store the racquet well and don’t put anything heavy on top of it or leave it somewhere hot as it may warp. If you look after your racquet, it will look after you and help you become a better player.

Train with Awesome Players

Typically, amateur tennis players are matched by their skills, so they’re not going to make a forty-year-old beginner play against a twenty-year-old who has been on the courts since he was wearing diapers – it’s only fair now, isn’t it? If you really want to improve your game however, you can’t be afraid of challenging yourself, and what better way to do so than by playing against someone who’s not far from reaching pro-levels. It may be a kick to your ego, but your ego doesn’t have a place on the court anyway – it’s all about the love of the game. By playing against someone who is way out of your league, you will become more aware of their techniques which, in turn, will help you improve your own. Playing against a strong, advanced player will also make you push yourself more, as you will want to keep up with their style and speed – all in all a great motivator!