Lower Body Squats and Lunges

Develop lower body strength, stability, and power with fundamental movement patterns. This video covers squats, lunges, split squats, Romanian deadlifts, lateral squats, and lateral lunges to improve quickness and agility on the court. Focus on proper form, progress through dynamic variations, and enhance balance and flexibility

Key Points

  • Exercise Description: Fundamental movement pattern for lower body strength
  • Lower body strength is vital for quickness and power on the court
  • The squat is a fundamental movement pattern that every athlete should be able to perform well
  • If we're not teaching young athletes to squat properly, it will not assist in their development on the court
  • The squat mimics the athletic stance on the tennis court and is the position you are in almost the entire time while playing
  • Watch out for common mistakes such as the heels coming up, the knees overshooting the toes, and the upper body falling forward as you come down
  • For most athletes, even at a young age, the squat will be too easy; have them perform the squat with a weight that will change them but not alter their form
  • To make the squat more dynamic, move sideways and squat down
  • Exercise Description: Adding lateral movement to squats
  • While the squat is a great exercise, lunges are more dynamic and more relevant for tennis players
  • In tennis, you're constantly lunging forward and backward with frequent changes in movement, and these exercises will help improve that
  • There's a tremendous amount of force put on your joints, and these exercises will help with deceleration and reduce your risk of injury
  • Exercise Description: Enhancing lower body strength with a focus on stability
  • Place one foot back with the legs in line with one another to help with stability
  • Work on having a forward body lean when performing the split squat to mimic the ideal position for tennis
  • Heels should stay glued to the ground with the back knee bent
  • Exercise Description: Dynamic lower body exercise for strength and stability
  • To make the exercise more dynamic, progress to lunges, which are essentially a moving split squat
  • To increase the difficulty, try the reverse lunge while staying on one leg
  • To further increase the difficulty, add 10-pound dumbbells while performing the reverse lunge on one leg, simultaneously working on hand grip strength
  • Exercise Description: Strengthening lower body with forward movement
  • After you step down, work on popping back up right away
  • Remember, every exercise is a progression, moving from beginner to more advanced phases
  • Don't move from one exercise to the next until the athlete has mastered each exercise
  • It makes no sense to give something more difficult to a junior player if they haven't mastered the basics yet
  • Exercise Description: Targeting the glutes and hamstrings with a focus on balance and flexibility
  • The Romanian deadlift is one of the most important exercises a tennis player can do for their lower body
  • The 'RDL' targets the glutes and the hamstrings
  • Bend over with the body as if you're pivoting from the hips, with a slight bend in the left leg. Keep the upper body aligned throughout, with the hands coming out as a counterbalance
  • Maintain good posture throughout, with the hinge happening at the hips
  • Once the athlete has mastered the basic movement, you can start using load
  • Holding two dumbbells will provide stability on both sides, while holding one will challenge your core
  • The importance of the RDL is that you are training the body unilaterally, which mimics movements in tennis such as landing on one leg
  • Seventy percent of movement in tennis is lateral, so it's vital that athletes have strong hips and legs to change direction
  • LATERAL SQUATS:
  • Start in a wide base position, bend down towards the hips, and keep a nice straight upper body
  • Keep the heel down and don't allow the knee to go too far over the toes
  • Alternate sides and add in a dumbbell, holding it in a goblet position
  • To add an extra layer of difficulty, hold the dumbbell in one hand and point it towards the squat position as you bend down
  • LATERAL LUNGES:
  • Lunge sideways, alternating legs, and add a dumbbell once you progress
  • To add an extra layer of difficulty, hold the dumbbell with one hand and point to the opposite leg
  • Progress to lifting one leg while holding the dumbbell in one hand to add elements of balance
  • These movements and positions work on the muscles you use when changing direction
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