0:02 This is a tennis player. He doesn't have
0:05 a huge body. He's lean with muscles that
0:07 look natural. His legs big for his
0:10 frame. His right arm noticeably larger
0:12 than the left. And his wrists and
0:16 forearms strong as steel. Getting a body
0:18 like this comes down to eight pillars.
0:20 Today, we'll break them down. We'll rank
0:24 each one out of 10.
0:26 Most beginners think a fast shot comes
0:28 from the arm. That is a lie. that leads
0:30 straight to tennis elbow. In elite
0:32 tennis, the arm is just the end of a
0:35 whip. Power starts from the ground. It
0:37 travels through the legs, flows into the
0:40 hips, and gets multiplied by the core.
0:42 This system is called the kinetic chain.
0:44 If one part is weak, which is usually
0:46 the core, power leaks out. You swing
0:48 harder, the ball still doesn't go
0:50 faster. Andy Rodic held the record for
0:52 the fastest serve for years. It wasn't
0:54 just arm strength. It was his rock solid
0:57 core and violent torso rotation that
0:59 allowed him to snap the racket through
1:01 the zone. The training plan, I like to
1:03 break it into layers. We create the
1:06 force by doing split squats, Romanian
1:08 deadlifts, and jump squats. Then we
1:10 transfer that force into the core by
1:13 doing medicine ball rotational throws,
1:16 cable wood choppers, landmine rotations.
1:18 And finally, we release it with perfect
1:21 timing and control. Shadow swings with
1:24 slow rotation and band resisted forehand
1:26 rotations. Each layer feeds the next.
1:29 Skip one and power disappears. [music]
1:31 That's how you hit harder without
1:37 In tennis, 80% of the game is side to
1:39 side. If you're slow, you don't lose
1:42 points. You lose hope halfway to the
1:44 ball. This defines court coverage. It's
1:46 about the ability to move from a split
1:48 step into a crossover or shuffle
1:51 instantly. Look at Carlos Alcarez. He's
1:54 not just fast. He's reactive. He can
1:55 stop his momentum and reacelerate in the
1:57 opposite direction before the opponent
2:00 even finishes their swing. The real fix,
2:03 train the first step. One direction
2:05 change strength. Before you can go fast,
2:08 you must be able to stop and turn over.
2:11 Lateral lunges, skater squats, single
2:14 leg bounds. Two, first step speed. This
2:16 is about cheating physics to start
2:19 moving instantly. Crossover drills.
2:21 Learning to cross one leg over the other
2:24 to gain distance. Band pushes. Adding
2:25 weight to your first move to make it
2:28 explosive. [music] Wall drive starts.
2:30 Practicing the perfect body lean for a
2:32 fast start. Reactive agility. Most
2:34 people train with cones they know are
2:36 there. In a match, the ball is
2:39 unpredictable. The exercises. Partner
2:41 point. You move only when your partner
2:44 points. Color number calls. Your brain
2:47 hears a cue and reacts instantly. Random
2:49 color signs forces you to change your
2:51 mind mid-sprint. [music]
2:53 Train your brain to decide, not just
2:55 your legs to move. A fast body with a
2:58 slow brain is still a slow player.
3:00 Pillar three, eccentric strength. N out
3:03 of 10. Everyone trains to be fast. Come
3:04 on, who doesn't want to chase every ball
3:07 like Alcarez? But here's the catch. If
3:09 you can't hit the brakes, that full
3:10 speed chase just ends with an awkward
3:13 dive. Before you hit a stable ball, your
3:15 body has to stop moving first. >> [music]
3:15 >> [music]
3:17 >> That stopping power comes from eccentric
3:19 strength. It's the ability of muscles to
3:22 stay strong while they lengthen under
3:24 load. Without it, momentum keeps pulling
3:26 you forward. Balance [music] breaks.
3:29 Accuracy disappears. Watch Rafael Nadal
3:31 sprint to a corner on Clay. His ability
3:33 to slide, load his outside leg, and
3:36 absorb massive force is what allows him
3:37 to hit those banana [music]
3:39 passing shots on the run. One, single
3:42 leg deceleration. Bulgarian split
3:44 squats, step downs from a box. Two, wide
3:46 base control, casic squats, pistol
3:48 squats. Three, tennis specific
3:51 absorption, controlled slide lunges,
3:53 deceleration drills into a shadow swing.
3:55 Train slow on the way down. That's where
3:57 control is built. And in tennis, control
4:00 wins rallies. By the way, this full
4:01 training program is all inside the
4:03 physique of a tennis player. It breaks
4:06 down every exercise with reps, sets, and
4:08 progressions. Pillar four, max [music]
4:10 strength. Some people might say lifting
4:13 heavy makes you stiff. Yeah, you
4:15 definitely didn't see this guy. If you
4:17 only do high rep light weights, you are
4:20 building endurance, not power. And
4:22 eventually, you hit a ceiling. No matter
4:25 how fast you swing, the ball still feels
4:27 light to your [music] opponent. To fix
4:29 that, you first have to forget the
4:32 machines for a bit and instead use these
4:34 four exercises to make yourself way more
4:37 powerful. Trap bar jump shrugs. This
4:40 teaches you to explode off the floor.
