There are many ways to play a game of tennis. Switching it up, can provide you with a fresh perspective, different levels of exercise and the chance to grow and improve your game. Here’s 5 ways to play tennis.
1. Singles
Playing one on one delivers a great workout. With the court wide open, there’s plenty of space to cover. Not only does this test your speed, balance, endurance, but also your capacity to recover between points.
Singles offers a way to burn a lot of calories and release stress by belting the ball as hard as you can!
The trick is to find a partner of a similar ability, so you will have to work hard throughout. Also consider joining a local league team, as they provide an excellent opportunity to be frequently challenged by better players.
2. Doubles
Turn tennis into a team sport! Doubles makes for a more social and interactive game.
While still providing a solid whole body workout, doubles enables you to focus on less and make every hit count. Doubles is also ideal if you are new to the game, recovering from injury, or just want to focus on the fun and social aspects.
3. Cut-throat
Also called Canadian doubles, this format designed for three players who rotate positions after each service game. Players alternate between singles and doubles, scoring one point by winning a game at the doubles end, and two points for a singles victory. The first player to score 9 or 11 points is the winner.
The Cut-throat tennis system offers multiple health benefits and is like a form of interval training, because you alternate between harder and easier games.
While a great workout for players of intermediate skill and fitness, it’s also the perfect alternative to doubles if you’re a player short.
4. Cardio tennis
As the name suggests, cardio tennis focuses on fitness, and enables you to burn more calories than a typical game.
With an instructor and larger group working through drills and activities, it’s more like an exercise class than a coaching session. Plus, each session is designed to keep you moving.
Cardio tennis provides a good form of cross training for other sports, focusing on boosting your speed and fitness speed through a series of side to side and up and back sprints.
It’s also a good way to further develop your tennis game, practising shots and moving into position under fatigue.
5. Fast4
Fast4 is like the tennis version of Twenty20 cricket. It’s a revised format designed to simplify and shorten the game.
Some of the key differences are that there is no advantage points and sets are won when a player reaches four games. If you are short on time, but want a quick hit of tennis while keeping the competitive juices flowing, Fast4 is ideal.
Make the breaks between games and sets short to keep the momentum going, and maximise the fitness and fat loss benefits.
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