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Effective tennis footwork doesn’t just happen. There are athletes who have more natural movement and co-ordination than others.

Take Lleyton Hewitt for example. I remember asking him one day if he ever did any tennis footwork drills when he was young, he said never.

It just came naturally to him. For most players, during their developmental phases, their footspeed and lower body coordination seem way off.

I cannot count the number of times I have heard a parent or coach say, their kid is slow to react, their footwork is bad and their coordination is out.

They look lazy on the court. Seen or heard that before?

If you are reading this thinking, yep that’s my kid or kids, you are not alone. To briefly explain this, it comes down to a few things;

Bones, muscle tissue, connective tissue, and neural pathways are developing. We cannot expect a half-built race car to fly around the track.

Most young players do not work at high enough intensities to encourage quick coordination...

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...

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/

Today we want to give you 3 FREE Tennis Fitness Tests and a practical aerobic training program to compliment it! These are some tests we do with our tennis players.

1 Mobility Test
2 Change of Direction Test
3 Aerobic Test (MAS)

You will have access to the free aerobic program after you have completed your free tests.

At tennis fitness we believe it is very important to assess an athlete and measure where they are at. This gives us the ability to know their current level and establish what level they need to be at (their goal) We firmly believe, if we put all our athletes through a movement analysis, whether that analysis is agility based, speed based, aerobic based or all three. Then incorporate a strength tennis fitness test, we then get a clear cut starting point and an end goal. This is how you educate and motivate an athlete. Check out the tests and give them a go.

If you are lacking motivation this is your starting point. 

"What Gets Measured, Gets Managed"

So if you know...

I have long regarded the French open as the toughest grand slam to win. But to win it 10 times takes a Herculean effort.

We were fortunate enough to work over in one of the best Tennis Academies in Spain. During this time we were able to watch Rafa practice. You could see then he was a very special breed. His work ethic and focus to his training was amazing, even as a 14 year old.

Having spent years on the tour, we have been lucky enough to watch him evolve, we have seen his game progress and admire the risks and changes he made. He has become a lot more aggressive, changed his serve.... he has worked on becoming a more complete player. The one thing that hasn't changed, is his intensity he works at and the attitude he possesses. He has had the same people around him for a long time. Uncle Tony has coached him from the age of 3 and it wasn't too long ago that people told him he needed to make changes, I think we could all agree, we are glad he hasn't.

It was great to see him...

Having useful equipment for tennis at hand is important for any player who is committed to tennis training and competing at an optimal level. Many professionals travel with their own training and recovery equipment. Not only do they realize the benefits of various pieces of equipment, but they also understand that those fitness accessories aren’t always available on the road.

Let’s look at some equipment that is commonly used by tennis players.

Resistance Bands
These bands, comprising rubber tubing with handles attached, are one of our favorite pieces of equipment – we recommend that every player has a set.

Weighing around 800 grams, resistance bands are used for strength training and can be used instead of dumbbells. Adding to the appeal is the fact that resistance bands are lightweight and extremely versatile.

You can also add a waist belt attachment for tennis speed and agility work. We highly recommend checking them out – and to assist in that...

I am often amazed how little people know about tournament preparation. Preparing for tournaments is one of the most critical things to get right and finding what works best for you or your players as individuals, is important.

I know some people will be reading this and be saying to themselves "My preparation is, to not prepare“ I’m better off just turning up and playing, that works best for me” Sorry guys that’s the lazy mans approach, and there is a good chance if you follow it, you won’t get far as a tennis player.

There are certain principles that need to be applied in order to get the most out of yourself come match day, here are some key principles;

1. Hydration - keeping yourself hydrated is important for concentration, energy levels and preventing tennis injuries. As a guide athletes can follow this formula; 0.03 x Body weight (KG) = ? Litres of water. This is a base requirement. Depending on weather conditions and how much you sweat Add...