Blog

Tips to Improve Training Intensity – Are you getting this right?

This blog is for the serious player or coach that wants to produce high level players. 

The intensity that an athlete trains at dictates the level they will condition their bodies to play at. Simply put, if you train at a 6 out of 10, how can you expect your body to perform at an 8, 9, or 10 out of 10.

This simple principle is one of our key “Court Movement Principles”. In all reality it does not matter what drill or tennis exercise you do, if you do not have the capacity to train at a high intensity your improvements and results will be limited.

How can I get my player to improve their intensity?
This is the most common question we get asked each week.

Having seen many top athletes train, practice and play. One thing stands out. When they are tennis training off court, they push harder than they would on court, in a match.
Lleyton Hewitt, Sam Stosur and Martina Navratilova come to mind...

If you have been a coach or trainer for a while, you would have heard this question a few times “So do they have a chance of making it”. It is always a tough question to answer.

We believe tennis is definitely the most challenging and complexed sport globally to reach the top in. So many factors to consider! However, I believe there is one factor that stands alone and gives me a good indication on whether a player has the desire to “Make it”

If a player does not have the willingness to do “whatever it takes” they are a zero chance.

I honestly believe that.

Any high-level sports person somewhere along their journey has gone to places few others will, pushing themselves, sacrificing time – money – relationships and never giving up.

Some stay there for years and succeed more than others. 

I want to tell you a story about a young kid. It will give you, a sense of what I believe as a tennis trainer, coach, and parent we should be...

Janine Thompson is a highly regarded world class player and coach.

Playing career - #9 World Junior / #52 WTA Singles / #9 WTA Doubles / Fed Cup 3 times
Coaches : Tony Roche, John Newcombe and other world class coaches, helped shape Janine’s coaching methodology.
Janine has coached many top juniors and professional players.

As Tennis Trainers we appreciate Janine’s willingness to share knowledge and work together for the betterment of players. As you will also find Janine is candid and to the point, this something we also love about her. 

Read Janine's blog on progressing a tennis player.

You wouldn’t take your car with an engine problem to a dietician or naturopath for some change of juice advice. OR if you had a racquet needing restringing to an alteration shop.

There are so many aspects involved in the progression of a tennis player. Each have unique stories with different beginnings and endings. Sometimes their road maps seem like directions to nowhere...

As a tennis fitness coach or trainer, it is important to be constantly learning and growing, without this approach, not much will change. We call this the “Growth mindset”. We strongly encourage everyone to have a growth mindset. We know as Tennis Fitness Coaches we need to be constantly looking for ways to benefit our players, this means being open, willing to try new things and being creative in what we do.

The past 6 months has seen some changes for us. One of the changes involved developing a structure that gave us clear guidelines on Tennis Footwork and Court Movement. We called this our “7 Tennis Movement Principles”

We did this to give us clear definition on what we teach our athletes. We have found it has given athletes more confidence in what they are doing and helps educate them on the importance of breaking down movement and focusing on weaker movement patterns.

To keep it simple, we highlighted 7 areas that effect overall movement, then...

Whilst presenting at Indian Wells recently, we had the pleasure to meet and listen to one of the most successful coaches to come out of America (even though he is Dutch :)

Robert Landsdorp, has coached some of the greats including - Pete Sampras, Lindsay Davenport and Maria Sharapova.

It was an interesting presentation, as Robert is in his 80s now and was very candid about his craft.

Robert explained some areas of coaching he found the most impactful. He demonstrated some of his favourite drills and told stories about players he had coached and mentored.

One of the stories that stuck with me, was at his 80^th birthday party, the majority of the guests were his players he had coached. They all seemed honoured to be there. This in my opinion is a sure sign that a coach has done his job.

He mentioned that the ones who gave speeches did not mention his coaching, but rather what he did for them as people, how he helped shaped their lives. Every coach and trainer have the capacity to do...

The one word that changes everything – ‘WHY’

If you want maximum gains, if you want to be the best you can be, if you want to know a little secret – Keep reading.

We learnt years ago that doing fancy exercises and training really hard didn’t always get the best results, unless you know why you are doing them.

Training effectively always comes down to purpose.  Knowing - Why am I doing this training block, why am I doing this exercise, why do this amount of reps etc. What is the purpose of your training regime, your exercises and the variables around them?

These are the questions you need to ask yourself all the time. It is especially important for coaches and trainers to know the “why” in what they do.

I trained Lleyton Hewitt for 8 preseasons in a row and although Lleyton was never the guy to ask, “why are we doing this” or “why has this changed”. We would speak about the benefits of the training phase we would...

Try these Speed Drills for 2 weeks and see the difference.

Benefits of Speed Training Programs :

• You will feel lighter on your feet, have a more explosive first step and be more efficient on court.
• Limit the times you are wrong footed and feel confident to run down more balls.
• Also help you decelerate into each shot, so have more time for preparation of shot, having more time for your shot, will improve your decision-making.
  
  

During the Australian Open we will have 30% off all our Tennis Fitness Programs. Starts Tomorrow. Use Coupon Code - AUSOPEN19

More Information - http://www.memberstennisfitness.com/

Has the question “these kids have too much” ever crossed your mind? Or, things are “too easy” for these kids?

In this article I will share my thoughts of what I learned in my career training, competing and travelling next to some of the best players in the world for the last 20 years, Rafa, Ferrer, Robredo, Lopez, Verdasco, Almagro, just to mention a few….

And what I learned as a coach, since the days I was on the tour until my years as a National Academy Coach for Tennis Australia.

Growing up in Spain, a country that generates a high number of top - 100 players was amazing but make no mistake, you had to work incredibly hard for it and nobody was going to give you anything.

Spain is a very high demanding and competitive environment if you are trying to make it as a pro and there is no room for softness.

With hundreds of competitive players from all ages, many tournaments all around the country and being within short distance from other countries in...

In the year 2000, I was lucky enough to get the job as Physical director at the Sanchez Casal Tennis Academy in Barcelona, Spain. It was a huge responsibility for me at the time as I was young for the role, in such a world renown premier club.

It started me on a journey that has led to many many highlights in my life. But I am not here to talk about myself! I am here to talk about building relationships.

How when you communicate effectively, have mutual respect and care for each other, friendships are forged, results come and as you will see opportunities arise.

As a parent, coach or player, if you are not focused on these areas, there will be plenty of dead end relationships and no one wants to waste time and energy right?

I want to tell you about an experience I had with a player I worked with starting back in 2000.

Carlos Cuadrado was a young Spanish prodigy when I laid eyes on him, he was already labelled a top 10 player at the age of 16. He was on the rise and it was my job to...

Why Cool Down? 
Cooling down exercises for tennis lower the heart rate and bring the body back to homeostasis, reduces muscle soreness and tightness, removes waste products from working muscles and helps prevent blood pooling. 

Effective Tennis Exercises for Cool Down – 2 phases This cool down should take between 20 and 30 minutes, depending on the intensity and duration of your tennis training or tennis match. 
1. Cardio – Jog, bike or swim for 10 minutes.
2. Stretching – benefits such as: 
• Helps lengthen muscles back to original length.
• Helps joint mobility and healthy functional joint range. 
• Releases muscle tension, which can help take pressure off or away from joint/s.
3. Foam roller

1. Lower Back

• Lying on your back, bring leg across the other and rotate the lower body bringing the crossed over knee towards the floor and hold into the stretch.
• Keep both shoulder blades in contact with the floor.
• Hold for...