Tennis Fitness- Shoulder Prevention Program

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Tennis Fitness - Shoulder Prevention Program That Strengthens Your Rotator Cuff Muscles

By Patrik Broddfelt 
Why is it so important for tennis players to have a shoulder prevention program?

As a tennis player, you will put tremendous stress on your shoulder when you are serving, hitting overheads, high forehands, and high backhand volleys. Because of repetitive forces on your shoulder joint, it's important to have a tennis fitness and conditioning program for the shoulders. A fitness program will enhance performance, avoid fatigue from eccentric overload, and avoid an overuse problem.

Tennis players gets injured to their shoulders mainly because of eccentric overload. In other words, high-intensity decelerating muscle contractions of the rotator cuff during the follow through phase of the serve can lead to tendinous inflammation.

Shoulder Program

The following tennis fitness program will help you to stay fit, and hopefully away from shoulder injuries. It's very easy to do and it doesn't take long time to do. All you need is a resistance band, and you can do this program at home or at the tennis court.

First I'll show you some stretches you should do.It is important for the competitive tennis athlete to maintain good shoulder flexibility in order to allow for full range of motion which improves stroke potential.

Stretches:

Posterior Shoulder Stretch - Cross one of your arms across your body and put your opposite arm on your elbow. Push your elbow so that your arm that is being stretched reaches your opposite shoulder. Hold this position for 20-30 sec.
Sleeper Stretch - Lie down on your dominant shoulder as you would when sleeping on your side. Place your dominant arm directly out in front of you, with elbow bent 90 degrees so that your hand points directly at the ceiling. Using your other arm, push your hand down toward your feet. This will internally rotate your shoulder. Hold this stretch for 20 to 30 seconds.

Exercises:

External Rotation - Tie your resistance band to a stable object. Hold your arm in a 90 degree angle. Slowly rotate your arm out to about 90 degrees, and your arm will now point directly in front of you.
Internal Rotation - Tie your resistance band to a stable object. Hold your arm in a 90 degree angle. Slowly move your hand towards your body.
Straight Arm Rowing - Tie your resistance band to a stable object. Stand in an athletic position with the end of the tubing in each hand. Elevate your arms so that they are at an angle of roughly 45 degrees relative to your body. Squeeze your shoulder blades together, and perform a rowing action by pulling the handles back towards your hips while keeping your arms straight, and return to the starting position.

With these 5 easy   rel=nofollow [http://maxtennisfitness.com]shoulder exercises, you should now be able to stay away from pain in your shoulders. Do these exercises 2-3 times a week. The perfect time to do them is after tennis practice on the tennis court. Just tie the resistance band to the fence or netpost.

To learn more log on to maxtennisfitness.com

Patrik Broddfelt is a professional tennis and fitness coach from Sweden. On my tennis fitness blog you can watch my how to tennis fitness videos. You will find 100's of tennis fitness and conditioning exercises, programs, and articles.

Article Source: Tennis Fitness - Shoulder Prevention Program That Strengthens Your Rotator Cuff Muscles