Blog

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...

It is not uncommon to see players focusing on the one percent aspects of their game when they should be focusing on what gives them the greatest improvements.

Sometimes as coaches, tennis trainers and players, we get caught up in the small things and lose sight of what can give us immediate impactful gains.

The main physical areas that every player needs to focus on are –

Strength and Flexibility/Mobility.

When you get these areas right and you are ineffective and healthy ranges, then you should look to improve other aspects of your physical state.

Improving your Strength, Flexibility/Mobility will give you the best bang for buck!

Following a specific Tennis Strength and Conditioning Program is the best course of action.

One area I see a lot of players struggling with (many are unaware of it) is court balance (Staying balanced when hitting, feeling centered, transferring weight through the shot).

A lot of people, for example, seem to be focusing on what the...

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...

Having been a Tennis Trainer travelling on the WTA and ATP for over 20 years, I honestly believe having the right team around you is crucial. Some tennis players will have an entourage that may consist of tennis trainer, tennis coach, physiotherapist, massage therapist, sports physiologist, chiropractor, dietitian, manager, stringer, parents, family, hitting partner, nanny and even dog minder... I’m sure I have missed some! It really could be an endless list depending on the individual and what their needs are (Serena Williams is one player that comes to mind that has a slightly bigger than normal entourage)

Whilst some players play it low key and may only have one person on their team, which is also fine, getting the team right is important. I remember Justine Henin and Lyndsey Davenport travelling with just a coach, that worked for them, others like to have more people around them.  To be honest it’s not the one with the big entourage that is...

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...

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...

Champion athletes in any sport all have one thing in common… consistent results. To be successful and have longevity in a sport means you have to have many wins over time. Quite often I will ask my tennis players, “What makes a tennis champion” The answers will vary from training for tennis, dynamic tennis footwork, a massive forehand or serve, mental toughness and so on. All those answers make up a good player… but do they keep a champion at the top for months on end?

Most players will have experienced being up 4/1 in a set against someone who is ranked higher than them. How many times have you heard the lower ranked player, or the underdog put themselves in that position where they “could, should have, and almost” won. But they lost…..e

What makes a tennis champion isn’t just grabbing a set here and there (that’s of course a great start ). It is the ability to maintain form and endure rallies, games, sets, matches, and then...