OPS CORE June 2022 by Wayne David Clark

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Improve your Tennis Grip

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USING SELF EFFICACY TO INCREASE YOUR WELLNESS MINDSET DR. ALLISON BRAGER WHAT IS SELF-EFFICACY? Self-efficacy is defined by experts in psychology as the confidence an individual has in their ability to gain and maintain control over their: (a) emotions - such as motivation; (b) behaviour - such as the ability to stay visibly calm; and (c) social environment - such as being an active listener (per the theory of Dr. Albert Bandura, the first to acknowledge and define self-efficacy). WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? Self-efficacy is important because it is what directly drives our confidence in our abilities and how we project our confidence onto others. The relationship between self-efficacy and competence is also bidirectional; both too little and too much can be equally as detrimental. This is known as the DunningKruger Effect. Think of self-efficacy this way. Would you ever follow a military commander into battle if he or she didn’t believe in their mission? No. Also, would you ever follow a military commander into battle if he or she had a reputation of never learning from their mistakes? No. The bottom line upfront is that confidence is what society judges us by regarding our competence. If we hone our craft and take every opportunity to show it off but also refine it and learn from our mistakes as we go then this ultimately leads to positivity all around, a positive emotional state, a positive attitude towards others, and positive vibes from others.

STEPS FOR DEVELOPING SELF-EFFICACY Developing self-efficacy is not “one size fits all.” Are you familiar with the debate of whether leaders are born or made? This debate relates to self-efficacy. Developing this system begins during childhood and flourishes during adolescence. Positive influences and experiences build selfefficacy because the environment is encouraging, open-minded, and focuses on growth. How we grow up and who we choose to spend time with ultimately shaped our early emotional states, attitudes, and vibes towards ourselves, others, and the environment around us. Thus, the first step of self-efficacy begins with self-reflection. We must outline and answer the following questions: • Who do we think we are at present (e.g., a good father)? • Who we want to be (e.g., a great father)? • What are opportunities for becoming better? • What are barriers to becoming better? Once we have this framework, then we need to observe, document, and do more selfreflection which I will talk more about below. HOW TO ASSESS YOUR SELF-EFFICACY As mentioned, there is not a universal model for self-efficacy. Because of my career, I use a model that the military has instilled into me. This model is built from the research-heavy pillars of self-efficacy and consists of two broad components:

• Attributes - How do I view myself and how do others view me? • Competencies - How do I perform relative to my own goals and how do others view my performance relative to their goals or some broader standard? Within the framework of attributes, I assess three additional tenants: a) my character (ethics); b) my presence (vibe); and c) my intellect (open-mindedness). Within the framework of competencies, I assess these three additional tenants: a) my ability to lead (creating a positive, open-minded, and inclusive environment); b) my ability to develop (myself and others); and c) my ability to achieve (my goals as well as the goals of my family). As mentioned, assessing self-efficacy is not a one size fits all approach but there should be a framework no matter which one you use. HOW IMPORTANT IS THE CONCEPT IN WELLNESS COACHING? Ultimately, self-efficacy is one of the critical pillars of wellness coaching. Creating a culture of positivity and finding opportunities to personally grow from one’s actions and actions with others along the way is the path towards wellness. Self-efficacy optimises psychological wellness through embracing growth and selfefficacy optimises physiological wellness through minimising stress and anxiety over if we are good enough and/or perceived by others.

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5 Exercises to Improve Your Grip Strength for a Better Tennis Swing Posted by Aaron Laurence Tennis grip strength gives you the ability to absorb force, which allows you to better control your swing, and ultimately, control the ball. Your racket grip relies on a crush grip, where your hand is closing around the racket handle. Elite players win by swinging harder, hitting with more force, and serving the ball with speed and control. Bene t 1: A Strong Grip Absorbs Force Better When a tennis ball makes contact with your racket (especially when you’re returning a powerful serve or volleying), it causes the racket strings to vibrate. The vibration carries from the strings and outward along the racket’s frame into the handle. It ultimately transfers to your hand and wrist. Upon impact with the ball, your wrist extensor muscles will activate your forearm muscles to stabilize your wrist. According to a study published in Sports Medicine and Health Science in Dec. 2019, “players can modulate vibration transfer to their hand/arm by adjusting the location of ball impact or their grip force.” With a rmer grip force, you can absorb the ball’s energy better to slow down the fatigue of your wrist and elbow joints, as well as your forearm muscles. Bene t 2: Grip Strength Helps You Control Your Swing The point where your hand grips your tennis racket is the last point in the kinetic chain of grip in a tennis swing. So a weak tennis grip means a weak, uncontrolled swing. Maximising your racket control gives you more advantages on the court with each serve or swing you take.

