ME AND GAMES (7) MORE ABOUT TENNIS

ME AND GAMES (7) MORE ABOUT TENNIS

Sequel to my earlier posts on my journey through life with tennis:
https://steemit.com/tennis/@chinosky/me-and-games-5-more-about-tennis
...and..
https://steemit.com/tennis/@chinosky/me-and-games-6-more-abou-to-tennis
...I mentioned some statements which I heard about tennis which excited and also bothered me:
(1)Tennis is one of the most expensive games in the world.
(2)Tennis is a Non-contact Sport
(3)Tennis exercises every part of the body
(4)Tennis requires so much energy.

Let me continue from where I stopped...
(3) Tennis exercises every part of the body
Though this statement may seem overstated, i see it as largely true. While playing tennis, you run, walk, stand, bend, stretch, turn, jump, move backwards, forward, sideways. Not to mention the multitude of calculations you make and movement-decision you have to choose from as response to your opponents play, within a split second or two. According to Kathleen Trotter, a fitness expert,
Tennis requires dynamic motion – something many of our bodies are starving for. When we do move it tends to be in linear and repetitive ways (think walking, cycling, or the elliptical). The cumulative effect is a body that is stiff and somewhat robotic.

(image source: Pinterest)

I am a fan of racket sports because they don't just improve fitness; they also force you to move in multiple directions in response to differing stimuli – think a ball whizzing across the court. Having to react challenges the brain, improves agility and co-ordination and strengthens muscles and bones at multiple angles.

I am not suggesting you go play two hours of aggressive tennis tomorrow. Every sport puts specific demands and stressors on the body (theory of specific adaptation). Even if you work out regularly, you still need to become "tennis fit" by gradually increasing the duration and intensity of your game and adapting your strength and cardio program to reflect the specific biomechanical demands of the sport.

(image source: tennis-open.net and Google.com)
The tennis specific elements typically missing from traditional gym workouts are speed, agility, fluid multidirectional movements and the ability of the body to absorb and dissipate eccentric forces (i.e., the forces of the ball hitting your racket and your foot hitting the ground).

Read more at: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/fitness/challenge-your-body-in-every-direction-with-tennis/article31259896/

I noticed that sometimes after leaving tennis for a long while, and I play vigorously, I feel ear wax pouring out of my ears and sweating from irregular parts of my body. After a good game of tennis I feel energetic and mentally alert, like I could run a hundred miles and not feel it.

I remember this particular day, I had a package to deliver very early that morning for someone whose wedding was taking place the following day outside the state. All I needed was an hour: 20 minutes to walk or pickup a keke (tricycle cab) to the bustop, then a 30 minute bus to the delivery center and 10 minutes for the unforseen, to arrive by 7am latest. Unfortunately, I woke up late and had just 35 minutes to get to my destination. There was no keke in sight. Without thinking, I ran all the way to the Bustop in about 5 minutes. It was when I got into the bus, I realized I wasn't panting. Tennis had been very helpful.

... To be continued....