Tennis · Sport
How to get fitter for tennis
How to last a third set, what to train between matches, and how a match counts in the app, synced from Garmin, Fitbit, Suunto, Apple Health and Health Connect.
The movement
How to do one properly.
Every rep the same shape, so the numbers mean the same thing on day thirty as on day one.
- 1
Warm up with easy rallies before you play points, and a few minutes of footwork before that.
- 2
Split step as your opponent strikes the ball, so the first step is quick in either direction.
- 3
Between matches, short intervals: tennis is five seconds of sprinting and twenty of walking, for hours.
- 4
Legs and hips twice a week, lunges above all. Every wide ball is a lunge.
- 5
Rotation work for the trunk, lightly and often, keeps the serve and the back on speaking terms.
The way up
How to get fitter for tennis
Rung 1
30 minutes
A hit with a friend. Enough to count.
Rung 2
One set
Points, with the walking between them.
Rung 3
Best of three
Two hours or more. Now it is endurance.
Two sessions of court intervals a week: side to side shuttles, ten seconds hard, thirty easy, twelve rounds. Add rounds, then shorten the rest.
Lunges, in every direction, twice a week. The third-set legs are built in the gym, not on the court.
How it is counted
On the board, however it got there.
Your watch or phone sends it. Garmin, Fitbit, Suunto, Apple Health, and Health Connect all report tennis on their own, so it lands scored without anyone typing. No watch? Say it out loud in the app instead.
Worth 3.3 points per minute in the app, so a challenge can weigh it against anything else you count.
Questions
Asked about tennis
How is tennis counted?
In minutes on court. Log the match time, or let a watch send it as tennis.
Does a lesson count?
Count the minutes you were moving. A drill-heavy lesson is a session; a lesson spent listening is a lesson.
Does it count from my watch?
Your watch or phone sends it. Garmin, Fitbit, Suunto, Apple Health, and Health Connect all report tennis on their own, so it lands scored without anyone typing. No watch? Say it out loud in the app instead.
Is it free?
Yes. The athlete app is free: logging, challenges and every guide on this site. Coaches pay for their workspace; the people they coach do not.
Other exercises
Everything else we count.
Push up
How to do more push ups
Pull up
How to do more pull ups
Squat
How to do more squats
Plank
How to hold a plank longer
Sit up
How to do more sit ups
Dip
How to do more dips
Burpees
How to do more burpees
Lunges
How to do more lunges
Jumping jacks
How to do more jumping jacks
Skipping
How to skip rope longer
Extensions
How to do more back extensions
Battle ropes
How to last longer on battle ropes
Running
How to run further
Cycling
How to ride further
Swimming
How to swim further
Rowing
How to row further
Steps
How to walk more steps every day
Hiking
How to hike further
Football
How to get fitter for football
Basketball
How to get fitter for basketball
Dancing
How to build stamina for dancing
Yoga
How to make yoga a daily habit
Do more tennis.
Let someone see it.
Get the app, log what you did or let your watch send it, and hand your friends the code.