Circuit Training Programme For Tennis.

Reversibility

I will aim to remain active throughout the week-long periods of time between performing my circuit so that the effects of my training are not reversed.

Tedium

I have designed my circuit so that I do not have any consecutive tedious activities. I will also perform different stations on different surfaces to avoid overuse injuries.

After taking these principles of training into consideration here is the design for

The Circuit:

1. Shuttle run. 15 metres long with 4 cones each 5 metres apart. I will do 2 consecutive runs of the shuttle and I will time myself every week to see if I improve. This should help to improve my speed and cardiovascular endurance.

2. Hitting a tennis ball against a wall with a tennis racket. I will do this for 1 minutes and count how many times I can hit the wall, to see if I can improve my ball skills and hand-eye co-ordination.

3. Illinois agility run. I will do 1 run of this miniature circuit whilst timing myself. I will see if I can improve my time every week. This station should improve my agility.  

4. Sit-ups. I will time myself to see what time I can do 30 sit ups in. This will help to improve my muscular endurance and my muscular strength.

5. Ski jumps. I will ski jump from side to side along a bench, doing 4 lengths of the bench whilst timing myself. This should improve my agility.

6. Serving. I will see how many valid serves I can do in one minute. This will help to improve my ball control and my serving.

7. Skipping. I will see how many skips I can do in one minute. This will improve my muscular endurance and cardiovascular endurance.

8. Press-ups. I will time myself to see how long it takes me to do 30 press-ups. This will improve my muscular strength and endurance.

9. Burpees. I will time myself to see how long it takes me to do 20 burpees. This will help to improve my agility and muscular strength.

10. Hit up hit downs with a tennis racket and ball. I will do this for 1 minutes and            

      count how many I can do. This will help to improve my ball skills and hand-eye

      co-ordination.

Safety

I have taken into consideration my current fitness level and set the times and targets for my circuit at the peak of my aerobic and anaerobic thresholds. I have arranged my circuit so that I do not have to many consecutive aerobic or anaerobic activities. I have also arranged my circuit so that I do not have many consecutive activities that involve using the same muscle groups. I will make sure that there is no one behind me or within my swing range when I am using the tennis racket. When I am performing the ski-jumps I will place a mat on either side of the bench in case I trip over. I will also use these mats when performing press-ups, sit-ups and burpees. Also, I will not perform any of my circuit outdoors when the ground is wet or frozen, because there is a high chance of me falling over and sustaining an injury.

I also designed a warm up and cool down to help prevent me from sustaining an injury.

Warm Up Routine:

1. A gentle jog varying between 200 and 400 metres.
2. Trapezius stretches. (Tilting the head to the front, back, left and right). Holding each one for approximately 15 seconds.
3. Triceps and trapezius stretches. (Pushing one arm down the back with the other to loosen the triceps) Holding each arm for 20 seconds.
4. Forearm stretches. (Place one arm out in front you, placing the palm upwards, and pull down with the free hand to stretch the lower arm). Hold each arm for around 15 seconds.
5. Latissimus dorsi and abdominal stretches. (Stand with your legs shoulder width apart, reach down to the right ankle with the right arm, whilst keeping your left arm above your head). Repeat this for the left-hand side and hold each stretch for 10 seconds.

6. Latissimus dorsi and abdominal stretches. (Lie on your back with your right leg straight. Pull your left leg from underneath the hamstring so that your knee is almost on your chest). Repeat with other leg and hold for about 10 seconds. As in diagram but with leg in the air bent.

7. When the upper body is fully stretched rotate arms in circles getting bigger and smaller.
8. Then do a gentle jog of around 100 metres.
9. Groin Stretches. (Position your legs about one foot wider than shoulder width apart. Keep the right leg straight and bend the left knee outwards, leaning on it slightly until you can feel the stretch). Repeat with other leg and hold for 15 seconds.
10. Quadriceps stretches. (Pull your left heel up so that it is touching your gluteus maximus. To feel the stretch more push your knee backwards and your hips forward). Hold with each leg for 15 seconds.
11. Hamstrings stretches. (Place your right leg out in front of you, keeping your legs straight and your toes on the ground. Bend your left leg and sit back on it). Repeat with other leg and hold or 15 seconds.
12. Soleus (calf) stretches. (As above but lift toes off the ground and keep heel on it.) Repeat with other leg and hold for 15 seconds.
13. Gentle jog finishing with 50 metre sprint at top speed to increase the heart rate and warm the muscles up a bit more.  

When stretching make sure that all movements are smooth and not jerky. This will help to prevent sudden over stretching and therefore prevent injury.

Warm Down Routine:

1. Immediately after the activity a slow jog for approximately 200 metres.

2. Then repeat the same stretches as in the warm up.

3. Finish with a slow jog of about 150 metres progressing down to a slow walk.

Week 3 – Evaluation

Today we decided not to perform our circuit outside because of health and safety reasons. The reason was that there were torrential downpours and we decided that it was unsafe because there was a high risk of slipping over and sustaining an injury. I decided to perform the stations of my circuit that were possible for me to perform inside. I could not do the Illinois agility run, the shuttle run and the how many serves in one minute stations because there was not enough space indoors. Because of these problems I decided to overload on the wallie, sit-ups, skipping and burpees by repeating each of these.

I felt tired today but I was pleased with my performance because I managed to improve on last week’s results for each station, and I also reached every target that I set myself