INSTRUCTION By Joe Dinoffer
By Eleanor Preston
Is American Junior Tennis Flat? By Joe Dinoffer
M
any leaders in the tennis community admit that competitive junior tennis in the United States is as awe-inspiring as a flat spare tire. To confirm this notion, ask the following question to any of the dozens of academies or any of the more than 1500 Intercollegiate Tennis Association college coaches: “Is American junior tennis competing at a lower level than many of its smaller international counterparts?” When 100% of them answer “yes”—which they will—we’ve got a problem. Why is this so? Most say that juniors from many European and South American countries (and some on-the-rise Asian countries) are hungrier. In other words, enough American kids don’t have the drive nor the work ethic to become top players. School, homework, friends, family, practice, and tournaments easily fill a junior player’s day. But where is the vital fitness training in this routine? And how can coaches and parents inspire kids to take ownership of their own fitness programs? To get answers, I visited legendary fitness expert Pat Etcheberry at his Saddlebrook Resort training center and watched him work. Etcheberry is likely the most well known tennis-specific fitness trainer. His former and present clients including former top-ranked players Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, Jennifer Capriati, and Justine Henin. Before sharing some of the tips and tricks employed by Etcheberry, let’s clarify the facts:
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tennislifemagazine
december
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• Fitness and tennis go hand-in-hand: Being fit improves your game, and tennis is a great way to become and stay fit. • Tennis fitness is comprised of strength, movement, endurance, and flexibility. Each area is divided into sport-specific components. For example, movement consists of first steps, acceleration, stride rate, stride length, and overall agility. All contribute to a player’s fitness and effectiveness on the court. • Success on the junior tennis circuit requires solid fitness. Most refreshing about Etcheberry’s M.O. is helping athletes accomplish their personal targets efficiently. He emphasizes quality over quantity. Here are some creative ways he puts them into practice. Practice on clay: Most American juniors practice on hard courts, but their European and South American counterparts don’t. There is less pounding, more longevity, and lower risk of injury on clay. If you must practice on hard courts, focus on quality over quantity. Your body will thank you for it. Make time for school: Americans place more emphasis on studies, which some say works against their competitive aspirations. Again, focus on quality over quantity for on-court training, so more time can be left for school work. Synthesize technique with fitness: Have junior players practice movement and agility drills with their racquets in hand. They should shadow-swing and move with the intensity of purpose equal to that during a match. Such rehearsals help the desired movement patterns become good habits and more instinctive in real situations. Stick to 30 minutes: Etcheberry suggests an efficient fitness pro-
photos ©fred mullane
gram for 30 minutes a day, six days a week. Make it accessible: Employ “user-friendly” fitness that is easy and convenient to perform almost everywhere, including in the convenience of your own home. Stretch, stretch, stretch: Besides injury prevention, thorough stretching increases range of motion. The benefit is better agility: getting down for low groundstrokes and volleys, recovering when out of position, and improved swing speed. Keep it fun and competitive: Etcheberry has tracked the results of how juniors perform on particular exercises. This sets up target goals for improvement and competition. Example: Stand in a service box and face the net. Use your racquet to alternate touching the center service line and the singles sideline. See how many lines you can touch in 30 seconds. (A 13-year-old girl should try to touch the lines about 26-28 times.) Customize your program: Treat each athlete as an individual with unique needs. Etcheberry recalled that both Pete Sampras and Jim Courier trained with him in 1990. While Sampras spent 75% of his time working on his off-court fitness verses actually hitting tennis balls, Courier was almost the opposite, spending only 37% of his training time off the court. Another example is Henin, who spends a great deal of time working on her upper body strength to compensate for having to hit many high balls from taller opponents. Etcheberry’s success rate speaks for itself. If more juniors are advised to integrate fitness training into their programs, it could pay off quickly. Joe Dinoffer is a Master Professional in both the PTR and USPTA, a distinction awarded to only a handful in the tennis industry. He has published numerous books and videotapes and is a frequent speaker at tennis conferences around the world. For more information, visit www. oncourtoffcourt.com.
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