Heres an answer I gave to a question on training a 12 year old performance oriented junior! . -------------- START Question ----------- Wanted other coachs opinions. Just started working with a 12 yr old boy. Pretty good player - plays some tournaments and says he can get to quarter finals, but no further. Plays right handed, great 2 handed backhand and so so forehand (weak compared to his backhand), consistent serve-not anything special. . I asked him how he usually loses points or matches and he said the other players usually hit harder than him and they end up winning points and matches because of that. I asked him how he usually wins points and he says he usually wins points hitting 2-handed backhand winners. . I had him volley some and his forehand volley is very, very weak because it looks like he has very poor control & coordination with his right hand and arm and he had a great 2 handed volley (very solid). He said he thinks he was naturally left handed, because he writes left handed and has great 2 handed backhand. I asked him why he started to play right handed and he said he thinks he got confused. . Question : What do you think would be the best thing to do to help this boy become as good as he can be? (his goal is to play on tour) --------------------------- 1) Have him start to play left handed and serve left handed (read Nadal changed from right to left handed around 10 yrs old (but Nadal was naturally right handed). 2) or try to develop his right hand forehand and forehand volley 3) or would anyone have him hit two 2-handers forehand & backhand like JM Gambill or Seles (since hes hitting winners with his backhand now - seems like if he is natural left handed, then a lefty forehand would become stronger than his current 2 hander on the left side) ------------------ END QUESTION ------------ . MY RESPONSE . . Heres my opinion from a physiological and medical perspective.. Develop strength and coordination in both arms. . Progression for right-handed forehand volley ----------------------------- 1) Firm up wrist, develop musculature and motor coordination youtu.be/XyjlcOEmW_E 2) Progress to more variety in volley, different height volleys, step / no-step, half volley, overhead, etc youtu.be/o-KHtfugCr4 3) Make sure body positioning is correct youtu.be/6hrfG31e1kc ----------------------------- ^ You wouldnt go to a gym and do 100 bicep curls on one side of the body and not do any other the other side. . Especially in a 12-year-old, emphasis should be put on developing a well-rounded ATHLETE! Volume of training, the number of balls he hits with both sides as well as the amount of tension (weight) on the right arm should be adjusted to make sure their is adequate stimulus for the musculature to grow. . For someone with little musculature and little motor coordination in a limb, it takes 4-6 months for musculature and motor coordination to develop. Short-term training 4-6 weeks will show marked improvement if optimum stimulus and repetitions are maintained. . You want to make sure the kid is developing proper technique habits in these years, so appropriate size and weight of rackets / balls is necessary to have motor pattern carry over to performance years 16+ to 35 years of age. . I thought this was an interesting question bc this player represents a lot of performance interested juniors that are wanting to play at high levels. Feel free to contact me and would love to have a discussion about if further if you had any questions about any the terms I used. . At the 2014 Society of Tennis Medicine and Science conference in Atlanta, Dr. Jayanthi recommended that players should only play Their age worth of hours per week to prevent over-use injuries. So, for this player, only 12 hours per week should be on court tennis. Off court training, in the gym, performance training, flexibility, balance, coordination training, different sports, all are fine in addition to the 12 hours and recommended to become an all-around athlete! . Anyone feel free to follow my facebook, instagram or twitter accounts! facebook/kurtpessatennis instagram/kurtpessatennis twitter/kurtpessatennis . Hope this helps! w Kurt . . . What are your guys thoughts? . . International Tennis Performance Association USPTA USTA Player Development . #tennis #instruction #coaching #youth #athletes #uspta #tenis #performance #itpa #stms #ptr
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 18:17:28 +0000
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