JUNIOR SHRINE BOWL TENNIS TENNIS

Now that Christmas is over, it is time to get ready for the new year.

This means making plans to get in better shape for 2019.

One of the best ways and, quite possibly, the only fun way to get back into shape is giving tennis a try in the new year if you are a beginner or picking it back up if you’re an expert.

I recently had the chance to ask the head coach for the University of South Carolina-Sumter men’s tennis program Alex Poda why tennis is a great sport for getting a healthy start for the new year. He explained to me why tennis is a great sport to improve your health and the many benefits it provides.

Poda explained the primary reason tennis is considered a full body workout is because of the kinetic chain. This occurs on every ball strike with the force of a shot starting in the legs, driving up to the core turn and completing with the arm extension and the actual swing that the common viewer sees when they watch tennis.

The kinetic chain explains why tennis requires a tremendous amount of energy when you are running to the ball or even making a core rotation to the ball. Plus, recent studies by Denmark’s Peter Schnohr actually have shown tennis to be the sport that increases a person’s lifespan the most.

Tennis also has the ability to improve both your aerobic and anaerobic health due to the nature of the sport. This is the result of the quick stop and start play with short rests, along with the durability to last through a session or a match.

What a wonderful combination for both anaerobic and aerobic systems. Tennis with its start and stop moments can also help you build endurance and stamina for your daily activities. Day to day life is very similar to tennis with you exerting energy for a little bit and then resting, but tennis is more extreme in the energy exertion. So, you are overly prepared from a fitness perspective for daily life.

Another reason why tennis is an excellent sport to start playing in the new year is because of the number of calories you can burn. You see, tennis is a compound exercise, which means it uses compound motions that are full body movements through the kinetic chain. This allows more calories to be burned as so many muscles groups are being activated simultaneously.

So if you looking to get in shape for the new year, take a swing. It’s perhaps the sport you should try.