by Donna Davidge

Last week a student who regularly attends my hatha yoga class came in saying he was particularly sore. It turns ut he had just played tennis for the first time in a long while and was feeling the effects. He said he really needed the yoga class.

Most athletes have heard of the benefits of pre and post stretching exercises though there is some debate as to the benefits of it. In this day and age many people are practicing yoga as their only exercise or as an adjunct to other exercises. Kareem Abdul Jabar was ahead of his time, doing yoga over twenty five years ago and attesting to the fact that it warded off injury, which many of his other colleagues sustained. Both tennis and basketball have the shorter more rapid exertions of muscular energy combined with some longer running. Though it is not actually distant running, the build-up of lactic acid in the muscles definitely happens with this kind of activity. Yoga stretching can counter that effect and also allow you to be more agile on the court.

Let’s look at some yoga postures that might benefit your tennis game. Tennis is known for the condition called “tennis elbow” so any stretches that benefit the shoulders are a good place to start. When shoulders are more flexible then the lesser joints, the wrist and elbow, are less likely to be injured. At the same time you would want to strengthen the shoulder and supporing muscles, which is where the arm balances, which begin in yoga with the basic down dog position, also help. The great thing about yoga is that it is about balance, which means both strength and flexibility. Also the ability to move with your feet firmly grounded can benefit from standing poses such as the warrior, which also stretches the shoulders. Actual balancing poses, such as tree, can keep you from tripping up on the court. Twists are another aspect of yoga that could greatly improve the movements required in tennis. Twists can be practiced from a seated position as well as a standing or kneeling one. They should be rotated from the waist, not the lower back, and standing  or kneeling one. They should be rotated from the waist, and lower lower back, and create a nice stretching of the ribcage that allows the intercostal muscles to stretch. It is always good to have intial instruction from a qualified instructor to make sure you are doing the poses correctly.

The ribcage is also an important thing to look at in terms of breath. Many athletes breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth, working primarily the lungs. Yoga breathing, which takes time and practice, can allow for deeper breathing, expanded lung capacity and oxygenation of the blood. Yoga breathing is not a chest breath but rather a breath that starts in the bottom of the torso, breathing in deeply through the nose, and expands the breath upwards towards the thoracic region, creating an empowered beath in the belly and chest. This deep breath can put more power behind your punch in hitting the ball.

Yoga is defined as the union of mind, body and breath so the meditative aspect of yoga cannot be overlooked in improving any athletic’s focus. Off the court simple one pointed meditations, focusing on an object as simple as a candle flame, or focusing on the breath or even a sound (silently or outloud) are all techniques used in yoga to improve our focus and train the mind to do less wandering.

I asked the student if he had been playing singles, as he sounded like it was pretty intense, and he said no, it was doubles that they were all over the court. So no matter what your level or type of tennis, a good yoga class can likely improve your game. Depending on the type of yoga you practice, and thee are many approaches these days, you might even pay more placement of your feet and joints on the court, another way to fine tune your game.

Donna Amerita Davidge owns Sewall House Yoga Retreat in Maine (www.sewallhouse.com) and has been teaching since 1985 in

AN EXPERIENCE AT THE DRIVING RANGE ENLIGHTENED ME. I KEPT HITTING THE BALL OFF TO THE LEFT. I AM A LEFT HANDED GOLFER. AN INSTRUCTOR STANDING TO ME ASKED ME IF I WANTED TO KNOW WHAT I WAS DOING WRONG. I SAID, “SURE.” HE TOLD ME, YOU ARE NOT SWINGING THROUGH WITH YOUR HIPS, BACK FRONT SHOULDER. I THOUGHT I WAS, BUT WHEN HE PHYSICALLY SHOWED ME WHAT I WAS DOING I REALIZED I WASN’T . AFTER PHYSICALLY MOVING MY BODY IN THE CORRECT WAY I STARTED HITTING THE BALL STRAIGHT. HE ASKED ME, “DO YOU PRACTICE YOGA.” “NO.” I SAID. HE SAID, “GO TO SOME CLASSES, YOUR OWN MAT AND DO SOME OF THE POSES REGULARLY. YOU ARE SO TIGHT.”

BREATHING AND YOGA

THE BREATHING YOU LEARN IN YOGA HELPS YOU RELAX, AND THE STRENGTH AND BALANCE YOU GAIN IMPOROVES YOUR SWING.

