described cylindrical rod 20 resilient foam cover 32 is secured over core 30 sleeve 34 of the same nature as sleeve 28 engages over both the foam covering 32 and the spring to form the transition on that end foam covering 32 is soft so that the octagonal rigid portion of the handle can be felt as compared to the quite rigid exterior structure of handle 12 fig4 illustrates the manner in which the tennis exercise aid 10 is used in exercises for strengthening forehand and backhand strokes the handle 12 is placed against a vertical object such as wall 36 and the hand of the tennis exerciser grasps the foam covered handle 14 the arm is urged toward the wall at an angle thereto to bend spring 16 as illustrated in fig4 the bending of the spring is produced by the force of the hand on handle 14 the foam covering on handle 14 requires a stronger grasp than a standard handle so that the hand grasp also is strengthened with the arm muscles as the arm is moved to bend spring 16 with the soft foam handle the grip of the hand to hold the exercise aid 10 must be much tighter than on the usual firm surfaced tennis racket handle this additional strength of grip strengthens the muscles necessary for the tennis handle grip during regular use in addition the tennis exercise aid 10 may be used purely as a gripping device by holding the foam covered handle in one hand after the other for squeezing repetitions general conditioning exercises are also practical with the tennis exercise aid when gripped in both hands it can be used in forward bending exercises similarly it can be used in sideways waist bending exercises also when so held it can.