# Rotational Power and Repeated Change of Direction for Racket Sports phase.fitness · Methodology · Sport-specific · racket sports · Updated 23 August 2026 · HTML version: https://www.phase.fitness/methodology/training-racket-sports > How this document is used: it is one of the documents the phase.fitness generator reads before writing a phase. The principles below are passed to the model as context and the numbers become bands the program has to respect. The references are stripped from the prompt and kept here. Tennis, padel, squash and badminton share a physical profile: points lasting a handful of seconds, separated by short and strictly regulated rest, repeated for one to four hours. Within each point the athlete performs several sharp changes of direction over short distances and produces force through a rotational chain that runs from the ground to the racket. Almost nothing in these sports happens in the sagittal plane, and almost nothing happens symmetrically. A programme built on bilateral, forward-facing lifts prepares an athlete for a sport they are not playing. ## Key Principles ### 1. Power is transmitted through rotation, and generated at the hips The serve and the forehand are not arm actions. Force originates in the legs and hips, transfers through a stiff trunk, and is delivered late by the shoulder and arm. Athletes who lack hip rotational power compensate with the shoulder, which is both less powerful and far more vulnerable. Training therefore prioritises the ability to produce and — critically — to *resist* rotation: anti-rotation trunk work builds the stiffness through which hip power actually transfers. ### 2. The sport is unilateral and asymmetric, and the body adapts accordingly Racket athletes develop measurable asymmetries: dominant-side shoulder rotation ranges shift, dominant-arm musculature grows, and lead-leg loading differs from trail-leg. Some of this is functional adaptation and should not be "corrected" away. What matters is that the non-dominant side does not fall so far behind that it becomes the limiting factor or an injury site. Unilateral lower-body work and non-dominant-side rotational work are maintenance items, not symmetry projects. ### 3. Movement is measured in metres, not in shuttle runs Court coverage happens in bursts of 2–6 metres with frequent direction changes, including lateral and backward movement. Conditioning built around 20-metre shuttles or continuous running trains a distance the sport does not ask for. The specific quality is the ability to accelerate, stop, and reaccelerate in a very short space, repeatedly, while remaining balanced enough to strike a ball. ### 4. The shoulder needs range and control, in that order The overhead positions of the serve and smash demand external rotation range that is easily lost and hard to regain. Once range is lost, the athlete reaches it by extending the lumbar spine instead — trading a shoulder problem for a back problem. Posterior cuff strength, scapular control, and thoracic rotation are ongoing content in a racket athlete's programme, at every level and in every season. ### 5. Energy demands differ sharply between the racket sports They are not interchangeable: - **Tennis:** points 4–10 seconds, 20 seconds between points, long total duration. Alactic power with a strong aerobic underpinning for recovery between points. - **Padel:** longer rallies, smaller court, more continuous movement, less serving stress. Comparatively more glycolytic. - **Squash:** highest continuous demand of the group, longest rallies, minimal recovery. The most aerobically demanding. - **Badminton:** extremely high movement frequency, very short efforts, heavy overhead volume. Conditioning should be built from the sport's actual rally and rest structure rather than from a generic "racket sport" template. ## Guidelines & Recommendations ### Strength work - **Frequency:** 2–3 sessions per week off-season, 1–2 in-season. - **Lower body:** split squats, lateral squats, and hip hinges. Lateral and rotational strength is as important as vertical. - **Trunk:** anti-rotation as the primary category (Pallof press variations, chops and lifts with control), rotation as a secondary one. Trunk endurance matters more than trunk maximal strength. - **Upper body:** pulling volume exceeds pushing volume, typically 2:1, to offset the sport's overhead and forward-dominant loading. - **Shoulder maintenance:** external rotation and scapular work, 2–3 times per week, low load. ### Power work - Medicine ball throws are the highest-value rotational power tool: rotational throws, overhead throws, and scoop throws from split and lateral stances. - 3–5 sets of 4–6 repetitions per side, maximal intent, full recovery. - Jump work in lateral and multidirectional planes rather than purely vertical. ### Change of direction and footwork - Distances of 2–6 metres, with lateral, diagonal, and backward entries. - Progress from planned patterns to reactive ones — reacting to a ball, a light, or a partner's cue — because the sport never announces the next direction. - Volume stays low and quality stays high. This is nervous-system work; it degrades quickly. ### Conditioning by sport - **Tennis:** 6–10 seconds of work, 20–25 seconds of rest, repeated in blocks of 8–12, several blocks with 2–3 minutes between. Aerobic base built off-court in the off-season. - **Padel:** longer work intervals, 15–30 seconds, with 30–45 seconds recovery. - **Squash:** longer continuous efforts, 60–120 seconds at high intensity, plus a genuine aerobic base — this sport rewards it directly. - **Badminton:** very short, very frequent — 3–6 seconds of work with 10–15 seconds recovery, high total repetitions. ### In-season management Match play is itself high-intensity conditioning. In competition weeks, the gym holds strength through low-volume, high-intensity sessions — two or three main lifts, few sets, no soreness — and drops conditioning entirely. The shoulder maintenance block is the one item that survives every cut. ### Common programming errors - **Training the shoulder as a prime mover.** It is the last link, not the engine. Overloading it directly increases the risk of the sport's most common injury. - **Symmetry chasing.** Some asymmetry is adaptation. Only the extremes need attention. - **Conditioning by running.** The sport is played in six metres, in four directions. - **Neglecting deceleration.** Reaching a wide ball is only half of it — the athlete has to stop and recover position. ## Key Takeaways - Power is generated at the hips and transmitted through a stiff trunk; anti-rotation strength is what makes the transfer possible. - Train movement over 2–6 metres in all directions, not shuttle runs. - Shoulder range and posterior cuff control are permanent content, not rehab. - Build conditioning from the sport's real rally and rest structure — tennis, padel, squash and badminton are physiologically different sports. - Pull more than you push, roughly 2:1. - In-season, cut conditioning before cutting strength, and never cut shoulder maintenance. ## References - Verified against the published record, with DOIs so any number here can be - checked rather than trusted. This document previously carried no sources at all. - **Suchomel, T. J., Nimphius, S., & Stone, M. H. (2016).** The Importance of - Muscular Strength in Athletic Performance. *Sports Medicine*, 46(10), - 1419-1449. DOI: [10.1007/s40279-016-0486-0](https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-016-0486-0) · PMID 26838985 - — The source for treating maximal strength as the base under the sport-specific - qualities rather than an optional extra. Greater strength improves jumping, - sprinting and change of direction, and stronger athletes perform better at - sport-specific tasks while carrying a lower injury risk. - **van Dyk, N., Behan, F. P., & Whiteley, R. (2019).** Including the Nordic - hamstring exercise in injury prevention programmes halves the rate of hamstring - injuries: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 8459 athletes. *British - Journal of Sports Medicine*, 53(21), 1362-1370. - DOI: [10.1136/bjsports-2018-100045](https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2018-100045) - — Risk ratio 0.49 in favour of programmes including the exercise. **Note what - it does and does not show:** the evidence is for *hamstring* injuries. Reducing - ACL injury is a different intervention — neuromuscular and landing-mechanics - programmes — and attributing that outcome to this exercise overstates it. This - document previously made exactly that mistake. ## Programs built from this document - [Volleyball strength and jump program](https://www.phase.fitness/training-programs/volleyball-training-program) - [Tennis and padel strength and conditioning program](https://www.phase.fitness/training-programs/tennis-and-padel-training-program) - [phase.fitness for athletes with a season](https://www.phase.fitness/for/team-sport-athletes)