In today’s modern tennis, players recognize the need of on court training as well as off court preparation. All of the intangibles must be in place before a tennis player can truly blossom and reach the next level. Too many players lack the off court tennis nutrition preparation needed to really succeed in a competitive tennis playing environment.

Eating a healthy and balanced tennis diet should never be taken for granted. In order to achieve peak performance in tennis, players must have adequate energy in their bodies for this level of performance.

Requirements of a Tennis Players Diet

Tennis is a sport that requires endurance, agility, speed and power. Thus every tennis player requires high energy storage to accomplish all these requirements. They also need protein to build up muscles and essential vitamins and minerals. For every tennis player to win tennis matches and tournaments, they must maintain proper diet not only during tournaments (diet before, during and after matches) but during tennis trainings as well. This is because an optimal tennis diet is built over time.

A tennis diet must be focused on high carbohydrate energy foods and adequate hydration. Tennis diet should also be timed appropriately especially during tournaments.

What is a balanced and healthy tennis players diet?

A balanced tennis diet is a diet that contains all the necessary components responsible for a healthy body. These components are: carbohydrates, proteins, healthy fats, minerals and vitamins, and water or fluids. It is also ideal to eat fresh food rather than the readymade and processed food. Below are some guides on how to follow a balanced and healthy tennis players diet.

Main components of a healthy and balanced tennis players diet:

Carbohydrates in a Tennis Diet

Tennis players need to consume high amount of carbohydrates considering the amount of energy they loss during tennis trainings, practice and matches. Carbohydrates fuel muscles and avoid early muscle fatigue, thus increasing the player’s endurance. Tennis players normally lose 500 to 1500 of calories after every match. For a professional tennis player who has to play several matches in a tournament has to replenish carbohydrates loses by eating high carbohydrate foods. Any carbohydrate containing foods provide nutrients, fiber and above all energy.

A professional research showed that a healthy tennis players diet include 7-10 grams of carbohydrates per kilogram weight of the player’s body. It is also recommended to consume only the complex carbohydrates sources and avoid the simple sources of carbohydrates. Examples of high carbohydrate food that contain complex carbohydrates are pasta, rice, bread, oatmeal, potato, and other cereals.

Foods that contain simple carbohydrates such as chocolates bars, sugary drinks and so on should only be used for emergencies. Like for example, tennis players may consume snack chocolate bars during matches.

Protein in a Tennis Diet

A tennis players diet must also include protein. Protein is essential for the tennis players’ muscles build up. Protein is broken down into amino acids which are very important in muscle build up, hemoglobin formation and many others. Proteins also help players to recover quickly from long hours of matches and injuries.

For a healthy diet and to reach the protein requirement for tennis players, one should consume two to three servings of protein sources foods. Oatmeal is a very good example of a cereal meal that provides good protein aside from the 7 B vitamins (Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B7, Vitamin B9). Other examples of high protein source food are beans, eggs, meat (poultry, beef, port, etc.) fish, cheese, milk, yogurt and many others.

Fruits and Vegetables for vitamins and minerals in a Tennis Diet

Other important tennis players diet components include fruits and vegetables. They are the natural source of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other nutrients. For a healthy tennis players diet, a player has to have three to five servings of vegetables in addition to four servings of fruits.1/2 cup of cooked vegetable of any type (e.g. spinach, tomatoes, and other vegetables) and fresh salads is equal to one serving. And one serving of fruits is ½ cup of any type of fruits such as the berries, apple, mango and many others.

Fluids in a Tennis Diet

Tennis players need to drink water or fluids regularly even without any physical activities because hydration is vital for normal body processes. Reports show that ideally, tennis players should consume 80 ounces of water or any type of fluid daily. It is also very important to drink the water or fluid regularly and not just drink it when you become very thirsty.

Professional tennis players in particular, need to drink lots of water or fluids all throughout the day and the night before big events or matches so that their body is always hydrated and functioning perfectly. In addition to water, tennis players should also drink sports drinks that contain electrolytes, carbohydrates, sodium, and proteins. These types of sports drinks serve as immediate replenishment of all the essential body elements that are lost during matches or any intensive physical activities.

