Year -round approach to building a tennis athlete

I have said that before, but I’ll say it again – the most relevant form of training for tennis is Playing tennis! Thus tennis training – which includes drilling exercises, Hitting a live ballPractical kits (and even tournament matches) – is the most likely form “Sports specific physical training” for tennis.

So if you hear someone saying “Sports Training” And jump on the ball of the barefoot and perform shadowy fluctuations on the beach or other random exercise, that is, Not Sports specificity.

The question then happens, why do they even take some training outside the court? Wouldn’t it be better to simply play tennis and call it a day?

It is a complex dilemma because playing tennis causes tennis -specific modifications. They are usually favorable … to some extent. For example, it is a good thing we get for internal rotation in the shoulder, but if we serve too much or we will not rest enough between sessions or any combination of the two, these tissues can be too tired + range of movement (ROM) can reduce.

In this case, gaining general strength/force can help – for example, other muscles will support the shoulder during administration. We could also follow the tension/mobility program to help restore ROM after tennis meetings. And certain types of training modalities (such as Submax Mead) can help in the recovery process – which could allow us to exercise more often.

All that we say – if you want to improve the ability to move in court or strike power on the basis or dexterity -, we need to make a tennist player athletic and more robust.

To become athletic player a tennis player we need to apply The strongest training stimuli This will improve strength, strength, speed, etc. The best ways to do this include:

They are usually considered “General Training means” – However, they evoke adjustments that will allow greater expression of sporting specificity (tennis game). How much you pay attention to one area compared to another will depend on the needs of the player.

For example, if a player does not have the power to do their service, the improvement of soil reaction forces would be a high priority (preferably solved with a squat or squat derivative).

How to organize training outside court

In many sports, general training is usually performed cyclic – ie several consecutive months of the year or for certain blocks several times a year.

It seems that it is harder to fulfill in tennis – many will blame tournament schedules, but I think it is also the stubbornness of players and coaches who are not willing to take a break from tennis to develop more athletic abilities.

Note – I encourage all players and coaches to get for at least 8 weeks (and up to 12 weeks) for a training program out of season. You don’t have to stop tennis, just plan a session in a way that allows you to focus “a little more” on the physical work we have mentioned above.

If you are not willing to take the time to use these highly strong training means to improve athleticism, you will need to use a strategy that allows consistent implementation throughout the year.

This would mean including training in strategic times during competing blocks – between tournaments (or in some cases to the events themselves).

There are many players who lift weights, sprint and high -performance training during the tournament weeks. The reason is simple – these are things that tend to reduce / discourage. Moreover, a lot of conditioning work is overly emphasized – how can a player be inappropriate to train + play every day?!

Therefore, we have 3 primary options in terms of physical training:

1. Make an off-season block 8-12 weeks.

2. Use year -round approach in the season.

3. Combine 2! The use of the pre -season training block associated with the program in the season distinguishes players from its competitors (at least physical).

Finally, although I believe that general training – for example, the use of squats – is an amazing way to get nerve adjustments (type of muscle recruitment, speed coding, etc. However, this type of training may have several adverse effects if it is done too often in the season.

For example, there are other ways to maintain strength, for example without making any static lifts – and moving the workouts towards a larger explosive/powerful ending of the spectrum compared to “pure force”.

We can use more ballistic lifts with dumbbells or Olympic lifts – they allow us to maintain strength while targeting positions that are more angle/joint specific to tennis.

To summarize it, remember it – playing tennis is specific to sport. Adding resistance to tennis movements by imitating them – usually adds very little and can actually disrupt the drive/technique.

And using highly strong training, it has the potential to improve everything.