Last week, after a long time, I met Alberto again, the tennis teacher who taught me to play when I was a child. We played an hour and a half of rackets and, the truth, I was far from my best level. After taking a terrible beating, I was fortunate to receive a simple but valuable advice that can be summarized as follows: control your breathing.
The truth is that, the times that I have competed the best, it has been precisely because I controlled my breathing, but I would never have thought that something so basic could have such a great impact. For this reason, today we are going to see some very useful tips and ideas that will help us better understand how breathing works in tennis and how we can do it to optimize our performance.
Breathing at the moment of striking
During the preparation of the blow, it is recommended inhale air to later exhale it in performance; the ideal exhalation occurs when you release a little air from the moment you pull your arm forward until the moment of impact, and you finish emptying your lungs once you have hit the ball. The scream that, on many occasions, we make when striking is a sign that the exhalation is taking place correctly.
The exhalation, obviously, will be longer when we execute a blow from the back of the court or a service, than when we perform a volley.
Regular breathing during exchanges
Breathing in these moments of the game is essential, because during an exchange there are continuous starts and braking, accompanied by movements with the upper body that demand a lot from us physically. Furthermore, when we are in tension visualizing where our opponent’s ball will go, we unconsciously hold our breath.
For that reason, it is very important that you try very carefully to maintain a regular rhythm breathing so that fatigue and tiredness don’t make an appearance sooner than it should.
Deep breathing after each point
Each time you finish a point, it is recommended that you take a few deep breaths while you get ready to draw or subtract again. It does not matter that it was not a marathon point, because the question is to adapt to a routine that we then also do naturally as the game progresses. Remember that, normally, you will not have more than 20 seconds between point and point to recover.
Inspiration and expiration paused in the breaks
When you’re on an end-of-set break or change ends, take the opportunity to breathe deeply and regenerate as much as you can. You must breathe slowly, inhaling and exhaling very gently, controlling the rhythms and without abruptness. This will help you not only to improve your physical condition, but also to increase your concentration in your game.
Benefits
In conclusion, it is important to emphasize that adequate breathing not only influences a better management of your energy, but also a better timing when hitting the ball at the right moment, in an increase in concentration at each point and in the ability to relax or activate your body depending on your needs.
As we said at the beginning, it seems incredible that with something as seemingly simple as breathing well, we can achieve so many advantages in a sport as complex as this.
