The 4 Steps to Awesome Tennis Agility - Part 1

Blog Post - November 2021

Some of the top mistakes I see from coaches aiming to improve agility, is ignoring the core elements required to optimise movement. You see, in order for a drill to be considered an agility drill, there must be a reactive component. But before hitting these high intensity movements, players must first prepare the body through a specific sequence of exercises.

When discussing Agility Development I use the following terminology:

  • FMS - Fundamental Movement Skills
  • TT - Technical Training 
  • PR - Pattern Running 
  • RAT - Reactive Agility Training

In this blog I will touch on the first two - FMS and TT

Fundamental Movement Skills

These are the foundational movement patterns and shapes that underpin on-court movement and agility and would cover exercises such as squats, lunges, jumps, bounds and hops. They would effectively create the warm-up or 'performance preparation' for the forthcoming session.

This is where the SuperMovers concept of...

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Exercise of the Week 22 - Coordination - Ball roll between the legs

fundamental movements Sep 24, 2021
 

Exercise of the Week

This week's Exercise of the Week is an exercise direct from the Tennis SuperMovers at Home programme. It falls into the Honing Coordination exercise stream, which is one part of the SMASH Curriculum, which includes:

Strength, Movement, Agility, Stability, Honing Coordination - to go into a bit more detail on these elements, check out the blog on the 5 building blocks to tennis fitness success - here

The above video show a small group of under 10 players using a wall at the side of the court. The goal of the exercise is to work on sending and receiving skills. You have to accurately feed the ball, while tracking the ball to adjust your movement, to allow the ball to roll between the legs.

Then you will get a sneak peek at what this exercises looks like within the SuperMovers at Home content. You will see how each exercise is thoroughly explained and coached, before completing the exercise together in a follow-along workout format.

We've had so many awesome...

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How can parents help young tennis players?

You just want the best for your child, help to remove all the barriers, help them to fulfil their true potential. What parent doesn't?

We ask around, other parents, those who's child might be a little older, maybe performing at a level you "know" your child is capable of, even of beating perhaps. Ask all the coaches you know,look on the internet. Instagram , youtube, so many experts.

Everyone knows the best thing for your child. They throw around terms like Increase their force production, work on thoracic mobility, increase their acceleration, deceleration mechanics. Do plyometrics. But what does it all mean?

What is really best for my child?

Who are the best people to talk to?

 

Well, the best people to talk to about improving the physical capabilities of an athlete is someone with a history of developing athletes at the highest level. Maybe international tennis, maybe Premierleague football, Olympics even. How would we go about making contact with such a person?

Well, you...

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