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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...

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...

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...

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 for 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 become natural to move efficiently, you don’t even realise it happens. You are able to start sliding when you build up that confidence. The other requirements are good balance, a low centre 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, 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 under water or been really sick with cold and...

Sometimes we have to go back and look at natural remedies that our parents and grandparents used and be given a reminder as to why they worked and why they used them. I think Epsom salt is a good example, inexpensive and has some amazing benefits. Epsom salt bath is best tennis training technique for recovery.

Epsom salt is a mineral compound comprised of magnesium and sulfate. It has been used for many many years as a natural remedy. Both magnesium and sulfate are minerals that are very important to tennis players. After strenuous tennis exercise, through your sweat Tennis players will lose essential electrolytes. (Especially magnesium and sulphate). One of the best ways to replenish the body of these essential minerals is through are largest organ, our skin. When Epsom salt is dissolved in warm water it is absorbed through the skin and can naturally replenish lost magnesium and sulphate. This will help increase your energy levels.

If you want to get tennis results from all your...

When you look at the physicality of tennis, it is demanding in a lot of ways. Having to be able to stay on the court for hours requires physical endurance. Performing dynamic movements time after time draws on your power and staying in control of your body for prolonged periods comes down to strength. The majority of the pros on tour have extremely strong legs and they carry the bulk of their muscle mass through their lower extremities.

Their upper bodies are lean and strong but compared proportionally to their lower bodies they have a lot less muscle mass. You don't want to carry too much access weight around on the court, it will hinder movement, burn up energy and cause you to fatigue quicker.

So it is important to get the balance right and start implementing specific strength exercises for tennis. When building your best tennis body it is important to remember what the goal is, "strength gains, stability, and ideal body weight" if you can achieve these three things, you will not...

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 (cardiovascular, 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, behavioral 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...