Perfect Posture For Being Balanced In Tennis

Summary

Tennis coach Thomas explains why leaning your upper body to adjust position on the court is detrimental for your game. Leaning throws off your balance and tightens muscles, hindering smooth strokes. It also unintentionally changes your racket angle without you realizing, causing mistakes. Instead, maintain good posture with your upper body slightly tilted forward, and use your legs to adjust position, like slaves carrying Queen Cleopatra on her royal litter. This keeps your upper body comfortable to hit excellent shots while your legs do all the work.

Takeaways

• 😀 Leaning while playing tennis throws you slightly off balance and creates muscular tension, negatively impacting strokes
• 👍 Maintain good posture - shoulders in front of hips, slight athletic tilt to aid dynamic balance
• 🦵 Use your legs to adjust while keeping your upper body still like Cleopatra being carried on her throne
• 🎾 Leaning forward closes racket face, leaning back opens it - often leading to mistakes
• 🧠 You can't feel racket face angle changes from small leans even though they happen
• 📏 Keep aware of your posture and make adjustments to maintain athletic ready position
• 😖 Completely upright posture leads to loss of dynamic balance
• 🤸‍♂️ Athletic slight tilt enables optimal dynamic balance for tennis
• 🦵 Your legs should do the work like slaves while your upper body relaxes like Cleopatra on her throne
• 👞 Mental image of you as Cleopatra and legs as slaves helps shift adjustment work to legs

Q & A

Why is leaning not good for tennis according to the coach?

Leaning causes you to go slightly off balance, making some muscles tight to keep you balanced. This prevents smooth strokes. Leaning also unintentionally closes or opens the racket face, causing mistakes.

What two main reasons does the coach give for why leaning is bad?

1. It takes you slightly off balance, causing muscles to tighten. 2. It unintentionally changes the angle of the racket face without you realizing.

What posture does the coach recommend maintaining while playing tennis?

A slightly tilted, athletic position where your shoulders are in front of your hips and not above them.

Why is being completely upright not an optimal posture in tennis?

Because you are very close to losing your balance in that posture.

What mental image does the coach provide as an example of proper leg and upper body adjustment?

Queen Cleopatra being carried around Egypt comfortably on a litter by slaves, with her legs relaxed and slaves (your legs) doing all the work.

What footage does the coach use to demonstrate good posture?

Amazing first-row footage of Federer, with his body angle outlined, showing him maintaining a slight tilt and athletic position throughout a rally.

Why is it crucial to be aware of your posture when playing tennis?

Because you can only maintain dynamic balance in a slightly tilted, athletic posture with your shoulders in front of hips.

What should you be adjusting with while keeping the same posture?

Your legs, while maintaining the same upper body posture.

What is the job of your legs compared to your upper body?

Your legs should do all the work, like slaves, while your upper body can relax like Queen Cleopatra on her comfortable litter.

What two things should your legs be doing instead of your upper body?

1. Adjusting side to side and forward/backward. 2. Doing all the work to move you around the court.