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How to stay healthy and enjoy playing tennis for life. 

One thing that I love about tennis, is that it brings people together, it is a game for life.  Studies have shown, that people who play tennis live longer, so why would you ever quit?  People quit when the game is no longer fun.  Suffering from an injury is not fun!  I have had the privilege of working with the Rogers Cup WTA tour over the past twenty years. By far the most common reason that the pros retire from the tour is the emotional fatigue that comes from dealing with injury after injury. It’s not just the pros that are plagued by injury, just look around the courts and notice how many people have a strap on their elbow, or compression sleeve on their knee or ankle.  So why are injuries so common in tennis?

Two types of common tennis injury:

First of all, there are two types of tennis injuries, acute and chronic.  An example of an acute injury is when you fall on the court...

FIND OUT THE 5 MUST DO'S FOR PLAYERS "OVER 40"

Training for tennis over 40 can be challenging! For many players, the loss of energy and time makes it challenging. We need to also consider physically what happens as we age (Loss of muscle mass, aerobic capacity, and flexibility).

These factors alone will make it hard for even the seasoned player to deal with. So what can we do to combat these issues?

Read on for our “5 must do’s” for players over 40.

Before we get into our 5 must do’s, the first area we need to attack is the “Mindset” this is an area that I have found most players over 40 struggle with. Many people reside in the fact they are aging and “that's it”.

They keep doing the same things all the time, with no improvement (It is like watching a sinking ship). We cannot do much to stop the aging process but we can, by all means, do our best to slow it down and make the most of what we have.

Switching the mindset to a growth mindset...

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...

What can you learn from Lleyton Hewitt, who will play a record-breaking 20th and final Australian Open this summer?

Lleyton Hewitt is the ultimate professional when it comes to tennis training. A professional athlete needs the following categories to be considered the "whole package” – great physical attributes, punctuality, strong organisational skills, focus, intensity and commitment.

Having worked with Lleyton for the past 10 years, he scores close to 10 out of 10 for all of them. He is never late, always has everything he needs, knows what he is doing and is determined to get it done. He always has an extremely high level of intensity and can back it up day after day.

Lleyton attacks his pre-season with the enthusiasm of a 20-year-old year after year. As a tennis fitness trainer, you can’t ask for more. A typical pre-season tennis training block for Lleyton runs for 10 to 12 weeks, training between three and five hours a day. During the initial transition...

Tennis Equipment, Technology and Workouts.

If you were old enough to have seen tennis being played over the last 20 years, you would have noticed the rapid rate of development that has occurred. Even in the last 5 years, there has been a big jump in the physicality of the game.

The factors that have created these changes are; Technology advancement (tennis training equipment, rackets, strings, tennis clothing, court surface) Sports science (supplementation, tennis fitness programs) Tennis Nutrition and Hydration (Sports drinks, sports specific eating plans, better knowledge, and understanding) I have found there are few things that stand out for the players that have endured and acclimatized the best to the current game.

Holistic Health

Players are looking at tennis a lot more holistically. There is a strong sense of balance and getting what I call the Work: Rest ratio right. It is not just about hitting loads and loads of tennis balls anymore. Having quality across the board...

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 tennis training equipment 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 (Tennis pros to tennis kids)

Tennis Equipment

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...

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 persons approach, and there is a good chance if you follow it, you won’t get far as a tennis player.

Tennis Tips - Preparation.

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...