Week 3:
Session 1: On court stretching. For example work on Quadriceps, Hamstrings and Deltoid. Practice stretching and returning a fed ball, all over the court, forehand and backhand. Also speed and agility training, running to a fed drop shot and returning, alternating forehand and backhand.
Session 2: 30 min game of Badminton, singles or doubles.
Session 3: On court skills practising serve volley tactics and forehand and backhand drives down the line and cross-court. Total practise = 1 hour.
Week 4:
Session 1: Illinois Agility run, and compare times to week 1 (session 2). Also repeat the Harvard step Test, and compare results. Also practise pull-ups from a bar for about 2 min, try to do about 5 to 10. Try to repeat if possible to improve on biceps strength and endurance.
Session 2: Full game of Tennis, best of 3 sets, singles.
Session 3: 30 min run at medium jogging pace for about 5km. Heart rate 140bpm, at a steady rate during the run.
Week 5:
Session 1: Circuit training. 1 min of press-ups and sit-up, with 3 min gap in-between, and repeat twice. Also the Harvard Step Test, and record results to compare to week 1 (session 3), and week 4 (session 1).
Session 2: 1 hour of Tennis skills. Serving, return of serve forehand and backhand. Also forehand and backhand
Drop shots, and returning fed drop shots.
Session 3: Fartleck, 10 min walk, 5 min jog, 20 sec flat-out sprint. 5 min walk for warm down. Spend 5 min stretching for warm down.
Week 6:
Session 1: 30 min of weight training, muscular strength and endurance. For example, 2 min of Shoulder press’s, then rest. 2 min of upright rowing, then rest. 2 min of close leg squat’s, then rest. 2 min of abdominal curls, then rest. Repeat sequence twice.
Session 2: 1 hour of Tennis skills. On court stretching to play various shots, fed all over the court. Also speed and agility training, running to a fed drop shot and returning, alternating forehand and backhand.
Session 3: Full game of Tennis, best of 3 sets, singles.
Before each session, a thorough warm is needed. It should include jogging and stretching exercises to increase flexibility and to help avoid injury. Also a short warm down is required at the end of each session.
Warm up- This is a period of gentle exercise using the whole body. It should increase the heart and breathing rate. Our muscles should be warmed up with gentle stretching especially working on the joints. We must get our bodies ready for action both physically and mentally.
Warm down- We should always finish training sessions with a period of lighter exercise. This is to cool down. We should not go directly from hard exercise to rest. Light exercise shortens the recovery time needed by removing lactic acid, carbon dioxide and other waste products in our bodies. It also ensures good circulation of the blood, to avoid light- headedness or nausea.
In this six-week training programme, it focuses on these factors of fitness, they are:
- Coordination
- Agility
- Muscular power/ endurance
- Speed
- Flexibility
- Hand-eye co-ordination
- Reaction time
- Balance
- Tennis skills
The principles of training
To become fitter we need to train effectively and harder. To improve to specific areas, we should follow the following S.P.O.R.T principles:
- S pecificity
- P rogression
- O verload
- R eversibility
- T edium
Specificity- we must train for our own particular sport, and on specific areas of our body in relation to our sport. We need to use a training programme that puts regular stress on the muscle groups we are concerned with.
Progression- we must increase our training gradually; increase the amount of exercise of exercise we do. This places added stress on our body systems. We must add this stress in a progressive or gradual way.
Overload- we must work harder than usual to improve the fitness of our various body systems. In order to do this, we must overload or stress them. Our bodies will gradually adapt to cope with this extra work and we will become fitter.
Reversibility- we will lose fitness when inactive. Our bodies are able to adapt to more stress by becoming fitter. Consequently, our bodies will adapt to less stress/ it only takes 3-4 weeks for our bodies to get out of condition. We can lose our aerobic fitness more easily than anaerobic as the muscles quickly lose much of their ability to use oxygen.
Tedium- we must make our training programmes interesting. Tedium should be avoided by using a variety of enthusiasm. We can also avoid exercise injuries by varying the way we perform certain activities.
The principles of F.I.T.T.
When planning a training programme, we need to think about frequency, intensity, time and type. These are called the F.I.T.T principles:
Frequency- this is training frequently. We should train at least 3 times a week. Our bodies will need time to recover between sessions, so we should space them out over the week.
Intensity- this is to work harder. We will not improve our fitness unless we work hard enough to make our body systems adapt.
Time- if we wish to improve our aerobic fitness, we must make our training sessions longer, gradually over time. We should also increase the heart rate level at which we work.
Type- We should develop the right fitness and skills for our sport.