YOGA ALSO RELEASES TENSION IN THE LOWER BACK, NECK, SHOULDERS, HIPS AND GROIN AREAS THAT CAN BE TIGHT FOR YEARS.

BREATHING IS THE FIRST AND FOREMOST THING IN GOLF AS IN YOGA.

DO YOU KNOW WHEN YOU BREATHE DURING YOUR GOLF SWING?

MOST PEOPLE DON’T KNOW IF OR WHEN THEY’RE BREATHING.

WHEN YOU HOLD YOUR BREATH, WHENEVER YOU UNDER STRESS (STANDING ON THE FIRST TEE OR OVER A DIFFICULT PUT), YOUR HEART ACCELERATES.

AN ACCELERATED HEART CAUSES TENSION IN THE MUSCLES AND AN INABILITY TO CONTROL YOUR EMOTIONS AND YOUR MENTAL FOCUS AND LEARN DIAPHRAMATIC BREATHE.

THE SWING AND YOGA

THE SWING ITSELF IS AN EXPLOSIVE MOVEMENT FROM A STATIC POSITION, TAKING PLACE IN LESS THAN TWO SECONDS.

FORCE AND COMPRESSION ON THE SPINE OFTEN CREATES AN AWKWARD ROTATON.

EVERY MUSCLE AND JOINT IS WORKING ON THE GOLF SWING AND THUS THERE’S LOTS OF INJURIES.

POSES FOR GOLFERS

A MODIFIED COBRA POSE.

THE MOST COMMON INJURY IS IN THE LOWER BACK – 63 PERCENT OF GOLFERS PLAY WITH AN INJURED LOWER BACK.

LY ON YOUR BELLY WITH YOUR PALMS NEXT TO YOUR CHEST, FINGERS FACING FORWARD, ELBOWS HUGGING THE
SIDES OF YOUR BODY LIKE A CRICKET AND LIFTING THE CHEST SLIGHTLY.

START TO BUILD STRENGTH IN THE LOWER BACK, FLEXIBILITY IN THE THORACIC SPINE OPENING THE CHEST.

A ROUNDED SHOULD AND INFLEXIBILITY IN THE MUSCLES IN THE BACK WON’T GET A FULL ROTATION, AND YOU WILL BE UNABLE TO MAINTAIN THE PROPER ANGLE IN THE SPINE THROUGH THE GOLF SWING. THE SPINE IN THE CORRECT POSITION NEEDS THE LEAST AMOUNT OF ENERGY TO ROTATE.

II. I LIKE THE ALLIGATOR TWIST, IN WHICH YOU LIE ON YOUR BACK, ARMS PERPENDICULAR TO YOU BODY, PALMS UP. PLACE YOUR RIGHT FOOT JUST ABOVE THE LEFT KNEE AND TWIST THE LOWER BODY TO THE LEFT WHILE KEEPING THE RIGHT SHOULDER DOWN.

III.DOWNWARD FACING DOG IS A VERY GOOD POSE.” TARGETS FROM THE FEET UP, FLEXIBILITY IN THE FEET THE ACHILLES TENDON, CALVES, HAMSTRINGS, HIPS, LOWER BACK, MID BACK, SHOULDERS, ARMS AND WRISTS.

THIS POSE PROMOTOES FLEXIBILITY IN THE HAMSTRINGS (MOST GOLFERS HAVE TIGHT HAMSTRINGS) .

THEY CORRELATE TO THE HEALTH OF YOUR LOWER BACK AND THEY HELP SUPPORT YOUR KNEE FLEXION WHEN IN AN UNSTABLE LIE, WHEN YOUR FEET NOT LEVEL.

IT PROMOTES STRENGTH IN THE SHOULDERS, THE ARMS FOR DISTANCE OFF THE TEE.
FLEXIBILITY IN THE HANDS AND WRISTS IS CRITICAL. THEY ARE YOUR ONLY CONNECTION TO THE CLUB. INJURY

AMONG HANDS AND WRITS IS THE NUMBER THREE INJURY AMONG GOLFERS.

IV.TREE POSE. PUT A GOLF BALL ABOUT THREE FEET IN FRONT OF THEIR MAT. GO FROM LEFT SIDE TO RIGHT SIDE. IT HELPS WITH BALANCE AND FOCUS. TRAINS TO KEEP FOCUS ON THE PRESENT.

Maxine Roberts, “Yoga for Golfer”, (McGraw-Hill, 2004). She is a columnist for GolfChannel.com, and a yoga teacher.