Not so long ago, a tennis coach I worked alongside asked why I don’t prescribe long runs with our players. You know, to get them into shape. My response at the time was that we need to prioritize their strength, power and explosive abilities. He then asked why I didn’t do long runs with them during pre-season? I didn’t want to get into the details at the time but there were 2 reasons. First, there is no real ‘pre-season’ in tennis, particularly not in junior tennis. And second, long distance running can do more harm to a tennis player than good.
You still see it all the time though. Coaches making their players run. Especially when they want to punish a player for bad behaviour or failing to accomplish a drill. They think, why not kill two birds with one stone? Teach the kid a lesson AND get them in shape. Boy is that not the furthest thing from the truth. Many coaches also still believe that running long distance will build an aerobic base but the type of aerobic qualities that are enhanced during long-distance running, are not the qualities we need for tennis - or any explosive type sport. In this article, we’ll outline the basic physiology of tennis, why you shouldn’t run (there are more reasons then, it’s a waste of time) and what you should do instead.
After my last post, I received many inquires from young players. The questions ranged from "do you think I should give the tour a try" to "what does it take". I believe every young player should ask themselves these important questions. But perhaps beforehand, they should know what it means to be a pro tennis player.
Have you ever looked at a tennis player’s profile page? Notice the image below and pay close attention to where it says “Turned Pro”. There are over 2000 men on the ATP circuit that have ‘Turned Pro’ but in my opinion, there’s a difference between being a true professional and still being an amateur.
Post-college tennis players give up too soon. Let me be more specific. Post-college players often times don’t have a clue what to do once they’re free from exams and fierce duel matches. So many of them claim they’ll continue to play tennis. But the reality...they hack around. They play a few pro events, a couple money tournaments, coach on the side but they don’t truly commit to any one of those things. Perhaps not all post-college players are like this but I was, and many of my former competitors and training partners were too.
I’m obviously a big tennis fan. I don’t just follow the big events - although don’t get me wrong I do enjoy watching the top guy’s compete - but I also follow junior tennis and the lower ranks of the ATP, specifically the Canadians. This past weekend I watched the end of a Davis Cup match between Richard Gasquet of France (ATP World number 10) and Philip Bester of Canada (ATP World number 160). Although Bester played well, he inevitably lost in straight sets to the formidable Gasquet. What struck me though, was not the match itself but what Bester had to say in his post-match interview:
