Australian Open Reflections 🇦🇺- Part 2
At 36 years of age, Roger Federer now has 20 Major tournaments to his name...what has helped him to achieve this longevity and ageless grace of movement?
Federer oozes class. His control, flow and efficiency in movement is a pleasure to watch and his style of game has proven to be holding up over the years. As many others top level players succumb to injury after injury, Federer continues to dominate.
I remember about 10 years ago...listening to Pilates Teacher Craig Phillips compare the game styles of Federer (smooth, controlled and elegant) vs Nadal (powerful, inefficient and highly demanding on the body). Two champions with very different styles.
The key to Federer's longevity is his superior quality of movement.
Federer has a certain type of 'kinetic beauty' that expresses what some very gifted athletes are capable of. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMqm-neAmgs
When he moves, he moves well, with very little wasted effort and load on his body. There's very little strain which spares his joints a lot of the wear and tear.
His long time fitness coach, Pierre Paganini says,
“It’s not only important to move fast. You have to move right, and with the nature of the sport, you have to move fast and right for a long time in a match.
Will Ferrell was spot on when he described Federer as a 'Silky Gazelle' 🤣
Core Strength and Pilates
Over the years, Pilates has been a part of Federer's training preparation. Federer says, "I have done a lot of core exercises throughout my career because it's the base of the whole body - it starts there".
Of course, Pilates improves 'core stability' with a focus on recruiting the deep stabilizing muscles.
But at a deeper level, Pilates helps you produce all of the building blocks and necessary movement skills to form a solid foundation: flexibility, kinesthetic body awareness, balance, breathing, neutral spine and movement patterning.
Pilates is a form of exercise that helps individuals to fine tune kinetic awareness through focus and detailed motion. That kinetic awareness translates from the mat to the court, improving muscle control and focus for tennis players.
Pilates encourages improvements in form and fosters a mastery of micro-movement, making quality movement look completely effortless.
One of the secrets of Pilates is, 'the slower you go the harder your stabilizers have to work'. High intensity exercise, (while important for other reasons), doesn't have the same positive influence on movement quality.
No doubt, allowing yourself some room in your schedule for some 'nutritious movement' for your body will help give you some longevity as well as success in your athletic career.
Â
To find out more about our weekly Pilates classes, please click here
Congratulations @rogerfederer #federer #tennis #australianopen #resilient #robustness #pilates #performancepilates #kinfoundationpilates #goingthedistance #capacity #endurance #enduro @ Australian Open
