Benefits Of Following a Periodised Plan

When it comes to tennis exercise and preparing your body to play your best tennis, it is important to do the right things at the right time. That includes resting and changing what you do, even if you feel your current routine works. Tennis training variety is often overlooked.

Some people prefer consistency, so they do the same things all the time and then wonder why they are not improving. Others jump from one tennis program to another without allowing the body time to adapt.

Whatever your "training personality", it is vital for long-term development (at any age) and performance to phase the tennis training you do. Often known as tennis periodization, phasing your training is as important as your actual tennis exercises. This is how it works ...

TENNIS TRAINING PERIODISATION

PREPARATION

General: High training volume and low intensity. The focus is on endurance and strength. Your tennis training can be general and non-tennis specific at the start (cross-training). This is a good time to work on tennis training techniques on the court. 

Ratio: 30 percent on the court, 70 percent off-court training; Phase length: 4–6 weeks

Specific: Low volume and high intensity. Focus on more specific tennis training variables (anaerobic endurance, speed, and power endurance). This is a good time to work on fine-tuning technique and match strategy.

Ratio: 50 percent on the court, 50 percent off-court training; Phase length: 3–6 weeks

COMPETITION

Pre-competition: Low volume and high intensity. Focus is on power, agility and speed, match play, and individualized fine-tuning of technique and mental preparation. During this phase, the focus shifts from off-court training to predominately on-court tennis training.

Ratio: 70 percent on the court, 30 percent off-court training; Phase length: 2–4 weeks

Competition: This phase is all about physically peaking, so involves very low volume and high intensity. The focus is to maintain the tennis fitness level and fine-tune physical capabilities. On-court sessions should be match-specific. Off-court sessions should consist of foot speed, power, agility, reaction, and injury prevention. Phase length is dependent on the level of the player and their tournament schedule.

TRANSITION

This is a time for players to rest and recover, with little-to-no time on court. Players can engage in other sports at a moderate level. During this phase, players often feel guilty about not hitting, but the rest and recovery will help them prepare for the workload ahead and provide the opportunity to assess, set goals, and plan for the future. It’s all about achieving the right balance.
Phase length: 1–3 weeks

BENEFITS

How does a periodization plan benefit your game?

• Reduces the risk of overtraining (burnout)
• Injury prevention
• Encourages performance peaking
• Motivates players
• Alleviates boredom
• Educates players on what and when to do certain training

We have created a range of Tennis Specific Periodised Programs for you to follow:

High-Performance Program CLICK HERE

Junior Program CLICK HERE

Over 40s Program CLICK HERE

IMPLEMENTATION

Some important steps to consider when planning a tennis periodization plan.

1. Decide when you want to peak (goal setting). As tournaments run almost year-round, it is important to target your peak period. It is not realistic to peak year-round. Planning training around ideal peak times will keep you motivated, have you better physically prepared, and help keep you injury-free.

2. Focus on quality not quantity, especially during pre-competition phases.

3. Conduct specific tennis fitness testing (annually as a minimum). Ideally, do so before the preparation phase and then re-test.

Continually adding variety to training is key to overall success. Combined with mixing up volume, intensity, frequency, and specific focuses, it will help produce better results.

If after reading this you feel you need some assistance getting your training plan structured to suit your needs, then reach out to our team [email protected]. We will help you work it out!

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