Author Archives: ITPA admin

Dissecting the Volley: Movement

Dissecting the Volley: Movement 

Volleys are an important part of tennis, especially in doubles. Many points in doubles are won by a well-angled volley or put-away overhead. No matter the level of the player, most are always looking for ways to put away the ball.     Continue reading

Posted in Injury Prevention, Movement, Strength, Tennis Strokes, Volley | Leave a comment

Dynamic Stretching – New York Times Video

Very practical article from the NY Times on Dynamic Stretching. This article involves a video with Dr. Mark Kovacs (ITPA Exectuive Director) discussing dynamic stretching and Satoshi Ochi (ITPA Advisory Board Member and Head Strength Coach for the USTA Player Development program) performing a number of tennis relevant dynamic stretches that help to increase functional range of motion, develop an athlete’s stability and strength and provide a valuable use of time during warm-ups for tennis training or competition.

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Posted in Flexibility, Health Benefits, Injury Prevention | Leave a comment

Tennis – The Answer to Childhood Obesity?

I think we all understand the many lifelong benefits of tennis play from a health, fitness and wellness perspective. However, much of the interest has traditionally been in how tennis can improve individual’s life as they age, cardiovascular health, bone density, muscle strength, etc. These are all important benefits of tennis play and will be discussed in other posts. As tennis provides so many physical and mental benefits, it should be considered a major tool in reversing the disturbing trend in childhood obesity levels in developed nations. Continue reading

Posted in Health Benefits, Nutrition, Young Tennis Players | Leave a comment

Supplements 411!

Recently the US Anti-Doping Agency (The major organization in the US that monitors drug testing and education for prohibited substances in sport) launched a new website www.supplement411.org. It provides information on how to look at labels in an educated manner, determine whether or not a supplement has had proper third party testing,  video testimonials from athletes who have had issues with supplements, updated news items and a screening tool for supplements athletes may be considering taking.

Here are a few important points: Continue reading

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Video: Post Tennis Match Nutrition

See below video blog post on Post Tennis Match Nutrition Dos and Don’ts.

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Research Review: Young Tennis Players Who Play Only One Sport May Be More Prone to Injuries

Early sport specialization is something that is greatly debated in many sports including tennis. The practical definition of specialization is that a young tennis player will commit his/her time to practicing and competing in tennis without playing other sports. Continue reading

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How Much Tennis Play is Too Much?

How much tennis is too much for the young player? We hear this question all over the world. The professionalization of junior tennis has resulted in young athletes playing more formal competitions at a younger and younger age. It is not uncommon to hear about parents who have pulled their child from regular school and started a home school program as young as eight years of age to allow the child to spend more hours practicing tennis. It is also not uncommon to hear about six-year-old children practicing two to four hours per day, six days per week, 50 weeks per year. Is this too much? Continue reading

Posted in Injury Prevention, Movement, Strength, Tennis Strokes | Leave a comment

What Can Junior Tennis Players Learn From Baseball?

All sports deal with injuries to young athletes. Tennis in many respects may be behind other sports. When looking at injury rates in young athletes, baseball has done an outstanding job researching injuries. What can tennis-specific specialists learn from Baseball that may help us when developing tennis athletes? Continue reading

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Welcome to the ITPA Inner Circle (Member-Only Website)

Welcome to the ITPA Inner Circle. The Inner Circle is the exclusive member-only community where the best, most relevant tennis-specific information is stored, cultivated and grown. The purpose of this site is to be highly interactive and focused on what the Tennis Performance Trainer (TPT), Certified Tennis Performance Specialist (CTPS) and Master Tennis Performance Specialist (MTPS) is looking for to help improve the quality of training for tennis athletes at every level.
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