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As tennis trainers, we are always looking for the best tennis workouts, the best way to recover for tennis, and basically anything that helps players improve physically, mentally, or emotionally.

It is all about balance and finding what works for each person as an individual. There are a few areas that in our opinion are “givens” meaning everyone should do them. One of the most important is “Rest days”. We are always amazed at how many people contact us for advice and when we look over their tennis workout plan/schedule they have no rest day/s in a week.

Most of the time they say they don’t feel they need it. In this blog post, we will be looking at rest in relation to rest days, meaning a period of 24-36 hours of minimal physical activity for tennis players.

Why have a rest day? 

Simply put tennis athletes train to increase performance (that’s what we are aiming for). Performance increases are achieved through increased training loads...

Over the years we have found the best ways to prevent tennis injuries and assess if someone is at risk of injuring themselves, this has saved us and our player's countless injury issues. Assessments are just one way of helping reduce the risk of tennis injury.

The main factors that play a role in the occurrence of injury are; Training volume (Acute/chronic), Rest and Recovery (between sessions), Duration of sessions (Length of a session), hydration/nutrition, and technique.

These areas all need to be assessed and monitored to help prevent injury. In fact, a lot of our time these days is spent helping players and coaches get these areas right for the individual. Without doing so players end up with reoccurring injuries or new injuries. 

So what are you doing to prevent yourself from getting injured? 

The truth be told, most players do one of a few things; The same thing they have been doing for years, something they see on social media that looks cool, or something...

The American College Tennis system has always been a great way for players to develop their game and be in a structured environment. I believe in this day and age the majority of young players coming through should be pursuing this pathway, staying in school and focusing both on Tennis and their academics.  

The simple facts are that the majority of good young players (nationally ranked, worldwide) coming through will not compete on the professional level, under 5% of them will make it into the top 1000.

For this reason, I always encourage young players to stay in school and work hard academically no matter how their tennis is tracking. A player is only an injury away from never playing again.

This provides them with structure, social interaction, and an outlet away from tennis. Doing this can open doors to follow the American College Pathway or set them up within their own country to attend a university/college.

I know a lot of players globally are looking to pursue the...

We were chatting with a pro player that we helped out and we asked them a few questions about life for him on tour. We were amazed at some of his answers to the question.

What is tough about life on the road?

After hearing about how things roll for lower-ranked players, we find ourselves totally blessed!

I was lucky to start my career 15 years ago working at the top level with Monica Seles, and Giselle working with Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. We have never seen the hardship described below, but we are aware they exist.

We don’t want to slag professional tennis in any way, we want the general tennis community to know what life is like, for an aspiring tennis player. We want to help educate young players on what they need to prepare for and push through, in order to be in the top 100.

Male player's rankings sit between 1-1000. The circumstances we are talking about below relate to players ranked 200 and below. Considering they are 800 of the best players in the world it was a real...

We all see so much of what people do physically in their tennis training. I still find it surprising, when I tell somebody I do tennis mental training people often laugh and say something like 

“You are nuts” or "I don't believe in that stuff"

I always encourage people to try it, before they judge it.

Have you ever done a mental training session? “Why would you do that?”

In short, so you can play your best more often despite tough feelings and pressure. So you have strong routines, strong positive body language, have better tennis conditioning, are more aware of your thoughts, and have the capacity to let go quickly, so you can select the right options and have a clear mind.

So, how do you practice mental training? You can start with the following exercises. Do 2-3 minutes of each one every day, the whole routine should only take 10 minutes, it is often best at night when your mind is more receptive (You can set a reminder alarm in your phone to...

Ok here is a blog for all the players out there that want to improve quickly, win more matches, and do them both with minimal effort…… Sound enticing? Read on

Many players will struggle to improve on a consistent basis, with both their tennis workouts and tennis game. They reach a point when added momentum will be required as levels start to plateau or even worse, injuries occur.

The many factors that can contribute to this situation include coaching, motivation levels, knowledge, application, and attitude. But in our experience, some simple questions often reveal that players can identify at least three simple steps that they can implement immediately to help them make instant improvements.

Finding these things can propel players forward, providing momentum and boosting their motivation. They are often simple things (you don’t want to get too complicated).
The realization that players can create change instantly is enough to shift their thoughts and will get them...

I have been guilty in the past of being up and down with my training and I'm a tennis trainer! So I know how hard it can be. Staying disciplined and focused is tough, but it is what it takes for players to be tennis pros.

What is important is to keep changing what you do, progressing your tennis program, continually challenging yourself.

This not only adds variety, but it is needed to allow your body to continually adapt and improve.

When done correctly it adds serious physical progress, who doesn’t want that!

I’ve admitted I’ve been slack a few times with my tennis fitness training, I’m human, I really had no excuse.

I know what to do and when to do it, on the rare occasion I’ve slipped it’s been a case of I’m too busy, no excuse. Others on the other hand, maybe even you have an excuse – You don’t know what to do and when to do it.

Maybe you think you do, but is it really working for you? I hope so!

Over the last couple of...

Whether it be tennis, fitness, football or any other sports we all remember those hard tennis coaches that worked us to the bone. Everyone that is 30 or older, will have stories to tell about some of the hard and intense tennis fitness training we were put through in our youth.

By today's standards it could even be classified as a little brutal, but we talk to the kids we train about how different it was back in our day and how tough and challenging the kids tennis training was.

Fast forward to today and those hard tennis fitness training days are hardly recognizable.

I remember a drill that a coach used to put us through growing up. He used to stand at the net with his basket of balls and have us stand on the service line at the other end with our rackets up looking to defend for our lives.

What would soon follow was ten tenaciously struck balls hit at us with the purpose of teaching you to hold your ground and defend yourself at the net, the coach felt he was the victor if he...

Just as court surfaces differ throughout the world, there are different courts that you might encounter as a social player. Altering your tennis training according to the surface you’re currently or preparing to play on, is a smart way to train for tennis. This will get your body better prepared and lessen the chance of tennis injury. So how should training for tennis differ from surface to surface? To understand this better let's take a look at some key characteristics of varying court surfaces. Synthetic grass

• Low ball bounce, fast court, poor traction underfoot.
• Average point = 3–5 seconds.

Clay

• High ball bounce, slow court, poor traction underfoot.
• Average point = 6–10 seconds.

Hardcourt

• Medium ball bounce, moderate-fast court, good traction underfoot.
• Average point = 4–6 seconds.

Grass

• Low ball bounce, fast court, Moderate traction underfoot.
• Average point = 3–5 seconds.

Tennis Information

Here are our tips on preparing for each surface. ...

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...