YA-TaiChi/ 12 stepsTM for tennis professionals
Testimonials from tennis players.
Testimonials from pro athletes.
Despite its slow and fluid appearance, tai chi is a martial art. It was created to condition and maintain physical and mental abilities for a person who might possibly engage in hand-to-hand combat.
Tai chi has a lot to offer to a tennis player.
Tai Chi improvements happen on three levels: physical, mental, and motivational or emotional. Let’s review some of them (it would take volumes to review all; Tai Chi is a life-altering practice!).
The most basic physical improvement that Tai Chi teaches is re-learning all patterns of the movements with minimal damage to your own body while conserving the energy necessary to make that movement, leaving room for possible counter-attacks. This makes the most energy-efficient moves possible and the safest for your own tissues. These patterns of movements decrease the possibilities of injuries during the game and, at the same time, speed up recovery after the game.
For example, knowing the correct alignment of the shoulder, elbow, and wrist during a hit can significantly reduce wear and tear on these joints. Knowing breathing techniques can help protect your spine while, at the same time, adding power to your hit. The combination of energy efficiency in movements and breathing techniques pushes up your endurance many times over.
Coordination is a quality that has both physical and mental sides. Physically, Tai Chi helps coordination by increasing proprioceptive feeling and establishing better and stronger kinesthetic chains. Mentally, it helps by promoting a very specific quality needed for coordination: the communication between the right and left hemispheres. The round motions of Tai Chi constantly cross the middle line of the body, creating the necessity for left-right coordination to create more and more patterns of communication between the two hemispheres. The importance of these communications cannot be underestimated.
Another important mental quality is focus. Slow, mindful motions of Tai Chi train your focus power. It establishes a wide focus as well as a sharp precision focus. It also trains to sustain the focus for a prolonged period of time. Sustainable focus contributes to endurance during the game. Here lies the magic of Tai Chi training: each element supports and enhances other elements, producing multifaceted benefits.
The magic of Tai Chi training: each element supports and enhances other elements, producing multifaceted benefits.
Last but not least is emotional and motivational benefits: Ya-TaiChi/ 12 stepsTM teaches emotional balance and a “can-do” attitude. It constantly challenges your knowledge about your own body and allows you to advance further than you thought you could.
In other words, you don’t know what you can achieve until you try Tai Chi.
you don’t know what you can achieve until you try Tai Chi.