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Training with bands is from my point of view one of the most underutilized training modalities going round! Resistance bands are one of the best tennis equipment for players.

They’re lightweight, portable, durable, and have a tonne of uses for the Weekend Warrior, right through to the Seasoned Pro. 

When I train the body I look at it from a number of angles when it comes to exercise and equipment selection;

• What kind of Stimulus does the exercise/equipment elicit? (Strength, Power, Endurance, Stability, etc)
• What kind of Forces do you need to overcome with it? (Body Weight, External Load, Gravity, etc) 
• What specific Body Positions does it teach? (Retracted Scapula, Neutral Spine, Braced Core, etc) 

Resistance Bands have a unique influence on all 3, and that's why I love them and use them on a daily basis. 

If I was to wear my High-Performance hat for a second and think about the tennis scene, there are 4 key areas that a High-Performance...

 Tips to Improve Tennis 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 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 tennistraining off court, they push harder than they would on court, in a match.
Lleyton Hewitt, Sam Stosur, and Martina Navratilova...

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 favorite tennis 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 the players he had coached. They all seemed honored 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 shape their lives. Every coach and trainer have the capacity to do...

You have probably heard us go on about how important is tennis strength training. If you haven’t, well we consider it to be the building block for all other training modalities.

It’s the foundation for physical development! That’s why we are so excited to be able to share with you our new approach to how we program our tennis players for strength gains.

We have developed a system and structure that progresses and periodise our strength programs, it is practical, effective and tennis specific.

If you are one of the players who goes to gym and does “Whatever” you will get whatever results… who wants that!

You need to know what you are doing, make sure your tennis program is progressing and most importantly, know WHY you are doing it! It’s all about the why!

If you can’t answer the reason why you’re doing it and have any purpose or intention with your program, then it’s not going to work.

We are so passionate about strength...

Having yourself physically and mentally ready can be just the start of good preparation for practice, a match, or tournament season.

Read on to find out how to get athletes ready to go........

We've helped 100s of players prepare for tennis matches, junior tournaments through to grand slams. In our opinion, the preparation should be no different for a junior to a pro athlete.

Learning to get things right at a young age is very important and creating the habits of being organised, punctual, and responsible will have long-term positive results for anyone.

The other day I had a young player I train tell me they felt dizzy, I asked him when he ate last he said, at 1.15 pm, and it was 5.30 pm. His blood sugar levels were obviously low, I said to him you need to eat at least 1.5hrs before coming to training, he turned and looked at his mum and said, "mum you need to remember that!" His mum said ok, so what should he eat before coming.

I said wait a moment, his 14, fit and able, he can...

The best way to prepare for any surface is to do tennis training on it as much as possible. This is the law of adaptation and it especially applies to clay-court tennis. On this surface, you need to learn how to slide into shots, recover after hitting, and stay balanced. When you are born in a country where the main surface you train and compete on is clay, it just becomes natural to move efficiently, you don’t even realize it happens. You are able to start sliding when you build up that confidence. The other requirements are good balance, a low center of gravity, and most importantly, strength in your legs. For better balance and control, it’s critical to have a good low stance, keeping yourself balanced and being aware of the first step movement.

• You need to slide and hit – not hit and slide.
• For good body control, you need to have good strength in the core, hips, and especially in the adductors.
• You need good timing, which comes with practice.
• For stability,...

When it comes to tennis exercise and preparing your body to play your best tennis, it is important to do the right things at the right time. That includes resting and changing what you do, even if you feel your current routine works. Tennis training variety is often overlooked.

Some people prefer consistency, so do the same things all the time then often wonder why they are not improving. Others jump from tennis program to another without allowing the body time to adapt.

Whatever your "training personality", it is vital for long-term development (at any age) and performance to phase the tennis training you do. Often known as tennis periodization, phase training is as important as your actual tennis exercises. This is how it works ...

TENNIS TRAINING PERIODISATION

General: High training volume and low intensity. Focus is on endurance and strength. Your tennis training can be general and non-tennis specific at the start (cross-training). This is a good time to work on tennis...

Tennis is a year-round sport with tournaments played globally and often in hot conditions. Traveling on tour can be brutal for players, as there are many different factors that need to be considered along with a focus on tennis fitness. They range from changing time zones, managing jet lag, coping with new cuisine to cultural and language barriers. To ensure health and fitness are not compromised, it's important to be prepared and keep going on with your tennis fitness schedule.

Adopting these simple but effective measures can help improve travel experience...

Planning

Make the Internet your best friend before traveling. Do well research prior to arriving at destinations to learn the location of grocery shops, health food stores, restaurants, gymnasiums, and pools. Organize a schedule, which includes training and meal plans, before departing to ensure your routine is maintained on the road. It is still important to be flexible and not to expect anything when you travel, however...

Think about this; we often wait for someone to tell us what we need to change, whether it is a coach, parent, or friend. You will always find someone to give you tennis tips, advice, or their opinion right! What about if you tried to dig a bit deeper yourself and started to work things out for yourself, find what you need to change or focus on.

We all have areas of strengths and weakness; that’s human nature. Finding what you feel needs to change to make you a better tennis player, maybe the most important tennis tip and easier than you think.

Realistically who knows you better than yourself? If you don’t feel you know yourself well enough, then you need to start spending time getting to know yourself, work out what makes you tick and what you need to change to make you better.

Answer me this question “What is missing in your tennis game? What’s the one thing you know you need to do to make things better, take your time, and think about it before you...

One thing I have found over the years watching countless matches, practices and taken plenty of tennis workouts, is that most players don’t breathe as good as they could.

It sounds boring right, and you are probably thinking how much would it really benefit my tennis if I breathed a little better, if that’s you then buckle up, I’ve got some good info coming right up!!!

Breathing is an involuntary action taken by the body that means your body does it, without you having to think about it. Scratching your nose is a voluntary action because you need to think consciously about it and then your body communicates and makes it happen.

Because breathing is done subconsciously we grow up not realizing or appreciating how important it is, for many of us it’s like our parents, we often don’t appreciate them or what they do for us until they go on holidays!

Have you ever been winded, lost your breath, been held underwater, or been really sick with cold and...