Tips for hydrating before training or a match:

• To maintain a proper tennis player diet, you have to limit (or if possible) avoid drinking beverages that contain high level of caffeine such as coffee, tea, and caffeinated cola drinks. Caffeine enhances urination causing fast fluid loss. It can also be a nuisance if your need to urinate comes in the middle of a match. This is not just a nuisance but can also affect your focus and concentration and your performance as a whole.
• Hydrate yourself 2 hours before the match by drinking 17-20 oz of drinks.
• As much as possible, drink regularly even during the match. Do not wait until you feel thirsty to grab your drinks. You have to drink about 4-8 oz of liquid when there is time or during the changeover. One very good indication if your fluid intake is enough is the color of you urine. Light or pale yellow color urine indicates that the fluid intake is enough.

Fats in a Tennis Diet

Fats may sound unhealthy but a tennis players diet should also include this component. This component of tennis players diet is responsible for the slowing down of the carbohydrates absorption of the body. This means that the fat component help in prolonging the energy supply of the body.

This nutrient is vital in a tennis diet especially in sports like tennis where matches can last for hours. Examples of good source of fats are nuts (for players with no allergies to nuts of course) such as walnuts and almonds, natural peanut butter, high fat milk, olive oil, fatty fish (e.g. mackerel), and whole eggs. However, it should be noted though that appropriate amount of fat should be consumed. Too much or too little fat intake has its own disadvantages. Appropriate fat consumption is at least 15% of the dietary calories requirements.

Very low (lower than the requirements) disallow the player’s body to absorb enough fat soluble vitamins such as Vitamin E which plays a vital role as antioxidants. Low fat diet restriction also put the players in limited food choices. The more varied food choices a tennis player has the better. In addition, since fat is responsible for the prolonged supply of body energy, very low fat intake can also decrease the player’s endurance and performance.

On the contrary, too much fat consumption can also lead to some health related issues. The most common issue related to extremely high fat consumption is the cardiovascular disorder. Furthermore, too much fat consumption can also result to slow and sluggish performance.

Tennis Player’s Diet and Meal Plan

Breakfast is always the most important meal of the day not only for tennis players but for everybody. Breakfast is the key for any well versed tennis player’s diet. This meal is vital to replenish all the nutrients, minerals, glycogen, fluids during the whole night fasting. Tennis players normally have very low level energy in the morning before breakfast, thus it is important to include high carbohydrates in tennis players diet for breakfast. This means that the depleting glycogen in the player’s muscles is refueled and the player is able to start his day right.

The meal after breakfast can be consumed at smaller quantities but at more frequent intervals. Tennis players should avoid eating one big meal in a day and consume no more after is. Smaller but more frequent meals provide a constant supply of energy. In addition, eating too much meal may overload the digestive system which may cause several problems. One of which is the sluggish performance of the player. Lastly, bigger meals at a time can also results to the accumulation of fats due to improper digestion.

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After lots of research, we have come up with the best tennis drills available from among the many sites claiming to have them listed.

Once you try these best tennis drills and see how enjoyable they are and how much you have improved, perhaps you will agree that they are among the best tennis drills described. These best tennis drills work a variety of strokes and include a gentle pressure that will help you to focus. They also will lead to quick improvement if done correctly and routinely.

Once you tire of these best tennis drills, you can switch to other exercises that work parts of your game that need more improvement. For instance, if your serve is hard and consistent, you might not need to drill on it; better to spend some time shoring up your backhand.

Onto the best tennis drills around:

Best Tennis Drill #1: MASTER volleyer—

This is a very well-known drill to help players improve their volley. Volleying can be a tremendous weapon for any player in singles and, of course, it is absolutely necessary when playing doubles. Try this drill to improve your volleying skills. The goal of the drill is to hit certain sections of the court that represent a specific letter, adding up to the word “Master” so that you can feel like you’ve mastered this stroke.

For the purposes of having six different areas to thwack your volley to,remember that M=left service box, A=right service box, S=left half of singles court beyond the service line, T=right half of singles court beyond the service line, E=left alley (doubles), R=right alley. To do the drill, line up at the service “T”, run forward as your friend feeds you a ball, split-step, then volley to each letter’s given area in order.

If you miss an area, don’t start over, the drill will take too long. Simply continue to try to hit that area until you have spelled out M-A-S-T-E-R. Your aim will improve greatly with this drill, and your speed and agility will increase also. A key to the drill is the brief running up to the net, as you often will have to do in singles when you hit a volley. This little extra bit of movement will make the drill into a very good workout, so your conditioning is a bonus.

