Hey friends,
As many of you know, one of my favorite hobbies is MMA. I believe martial arts is one of the best cross-training sports to enhance your tennis game or the games of your students.
Martial arts will make a player tougher mentally. The training culture in martial arts is intense and tough, teaching discipline and work ethic. In addition, sparring and live fighting is one of the best ways to build courage and increase tolerance of pain. Many of my students are too soft and have a country club approach to their tennis training and they lack courage and ferocity in matches. Getting punched, kicked, or choked out will do wonders to beat the country club spirit out of a kid! Bottom line—martial arts helps make privileged country club kids stronger and tougher mentally!
Furthermore, there is a strategy component to martial arts that closely parallels the game of tennis. Boxing, MMA, karate, wrestling, etc all feature one on one battles—just like tennis. Strategy and tactics are developed and emphasized with patterns of attack and defense employed. Athletes develop their best tactical mind and the ability to read their opponent’s body and facial language—valuable skills that translate directly to the tennis court.
Of course, martial arts also have profound physical benefit for athletes. Different martial arts have different athletic benefits. Boxing and kickboxing develop footwork, stamina, power, hand and foot to eye coordination, and reading and reaction. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu develops flexibility, mobility, core stability and overall body strength. Wrestling enhances those same skills and also emphasizes power and explosiveness. Every martial art is different and has a slightly different profile.
The key is to choose a martial art that enhances the athletic trait that you or your player needs.
I encourage all my students to consider cross training martial arts. The benefits are sundry and will surely enhance a tennis player’s game both physically and mentally.
I love MMA myself. What martial art do you love?
Chris Lewit has developed numerous American top 10 nationally ranked players and is an expert on training young prodigies. Learn more at ChrisLewit.com.
Learn from Chris online at CLTA.teachable.com.