Tennis Training Volume – What is the Right Amount?

tennis exercise tennis fitness tennis training volume Aug 16, 2013

In order to improve your tennis performance it is important to physically work hard, but it is just as important to rest and recover hard! Vigorous, prolonged tennis exercise breaks down muscle tissue, fatigues the nervous system and overall places the body under stress. It is during the rest and recovery period that the body gets the positive physical and emotional gains (cardio vascular, strength, mentally etc.).

If there is an overload of tennis training volume and intensity (level of energy used) with inadequate recovery time between sessions, a player will start to develop, physical, behavioural and emotional issues. This scenario can be classified as a condition called Overtraining. Overtraining or burnout is a common problem for many athletes of all ages in many sports. It is often seen in young tennis players. Possibly due to the fact that they find it harder to communicate how they are feeling and they are not as in tune with their bodies as adults.

Working with the right volume and intensity (Loading / overreaching) combined with adequate recovery (at least one day off a week from any physical training) will give players every opportunity to improve and minimise the risk of any tennis training injuries. Symptoms of over training for tennis can include; persistent muscle soreness, persistent fatigue, elevated resting heart rate, increased susceptibility to infections, increased incidence of injuries, irritability, mental breakdown, loss of appetite, mood swings, loss of motivation, loss of enthusiasm, loss competitive drive, burn out and abandonment of the sport.

For these reasons, associations like the WTA have applied age restrictions that don’t allow players to turn professional until they reach a certain age. Many international federations monitor and plan junior players calendar to avoid burnout. How long, intense and often a player practices, trains and plays tournaments is very much an individual thing. We are all built slightly differently and need to be treated differently. There is no generic perfect ratio, it is what works best for each individual, young or old. What is important is to work out what the right balance is for each tennis player. Below given is an idea and some guidelines of workload or tennis fitness training volume for tennis players.

Age	Tennis	Fitness or Other sports	Total
6-8yrs	2-3 days 45mins	2-3 days 45mins	3 - 4.5hrs
9-11yrs	3-4 days 1hr	2-3 days 1hr	5 - 7hrs
12-14yrs	4-5 days 1-2hrs	3-4 days 1hr	7 - 14hrs
15-16yrs	4-5 days 2-3hrs	3-4 days 1hr	11 - 19hrs
16-18yrs	5-6 days 3-4hrs	4-5 days 1hr	19 - 29hrs

Here is something we recommend doing quarterly to continually find the right balance. Monitor how a player is feeling on a daily basis. Write down how they feel each day for one month. Areas to be included are; energy levels, sleep quality, nutrition/hydration and motivation.You can use a scale of 1 to 5 (5 feeling extremely fatigued and sore and 1 being, feeling fresh and full of energy) once you have the records you can go back and compare the results to the volume and intensity of certain periods of the month. Look to make changes to keep the athlete consistently around a 1-3 on the scale. Whether you are a coach, player or parent of a tennis player it is important to get the balance right. Seek advice from qualified professionals (Coaches and Tennis fitness trainers) and always make sure the player/s have had some form of involvement in the process of determining how long, how often and how intense their tennis training is.

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Tennis Training Volume – What is the Right Amount?

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