Food habits play a critical role in shaping energy intake, nutrient consumption and hydration status – three essential components for augmenting training adaptations, improving performance and speeding recovery.
As tournament tennis often spans multiple days, players should prioritize nutrition to aid recovery. This should include taking in adequate carbs to replenish muscle glycogen stores and protein for muscle repair; plus plenty of fluids to replace sweat losses.
1. Carbohydrates
Carbs are essential fuel for high intensity, short duration exercise. Our bodies convert carbs to energy (glucose) which is then stored as glycogen in our livers and muscles as endurance fuel. When this supply runs low during training or competition, muscle tissue will begin relying on fat or protein stores for fuel instead resulting in fatigued muscles with decreased performance levels. When carbohydrate stores run dry an athlete may start burning fat for energy instead, leading to decreased performance levels overall and fatigued performance levels overall.
Tennis is an action-packed sport that combines long periods of aerobic and anaerobic exercise into an exercise pattern that differs greatly from conventional lab based endurance tests. Tennis requires athletes to undergo short duration explosive bursts interspersed with recovery periods resulting in unique physiological stress on their body that may necessitate different dietary energy requirements.
If an athlete consumes carb-rich food prior to an extended match or training session, their body may store extra carbohydrates as glycogen stores resulting in hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) which could result in lethargy and nausea during competition or training.
At its core, glucose is our body’s preferred carb source. To maximize performance and optimally fuel their body for sports performance, athletes should consume food or drinks high in carbohydrates with low fiber and glycemic index (GI) index indices; examples may include sports drinks, fruit juices, milkshakes, low-fat flavoured yoghurts cereal and oat cakes.
Athletes should aim to consume approximately one gram of carbohydrate for every kg of bodyweight post-exercise, within half an hour following their workout until their regular meal pattern resumes. If they have another training or competition within 8 hours after their last, higher GI carb sources may prove more useful.
2. Protein
A healthy diet should provide all of the protein a tennis player needs for optimal recovery; however, some athletes may benefit from taking additional protein supplements to aid their healing. A post-training protein shake is an ideal way to kickstart muscle repair and relieve soreness after training sessions. Protein supplements typically consist of whey, casein and soy; food-sourced versions tend to be preferred over commercial products due to research showing they promote optimal muscle protein synthesis.
Studies have demonstrated the benefits of eating a high protein diet for tennis players. Studies have demonstrated it can reduce recovery times from exercise, improve muscle strength and power, and enhance performance. Therefore, tennis players should consume lean proteins such as fish, chicken, beans, lentils and pulses as part of their everyday diet and add an additional serving at each training session.
Carbs are essential fuel for optimal performance, yet can quickly deplete during strenuous training or competition. Replacing these lost carbs is essential to maintaining optimal performance and avoiding fatigue; timing the consumption of carbohydrates after exercise (ideally within 30-60 minutes after) is also key as doing so may increase glycogen storage and protein synthesis.
As the average tennis match can last five hours or longer, tennis players need to stay hydrated throughout their match and between sets for optimal performance and reduced risk of injury. They should consume water and electrolyte drinks throughout a match as well as before and after it as part of maintaining optimal hydration status.
Sports nutritionists should offer their advice to athletes on appropriate hydration strategies and suggest fluid and electrolyte supplements where necessary. Furthermore, some sports nutritionists use other recovery methods such as temperature-based interventions and electrical stimulation in order to facilitate recovery.
3. Fats
As mentioned previously, tennis is an intermittent, high intensity sport requiring energy provision at both low and high intensity levels. While carbohydrate remains the primary fuel used during matches, an increasing proportion of energy may come from fat oxidation with longer matches (Juzwiak 2008).
There have been very few studies conducted to examine the dietary intakes and requirements of tennis players. Research indicates that an excessive dietary fat consumption (>30% of total energy intake) is often seen among these athletes; thus it is advised that their diet contain sufficient healthy fat sources like olive oil, avocado and nuts.
