Secrets of Spanish Tennis Series‎: Preventing Overtraining
Spain is known for its extremely high work ethic, both for the players and the coaches. Players work like beasts, suffering hours each day performing long sets of basket drills and high intensity shorter exercises as well. But one aspect of Spanish training that is often overlooked is injury prevention and overtraining avoidance.
The legendary Spanish coach Lluis Bruguera once said, "The worst thing is when a player is over-trained—irritability and injuries can occur—it's a disaster! We must avoid this at all costs!"
For example, at the typical Spanish academy, tennis court time is limited to only three to three-and-a-half hours each day, as compared to many academies and camps that advertise five or more hours daily for their players and campers. The logic is to allow more time for the physical preparation of the players.
Oftentimes, at Spanish programs, they will dedicate two hours or more to physical preparation, as compared to the other academies that typically spend about an hour daily on fitness. The extra hour or more off the court can be used for stretching, core work and injury prevention for the shoulder and legs, and cross-sport conditioning (often in Spain, they play soccer).
So essentially in Spain, they spend an hour or more less tennis time on the court, and add an hour or more of off-court physical preparation time to the daily schedule and get excellent results. Spanish trained players are often physically stronger and healthier—and mentally hungrier players!
It is natural for parents and players to think that more court time means better results. But in Spain, it has been proven that there is a healthier way to reach greatness, one that provides better balance both for the mind and body.
