In cross country, where athletes run miles and miles to build up
their endurance and stamina, players on the San Benito High School
girls tennis team opt for the same result, just a different way of
going about it.
Hollister – In cross country, where athletes run miles and miles to build up their endurance and stamina, players on the San Benito High School girls tennis team opt for the same result, just a different way of going about it.
“Stamina plays a huge part,” coach Ed Cecena said. “Once you get past that and you’re at a level of good ground strokes, it comes into who’s in better condition.
“You can have two athletes of equal ability, but it’s the conditioned athlete and the better thinking athlete that usually comes out on top.”
Tennis players prefer short, explosive runs instead of long-distance running, as if to mimic the movement and distance from sideline to sideline on a tennis court.
Amanda Marshall, a 15-year-old junior whose been playing tennis since she was eight, says she takes a short two-month break from tennis in December and January – when weather is poor – but picks her routine back up in February.
“You have to have endurance and be able to go a really long time,” she said. “It’s short distances and you have to stop and start … You don’t run long distances in tennis, but stamina is really important.”
The tennis team plays a game of Cat and Mouse, literally, where two separate teams run around the gymnasium chasing each other. The losing team, says Marshall, has to run lines, or suicides, as a penalty.
“Even if the same team keeps losing,” laughed Bri Ahumada-Wolfsmith, a 16-year-old junior.
This is Ahumada-Wolfsmith’s first year playing tennis at SBHS, as she participated on the cross-country team for her first two years of high school.
“Cross country helps a lot,” Ahumada-Wolfsmith said of how the long-distance running transfers to tennis. “It gets your endurance up. It helps your breathing. If you can’t (breath), well, that’s not good.”
“Breathing is important,” Marshall joked.
“Yes, very important,” Ahumada-Wolfsmith laughed.
15-year-old sophomore Yumi Chang has only been playing year-round since her freshman season. But now, along with Marshall and Ahumada-Wolfsmith, the three take lessons at Ridgemark Golf and Country Club under Cecena and tennis pro Chris Yoder.
“We also teach kids at summer camp,” Chang added.
Along with camps and tournaments that are held throughout the year, the girls also hit the weight room, but not to be muscle-bound players like perhaps their football-playing peers.
“I work out at the gym one to two times a week,” said Marshall, who lifts weights and uses the elliptical machines. “It’s really important to be strong in tennis so you can hit the ball hard.”
Added Chang, “And two-pound weights on the wrist to make the wrist stronger.”
“It’s all about agility,” said Ahumada-Wolfsmith.
While some players may not train during the offseason, Marshall, Chang and Ahumada-Wolfsmith says it’s extremely important, not only to perform well during the season, but also to ease the transition for when practices start in early August.
“You’re body is not used to it,” Chang said. Added Marshall, “It’s harder to transition when you’re not in shape.”
When the season is complete in November, the squad will begin their off-season training once again, all in an effort to become the best in the Tri-County Athletic League and, hopefully, the Central Coast Section.
“I recommend that they take lessons,” Cecena said. “Take lessons; play as much as you can, watch as much as you can and absorb as much as you can.”
