Breathing Exercise for Tennis Game
Breathing Exercise for Tennis
As with all sports the way we breathe can have tremendous impacts on our game. There is a method for breathing properly on the court and off that can improve stamina and help improve technique during play. However, before we dive into breathing to improve your tennis game let’s break some bad habits.
Common Breathing Exercise Mistakes in Tennis
- Holding your breath right before you hit the ball
Most people hold their breath right before they take a swing. Whenever you hold your breath your body tenses up so as result your swing will not be as smooth as it can be.
- Breathing shallowly after a point
After a point is played the emotional response either negative or positive tends to change our breathing patterns.
- Holding your breath while you size up your opponent or match
This is an unconscious behavior, but becoming conscious of it can change it. Holding your breath causes you to run out of oxygen quicker resulting in shortness of breath.
So now that we’ve covered the bad habits to break; let’s learn some new ones.
Tips for breathing properly during a tennis match, breathing exercise:
- Inhale right before you hit the ball
Inhale right before you swing, and exhale as you’re hitting the ball. Your swing will be smoother if you can remember to breathe as opposed to holding your breath
- Keep a regular breathing pattern throughout the game
In tennis as with many sports players tend to have moments of accelerated breathing. This leads to shallow breathing and results in a feeling of shortness of breath which can weaken stamina. Maintaining a steady pace of breathing throughout the match will keep your energy levels higher throughout the game and help lower fatigue.
- Take time to breathe/relax after each point
After each point you need a moment to recover. Take a few deep inhales and exhales to get your heart rate back down. This will also refuel your lungs and muscles with more oxygen which translates to more energy for the rest of your game.
Even when you’re not in the game you should spend a little time analyzing the way you breathe so you can better apply it in practice. Strengthening your respiratory muscles for example can greatly improve your endurance.
Breathing tips off the court
- Learn to breathe from your diaphragm
Diaphragmatic breathing or belly breathing is how we should be breathing all the time. However, as we age we develop bad posture and bad habits. We tend to breathe from our chest know as shallow breathing. Pay attention to your posture. Try not to hunch over; instead keep a long spine, inhale from the diaphragm and exhale.
- Train your respiratory muscles
Use a breathing resistance exerciser like Expand-A-Lung to strengthen your respiratory muscles. This will allow you to breathe easier on the court and off the court. It will also improve your endurance.
- Meditate
Practicing conscious breathing will help clear your mind. It relieves anxiety and helps you think more clearly which can help your tennis game as well as your daily routine.
