Tennis Conditioning and Fitness Books
Tennis conditioning and fitness is easily the most overlooked part of our sport. As an incredibly technical sport, stroke development and technique are often at the forefront of player development. The mental side of tennis gets some attention too, but conditioning and fitness are often entirely ignored, and it’s a shame.
Unfortunately, for most players, talent will only take you so far. Tennis has become so competitive and physical that you need to be in excellent shape to go the distance and hang with top players.
Think about some of the game’s top players over the past decade. Names like Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Simona Halep, Novak Djokovic, and Angelique Kerber are a few that come to mind, each with incredible physical prowess.
When Andy Murray finally took his conditioning seriously earlier in his career, it transformed his game, and it helped him last longer 3-5 set matches. It’s also a huge part of what’s helped him come back from many injuries, including his most recent hip surgery.
Conditioning and fitness enable your best strokes and ensure you can compete at the highest level throughout a match. Most players find that as they get tired, their game slowly diminishes. In turn, it’s harder to get their feet planted before a groundstroke, drop low for a volley, or maintain their form through their service motion, and in general, their game suffers. In turn, it becomes harder to maintain a positive mental frame of mind, which is crucial in tennis.
Whether you’re looking to gain a considerable edge over the competition, outlast tough opponents in longer matches or ensure that you maximize your talent, I’d highly recommend you check out these conditioning and fitness books. If not, at least work with a coach with a few copies, as there is no substitute for being match fit.
| Book Name | Author |
| Tennis Fitness for the Love of it | Suzanna McGee |
| Tennis Anatomy | Paul Roetert, Mark Kovacs |
| Complete Conditioning for Tennis | Paul Roetert, Todd Ellenbecker, USTA |
| Tennis Fitness | Ranil Harshana |
| Fit to Play Tennis | Carl Petersen, Nina Nittinger |
| How the Tennis Gods Move | Daniel McCain |
| From Breakpoint to Advantage | Babette Pluim M.D. Ph.D, Marc Safran M.D. |
Break Point by Vincent Spadea.
It was an interesting book. It had some gossip. I really enjoyed reading it. And it had some good insight about life on the pro tour.
I came here because I was trying to find out if Ilie Nastase’s novel, “Breakpoint,” was ghostwritten or what. I found it in one of those little free librarys, and I’m in the middle of reading it, and it is really quite good. If this wasn’t ghosted, Nastase has a hell of a command of the English language for a Romanian.
You should maybe add this book to your list. BTW, I have several of the titles on your list (The Inner Game, The Outsider, Fireside Book of Tennis, etc. I also have a couple books on building and maintaining clay courts –I used to be groundskeeper at a tennis club–) but a real corker I’ve got, that I’ll bet you’ve never heard of, is Mercer Beasley’s [he was Elsworth Vinese’s coach] book, “How To Play Tennis.” He maintained that the ‘bent-knee overhead’ was the shot of the future.
Hi Joe! Thanks for the suggestion, I’ll have to check out Break Point – looks like an interesting read. Haha, I definitely hadn’t come across that book from Beasley. I was able to find it online.
All the best,
Jon
Here’s another great tennis book for your list: a recently published novel called Chance to Break. It’s getting terrific reviews.
Thanks for the recommendation, Clive. Much appreciated.
How to Win Wimbledon in Pajamas is a mental toughness series book that teaches children about GRIT and how to be mentally tough! Check it out on amazon!
Hi Mary, thanks for sharing. It looks like a fun book that I’ll have to check out. I think it wins for best title. The author looks familiar ;)