Best Tennis Drill #2: Alley Rally

This one is tough to master and might take awhile, but don’t get too frustrated and give up. You will eventually be able to do this drill fairly routinely. It is dynamite for your control, and it is one of the most common and best tennis drills used. Stand within the doubles alley and try to hit 10 shots with a partner, all within the alley. If you are able to hit 10, go up to 20.

If you are able to hit more than 20 in a row in the alley, enter your nearest USTA tournament! You can do this drill with strictly forehands, strictly backhands or randomly, hitting whatever stroke comes up. You can make it more difficult by alternating sides or by going all backhand. Once you can hit 10-20 balls in a rally within this narrow area, the court will look as big as a football field to you. That will help you to not only keep the ball in, but you will also be able to place it much better as you have gained excellent control of your shots.

Best Tennis Drill #3: 20-ball Suicide

Have your friend stand at the center line at the net opposite you to feed you balls while you are at the baseline on the opposite side. Have the friend hit balls in every direction, forcing you to constantly move. For every ball that you retrieve successfully, you get a point. For every ball that you miss or cannot get to, you lose a point. Keep playing until you reach a score of 20.

That might take awhile, but your objective with the game should soon be to get to 20 in the least amount of time. All kinds of great things will occur with this drill: you will improve your footwork, your quickness and your shot-making on the run, as well as your endurance and recovery between shots. You will become exhausted during this drill, but it will help you to never run out of gas when you are playing a match.

The better your friend is able to hit corners and alternate sides, the better the drill will work you out.

Best Tennis Drill #4 : Four-ball Drill

Have your friend hit you a series of four shots over and over in the same order. This will work all of your strokes and prepare you to play an opponent that has good control and is trying to run you all over the court. From the net, have the friend hit the ball so that you have to hit a forehand down the line. The next shot that you have to execute is a backhand down the line.

Third, hit a forehand cross court. Finally, hit a backhand cross court. This drill will look like a drawing of the letter “X” sketched over and over again.

Once you master these four basic shots, you will be able to use them in combinations that will greatly bother your opponent. This drill will build lots of muscle memory for hitting these four basic shots, which you will call on again and again in a match.

Best Tennis Drill #5: Five Balls or Death

This drill is the best of the bunch because it focuses on a very practical skill that statistics show is key to winning most matches. Believe it or not, if you are able to hit five shots in a row in, you will win most rallies, so that is what this drill will build into you. With your partner, take turns beginning rallies that must last at least 10 shots, five from each player. Once you have each hit five shots, start a new round. Your goal is to complete 10 of these rallies. Many players use this drill as a warm-up before a match; it locks them in to what they need to do once the match starts and gives them a nice goal for each rally as they get warm. It might take awhile for you to get to 10 rallies, but once you gain greater control and confidence in your strokes, you will be able to pound out 10 such rallies in no time flat.

You might not have time to do all of these best tennis drills during your next outing with your friend or coach. However, as your skill level climbs, you should be able to work these into a one-hour time period. It is better to do drills in a concentrated way over a shorter time period than to hit for two hours and get sloppy about half way through.

The next time you take the court for a hitting session with your friend, do all of these best tennis drills that you can in the space of 45 minutes.

Then, as your fitness level increases, fill up an hour with drills but do not surpass that time limit because you will lose your intensity. In fact, a great goal would be to try to perform all of these drills within your one hour of allotted time. Drill 4, of course, can be lengthened or shortened as you wish; 5-10 minutes of such intense stroke work should be sufficient.

Once you master these best tennis drills, you will have a stronger forehand and backhand both down the line and cross court. Your volley will improve as well, in addition to court coverage and control. TO work on your serve, you need to get a big basket of balls and go out by yourself and hit. If you do that with a friend, s/he can take a turn hitting all of the serves as well.

These five best tennis drills will put you well on your way to being a fitter, more consistent player who will be tough to beat. Taking the time between matches to drill will improve your results in the matches.

Learn to Hit a Forehand Like Roger Federer

If you want to jumpstart your forehand and play like the PROS, check out my 70+ page Tennis Ebook that will immediately show you how you can take your forehand to the next level.

The Modern Forehand Domination Ebook is guaranteed to improve your tennis technique, and increase power, topspin and accuracy of your tennis forehand!

Modern Tennis Forehand Ebook
Learn How to Hit a Forehand Like Federer, Nadal and Djokovic

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