by Jake Peake
Unlocking the next level
The dark side of a skill-based sport.
As much as we don’t want to believe it, tennis is no different to any other sport; the better you want to be the more you need to play. However, there is more to success in the sport than JUST playing…
We live in a world where sport science is at the forefront for most professional teams and athletes, but it is no longer reserved for only professionals. Fortunately, sport science is becoming more accessible, meaning amateur and youth sports can now make use of this essential piece of the puzzle during training.
So, what role does Sport Science and more specifically strength and conditioning (S&C) play? How can you navigate scheduling issues? And, how important is S&C within a multidisciplinary team?
#1 What is the primary job of S&C? To get stronger? Get faster?? Be more resilient??? NOPE…
The main role of S&C is to keep you playing your sport. Yes, all of the above is part of it no doubt, but in reality it’s much more simple; the less injury prone you are as a player the more you can play your sport… whether this is through placing more emphasis on moving through greater ranges of motion (ROM), building strength, or helping you move more efficiently. These are all building blocks for a robust tennis player who can stay on court for longer!
How do I decide what I need to get better at in my sport?? There’s not enough time in the day!!
Let’s rephrase the question to; what has the most value at that point in time!? Well, that is for you to answer, not me. However, I can help guide you by posing some questions that I would ask myself to help prioritise elements of training build structure.
Leaving out a large chunk the “sciency” side of things, here’s a bitesize look at how the body goes through “stages of growth” which we can call “windows of opportunity”. Pre growth spurt, children respond well to more neural types of training (Plyometrics etc.) due to lower growth hormone levels. When hormone levels change in pubescent children, this window opens as they go through their “growth spurt”, allowing more opportunity to mix their training up and increase the amount strength training in their timetable.
Scheduling is also a huge juggling act for parents of a youth athlete and it can feel impossible to fit everything in, so if some of these questions help you hone in on what’s going to have the most impact at a certain time whether that’s technical, tactical, physical or psychological training, then great!
SO… off the back of that, what are some questions that you could ask yourself or your coaching team?
- Is the issue so glaringly obvious that they are not playing well because they look like spaghetti, have no shape on their forehand, or can’t hit a serve? Then the likelihood is no matter how good or bad the rest of the equation is, that needs to be your priority. So an increase in physical or psychological hours is probably not your first port of call… therefore would increasing tennis hours likely correct this problem?
- Do they strike a ball well, keep up with the opponent and have good intensity on court but looks lost as to where to hit the ball? This would seem like a tactical problem, so… would an increase in tactical awareness with the tennis coach help solve this problem?
- The player is not able to get into the right positions to hit as well as you know they can, they struggle to recover in time and are generally slow and uncoordinated around the court… would problem be eased if the player could move more efficiently or was faster getting to the ball and recovering faster?
Be Brave and be analytical, don’t be a sheep!! Your way is not wrong, it’s just different.
A well-balanced programme should be led by what the player needs not what the parent or coaches want/need. A player centred programme is essential and a good coach will understand that the most important piece of the puzzle is the player, not them! This means that the programme can and should fluctuate with what the player needs at that time. As a guide we tend to aim for a ratio of 2:1 (Sport technical: Physical work), this doesn’t mean that sometimes these ratios can’t skew one way of another at certain times of the year, especially if players are injured, rehabbing, in a training block or growing.
Prioritising different parts of training over others is smart not wrong.
Don’t be afraid of altering sporting, physical and or psychological hours to meet the needs of the player, you won’t get worse at playing tennis because you have increased another aspect of your training. Sport is multifaceted and training requirements are not linear. Your coaches should be able to help you with making an informed unbiased decision as to what your youth athlete needs at that time.