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Tennis has a reputation for being a gentlemen’s sport, a sport where you wear whites, congratulate the other player, curse yourself, then shake hands at the end regardless of the outcome.

But as any competitive tennis player knows, this couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, if I had to compare tennis with any other sport, it would be with boxing.

In both sports you’re on your own out there, one on one. You each have your chair to compose yourself, think, rest and hydrate. Attached to your hands are either gloves or a racquet and ball. You then throw everything you’ve got at your opponent, using power, speed, agility, reactions and guile. You pick up points as you go along, until someone delivers the knockout blow.

That’s why stepping out onto the tennis court without the very best preparation is as foolish an act as stepping into a boxing ring unprepared. You would be guaranteed a physical, psychological and skilful beating – only in tennis you might still have your front teeth!

So if you want to deliver that knockout blow to your opponents in 2008 – even if it is with a tennis ball rather than a leather glove! – make sure you order a copy of our very latest special report, Training for Tennis, right away. You’ll find it invaluable.

Because Training for Tennis brings together, for the very first time, innovative training and conditioning techniques that will change the way you prepare for the 2008 season.

And, it’s available to you from today – but for a strictly-limited time only – at a special pre-publication discount. (See below for more details of our special, time-limited offer).

This brand new report is a thorough, yet eminently readable, distillation of the very latest thinking on preparing for match-day success in competitive tennis. It dissects the major current debates in sports scientific circles, analyses the very latest scientific thinking – then spells out in plain English its significance for the serious athlete and coach alike.

NB: Every page of Training for Tennis draws on the very latest evidence-based scientific research into training and playing top-level tennis – new findings that probably won’t percolate through to the general sporting press for many, many months, if they make it at all…

So it’s a rare opportunity to assess for yourself the very latest thinking on training for competitive tennis, and decide how best to integrate it into your own training and conditioning programme for 2008.

Get your copy of our brand new tennis special report today, and here are just some of the match-winning techniques you’ll learn:

• How and why should you adapt your conditioning programme to take account of different court surfaces?

• Which form of resistance training is best suited to making a player into a “big hitter”, capable of serving and returning winners time and again?

• How can you train your senses to improve your ability to ‘read the game’, thereby making sure that you’re always in the best position to anticipate – and return – your opponent’s shot?

• Two proven mental strategies for building resilient self-confidence – so you’re able to survive even the most powerful on-court onslaught from your opponent.

• How does your choice of tennis equipment make you more or less likely to get injured – and what practical steps can you take to avoid falling victim?

• Which exercises are proven to get rid of ‘tennis elbow’ – and protect you from future injury?

Order your copy TODAY and be sure of getting your 2008 season off to the right start!

Strength & Conditioning...

The physiological demands of tennis in the modern day are considerable. So much so that a comprehensive strength and conditioning programme is now essential for players who want to reach the top.

So Training for Tennis kicks of with an analysis of the demands of the modern game. We examine both the core physical requirements for tennis players, and how these vary according to the surface played on (clay vs hard courts and grass courts) and the type of player (baseliners vs servers and volleyers).

Throughout the discussion we illustrate the key principles of targeted tennis strength and conditioning by presenting a real-life case study of a highly-ranked world junior player from Australia.

The case study takes you through the process of analysing a player’s strengths and weaknesses – both physical, and those in his game. Then it shows you how to go about identifying the core aims and objectives of a conditioning programme that is grounded in both the player’s individual needs as an athlete, his personal game style, and the specific requirements of his sport.

Included in the discussion is a set of real-life programmes addressing the various training & conditioning requirements of the player under scrutiny – agility & movement drills, body management exercises designed to address specific areas of poor flexibility, speed & agility drills, and strength training exercises.

In short, everything you need to understand how to put together your own, individualised programme – either for yourself or, if you’re a coach, for your players.

Strength Training for Tennis Players...

It’s well-known that tennis players with a ‘big hit’ have a distinct and often-decisive advantage over their lesser-powered opponents. Just ask anyone who’s tried to return a 130mph tennis serve! While powerful and accurate hitting requires considerable skill, the right conditioning is also crucial for developing dynamic hitting ability – and keeping injury at bay.

In terms of conditioning to produce maximum hitting power and speed, resistance training is absolutely essential and is indeed used by the majority of tennis players.

But is there any particular training protocol or item of equipment that is more likely to enhance hitting power than another?

That issue is the focus of the next section of Training for Tennis, in which we present the findings of some recent research into strength training for racquet sport players.

First we report on the findings of a recent study by a team of American researchers into the effects of a specifically-periodised weight training exercise programme on the performance of collegiate women tennis players. Twenty-four players were matched for ability, then randomly placed into one of three groups and monitored over nine months:

• A no-resistance exercise control group;
• A periodised multiple-set resistance training group;
• A single-set circuit resistance training group.

We discuss the findings in detail – including the outcomes with respect to service power outputs and overall body mass.

Our second report examines the implications of specific strength-training programmes for the prevention of achilles tendon and rotator cuff shoulder injuries. The discussion includes full details of the exercises used in this study, accompanied by diagrams.

Training the Senses...

In tennis, like all sports, having split second reactions can prove a considerable advantage.

However rapid reactions depend on numerous factors such as the auditory and visual senses, specific sports skill and experience. The good news is that while this aspect of sports performance is perhaps not fully appreciated, it is a skill that is highly susceptible to improvement when specifically trained in the right way – with impressive match-day gains as a consequence.

So in the next section of Training for Tennis, we focus on this often-overlooked aspect of tennis training.

