Planning for the Year Ahead

December 5, 2013 | By Gilad Bloom
179211994

When I was a pro player on the Tour in the 1980s and 1990s, I used to plan my yearly tournament schedule generally a year in advance. When you are young, you just want to play and compete. Things like burnout or overload never enter your mind, but that is when the coach should step in and properly guide the player.

My old fitness trainer would tell me exactly when my body would peak. He once told me in August of 1989 that I would be in top shape by January of 1990. He was right, and 1990 was my best year. He had just started working with me and the whole concept of long-term work was a very new concept to me.

"It takes years to build up your body and months for all of the workouts to kick in,” he would tell me. “Just be patient and when your body absorbs the hard work it will all pay off.” This statement is even more true when you work with juniors.

Before the start of the year, we would mark the important tournaments (the majors and the Davis Cup) and plan the year accordingly. There were usually two peaks during the season, because the tennis season is 11 months long and nobody can, nor should, go the entire season without a mini-offseason.

There was a preparation period in December during which time you would build up your muscle tone and endurance. That would serve as the base for the entire year and included intense sessions twice a day with an emphasis on fitness. Not much tennis was played. During the year, most of the sessions would consist of maintaining the fitness level, but there were weeks when you would do specific short concentrated training camps, usually before a Davis Cup event.

There were always very important periods of rest thrown in as well. At least twice a year, the body needs seven to 10 days of no playing at all. This break is important not only for the body, but also for the mind. Tennis is a grueling sport, and the daily grind can take a toll on both the body and the mind.

In the weeks leading up to a tournament, I would focus on footwork, drilling, and adding skills to my game to improve my weaknesses. During those weeks, you don't worry about how you are playing, as this time period is more about getting in shape and experimenting with your game. The mindset should always be that you always need to keep improving and adding things to your game.

In the last week leading into a tournament, I would cut down on the fitness sessions and the drilling and begin to focus on live ball hitting and playing practice sets in order to get match sharp. That was the time to implement the new techniques into my game and gain confidence doing it in practice. If you practice it enough and believe in yourself, you will be able to execute in a real match.

In the last 48 hours leading into the match, I would hardly play, perhaps 45 minutes twice a day and the rest of the time would be dedicated to stretching, treating the body and preparing mentally for the match.

The idea is to arrive to the match hungry and eager to play and fresh, both physically and mentally. Some players obsess and play two to three hours the day before a match, running themselves down in practice. That's not wise. The work for the tournament was already done weeks before the event. If anything, over-training before a tournament can hurt the player in the later rounds when you will need extra gas in the tank.

When I consult my junior students on their yearly tournament plans, I use the same principles that I used as a pro.

It is important for the player to understand the value of a long-term plan and sticking to that plan. The student needs to know early on in their career that certain tournaments are important and others are more of a "preparation tournament.”

Knowing that every practice session is part of a grand plan will help the player relax in practice and accept that there will be good days and bad days. They may experience some sessions where their legs will be heavy and their body will be sore, but this is common when you are building up the body. The main thing is to arrive prepared and confident come match day.

Unfortunately in my career as a teaching pro, I have seen numerous cases of kids who enter too many tournaments during the year without any logic, not allowing time for mental and physical rest. Playing too much does not allow time to work on the player's game to develop the strokes and work on weaknesses. It's pretty hard to develop your game when you have to worry about a tournament three or four weekends each month.

I have some students ages 10-11 who play more than 100 matches a year. That's insane in my opinion and counter-productive to their all-around development. The students who listen to me in those age groups (12-14), play about 30-50 matches a year, and in my opinion, that's plenty. When you get to the 16-18 and under categories, you can step it up a little bit, but in any age group, they should leave some room for an off-week to be used for rest and recharging the batteries.

For most of my students, the ultimate goal is to play on a good college team once they graduate. Once they get to the age of 18 and to the collegiate level, it will become more about actually winning and losing matches. During their four years of college, they will need to play as many matches as possible in order to get better through experience. I believe that if you have a good, healthy tennis upbringing in the early days, you will give yourself a better chance of having a great college career or even beyond. But most of all, you will have the best chance to fulfill your potential and enjoy a long, injury-free career while playing your best tennis when it counts.


Gilad Bloom

Gilad Bloom, former Israeli Davis Cup player and two-time Olympian, played on the ATP Tour 1983-1995, reached the fourth round of the U.S. Open in 1990, reached a highest ranking of 61 in singles, was Israel Singles Champion three times. Bloom has been running his own tennis program since 2000 and also was director of tennis at John McEnroe Tennis Academy for two years. He can be reached by e-mail at Bloom.Gilad@Gmail.com.

Oneononedoubles banner art resize
USTA NTC

January/February 2024 Digital Edition