Many years ago when I was a manager, I would give Tai Chi lessons to my staff during lunch break as a stress reduction technique. I brought professional teachers and participated myself. We learned to breathe effectively and move with the slow, rhythmic movements of this martial arts exercise.

At first I was very embarrassed because I couldn’t catch the movements. However, as I progressed, I began to feel the stress-relieving effects of Tai Chi and wanted to learn more.

The most surprising result for me was that my tennis improved, especially my volleys. As I investigated this further, I discovered that Tai Chi helped me in two key ways.

1. Focus through Tai Chi

Focusing or grounding yourself is a key focus of Tai Chi. Some proponents encourage you to adopt the “horse” position when practicing this martial art and this is designed to focus and let your energy flow freely.

When you’re focused, you can focus harder and for longer periods of time. Your mind is at work and you are concentrating on your tennis game and tennis strokes.

You will often see a change in momentum in a tennis game when a player loses focus, even when they are winning. This can happen even to elite players. They may be thrown off center by a bad line call or a poor shot that they played at a critical moment. The best players, like Federer, have developed ways to stay focused and maintain their focus for very long periods.

Tai Chi is very important to focus and stay focused; make it part of your inner tennis game.

2. Improve your balance through Tai Chi

Tai Chi is considered a form of moving meditation and focuses a lot on achieving balance and awareness of balance.

You have probably seen groups of people use slow motion movements in the local park or at the beach and have observed how well balanced they are when they do movements with one leg.

Tennis requires a lot of balance, preparing for the next shot. You will hear tennis commentators frequently comment, “It was a poor shot because he was off balance when he hit the ball.”

If you have pain in your ankle or leg, you will find it difficult to do volleys correctly because you tend to protect your sore leg by taking your weight off of you. As a result, you don’t transfer your weight correctly when playing your volley. The same is true for serve and groundstroke in tennis.

By practicing Tai Chi, even for ten minutes a day, you can dramatically improve your balance and tennis game.

Tai Chi has many benefits, including stress relief, improved breathing and circulation, and a healthier heart. The desire to improve your tennis game could provide the perfect motivation to adopt this martial art. In the process, you will improve both your balance and your ability to stay focused, and as a result, you will enjoy your tennis game much more.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *