The following post is an excerpt from The Tennis Parent’s Bible. Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo
Fitness training accelerates a player’s physical, mental and emotional performance. When an athlete gets fatigued their movement gets sloppy, their technique is off and unforced errors begin to increase. Poor decision making and negative emotions set in. Often, the actual cause of a child’s emotional breakdown is lack of fitness.
Unfit players do not perform their rituals, they do not spot tendencies and they do not manage their mistakes. Poor physical fitness manifests in mental and emotional breakdowns. For instance, most juniors go for low percentage plays or hasty play options due to the fact that they are too tired to properly execute the appropriate play. So is physical training linked to the mental side of sports? Absolutely!
The Following Training Skills are Essential to High Performance Athletics:
- Lateral Movement (Side to side)
- Up & Back Movement (Forward & back)
- Aerobic Fitness
- Ability to Accelerate
- Ability to Decelerate
- Speed/Agility
- Stamina
- Recovery Time between Points/Plays
- Recovery Time between Matches/Games
- Strength (Upper body/core/lower body)
- Body Coordination (Gross motor skills)
- Hand-Eye Coordination (Fine motor skills)
- Flexibility/Stretching
- Anticipatory Speed
Accelerate your child’s game with proper physical training. High level sports demands high level fitness. Ignoring training and only focusing on sport specific mechanics will severely limit your child’s potential. I recommend you begin by selecting two or three of your child’s weakest physical skills and begin developing those skills. A stronger fitter player will be more confident and mentally tougher.
FYI: Proper hydration and nutrition is also a critical factor in the physical, mental and emotional links of every competitor. As parents, we have to insist that our players fuel up before battle. Dehydration triggers fatigue, dizziness, headaches and nausea. Improper nutrition lowers the blood sugar levels to the brain. Improper nutrition and hydration guarantees poor decision making skills at crunch time.
Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
MaximizingTennisPotential.com
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