In a tennis swing, you squeeze the racket's grip just as you're about to make contact with the ball and carry that through as you hit the ball. Then your grip loosens in your follow-through of the swing. Between the force absorption and the tighter squeeze on the racket handle, you'll need a great deal of forearm strength and grip strength to control the force and direction of your shot. A rm tennis grip o ers more control over your hand, wrist, and forearm muscles and a ects how rm or exible your hold is on the racket throughout the swing.

Bene t 3: An Improved Grip Lets You Serve With More Force Experienced tennis players know that using the continental tennis serve grip is the best way to generate speed and force when serving. Using this grip allows you to add topspin and control to your serve. It also allows your wrist to ex freely, creating a more uid-like motion. The mechanics of a tennis serve with a continental grip isn't much di erent from the movement of throwing a ball. However, the combined length of your serving arm and racket means the most signi cant acceleration in the service comes when you whip your arm and racket the way you'd snap a whip. That snap is vital to exing your wrist for topspin. You generate incredible speed through the whip-like motion and pronation (outward rotation) of your hand, which is instrumental for serving the ball with tremendous force. Bene t 4: Grip Strength Lowers Your Risk of Tennis Elbow Tennis elbow, also known as lateral epicondylitis, is an overuse injury that occurs when tendons in your elbow are overloaded and become strained or in amed, which can cause severe pain. The strain is usually caused by repeated motions of the forearm muscles that straighten and lift your hand and wrist — such as the motion of swinging a tennis racket. While the name implies an athletic injury, anyone who performs this repetitive motion — painters, handy persons, cooks, dentists — can develop tennis elbow. Aside from muscle pain and in ammation, the most common side e ect of tennis elbow is weakened grip strength. Many athletes (and non-athletes) don't think about strengthening the forearm muscles and tendons until after an injury occurs and rehab is required. However, by working to improve your grip strength, you'll be supporting your forearm muscles and tendons to withstand stress and fatigue. One way to increase grip strength and stave o grip strength exercises into your tness routine.

muscle injuries is to add

5 Tennis Grip Exercises to Improve Your Swing Forearm and wrist exercises are the best way to improve your tennis grip techniques and can also be helpful grip exercises to forearm muscle recovery. As always, if you're su ering from a muscle strain or injury, speak to your doctor to ensure these exercises are right for you. Let's start with these tennis grip strength exercises that you can perform in your home gym with or without load (YBells, dumbbells, or kettlebells) 1. Resisted Forearm Supination With YBell Arc Practicing wrist supination with a YBell Arc will work the supinator muscle. The supinator is a broad muscle in your forearm's superior and posterior compartment that consists of two layers of bres. The supinator is attached to your elbow and is the muscle that makes it possible for you to turn your palm upward, making it vital to your grip strength. Equipment Needed: A at surface (weight bench, plyo box, etc.) A light free weight (YBell Arc or YBell Arc Lite) How To Do a Resisted Forearm Supination With YBell Arc: Hold a 5.5 lb YBell Arc or 2.4 lb Arc Lite in your right hand with your palm facing down using a centre grip. Lay your right arm on a at surface with your arm against your body and elbow bent. Your hand and wrist (and the YBell) should hang over the surface. This is your starting position. Rotate your arm outward, turning your palm up. Keep the movement isolated to your wrist and forearm, keeping your elbow motionless. Hold here for 5 seconds. Rotate your arm inward, back to the starting position. This is one rep.

Repeat 10 times on each side.

Adjustments: You may need to wait for your muscle in ammation to subside if holding a weight is painful during this movement. However, you can perform forearm supination without weights by simply laying your hand at. 2. Resisted Wrist Extension With YBell Resisted wrist extensions work the wrist extensors — a group of nine muscles on the back of your forearm that connect to your elbow. The primary function of the wrist extensors is to extend and bend your wrist, but they also support other movements in the wrist and ngers. Strengthening your grip with extensor exercises can make the extensor muscles more resistant to sprains that tend to occur when swinging a tennis racket. Equipment Needed: A free weight (YBell Arc or YBell Neo) How To Do a Resisted Wrist Extension With YBell: Sit on a chair with your feet at on the ground. Hold YBell in your right hand with your palm facing down using a center grip. Rest your right forearm on your right thigh, with your hand and wrist hanging over your knee. This is your starting position. Keeping your forearm still, bend your wrist upward as high as you can without causing pain. Hold here for 5 seconds. Slowly bend your wrist back down to the starting position. This is one rep. Repeat 10 times on each side. Adjustments: If holding a weight is too painful, you can also try this move with resistance bands by wrapping one end of the band around your hand and placing the other end under your foot for light resistance. You can also perform wrist extensions without weights, which will still provide a nice warm-up to your extensors before getting on the court.

