Sport Specific Summer Training
Tune up for golf, tennis or inline skating with targeted routines
© Hal Peat
Learn the sport-specific training methods and techniques to power up your performance in golf, tennis or inline skating this summer. For occasional or dedicated athletes.
Los Angeles based personal trainer Christopher Drozd is one highly sport-specific knowledgeable personal trainer who has designed programs for every activity from skiing to tennis and golf for California’s year-round outdoor athletes. Some of his key points for designing a sport-specific program:
- Train the specific energy system for the specific sport: “The energy systems that define activities like tennis and golf are different, and although both can be considered “power sports”, I would tend to use real power training for a tennis player than with a golf player,” he notes. “Golfers will usually benefit by more basic, overall fitness programs with only minor variations. Tennis players are better trained with some more advanced and technical exercises.”
- Individual goals and lifestyle are a central consideration. For example, a tennis-specific program will take as much note of the outside demands of the tennis player’s life as his age group or performance goals. For anyone from novice to champion level, Drozd observes: “Most of the exercises would remain the same. The more advanced athletes would naturally be conditioned with more intensity, greater training volume and possibly greater frequency."
- Effective sport specificity utilizes exercises that relate to the activity: Some of the most common mistakes Drozd notices include “repetition ranges that are all wrong. You will see power athletes conditioning their endurance both in the pre-season and in-season. And then you will also see endurance athletes training for strength.”
Consistency, good form and optimum frequency and intensity are all key to a successful sport-specific program:
GOLF/TENNIS: “Nautilus machines put you in an awkward position that do not relate at all with the real world,” Chris Drozd comments. “You can see people making the same mistake with weighted golf clubs and tennis racquets. Nothing hurts your timing more than attempting the movement you’ve already spent enormous time trying to perfect than changing the weight of the instrument you’re using. You may become able to swing a heavier golf club, but your whole swing could be altered for the worse because of that added resistance.”
Instead, Drozd’s approach is to condition the entire body to generate greater overall power: “Leave your hard-earned swing technique alone so you have only one way of hitting the ball,” he emphasizes. He recommends that when golf players go to the gym, they should train legs, gluteals and midsection with as many free weights and other exercises that involve smaller supporting muscles for balance and stabilization as well as for performing the principal movement. And for tennis, Olympic lifts are a must for developing power to hit the ball, along with the necessary speed to cross the court.
IN-LINE SKATING: “Hip extensions are of primary importance,” Drozd points out about preparing for this leisure sport. “The power stroke of in-line skating can also be enhanced by performing squats, lunges and trunk extensions” while at the gym. “Also, because you’re in a forward flexed position while skating, your back is working isometrically for long periods of time, so developing strength in that area is beneficial for preventing fatigue. In-line skaters do not always have great balance and body alignment, so to improve their proprioceptive sense, I have clients stand on one foot on a surface like a mat and perform single leg squats or just balance.”
Finally, you can target many of the same muscle groups for your sport without even having to enter a gym. For instance, for training specifically for tennis, rope jumping is an excellent cross training exercise providing aerobic conditioning, lower body muscle tone and overall muscular endurance. For in-line skating, either running or rope jumping is an excellent method of building strength in the legs and to condition the back for impact. Both also increase cardiovascular endurance. Even a simple activity like running can be done more effectively by alternating your regular route with others that provide different challenges. If your usual location is a flat park or running path, then find other areas with hills or steep inclines. Build your sessions from easier distances and speeds to more advanced sessions; use a heart target monitor. As long as you are conditioning your body for the muscle memory it needs to perform your particular sport’s body motions, you will be establishing a pattern for your body to follow, while also building the muscle it needs to increase your performance to new levels.
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Sport-Specific Resources:
Sport-Specific Fitness – www.sportfit.com: website for sport-specific training in several outdoor sports, both summer and winter activities.
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