Can you still improve during a tournament?For some players, the first day of the 2006 U.S. Open was the day they set foot on the grounds of the newly-named USTA BillieJeanKingNationalTennisCenter to play their first match of the tournament.For other players, it was a chance to get in one last practice session before their first round on Tuesday.And for at least one competitor, it was a chance for both!Justine Henin-Hardenne won her first round match easily on Monday and then hit the practice courts in the afternoon to play some points and fine-tune her game.Meanwhile, Marat Safin and Dmitry Tursunov played some spirited points, as did David Nalbandian and Carlos Moya.Maria Sharapova worked on specific areas of her game including aiming her service returns for white towel targets placed near the baseline in the forehand and backhand corners!Serena's afternoon practice was a little more low-key and she even stopped for a phone call on her cell!Players have different philosophies regarding practice during a big tournament.Some continue working on their games while others just want to maintain their timing believing that they've already done all the important practice before they arrived.
There are tournament level tennis participants that present an interesting paradox in terms of athletic performance. These sportsmen have "A" grade tennis mechanics with "C" grade power production. It is evident that these athletes are from development programs based solely upon stroke development. The level of strength development derived from many hours of stroke development without specialized strength conditioning often does not elevate a tennis sportsman to the power hitter standard. Heredity then appears to the most important deciding factor in terms of the level of momentum (speed x force) a sportsman can develop.
How important is momentum in terms of tennis technique, and athletic results? A regulation tennis court is 78 feet in length. For every 1-mile per hour increase in ball velocity a tennis ball travels 1.47 feet per second. This would indicate that a tennis ball often covers the length of a tennis court in less than 1 second given the clocked tournament ball velocity.
The ball velocity has another very important consideration in terms of athletic results. Ball velocity impacts the ability of the motor apparatus to function effectively in terms of producing a successful outcome. My analysis of tennis participants with industrial high-speed instrumentation cameras, and the time frame tournament tennis sportsmen function indicate motor apparatus is functioning in automatic mode. Adjustments to programmed motor conditioning in the tournament setting invariably results in an unsuccessful outcome.
The physiological attributes of a sportsman have a material impact upon the effectiveness of their athletic output. A study of tennis professionals with high-speed instrumentation cameras indicates that muscular contractile strength, and mechanics refinement determine the optimum racket momentum that can be transferred to a tennis ball with a successful outcome. When the sportsman exceeds strength and mechanics boundaries it normally results in an unsuccessful outcome.
It must be noted that the addition of strength conditioning will initially cause a decline in athletic results (functional state). If strength conditioning is correctly applied the sportsmen's organism will adapt to the new loads, and have greater success in developing racket momentum with less muscular effort.
The specific tournament requirements allied with the sportsman's strength deficits define strength conditioning training objectives. Intelligent specialized strength conditioning coordinated with careful mechanics observation can result in the application of greater controlled racket momentum with a successful outcome.
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There are tournament level tennis participants that present an interesting paradox in terms of athletic performance. These sportsmen have "A" grade tennis mechanics with "C" grade power production. It is evident that these athletes are from development programs based solely upon stroke development. The level of strength development derived from many hours of stroke development without specialized strength conditioning often does not elevate a tennis sportsman to the power hitter standard. Heredity then appears to the most important deciding factor in terms of the level of momentum (speed x force) a sportsman can develop.
How important is momentum in terms of tennis technique, and athletic results? A regulation tennis court is 78 feet in length. For every 1-mile per hour increase in ball velocity a tennis ball travels 1.47 feet per second. This would indicate that a tennis ball often covers the length of a tennis court in less than 1 second given the clocked tournament ball velocity.
The ball velocity has another very important consideration in terms of athletic results. Ball velocity impacts the ability of the motor apparatus to function effectively in terms of producing a successful outcome. My analysis of tennis participants with industrial high-speed instrumentation cameras, and the time frame tournament tennis sportsmen function indicate motor apparatus is functioning in automatic mode. Adjustments to programmed motor conditioning in the tournament setting invariably results in an unsuccessful outcome.
The physiological attributes of a sportsman have a material impact upon the effectiveness of their athletic output. A study of tennis professionals with high-speed instrumentation cameras indicates that muscular contractile strength, and mechanics refinement determine the optimum racket momentum that can be transferred to a tennis ball with a successful outcome. When the sportsman exceeds strength and mechanics boundaries it normally results in an unsuccessful outcome.
It must be noted that the addition of strength conditioning will initially cause a decline in athletic results (functional state). If strength conditioning is correctly applied the sportsmen's organism will adapt to the new loads, and have greater success in developing racket momentum with less muscular effort.
The specific tournament requirements allied with the sportsman's strength deficits define strength conditioning training objectives. Intelligent specialized strength conditioning coordinated with careful mechanics observation can result in the application of greater controlled racket momentum with a successful outcome.
Posted by: Ed Clark | January 21, 2007 07:24 PM