Cross training through rollerblading

Cross training through rollerblading

Alas, we can't always play tennis every single day . However, there are other physical activities that can partake in that will help us build up some of the skills essential for tennis.  In this post, I will discuss another sport that can help you build up tennis skills: rollerblading. I love roller blading; it's exhilarating rapid spurts of uncertainty. I love gliding and turning and such. Rollerblading does a number on the quads  When making turns on sharp hare pin curves, rollerblading forces you to really bend your knees and shift your body weight closer to the ground. This skill is transferable to tennis. Often in tennis, we are required to bend our knees and get down low for certain kinds of balls such as sliced shots. In addition, we need to always be shifting our weight lower to the ground instead of pulling up our body weight and thus making the balls sail long.

In addition, roller blading involves the turning and twisting of our bodies when we change directions and turn around sharp corners. In tennis, we utilize a similar motion when we are preparing to hit our shots. Prior to hitting a ball, we must turn our body to be able to see the incoming ball.

Furthermore, rollerblading allows you to work on your balance and weight transfer. These skills are essential  to the development of your tennis game. Balance and weight transfer our essential for the serve ( moving into) and for potent ground strokes.

By doing cross training activities, one can develop the muscle memory needed for certain skills in tennis. We can train our muscles to acclimate to certain tasks.

For more information on my tennis instruction, email info@elftennis.com.