Due to the high sweat rate associated with tennis, appropriate fluid intake is equally essential. Players should aim for pale yellow urine when sipping fluids throughout their match to reduce dehydration risk that could otherwise impair performance and delay recovery. Cho-electrolyte drinks have also been found to enhance fluid absorption and retention and have proven more efficient at improving performance in hot environments (Kovacs 2006a).
Athletic performance requires athletes to consume a balanced daily carb and protein intake during training and competition to maximize performance. Athletes should increase their protein consumption during high-volume preparatory phases before tapering appropriately in order to peak for key events. Protein intakes of 1.7 g*kg BW-1 have been suggested as sufficient energy provision and muscle tissue repair during extended exercise sessions (Tipton & Wolfe 2004).
Tennis’ high-intensity movements can cause significant muscle fibre damage that takes 24 hours to repair, so eating high-quality proteins such as fish, chicken, lean meats, beans or low-fat dairy is critical to aiding this recovery process and reduce muscle soreness and aid recovery.
4. Minerals
As with all athletes, tennis players need to strike a balance between macronutrients (carbs, protein and fats) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) to maximize performance. This is particularly crucial during matches where energy demands fluctuate widely from game-to-game.
Stop and go tennis play can lead to dehydration, electrolyte loss and performance impairment – even as little as 3% dehydration impairing performance (Kovacs 2006). To combat this effect, sports food and supplements containing carbohydrates, sodium and potassium (CHO-electrolyte solutions) may be used – however it should be noted that several high-profile tennis doping cases have been linked with contamination of nutritional supplements by banned substances; accordingly it is advised to consult a qualified nutritionist prior to using any nutritional supplements so as to ensure safety and avoid contamination risks.
Pre-match carb boosts often involve pasta as it offers a delicious combination of taste and texture that is quickly digested for sustained energy production. Whole grains like quinoa, brown rice, buckwheat and oats also make an excellent pre-match meal, providing complex carbohydrates, soluble fibre and nutrients like magnesium, iron, folate B6 rutin. Nutrit dense vegetables such as leafy greens like broccoli kale cauliflower and brussel sprouts contain an abundance of antioxidants as well as minerals including calcium potassium folate folic acid vitamin A& choline content for maximum performance during matches.
Iron deficiency is a widespread condition among elite tennis players as it can be challenging to meet nutritional requirements with energy-rich foods alone. Therefore, supplementation with high quality multivitamins should be considered.
5. Water
Hydration is essential to performance and temperature regulation. While there has been limited research done specifically on tennis players and hydration, studies from other sports can serve as guides for their fluid intake during practice and matches. Athletes should implement an established fluid intake program during practices and matches, taking frequent drinks rather than waiting until they feel thirsty before drinking more fluids.
Athletes must drink enough fluids to maintain a urine specific gravity (USG) below 1.025 in order to remain adequately hydrated during exercise, but keep in mind that USG levels can change due to changes in plasma volume, acclimatization and the type of physical activity (Bergeron et al. 1995a).
Water and sports drinks provide excellent hydration solutions and help replace electrolytes lost through sweating. In particular, sports drinks are best utilized by athletes expending significant energy in intense exercise or competition and needing to replenish these lost electrolytes through sweating.
Have you ever watched a professional tennis match? Observed players will typically carry with them an orange or pink liquid that contains carbs and electrolytes during gameplay – a sports drink often recommended.
CHO drinks promote rapid fluid absorption compared with water and have been found to help tennis players maintain better hydration status during short matches, yet have not proven superior in terms of performance during longer matches.
Cold immersion baths offer more than hydration; they can also ease muscle stiffness and soreness after strenuous matches or training sessions, and help accelerate recovery time and performance improvement. Furthermore, their shock of cold water helps stimulate production of new muscle proteins for quicker recovery and enhanced performance. Timing of this plunge is vital: the optimal time is while muscles are still warm to allow your body to adapt as quickly as possible to temperature change.