3 Tennis Training Tips to be fit and strong for 2022

Every new year most people will set some goals and get really excited and bolt out of the gates; training hard, eating well, playing tournaments, etc, that is great! I love this time of year, for most of us, it is like a clean slate is presented as soon as the clock strikes 12.00am and we welcome in the new year.

I find this time of year really powerful for setting up the 12 months ahead,  I even have the best way to help you set your tennis goals and stick with them, which I will show later on in the blog. 

The new year presents another chance to achieve things we want to get done and move forward.

Today I want to present you with a question and your answer will determine the challenge I set for you for the new year. Let’s get into it!

From my 25 years of experience as a tennis trainer, having completed 1000’s tennis workouts, and having been blessed to have trained 100’s tennis players I can tell you some simple truths about the new year and setting goals. I even want to give you a few tennis training tips to get right!

You are reading this because you are a parent of a player, are a player, you coach tennis, you’re a massive tennis nut! Or you are a tennis trainer (think I’ve covered everyone) whoever you are and whatever your involvement in tennis you want to get some knowledge and practical advice from our team, right?

As I am getting older and wiser (that’s what I tell myself) the more I believe I truly understand what it takes to improve myself as a tennis player.

You need to be ticking more than 1 box and just spending time on the tennis court hitting balls won’t cut it. You need to look at playing tennis and your growth, no matter your age and level of play in 3 separate areas and work out how much time, energy, and resources you are putting into each area.

If you can manage to get these 3 areas balanced for your needs you will be well on your way to achieving your wildest tennis dreams!

Seriously…

Working in these 3 areas is critical for your growth and enjoyment of the game, you want to enjoy your tennis every time you walk on court right?

Tennis Training Tips - these are the 3 areas.

1.  On Court Tennis Play – This includes practice and matches, on-court match play strategy. This is the area most players spend the majority of the time, energy, and money in.

2.  Off Court Tennis-Specific Training – This includes; recovery (stretching, foam roller, ice bath, etc) tennis strength and conditioning (tennis strength training, tennis agility training, tennis endurance training, Tennis core training, Tennis power training, etc) Tennis Warm-up, Tennis nutrition and tennis hydration. Some players do a little bit in this area, but more often than not it is not specific or consistent enough.

3.  Tennis Mental Training – This includes tennis-specific guidance in managing your emotions on court, staying positive, self-talk, dealing with choking, becoming more mentally robust, etc. Most players do NOTHING in the area, do you?

Whenever I do a planning coaching session with a player, 90% of the time they are doing little in the off-court training area and nothing in the tennis mental area.

However, when we get to the root of their main issues that are holding them back, they almost always say it is their fitness, speed and agility, endurance, or court movement letting them down and everyone always says it is their mental and emotional state, but why aren’t people doing anything about it?

Most of the time from my experience it is because they do not have the right guidance and resources to get it done, I mean you walk into a tennis club there is always a tennis coach there to help right? but very rarely there is a tennis trainer and I could almost guarantee there would be no tennis mental coach!  

Players are also unaware they need to be doing work in all 3 areas, hopefully, all that changes for you today.

Lucky for the ones who contact us we can help them out with our online tennis fitness resources and we have even teamed up with Mentally Tough Tennis and now offer a range of online Mentally Tough Tennis Courses (great resources). These 2 resources will help you get fitter, stronger, and more robust, both mentally and physically! 

So my question to you is this – “Are you spending your time and resources in all 3 areas” Do you want to become as a complete player as you can be?

I am not trying to make you feel guilty or push you into buying online tennis fitness programs, these resources have been created to help those that see the benefit in being balanced in all areas of tennis, we understand they are not for everyone.

Some players enjoy just hitting balls and spending time on the court, they do their thing, I get that.

But if you are one of the many seeking the next level of tennis and becoming the best you can be, then do something to get this right.

It doesn’t mean buying one of our programs although they are great! It means doing what will work best for you, with what you have got.

Reach out for help from us or someone you know who can help you out in an area you need help and guidance in, it’s that simple, just do something to get going and you will soon see the benefits from just getting started.

I told you at the start of the blog that I want to give you some tennis training tips and set you a challenge depending on how you answer a question, so the question was

“Are you spending your time and resources in all 3 area’s” what was your answer?

If you answered yes, good on you, keep that up, and please encourage others to do the same, keep striving to find ways to do things better!

If you answered no, no matter your situation I’m here to tell you and challenge you in 2022 to get out there and do some work in all 3 areas.

Start small, follow a program, get some advice and structure, and then go from there.

Honestly, this is the biggest and most basic tennis training tip I can pass on – Work in all 3 areas and get advice and guidance from experts.

Nothing but positive results will come, as long as you do the hard work to back it up off course!

So with the new year at your doorstep, you have a simple choice to make, work on becoming a complete player that is technically, physically, and mentally robust or just keep ticking over (maybe even going round in circles)

All of our programs can be found HERE

To finish off we want to extend our gratitude for 2021, as tennis fitness continues to grow and we keep doing our best to share what we know we cannot do without our community!

We are here to serve you aces (like that pun haha) and help guide you or anyone you work with as best we can! With our warmest best wishes for the new year, we say bring it on, get it done and do your best! Let’s commit to being better in 2022.

Team Tennis Fitness

P.s In early 2022, we will be launching a new online mentorship for players under 18. The mentorship covers; tennis training, scheduling, recovery, nutrition, hydration, mental fitness. It is available by application only. If you are interested and want some more information, please email us at [email protected].