This content breaks down the eight key pillars of developing elite tennis performance, emphasizing that true power and agility stem from a holistic approach integrating the kinetic chain, explosive movement, controlled deceleration, maximal strength, dynamic mobility, superior conditioning, wrist and forearm strength, and precise footwork, rather than isolated muscle development.
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This is a tennis player. He doesn't have
a huge body. He's lean with muscles that
look natural. His legs big for his
frame. His right arm noticeably larger
than the left. And his wrists and
forearms strong as steel. Getting a body
like this comes down to eight pillars.
Today, we'll break them down. We'll rank
each one out of 10.
Most beginners think a fast shot comes
from the arm. That is a lie. that leads
straight to tennis elbow. In elite
tennis, the arm is just the end of a
whip. Power starts from the ground. It
travels through the legs, flows into the
hips, and gets multiplied by the core.
This system is called the kinetic chain.
If one part is weak, which is usually
the core, power leaks out. You swing
harder, the ball still doesn't go
faster. Andy Rodic held the record for
the fastest serve for years. It wasn't
just arm strength. It was his rock solid
core and violent torso rotation that
allowed him to snap the racket through
the zone. The training plan, I like to
break it into layers. We create the
force by doing split squats, Romanian
deadlifts, and jump squats. Then we
transfer that force into the core by
doing medicine ball rotational throws,
cable wood choppers, landmine rotations.
And finally, we release it with perfect
timing and control. Shadow swings with
slow rotation and band resisted forehand
rotations. Each layer feeds the next.
Skip one and power disappears. [music]
That's how you hit harder without
In tennis, 80% of the game is side to
side. If you're slow, you don't lose
points. You lose hope halfway to the
ball. This defines court coverage. It's
about the ability to move from a split
step into a crossover or shuffle
instantly. Look at Carlos Alcarez. He's
not just fast. He's reactive. He can
stop his momentum and reacelerate in the
opposite direction before the opponent
even finishes their swing. The real fix,
train the first step. One direction
change strength. Before you can go fast,
you must be able to stop and turn over.
Lateral lunges, skater squats, single
leg bounds. Two, first step speed. This
is about cheating physics to start
moving instantly. Crossover drills.
Learning to cross one leg over the other
to gain distance. Band pushes. Adding
weight to your first move to make it
explosive. [music] Wall drive starts.
Practicing the perfect body lean for a
fast start. Reactive agility. Most
people train with cones they know are
there. In a match, the ball is
unpredictable. The exercises. Partner
point. You move only when your partner
points. Color number calls. Your brain
hears a cue and reacts instantly. Random
color signs forces you to change your
mind mid-sprint. [music]
Train your brain to decide, not just
your legs to move. A fast body with a
slow brain is still a slow player.
Pillar three, eccentric strength. N out
of 10. Everyone trains to be fast. Come
on, who doesn't want to chase every ball
like Alcarez? But here's the catch. If
you can't hit the brakes, that full
speed chase just ends with an awkward
dive. Before you hit a stable ball, your
body has to stop moving first. >> [music]
>> [music]
>> That stopping power comes from eccentric
strength. It's the ability of muscles to
stay strong while they lengthen under
load. Without it, momentum keeps pulling
you forward. Balance [music] breaks.
Accuracy disappears. Watch Rafael Nadal
sprint to a corner on Clay. His ability
to slide, load his outside leg, and
absorb massive force is what allows him
to hit those banana [music]
passing shots on the run. One, single
leg deceleration. Bulgarian split
squats, step downs from a box. Two, wide
base control, casic squats, pistol
squats. Three, tennis specific
absorption, controlled slide lunges,
deceleration drills into a shadow swing.
Train slow on the way down. That's where
control is built. And in tennis, control
wins rallies. By the way, this full
training program is all inside the
physique of a tennis player. It breaks
down every exercise with reps, sets, and
progressions. Pillar four, max [music]
strength. Some people might say lifting
heavy makes you stiff. Yeah, you
definitely didn't see this guy. If you
only do high rep light weights, you are
building endurance, not power. And
eventually, you hit a ceiling. No matter
how fast you swing, the ball still feels
light to your [music] opponent. To fix
that, you first have to forget the
machines for a bit and instead use these
four exercises to make yourself way more
powerful. Trap bar jump shrugs. This
teaches you to explode off the floor.