Your wrist exors are a group of muscles in your forearm that connect to your elbow. They're responsible for wrist exion and movement of your nger and wrist joints. The wrist exor muscles work opposite your wrist extensor muscles. Combined, they are part of your wrist joint's normal range of motion. Since wrist exion — when your hand bends down at the wrist and your palm faces in toward your forearm — is the opposite of wrist extension, this exercise will be very similar to wrist extension. Equipment Needed: A free weight (YBell Arc or YBell Neo) How To Do a Resisted Wrist Flexion With YBell: Sit on a chair with your feet at on the ground. Hold a YBell in your right hand with your palm facing up using a centre grip. Rest your right forearm on your right thigh, with your hand and wrist hanging over your knee. This is your starting position. Keeping your forearm still, isolate your wrist and ex it upward toward your body as high as you can without causing pain. Hold here for 5 seconds. Slowly control your wrist back down to the starting position. This is one rep. Repeat 10 times on each side.

Adjustments: If holding a weight is too painful, you can also perform resisted wrist exion with resistance bands by wrapping one end of the band around your hand and placing the other end under your foot for light resistance. You can also perform wrist exion without weights, which will still provide a nice stretch to your exors.

3. Resisted Wrist Flexion With YBell

4. Towel Twists The towel twist exercise works your wrist exors and extensors simultaneously. These muscle groups are vital to your grip strength. They're easily in amed from overuse in your tennis swing, making the towel twist an excellent exercise for treating and preventing tennis elbow. Equipment Needed: A medium hand towel How To Do a Towel Twist: Loosely roll up a towel and hold it lengthwise in front of you, with one hand at each end of the towel. Relax your shoulders and twist the towel by moving your hands in opposite directions (ex: your right hand will ex forward while your left hand extends backward), as if you were wringing water out of a towel. Twist each hand as far as you can go without causing pain. Now reverse the movement in both wrists, wringing the towel in the opposite direction. This is one rep. Repeat 10 times. Adjustments: To add more tension/resistance to the movement, you can wet the towel and wring water out of it. If you add water, it's best to do this exercise over a sink or outside in the grass to avoid slipping on water that comes out of the towel.

5. Farmer’s Walks The farmer's walk is a popular strength training exercise where you hold a heavy weight in each hand while walking. It's a whole-body compound movement that targets your biceps, triceps, quadriceps, and hamstrings and strengthens your core while adding a bit of cardio work to your strength training regimen. Farmer's walk exercises (also called the farmer's carry) improve your grip by working the muscles in your hands, wrists, forearms, and shoulders — all the forces that impact your grip strength. Equipment Needed: • A free weight (YBell Neo or YBell Pro Series) How To Do a Farmer’s Walk: 1. Hinge at your hips, then bend your knees to pick your YBell(s) o the ground. You can work with just one weight or two weights to keep the load even. 2. Bend your legs to lift the YBells using an outer grip and return to your standing position. Hold the weights to your sides with your arms straight. 3. Pay attention to your posture — stand tall with your shoulders back and chest pulled down slightly. 4. Keeping measured breathing, slowly walk forward for whatever distance feels comfortable to you, using a pace that allows you to maintain good posture. Adjustments: For an added challenge, you could also try an o set farmer's walk, where you hold one weight in a front rack position while keeping the other to your side. Start this move with two equal weights. Try increasing the weight for the arm in the carry position as you progress. This o set places a greater demand on your core, and proper form is vital.

Whether your goal is to improve your tennis swing, serve a ball with more force, or prevent a muscle injury like tennis elbow, enhancing your grip strength is the best way to accomplish your goals. If you're looking for more functional tness exercises that'll improve your grip strength, download the YBell Fitness App to learn about the YBell grip transitions and try our free workouts.

Aaron "Az" Laurence, Co-Founder, YBell Fitness As a certi ed personal trainer and the inventor of the YBell, Aaron "Az" Laurence loves motivating people to become better versions of themselves. He enjoys designing challenging workouts for himself that he can use with his clients. Az developed the YBell to replace the multiple pieces of equipment he was using in his group training sessions. He enjoys seeing his clients' reactions when they realise they only have to change grips on their YBells to change equipment. And he loves being able to dial up the intensity of their workouts with just one training tool. Seeing clients progress both physically and mentally as a result of training fuels his passion for the tness industry.

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