Your muscles have memory, which is why in sports, practice doesn't necessarily make perfect; it makes permanent. Developing solid tennis strokes takes takes time and effort. If you play other sports, your body may have learned certain movements that inhibit your ability to learn an effective tennis stroke.
Other Racket Sports
Racket sports use different swings to manipulate balls or birds with various spins, power and speed. Tennis players use long fluid strokes to impart the necessary pace on the ball and control it. Racquetball uses shorter swings, often coming under the ball. While some tennis players use slice to come under the ball, racquetball swings are much more blunt and further in front of your body. Badminton uses a much lighter racket with a smaller racket head. While the swing is longer than racquetball, the change in weight and size can dramatically affect your timing. Expect to mishit more balls after playing badminton.
Golf
Golfers use a swing that generates a lot of downward momentum. Playing too much golf leads to starting the racket very high behind you and hitting down on the ball. Players try to adjust the swing as it moves toward the ball by cocking the wrist. The added movement creates one more mechanical component to properly time. A tennis stroke should be much more compact compared with a golf swing. The racket is shorter and much lighter. In addition, golfers only rotate into the ball while tennis players step in to generate pace and power. Lazy footwork is another by-product of playing too much golf.
Baseball
An effective baseball swing starts above the ball. It meets the underside of the ball as the bat is driven forward and downward until it can no longer extend out and must cross the batter's body. The motion and contact point give the ball lift. Doing this with a tennis racket will send the ball over the fence and into the parking lot. In addition, batters use a lot of wrist as they bring the bat from behind. Tennis players using too much wrist are more likely to mistime balls and generate errors.
Considerations
You don't need to become a one-sport athlete. You can play racquetball, baseball and golf, and remain a solid tennis player. As long as you develop an understanding for different swings, you can be mindful when switching from sport to sport. A good exercise to develop specific sport muscle memory is to perform shadow swings. Shadow swings are practice swings you do without trying to hit anything. Take your tennis racket and take 10 practice forehands into the air. Then grab your golf club and do the same. Alternate back and forth, being very mindful of doing each swing perfectly. If you can, do the shadow swings in front of a mirror.
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