First we assess reaction time in the context of responses to auditory and visual cues, then we present a series of drills and practices designed to enhance reaction times. We explain how you can improve your visual reaction times through enhanced anticipation performance and an improved ability to ‘read the game’. (What the experts call “Movement-pattern information”.)

Mind over Matter...

Mental resilience is vitally important in tennis. After all, how many other sports subject the players to a point-by-point public reminder of their situation – with a host of spectators only yards away scrutinising their every move?

What’s more, during a tennis match, players have only themselves for comfort as they are not allowed to speak with their coach during the game. There’s no equivalent of the half-time motivational talk in football, ruby, basketball and various other sports.

Tennis players therefore need to introspect, and call on inner reserves to maintain self-confidence during a game. That means they need to develop a resilient degree of self-confidence.

And because they are bombarded with information that can affect self-confidence, players therefore need to focus on positive information, where positive information can be hard to find.

The good news is research clearly shows that tennis players’ psychological states can be enhanced with the appropriate psychological skills training. With this objective in mind, Training for Tennis sets out a number of practical strategies to enhance tennis players’ mental game, based on recent scientific evidence.

We explain how you can use such effective mental technologies as affirmation statements, thought replacement, pre-performance routines, and concentration strategies, to achieve a consistently high level of resilient self-confidence – even during the inevitable periodic slumps in a player’s game.

Sports Injury in Tennis Players...

Tennis is a sport that places extremely high demands on the structural integrity of the body’s joints.

That’s because players have to perform repetitive, asymmetrical and technically challenging movements at high speed in dynamic settings, often at the limits of their physical and mental endurance. It can become a daily battle against chronic injuries, which too often results in premature departure from the sport.

In terms of sports medicine knowledge, the days of just treating tennis injuries are well behind us. Among sports professionals prevention and education at a young age are now seen as the key to decreasing injury rates. If players are screened, educated and they perform specific injury prevention exercises regularly from a young age, then they will see a substantial decrease in injury over their careers.

So in Training for Tennis we devote a significant section of the report to the issue of sports injury – approaching the subject from the twin perspectives of prevention and cure.

First we look at the incidence of injury amongst tennis players in various areas of the sport – elite vs social, male vs female, younger vs older players – and the significance of these findings for the prevention of injury.

Then we review some recent research into the relevance of equipment used to both the nature and prevalence of sports injury amongst different groups of tennis players. You’ll find out how to avoid certain injuries simply by paying more attention to the equipment you’re using, and the surface on which you’re playing.

Next, we turn our attention to the five areas of susceptibility for overuse injuries, and how to address these through appropriate injury prevention programmes, before zeroing in on three specific injury sites – tennis elbow, shoulder and wrist injuries – all of them crucial to a player’s health.

Tennis elbow has long thought to be related to the use by a player of an inappropriately-sized racquet grip. Using a tennis grip size either too big or too small would cause altered muscle activity (overactivity from too tight a grip on a small racquet handle, or underactivity from too light a grip on too large a handle). Getting the grip size right would therefore reduce the effort needed to hold the racquet, increase the efficiency of the forearm and hand muscles, and reduce the potential for overuse injuries.

We present the findings of some recent US research on the subject that sheds new light on the subject – and could help you avoid this chronic injury in future.

NB: If you already suffer from tennis elbow, you’ll find our remedial programme useful. We describe in detail six progressive strengthening exercises that will alleviate this irritating and common ailment – and help you avoid future recurrences.

Our discussion concludes with a review of some recent Australian review into the role of physiotherapy in treating tennis elbow. The study looked at three treatment options, and concluded that one course of action was clearly better than the other two. You’ll find full details in our special report.

Our discussion of shoulder injury in tennis players centres on a recent review by Dutch scientists of the causes of this common and debilitating ailment that usefully highlights several guidelines to help understand and prevent its occurrence. The research provides new insight into the way in which a weak link in the ‘kinetic chain’ close to the body (eg leg, trunk or shoulder) creates higher demand on the more peripheral segments, increasing their vulnerability to injury.

Having identified the different ways in which this most commonly occurs, we conclude with a set of exercises designed to help players to:

• improve their overhead serving motion
• increase their range of shoulder movement
• strengthen the rotator cuff muscles in order to provide the necessary support for the range of motion required during play.

Our analysis of wrist injuries in tennis players kicks off with an quick explanation of wrist anatomy and function – essential if you are to understand the complexities of wrist injury, and to establish the correct treatment plan. So we look at the four regions of the wrist in turn – volar, dorsal, ulnar, and radial – identifying the injuries that are most common to each, before turning to the issue of prevention and treatment of wrist injury.

Our analysis concludes with an indepth look at four of the most common chronic wrist injuries – causes, prevention and treatment. We include full details of a wrist rehabilitation treatment programme consisting of five exercises you can perform either off or on the court to ensure successful rehabilitation.

Different Court Surfaces Impact on Players’ Stamina Levels...

Everyone knows that the type of playing surface makes a very big difference to the speed of the ball and tennis styles, but what is the exact physiological impact of different surfaces on tennis players?

That’s what Canadian scientists have attempted to determine in a study on four nationally ranked players who were monitored on clay and hard courts over twelve 90-minute matches. We feature the study – and review its results – in Training for Tennis.

In the research study, on-court tests using portable monitoring equipment were carried on to continually assess oxygen uptake, heart rate and blood lactate concentration (which was measured every 10minutes). In addition, a time/motion analysis was carried out to accurately calculate the distance covered, playing time, resting time and exercise to rest ratio.

The researchers identified several ways in which players, and their coaches, should modify their conditioning programmes to take account of which court surface upcoming matches were to be played on.

Training for Tennis is the latest in a series of special reports from Peak Performance, the sports science newsletter. This book is not available elsewhere.

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