You feel better after a good night’s sleep. Now there’s evidence you play better, too. According to a 2009 study, players on Stanford University’s women’s tennis team who logged more sleep significantly improved their performance, sprinting nearly two seconds faster, hitting and serving with 24 percent more accuracy and scoring 42 percent higher on depth drills compared with their play after a shorter night’s sleep. Not surprisingly, they also reported feeling less fatigued and more energized during play.
“Optimal sleep is an area of sport that hasn’t been as prioritized as conditioning, practice and nutrition,” says Cheri Mah, a researcher at the Stanford Sleep Disorders Clinic and Research Laboratory. “But it clearly can impact performance.” Here’s how to maximize your pillow time:
1. PAY DOWN YOUR SLEEP DEBT.
The athletes in Mah’s study increased their snooze time to about 10 hours. “Most adults simply don’t get enough sleep, which can accrue to the point that we become significantly sleep deprived,” Mah says. Although most of us probably can’t swing a solid 10 hours a night, increasing your regular sleep by even a half hour can make a difference in your day-to-day function.
2. KEEP A REGULAR SCHEDULE.
Try to go to bed and wake up at roughly the same time each night rather than skimping during the week and sleeping in on weekends, which can be disruptive. The National Sleep Foundation recommends between seven and nine hours of sleep a night.
3. LIMIT CAFFEINE AND ALCOHOL.
Caffeine has a half-life of about six hours, so a can of soda at 9 P.M. can make falling asleep more difficult. And while a nightcap might seem like a way to make you sleepy, it disturbs the second half of your night’s sleep, so you feel groggier when you wake up.
4. MAKE YOUR ROOM LIKE A CAVE.
Minimize the amount of light coming in your bedroom (blackout shades work wonders). If you share a bed with a noisy partner, get some earplugs to block out snoring. Finally, make the room a comfortable temperature, not too warm or cool.
Originally published in the May 2010 issue of TENNIS.