Evaluation
of the Sport
Tennis requires a
combination of both unidirectional and multidirectional movements as well as
vast rotational movements during the athletes’ range of shots (Elliot &
Marsh, 1989). These shots include serve, forehand, backhand, volley, smash, lob
and drop shots used in a variety of combinations. Tennis is mainly an aerobic
discipline due to the duration of most games; however anaerobic qualities are
seen as some rallies last for only 10 seconds or less (Fernandez,
Mendez-Villanueva & Pluim, 2006). Recovery time between points varies often
dependant whom is serving and how long they take between points; it is often
around 30 – 50 seconds. Injuries in tennis are common place, incidences such as
rotator cuff tendonitis, tennis elbow, back pain, knee pain, Achilles
tendonitis, ankle sprains and haemorrhages under the toe nail are often seen (Perkins
& Davis, 2006). Tennis is played on 3 different court surfaces; grass, clay
or a hard rubberised surface, the latter indicative of indoor courts; each
surface contributing to different injuries due to variances in grip (Fernandez
et al., 2006). The off-season for most tennis players runs during December with
the majority of them entering their first tournament in January, the Australian
Open.
Evaluation
of the Athlete
The athlete is a 21 year old
male tennis player; their discipline is singles which is played at a
professional level, they are right hand dominant and have in the past suffered
tennis elbow, however, they are no longer affected by this injury and have been
symptom free for the last three years. A
movement assessment on the athlete highlighted good basic strength levels; they
showed a reasonable technique on the agility drills given to them; although
this analysis highlighted that an improvement is needed in their footwork
speed. In addition, they currently have poor core stability so the strength
programme should look to improve on this area. Moreover, their coach has also
stated that they will need to improve strength and stamina in order to improve
as a player. They are currently free of injury so this does not pose a problem
during exercise selection and programming. They have been resistance training
for 3 years previously so are an advanced trainer (Baechle & Earle, 2008).
It is currently the start of the off-season so their goals have been selected
appropriately. Their main goal is to improve strength which in turn will
improve power, and their secondary training goals are to improve core stability
and footwork speed.