4:41 Front squats [music]
4:43 keeps your posture upright. If your core
4:45 collapses here, it will collapse during
4:47 a fast serve. Overhead press [music]
4:50 builds bulletproof shoulders. Pull-up
4:52 variations. These give you a strong
4:54 back, [music] which stabilizes your
4:55 swing and prevents hitting with your arm
4:57 only. When you are strong, you don't
4:59 have to try to hit hard. The strength of
5:01 your legs handles the work, leaving your
5:05 arms free to be relaxed and precise.
5:09 Pillar five, dynamic mobility. 9.5 out
5:11 of 10. Imagine you're moving to the side
5:13 for one ball and suddenly your joints
5:16 make a sound that feels expensive. Yeah,
5:19 that's lack of mobility. Flexibility is
5:21 being able to do the splits. Mobility,
5:23 on the other hand, is being able to hit
5:25 a 100 mph forehand while doing the
5:28 splits. Good examples are NovakJokovic,
5:30 who moves like rubber, and somehow your
5:32 knees hurt just watching him. And then
5:34 there's Carlos Alcarez, who moves in the
5:36 court like gravity forgot about him.
5:38 [music] Most players are either stiff as
5:42 a board or bendy but weak. If you're
5:44 stiff, your body breaks when you reach
5:45 for a wide ball. If you are just
5:48 flexible like a noodle, you have no
5:49 power when you get there. And [music]
5:52 even worse, you end up with chronic
5:55 lower back pain or dead arm. That's why
5:58 we train. So to train mobility, we first
6:00 have to get in the range by doing 9090
6:02 hip switches and [music] deep squat
6:05 holds with rotation. And then we get the
6:07 control in range with split squat
6:10 isometric holds and Copenhagen planks.
6:11 And lastly, we do some shoulder
6:14 protections by doing shoulder internal
6:16 rotation drills and band assisted
6:23 You look like a pro in the first 10
6:24 minutes, but by the third set, you're
6:26 breathing like a fish out of water.
6:28 Tennis isn't a marathon. It's a 100
6:30 sprints with a nap in between. If your
6:32 heart takes 5 minutes to slow down after
6:34 a long rally, you've already lost the
6:36 next point. Real fitness is about how
6:38 fast you can reset your breath.
6:40 NovakJokovic looks the same in the fifth
6:43 hour as he did in the first minute. Andy
6:45 Murray used to run track. This guy will
6:47 chase balls until the sun goes down and
6:49 then ask for more. If your engine is
6:51 small, your brain stops working. You
6:53 stop moving your feet. You start wishing
6:56 the match would just end.
6:59 Train the reset. One interval sprints.
7:01 Run fast for 20 seconds, rest for 20,
7:04 just like a real point. Two, jump rope
7:06 keeps your feet bouncy and your heart
7:08 rate high. Want to level it up? Get the
7:10 weighted jump rope from Crossro. Your
7:12 lungs burn, your shoulders get stronger,
7:14 and your next forehand suddenly feels
7:17 violent. Three, medball swings. Swing
7:19 medicine balls at full power. Shuffle
7:22 for 5 m, swing again. This teaches your
7:23 body to produce power while you're
7:27 tired. Four, box jumps. teaches your
7:29 heart to handle sudden explosions of
7:32 energy. The player who breathes better
7:37 The power comes from the legs and the
7:39 core, but the wrist decides where that
7:41 power ends up. If your grip is soft, the
7:43 racket twists. If the racket twists, the
7:45 ball goes into the parking lot. Look at
7:47 Federer's flick on the forehand. His
7:49 wrist is like a whip that never breaks.
7:51 And the doll's legendary forehand spin.
7:53 His forearms look like they were carved
7:56 out of granite. If you have noodle
7:58 wrists, you get tennis elbow. The
8:00 vibration of the ball travels straight
8:01 into your joints because your muscles
8:03 aren't strong enough to soak it up. You
8:05 end up wearing a brace and watching your
8:11 Being fast is great, but if you run too
8:13 fast and end up right on top of the
8:15 ball, you can't swing. Tennis is a game
8:18 of small steps. Big steps get you to the
8:20 ball, but tiny steps get you in the
8:21 right spot to hit it. It's like parking
8:23 a car. You don't just floor it into the
8:26 garage, you adjust at the end. People
8:28 say Roger Federer glides. That's just
8:30 because his footwork is so perfect. He's
8:32 never in a rush. And Daniel Medvidev
8:33 looks awkward most of the time, but his
8:35 feet are always exactly where they need
8:38 to be. The dance drills. One, ladder
8:40 drills. High knees, in-n-outs, and
8:41 crossovers. Teaches your brain to
8:44 control your toes. Two, figure eights.
8:46 Run in circles around two balls. Teaches
8:48 you how to lean and adjust. Three, the
8:50 spider drill. Sprint to every corner of
8:52 the court and back to the middle. Four,
8:54 jump squat to split step. Jump up, land
8:57 softly, and be ready to move instantly.
8:59 Good feet make the game feel slow. When
9:01 the game feels slow, you have all the
