In tennis, balance is mentioned in describing a good tennis player’s movement. In watching the development of young junior players I never have seen exercises made especially to develop the balance in the player’s footwork, body movement and stroke.
Let me first explain what balance is all about. It is a sensation. Balance has no muscle. Balance has no mass, balance is a “happening”, created by many body muscles which function well organized and used only when needed. It ensures that the needed muscles become active without interference of the unnecessary muscles . A body which has perfect balance control moves effortless with the impression of using very little energy. It is only an impression as energy is always needed. In a dynamic jump in perfect balance, the jump looks like flying effortless through the air as all energy is in the jump.
To achieve that kind of body control, exercises must be executed where at first body muscles must be felt and controlled. This means moving arms and legs under different tensions. They are moving separately. Energy must be able to travel through the body and used where needed without the interference of unnecessary physical action. Explosive running requires strong legs and only arm support which in tennis should be used to prepare a smooth stroke execution. A sudden stop does not need bending of the torso if the run is executed in balance. Stroke execution in balance can maintain a high level of technical skill and fast execution.
I suggest to students to be concerned about their warm up time as it is the right moment to include the development of balance in all their movements. Balance training will develop their feeling of the body, single movements and overall body control.
In the effort to execute perfect stroke executions tennis players use too many muscles.
Some players with a more natural sensation of balance will have an easier time to achieve technical abilities. Players like Martina Hingis with great balance moved effortlessly and reached the most difficult balls in good hitting position. Roger Federer as well as Nicolai Davidenko have an excellent balance sensation and as a result they have excellent footwork and stroke executions under the most difficult conditions. They change directions and have no problem in preparing a perfect stroke in a difficult run. Players with poor body balance are very physical and are forced to make constant adjustments in the execution of strokes under pressure.
How can a young player ensure that he moves in balance or learn how to do so, which is very important for his future success. I may repeat myself when I say : to develop balance sensation exercises must be incorporated in the daily training which create the ability to separate arms and legs movements from each other. A hard run to a wide ball should not influence the stroke execution.
TV commentators like to mention the balance of a player as soon as they recognize that difficult balls are reached with ease. Tennis teachers should give more consideration concerning the need to develop the balance in young players. In very young players (age 8 to 11) it is very easy to have balance included in their muscle and movement development. In the future there is no reason why a player should have problems with the balance if their teacher would have given to this requirement the deserving attention, as balance can be trained. It is a body sensation that makes the running, the hitting, the changing of directions much much easier and will save a lot of energy for the 3rd or 5th set.
