As a personal trainer in London for over a decade, I train clients in their own homes, in gyms in their apartment blocks, in their gardens, in the parks (in Boroughs which don’t prosecute personal trainers for training their clients in the park), and on public tennis courts.
You can get a great workout on the tennis court, with tennis drills which emphasize lots of movement, and which build in exercises using the dimensions of the court.
Here are six drills:
1. Clients stands at net, trainer throws up a lob and the client retrieves the lob. Repeat for 10 balls. I had a personal training client with his own tennis court in the garden of his west London home, and several of his balls went next door when he tried to return my lobs. Could that next door neighbour (if you’re reading this) please return those balls?!
2. Client serves, plays the point, then runs round the perimeter of the court as fast as possible, and serves again. Repeat for 10 balls.
3. Client lunges down the tramline from net to baseline, in a walking-lunge which emphasizes long strides with chest out and shoulders back.
4. Personal trainer plays a point, and if the client loses that point (almost always hehe) to client must do 15 squats.
5. Personal trainer feeds balls to corners of baseline, alternating forehand and backhand, and client must scamper to each corner to return the balls.
6. Client stands at baseline, personal trainer feeds a short ball which client must retrieve and return straight to baseline ready for next short ball.
These drills get the heart racing, great for cardio fitness. The lunges are great for leg and glutes strength, and the whole body is worked in the baseline forehand/backhand drills. Don’t forget to cool down and stretch at the end.
Dominic Londesborough is a personal trainer in London and author of the Fitness4London blog.