British Tennis Forum - Celebrating 20 Years!

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

RE: Weeks 32 & 33 - ATP Masters 1000 - Cincinnati, OH, USA (hard)

JonH · Tennis legend

Coup Droit wrote:
Sheddie wrote:
Similar build to Draper as well - very muscular. Really seems like the tennis, the most resilient body types are the sturdy beanstalks like Djokovic and Federer.

The muscular frame is there for a good time, but not for a long time!
Interesting ....
I think all the currenty physio thinking is the other way i.e. you've got to build your muscles to support the frame, otherwise you'll end up straining the joints/tendons etc too much
Hannah Klugman's team at the NTC were dead set on her building herself up, substantially, because they thought she was too tall and willowy and she'd get injured
But, as you say, the 'sturdy but skinny' approach might be better ....

Which is sort of Federer and Djokovic - who in the great scheme of things over the years have had relatively little injuries, really Djoko has never had long term, systemic injuries like, say, Jack - versus Nadal who suffered long term injuries over his career and for long periods of time, and who had that muscular body approach, certainly in his early days

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

JonH wrote:
Coup Droit wrote:
Sheddie wrote:
Similar build to Draper as well - very muscular. Really seems like the tennis, the most resilient body types are the sturdy beanstalks like Djokovic and Federer.

The muscular frame is there for a good time, but not for a long time!
Interesting ....
I think all the currenty physio thinking is the other way i.e. you've got to build your muscles to support the frame, otherwise you'll end up straining the joints/tendons etc too much
Hannah Klugman's team at the NTC were dead set on her building herself up, substantially, because they thought she was too tall and willowy and she'd get injured
But, as you say, the 'sturdy but skinny' approach might be better ....
Which is sort of Federer and Djokovic - who in the great scheme of things over the years have had relatively little injuries, really Djoko has never had long term, systemic injuries like, say, Jack - versus Nadal who suffered long term injuries over his career and for long periods of time, and who had that muscular body approach, certainly in his early days

Which is what Sheddie is saying

JonH · Tennis legend

Coup Droit wrote:
JonH wrote:
Coup Droit wrote:
Sheddie wrote:
Similar build to Draper as well - very muscular. Really seems like the tennis, the most resilient body types are the sturdy beanstalks like Djokovic and Federer.

The muscular frame is there for a good time, but not for a long time!
Interesting ....
I think all the currenty physio thinking is the other way i.e. you've got to build your muscles to support the frame, otherwise you'll end up straining the joints/tendons etc too much
Hannah Klugman's team at the NTC were dead set on her building herself up, substantially, because they thought she was too tall and willowy and she'd get injured
But, as you say, the 'sturdy but skinny' approach might be better ....
Which is sort of Federer and Djokovic - who in the great scheme of things over the years have had relatively little injuries, really Djoko has never had long term, systemic injuries like, say, Jack - versus Nadal who suffered long term injuries over his career and for long periods of time, and who had that muscular body approach, certainly in his early days
Which is what Sheddie is saying

Yes - agreed (sorry hadnt read it properly! Sorry Sheddie - we agree!)

Sheddie · administrator

Coup Droit wrote:
Sheddie wrote:
Similar build to Draper as well - very muscular. Really seems like the tennis, the most resilient body types are the sturdy beanstalks like Djokovic and Federer.

The muscular frame is there for a good time, but not for a long time!
Interesting ....
I think all the currenty physio thinking is the other way i.e. you've got to build your muscles to support the frame, otherwise you'll end up straining the joints/tendons etc too much
Hannah Klugman's team at the NTC were dead set on her building herself up, substantially, because they thought she was too tall and willowy and she'd get injured
But, as you say, the 'sturdy but skinny' approach might be better ....

I think there's certainly some truth to that. For players of the more naturally willowy build like Hannah and Mika, I suspect strength training is perhaps all the more important to add more resilience. I know nothing of Emma's physical training regime as a teenager/pro, but it's clear that she could do with being more robust. I also remember when Andy first came on the scene - his natural build as an 18 year old was more gangly and willowy and his first 3-4 years as a pro were characterised by a litany of injuries (ankle, wrist etc), but as he added muscle, he became one of the strongest athletes out there until the hip eventually gave in.

But given the unique demands of tennis, I wonder whether there's an issue with these things being one-size fits all. Purely from observation, the burlier players certainly seem more likely to break down. Sonay Kartal has a naturally stocky physique and is a keen weightlifter, but injuries have been a big issue. Jack's body has disintegrated since he added more muscle to an already imposing frame. Tsonga (one of the burliest men of the Big 4 era) also struggled a lot with injuries. When Lleyton Hewitt added more muscle to his frame, it gave him more pop to his serve and helped him reach the 2005 AO final, but he then started to have numerous injury issues.

Maybe for players who naturally have a higher muscle mass....being even heavier could mean that they're exerting more force through their joints, and pushing them to breaking point. Just a theory.

Perhaps for players like Sonay, Jack, Fils etc, who don't require adding as much muscle, the optimal training regime for career longevity would be based more around adding flexibility, making sure that they're not becoming too bulky.

christ · Challenger qualifying

The trick is to match your game to your body type, rather than trying to adapt your body type to a desired game. Muscling the ball ever harder when you are thin and willowy is the wrong thing to do, you are much better off relying on skill and timing.

It appears to the unwary that adding muscle so that the player can play the way the coach wants (or that a player would prefer) is exactly the wrong thing to do: adding muscle to support the joints that are used in ones natural game is sensible (although you have the "knee bone connected to the thigh bone" issue - there can be a tendency to simply shift the injury site to the next joint/ bone/ area)