BENEATH THE SURFACE: PROS AND CONS OF SAND TRAINING IN TENNIS

Sports and rehabilitation fields have started adopting sand training because of the range of benefits it offers. Compared to conventional training surfaces like grass or turf, sand training has unique advantages at the physiological, biomechanical, and performance levels.

 Advantages of sand training:

1] Reduced joint impact injuries

· Strenuous training and competing on hard surfaces often leads to overuse injuries in an athlete’s joints.

· Training on sand reduces ground reaction forces and lowers impact stresses to the joints.  

· Sand training results in significantly lesser vertical ground reaction forces on sand compared to firm surfaces which minimizes injuries.

2] Enhanced activation and strength

· The soft and unstable nature of sand has shown to increase the muscular activation required to perform activities.

· Increased activation is good for enhancing eccentric strength and stabilizing joints.

· Higher EMG activity was recorded in the calves, hamstrings and glutes during sand exercises.

3] Improved cardiovascular conditioning and metabolic load

· It's not just running on sand. The surface requires so much energy that even moderate movement becomes a metabolic workout, hence sand training.

· Running on sand has been shown to increase energy expenditure by between 1.6 and 2.5 times.

· There is an increase in heart rate, VO₂ consumption, and calorie burn.

4] Improved balance and coordination

· Challenge the body’s stabilizing systems. Unlike focusing on balance and control, shifting surfaces like sand require proprioceptive skill.

· Effective for neuromuscular development and also helps to prevent injury.

5] Field athletes develop specific performance skills

· Sprint mechanics, reactive strength, and change of direction (COD) ability are all improved.

· Sand plyometric training has also indicated improvement in vertical jump, sprint speed, and agility.

· Gains achieved from sand training are especially explosive in nature and hold up well when switching to grass or turf.

Possible disadvantages of sand training  

1] Greater muscular fatigue  

· The nature of sand being unstable and high resistance increases muscular effort especially in the lower limbs. This can lead to excessive fatigue and even overtraining if not managed well.  

2] Changes in biomechanics and technique  

· For skill-based athletes, the movement mechanics changes because of the effects of sand which can lead to drift from the intended technique.  

3] Increased muscle soreness  

· Eccentric loading coupled with sand’s erratic foot placement can contribute to Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS), particularly in individuals who are not physically conditioned.  

4] Reduced reactive power and maximum velocity  

· In relation to muscle force recruitment, sand training is useful, however, the maximum reactive power and velocity may be limited.

The Importance of Sand Training for Tennis Players

Training on court surfaces, tennis players perform repetitive short sprints, accelerate on the spot, pivot, and perform explosive lateral movements alongside heavy eccentric loading during serves. These activities not only require immense stamina, but also deceleration training on sand surfaces which is beneficial due to the unstable and high-resistive nature of sand requiring more muscles to be recruited.

Enhanced performance emerges in the ankle stabilizer musculature as well as knee, and hip muscles that need to be engaged for efficient and effective lateral movement while minimizing chances for injuries on court surfaces. Sand-based lower-extremity resistance exercise not only enhance the restructuring of the trunk, but also improve the control and speed of change of direction, both vital during rallying and quick transitions in tennis. In addition, the gear ratio is lowered which minimizes the forces acting on the joints and stress while training for longer shin and knee from a conditioning standpoint, sand increases energy expenditure due to greater muscular demand, therefore, becoming an effective site for development of aerobic and anaerobic performance which is essential for drawn out matches.