Tennis players have exercises to do at home

The Patrick Wysoczarski Tennis Academy has ensured its players are not sitting on the couch all day long during the lockdown.

The academy, which is based at Marks Park Tennis Club and run in association with Rudman’s Tennis Academy, has given age-appropriate programmes for players to follow, and prepared videos for more routines should the lockdown be extended.

“At this stage, with things so uncertain, I have given the players fun exercises to do at home to keep their hand-eye coordination good, to help with their footwork and that kind of thing,” said Patrick Wysoczarski, who has coached tennis for over 12 years.

“Of course, if players have a wall outside or a garage door they can practise their swings and volleys with a ball against them. If the lockdown gets longer then I have a few videos I can share with them with more exercises.”

For Wysoczarski’s players aged five to eight, the exercises he has given them for the lockdown are easy. They include bouncing a ball on the racket or the ground, jumping over cones and shadow swinging for some of the older players.

Shadow swinging is swinging the racket without actually hitting a ball. A mirror can help one judge their own follow-through and technique but that is not essential, as one can usually tell whether their technique is correct on their own.

Wysoczarski’s players aged 10 to 12 are encouraged to hit the ball against a wall or garage door if possible, or to their parents. They also skip, do short sprints, lunges and squats.

The academy’s players who are teenagers and older do the above as well as upper-body exercises, shadow swings and skipping especially.

The coach has also given his players a list with various exercises matching letters, and they can do exercises that correspond to the letters of their name.

Also read: Marks Park tennis coach has a smashing time teaching the game to others