Ultraslide Training for Tennis

The Ultraslide is a great training device to develop the muscles and movements required in lateral tennis movement, especially when an athlete needs to compete on a clay surface. The sliding motion on the Ultraslide simulates a similar requirement during clay court tennis movement. This drill can be enhanced by using tennis ball as an environmental cue, which the athlete would need to catch while sliding. This would increase the tennis specificity of the exercise and includes the need to react to stimulus (tennis ball) that is identical to the stimulus on court.

Tennis is a highly reactive sport, and movement training needs to progress from a simple closed skill environment to an open skill environment using visual stimuli. It is important for coaches and trainers to understand the role of cognition and decision making in an athlete's ability to react to a stimulus (tennis ball).

Similar training exercises on the Ultraslide could include lateral movement with medicine ball catch. This exercise simulates the lateral movement that tennis players are required to make during points, such as the backhand for a right-handed player. An advanced progression is to hold the catch position for 2 to 4 seconds followed by an explosive release of the medicine ball as far as the athlete can throw it.

“Movement for Tennis: The Importance of Lateral Training” from Strength and Conditioning Journal by Mark Kovacs