Front squats [music]
keeps your posture upright. If your core
collapses here, it will collapse during
a fast serve. Overhead press [music]
builds bulletproof shoulders. Pull-up
variations. These give you a strong
back, [music] which stabilizes your
swing and prevents hitting with your arm
only. When you are strong, you don't
have to try to hit hard. The strength of
your legs handles the work, leaving your
arms free to be relaxed and precise.
Pillar five, dynamic mobility. 9.5 out
of 10. Imagine you're moving to the side
for one ball and suddenly your joints
make a sound that feels expensive. Yeah,
that's lack of mobility. Flexibility is
being able to do the splits. Mobility,
on the other hand, is being able to hit
a 100 mph forehand while doing the
splits. Good examples are NovakJokovic,
who moves like rubber, and somehow your
knees hurt just watching him. And then
there's Carlos Alcarez, who moves in the
court like gravity forgot about him.
[music] Most players are either stiff as
a board or bendy but weak. If you're
stiff, your body breaks when you reach
for a wide ball. If you are just
flexible like a noodle, you have no
power when you get there. And [music]
even worse, you end up with chronic
lower back pain or dead arm. That's why
we train. So to train mobility, we first
have to get in the range by doing 9090
hip switches and [music] deep squat
holds with rotation. And then we get the
control in range with split squat
isometric holds and Copenhagen planks.
And lastly, we do some shoulder
protections by doing shoulder internal
rotation drills and band assisted
You look like a pro in the first 10
minutes, but by the third set, you're
breathing like a fish out of water.
Tennis isn't a marathon. It's a 100
sprints with a nap in between. If your
heart takes 5 minutes to slow down after
a long rally, you've already lost the
next point. Real fitness is about how
fast you can reset your breath.
NovakJokovic looks the same in the fifth
hour as he did in the first minute. Andy
Murray used to run track. This guy will
chase balls until the sun goes down and
then ask for more. If your engine is
small, your brain stops working. You
stop moving your feet. You start wishing
the match would just end.
Train the reset. One interval sprints.
Run fast for 20 seconds, rest for 20,
just like a real point. Two, jump rope
keeps your feet bouncy and your heart
rate high. Want to level it up? Get the
weighted jump rope from Crossro. Your
lungs burn, your shoulders get stronger,
and your next forehand suddenly feels
violent. Three, medball swings. Swing
medicine balls at full power. Shuffle
for 5 m, swing again. This teaches your
body to produce power while you're
tired. Four, box jumps. teaches your
heart to handle sudden explosions of
energy. The player who breathes better
The power comes from the legs and the
core, but the wrist decides where that
power ends up. If your grip is soft, the
racket twists. If the racket twists, the
ball goes into the parking lot. Look at
Federer's flick on the forehand. His
wrist is like a whip that never breaks.
And the doll's legendary forehand spin.
His forearms look like they were carved
out of granite. If you have noodle
wrists, you get tennis elbow. The
vibration of the ball travels straight
into your joints because your muscles
aren't strong enough to soak it up. You
end up wearing a brace and watching your
Being fast is great, but if you run too
fast and end up right on top of the
ball, you can't swing. Tennis is a game
of small steps. Big steps get you to the
ball, but tiny steps get you in the
right spot to hit it. It's like parking
a car. You don't just floor it into the
garage, you adjust at the end. People
say Roger Federer glides. That's just
because his footwork is so perfect. He's
never in a rush. And Daniel Medvidev
looks awkward most of the time, but his
feet are always exactly where they need
to be. The dance drills. One, ladder
drills. High knees, in-n-outs, and
crossovers. Teaches your brain to
control your toes. Two, figure eights.
Run in circles around two balls. Teaches
you how to lean and adjust. Three, the
spider drill. Sprint to every corner of
the court and back to the middle. Four,
jump squat to split step. Jump up, land
softly, and be ready to move instantly.
Good feet make the game feel slow. When
the game feels slow, you have all the
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