How To Plan For The Perfect Tennis Tournament Or Match

It’s been a busy few weeks, with many of my full time players coming to the end of their season and The Club Tournament in full flow for many of club players.

It’s for that reason that I haven’t sent something out this week, but let me explain more.

I was approached by a Woman a few months ago for some instruction.

We spoke for a while, did an initial assessment lesson and decided to go full steam ahead on what we ended up calling “The Project”.

“The Project” as I will call it from now on was this – to see if she could get herself ready for the Club Tournament which was (at that time) a couple of months away.

Carol, was in fact a pretty good player who throughout the years (she was in her early forties now) had in fact won several Club Championships at several clubs but had also lost many more finals & semi-finals normally against players that she told me she “should have beaten”.

The main causes she told me were usually, lack of practise, fitness & match nerves.

We worked out that over the years she had had 6 wins and lost 6 finals in her “glittering” career and she really wanted to get ahead in the win column.

It would be difficult, because even though she had lost in the final two years ago (when she last played) there were many more juniors coming through the ranks who would surely pose a big threat.

They ran all day and hit the ball……………..HARD!!

So, first things first we needed a plan.

Ideally, I like to go for a 12 week plan but we that wasn’t an option so here was the deal.

Because of age and lifestyle (work etc), Carol didn’t have all day long to play & practise.

Add to that the fact that since the final two years ago she had only played a couple of singles matches and was (with respect!!) a little bit overweight – we had some work to do.

So this was the overall plan – it’s something we call Periodization.

This is exactly what the “Big boys & girls” like Federer, Nadal, Del Potro, Murray, Sharapova and Williams do when they are planning their tournament year out for things like Wimbledon, US Open, French Open etc.

I divided the alloted time into 3 “Phases”.

The first Phase is the Preparation Phase

This was a 4 week phase.

In terms of her tennis I told her to stick to lots of general (but high intensity) hitting to find timing with some first to 11 points at the end of those sessions.

In terms of tennis fitness, this phase is all about building what we call a good cardio vascular (CV) base especially as she hadn’t really exercised properly for years.

Any (inevitable) weight loss would have to be slow to maintain strength (about a pound a week).

The second Phase is the Pre-Competition Phase

This was a two week phase, where drills and points would become more competitive along with some practise matches and fitness, work switched gears to include more interval work

The third & final Phase is the Competitive Phase

This final Phase of 2 weeks was all about shifting the effort on to the court and just looking at maintenance in terms of her fitness work.

I will let you know a bit more detail about stuff in the coming days, but I hope you’ve got the picture and can add some mental encouragement to our cause from wherever you are

P.S. Also let me know if you have ever approached a big competition in this way i.e. put a plan (of any sorts) together & if so how did it go??

Tennis Training – The 2 Questions You Must answer Everytime To Make It Effective

Tennis training can mean many different things.

For some it is playing/training to improve your shots, strategy etc and therefore your game.

For others, it is the off court training that is needed to improve (strength, speed, footwork etc).

Whichever it is (and you need to be doing both), there are 2 questions you NEED to be asking yourself that will ensure you get the best out of either situation.

1. What am I looking to get out of today’s training?

2. What am I specifically going to do to make sure that happens?

If you answer these questions and even better write the answers down, you will go a long way to being more successful as you will have a purpose to what you are about to do.

Don’t just turn up and do whatever comes in to your mind.

Arrive at the courts/gym and know exactly what you are going to do & get on with it.

Remember this – You are more likely to hit your target if you know what & where it is!!

Do you really think Federer, Nadal, Del Potro, Sharapova, Serena Williams etc just turn up and play and never think about what they need to do to win at Wimbledon, The French Open – Roland Garros, US Open?

Hint – The answer is 1 word that begins with N

How To Make Up To 70% Less Errors Without Changing A Single Tennis Shot

I have said it before but I will state it again.

You make up to 70% of your unforced errors on the court due to poor footwork (ATP stat).

That’s 7 out of every 10 shots, not shot related that could be avoided.

Imagine, turning that round and converting 3 or 4 of those into winners.

What difference would that make to your game?

I have put together a Footspeed Course which is designed to help you develop GREAT tennis specific footwork and KILLER speed around the tennis court.

Pop along HERE to get some FREE videos etc – It may just be the missing link in your game.

P.S.1 Federer has the Best Footwork in the men’s game and Rafa has Great Speed.  At their best is anyone better – need I say more?

P.S.2  Let’s reduce that 7 out of 10 – NOW!

Tennis Skills – How Understanding How We Learn Can Help You Get Better Quicker

Tennis Skills – We all want to better them don’t we?

Yes, even if your name is Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams or Rafa Nadal and you are used to playing at Wimbledon or the US Open, getting more tennis skills under your belt or just improving what you already have is high on every tennis players agenda.

But, how do you go about it?

Well sometimes it’s not about your forehand or backhand and what practise methods you choose that counts.

Sometimes it’s just about understanding the process of learning and improving that will prove most successful.

Not sure what I mean?

Well here is a story that should I am sure will help you.

I was talking to a group of tennis players a couple of weeks ago when I mentioned something I thought would help them through the individual troughs they were experiencing.

All I did was to explain the 4 stages of learning a tennis skill – so here they are.

The four stages of motor skill acquisition are as follows:

Stage 1. Unskilled, Unconscious

Stage 2. Unskilled, Conscious

Stage 3. Skilled, Conscious

Stage 4. Skilled, Unconscious

How does this work?

Well, as a beginner you find you struggle with skill execution as well as with understanding why your mistakes exist – Stage 1.

After a while, you understand/learn the proper execution, but cannot consistently repeat it – Stage 2.

Eventually, you can execute the skill with correct technique and with reasonable consistency, however it is consciously controlled which means a sacrifice in flow & fluidity – Stage 3.

Stage 4 is when you forget & don’t think i.e. you master the skill and forget/don’t use any technical instructions – you Just Do It (thanks to NIKE!)

I think it’s really important to identify just where you are in the scheme of things, so you will have real expectations about how you should be expecting to play on a day by day basis.

The problem I find is that generally most players don’t understand the 4 stage progression and therefore have unrealistic expectations about their level of play and that only leads to FRUSTRATION & in many cases…..ANGER!

The reason I was quick to talk to the group about it was purely down to the fact that someone sat me down to tell me about it many years ago.

The story is a very interesting and somewhat strange one, so I think I will save it for another day.

But for now, sit down and try to work out where your tennis skills level is and see if your newly found understanding helps you in the way you approach your tennis game.

P.S. One last thing, don’t forget, you will have different parts of your game at different stages so you will need to adjust each of them accordingly.