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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...

Has the question “these kids have too much” ever crossed your mind? Or, things are “too easy” for these kids?

In this article I will share my thoughts of what I learned in my career training, competing and travelling next to some of the best players in the world for the last 20 years, Rafa, Ferrer, Robredo, Lopez, Verdasco, Almagro, just to mention a few….

And what I learned as a coach, since the days I was on the tour until my years as a National Academy Coach for Tennis Australia.

Growing up in Spain, a country that generates a high number of top - 100 players was amazing but make no mistake, you had to work incredibly hard for it and nobody was going to give you anything.

Spain is a very high demanding and competitive environment if you are trying to make it as a pro and there is no room for softness.

With hundreds of competitive players from all ages, many tournaments all around the country and being within short distance from other countries in...

Most, if not every tennis player will develop some form of tennis training injury during their careers. Some injuries cannot be prevented, but you will be surprised how many of the below injuries you can be prevented from doing one thing.

We will tell you more about that later on.

Most common injuries in tennis we see on a daily basis are, often the overuse injuries.

Overuse injuries often develop slowly and can start out as a mild discomfort that gradually increases and becomes painful. Some common overuse injuries are:

1. Tennis Elbow – A very common cause of elbow pain due to the chronic irritation of the tendons on the outside of the elbow.

2. Wrist Tendonitis – Caused by irritation and inflammation around the wrist joint. Usually, this will occur from a number of reasons from equipment (new racket, heavy / wet tennis balls, court surface), bad technique, or mainly overuse. This can be prevented with some simple yet effective good strengthening tennis exercises...

Staying balanced is important for constant development and improvement in tennis. If you have ever felt flat or stagnant with your tennis training, then there is a good chance your balance has been out.

When we talk about having balance we are talking about having a consistent flow or steady energy throughout your day and week. Waking up every day ready to go, feeling motivated, uninjured and good about yourself.

So how do you know if you are balanced?

Answer these questions:
• Do you often feel flat and tired?
• Do you often feel unmotivated?
• Do you always feel like you are carrying an injury?
• Is your tennis improving?
• Are you getting fitter and stronger?

If you answered yes to more than one of these questions there is a good chance you may need to make some minor adjustments

REGAIN YOUR BALANCE

Getting balanced involves increasing your focus on areas of weakness, or where you spend less time and decreasing your focus on the areas you spend...

If you are a player, parent, coach or tennis enthusiast that has an influence on a young  tennis player it is important to realize a few things. Having good tennis results in the short term does not equal long-term tennis success. If you are aiming for long-term tennis success and you should be, then following these simple points will help get you there.

1. Losing should be a good lesson - To lose is to learn, or it should be. A young player should be learning more from losing than they do from winning. Everyone loses at some point in tennis. But if you keep losing because of the same reasons and you are not improving, then this is not good. After a loss, it is important to evaluate what happened, what could have done better and what will be changed for the next time. Then move on and focus on the things that can be controlled. Don’t focus on loses, focus on what changes can be made to improve. Losing is part of the game, try to avoid it, learn from it and get over...

Tennis players are all looking for the winning edge.  They are all looking for what is going to give them that edge and get them performing at their best. What many players haven’t looked into is how food sensitivities can affect their training for tennis and their tennis performance.

Food sensitivities are extremely prevalent these days.  At least 45% of people reading this article will be affected by them.  All of the packaged and processed foods, along with overuse of antibiotics and other toxins we are exposed to have caused our guts to get damaged leading to this rise in food sensitivities.  Our body, gut, and digestive system are designed to process real food not this fake food.

So what’s the big deal?

Food sensitivities cause stress and inflammation on your body.  They can lead to symptoms like bloating, fatigue, joint pain, weight gain to name a few.  Not only this, but this inflammatory stress on the body can disrupt the hormonal...

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...

How important it is to periodize your training for tennis?
Periodization is simply, structuring on and off-court tennis training into phases or blocks of time.

The basic phases include:
• Preparation (general and specific)
• Competition (pre-competition and competition)
• Transition (offseason)

Each phase focuses on different aspects of tennis fitness and tennis conditioning (cardio endurance, strength, power, tennis speed, agility, and recuperation) in conjunction with on-court work, specific for the phase.

Here is a brief explanation of each phase.

Preparation (General and Specific)

General: High training volume/ low intensity. Focus is on endurance and strength. Training can be general and non-tennis specific at the start of the phase (cross-training) a good time to work on tennis technique. Ratio 30:70.on court : off-court training Phase length: 4-6 weeks.

Specific: Low volume/High intensity. Focus on more specific tennis training variables (anaerobic...

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...