Hey there, fellow tennis enthusiasts It’s your girl Mia Johnson-Carter here, living the dream in Miami. Today, I’m excited to dive into a topic that’s been buzzing in the tennis community: the effectiveness of med ball training for developing power in tennis players. Let’s break it down and see if med balls really live up to their hype.
Why My Opinion on Med Ball Training Changed
I used to believe that throwing med balls was a great way to develop rotational or overhead power, which would translate to faster groundstrokes and serves. Many elite tennis players swear by med ball training, so it seemed like a no-brainer. However, my experience with players showed that med ball throws didn’t necessarily increase serve or groundstroke velocities. Instead, it was the strength training that made the difference.
The Stimulus Problem with Med Balls
The problem with med balls is that they’re very difficult to progressively overload. Do we keep increasing the weight of the ball? But then the movement becomes slower, effectively disrupting the ‘velocity’ component. Do we maintain the load but increase the speed of execution? This might work early on, but inevitably, we’ll hit a ceiling. Maybe more throws is the answer? But I don’t believe ‘volume’ is going to help us achieve the desired adaptation here.
We need a large enough stimulus to drive a certain adaptation. In the case of med balls, they simply don’t provide a very good training stimulus. You’re not getting stronger. You’re not recruiting high threshold motor units. You’re not training RFD (rate of force development) or ‘power’. All you’re doing is expressing power!
A Landmark Study: Med Ball vs Weight Training
Let’s dive into an old but well-designed study for a moment. Newton and McEvoy (1994) compared med ball training vs weight training over an 8-week period in young, male baseball players (average age was 18). While we’re not talking about tennis players, throwing a med ball is more similar to throwing a baseball compared to striking a tennis ball.
Here are the study details:
– Group 1: Med ball training + baseball
– Performed MB throws 2x per week before baseball practice
– MB chest pass and MB overhead throw were the 2 exercises; both thrown at max effort.
– After 8 weeks, this group had an 8.9% increase in strength but NO increase in throwing velocity.
- Group 2: Weight training + baseball
- Performed the weight training 2x per week before baseball practice
- Bench press + pullover were the 2 exercises.
- After 8 weeks, this group increased throwing velocity by 4.1% AND increased strength by 22.8%.
- Group 3: Baseball only (control)
- No increase at all in either measure after 8 weeks.
This study tells us a few things:
1. Training is Better Than Nothing: The med ball group did increase strength, but it was short-lived.
2. Med Balls Aren’t Similar Enough: Med ball throws aren’t similar enough to throwing actions in sports like baseball or tennis.
Why Med Balls Are Still Useful
While my arguments paint a picture of disdain towards med ball training for power or velocity development, the reality is that med balls still have their uses.
- Improving Coordination and Timing: Younger and less experienced players might gain a coordination benefit from med balls. Specifically, if done well, they improve how a player times and segments various body parts.
- Enhancing Posture and Movement: Med balls can be great as a warm-up tool prior to hitting balls. Using them can increase heart rate, ramp up the nervous system, and do so in ways that are conducive to what a player will be doing on the tennis court.
- Mobilizing the Trunk: Hammer turns are a great way to mobilize the trunk prior to tennis play.
Conclusion
If you want tangible increases in ‘power’ or stroke velocity over the long haul, get stronger to improve the force end of the force-velocity spectrum and complement that by increasingly trying to hit the cover off the tennis ball—the velocity end of the spectrum. Power will take care of itself.
If you want to know how I use med balls with tennis players, join the Mattspoint Plus App today and you’ll get instant access to med ball circuits, workouts, and tennis drills that’ll turn you into a beast on the court.
If you want, you can check out the news where I found it here.
Yours truly,
Mia
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