You all probably know that the Australian Open is ongoing bringing about a tennis hype. We think tennis is one of the best sports ever.
We both started playing tennis years ago. We also stopped for years and only got back into playing again sometime last year. Actually, tennis was one of the common passion we shared that made us grow closer as friends. There’s something about this fun, competitive, challenging and highly addictive sport that creates a bond among people. In fact, My Doolally was birthed right after one of our tennis games!
So what are the benefits of hitting those fuzzy yellow green balls? We totally agree with what WikiAnswers has to say:
Physical Benefits:
1. Aerobic fitness by burning fat and improving your cardiovascular fitness and maintaining higher energy levels (n.b., true “aerobic” exercise may only be achieved by forcing the heart and lungs to work continuously for at least 15 minutes, which, for tennis, rarely occurs during match play, and is typically only achieved during strenuous, continuous, and repetitive hitting exercises). Whee! Tennis can help us reach our target weight!
2. Anaerobic fitness by offering short, intense bursts of activity during a point followed by rest which helps muscles use oxygen efficiently. Healthy muscles!
3. Ability to accelerate by practice in sprinting, jumping and lunging to move quickly.
4. Speed through a series of side-to-side and up and back sprints to chase the ball. Can be applied when playing with kids!
5. Leg strength through hundreds of starts and stops which build stronger leg muscles. Hmm… Victoria Secret Angel’s body here we come!
6. General body coordination since you have to move into position and then adjust your upper body and feet, and transfer body weight to hit the ball successfully.
7. Gross motor control through court movement and ball-striking skills which require control of your large muscle groups.
8. Agility by forcing you to change direction as many as 5 times in 10 seconds during a typical tennis point.
9. Bone strength and density by strengthening bones of young players and helping prevent osteoporosis in older ones. Calcium in action!
10. Immune system through its conditioning effects which promote overall health, fitness and resistance to disease. This is so true! We feel healthier and fitter!
11. Eye-hand coordination because you constantly judge the timing between the on-coming ball and the proper contact point. This was especially helpful for Michelle’s kids when they first took up tennis.
Mental Benefits:
1. Develop discipline as you have to practice regularly. So True!
2. Accommodate stress effectively because the physical, mental and emotional stress of tennis will force you to increase you capacity for dealing with stress. Nothing beats hitting the tennis court after a bad day!
3. Learn how to recover by adapting to the stress of a point and the recovery period between points which is similar to the stress and recovery cycles in life. Tennis really pushes you to give your best.
3. Learn how to recover by adapting to the stress of a point and the recovery period between points which is similar to the stress and recovery cycles in life. Tennis really pushes you to give your best.
4. Plan and implement strategies since you naturally learn how to anticipate an opponent’s moves and plan your countermoves. Ahh… the art of war! hehe
5. Learn sportsmanship since tennis teaches you to compete fairly with opponents. Or rather teaching our overly competitive opponents!!
6. Learn to win graciously and lose with honor. Gloating after a win or making excuses after a loss doesn’t work in tennis or in life. We have countless of court bloopers and girl chit-chat going on!
7. Learn teamwork since successful doubles play depends on you and your partner’s ability to communicate and play as a cohesive unit. Hence, the birth of My Doolally!
7. Learn teamwork since successful doubles play depends on you and your partner’s ability to communicate and play as a cohesive unit. Hence, the birth of My Doolally!
8. Develop social skills through interaction and communication before a match, while changing sides of the court and after play. We even talk non-stop while playing!
9. Have FUN… because the healthy feelings of enjoyment, competitiveness and physical challenge are inherent in the sport. FUN is an understatement.
9. Have FUN… because the healthy feelings of enjoyment, competitiveness and physical challenge are inherent in the sport. FUN is an understatement.
Michelle decided to send her kids to a tennis summer clinic a few years ago because she wanted to have an activity that she can share with her boys. When her kids showed an interest in her sport, she didn’t waste any time. It didn’t take long for them to pick up the strokes and they were hitting balls with her in no time. What started as just a quest for more bonding moments with her boys became a venue to teach them about discipline and perseverance. Her boys have always played team sports, like soccer, T-ball (baseball for kids), frisbee and basketball. Playing individual sports is a totally different training. She’s grateful for the mental benefits that tennis gave them. They learned to persevere as an individual, not mainly depend on their teammates.
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Based on our experience, an hour of tennis burns around 400 calories and our pedometer shows that it accounts to more than 5,000 steps! We are so amazed that a sport we enjoy can have tons of benefits!
If you think tennis piques your interest, then go give it a try! You have to remember though, that like any sport, it takes discipline, patience and a lot of practice!
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