There are certainly many questions and varying opinions surrounding strength and conditioning programs for tennis players. What does each individual athlete need? How can tennis players improve in critical areas such as acceleration, power, and flexibility? How much training is too much?
Matt Kuzdub found himself asking these same questions while he was both playing and coaching tennis, which ultimately led him to pursue a master’s degree in Strength and Conditioning from the University of Edinburgh so that he could gain a more complete understanding of all aspects of the sport, not just what happens on the court.
A self-proclaimed student of sport science and peak performance in tennis players, Kuzdub now works as a physical preparation coach, tennis coach and sport scientist with the mission to help tennis players realize their goals. Kuzdub has also created Mattspoint Tennis, an all-encompassing resource for players and coaches to improve their training approaches.
Kuzdub has developed a program called High-Performance Preparation, a physical development program with an 11 section online resource detailing the necessary physical qualities elite tennis competition demands.
“It’s a research-backed approach to training a tennis player during the general prep period (or off-season),” explained Kuzdub. “I still believe that many players don’t take enough time to work on general qualities, which are super important for 2 main reasons: 1) they’ll help express the specific qualities in later training cycles to a much higher degree and 2) performing a broad range of movements has been proven to help with injury prevention and overall athlete health.”
Kuzdub’s programming is also focused on developing specific plans tailored to each individual athlete. However, in order to create these personalized programs, he expresses the importance of getting to see the athlete in action firsthand to gain an organic understanding of the athlete’s needs.
“When I first start training a player (or group of players), they usually all perform a very similar type of program,” said Kuzdub. “As we progress over weeks and months, each of their programs begins to take on a different look. But until I see them in action, it’s hard to know what they really need, unless they are severely behind in a specific quality. That said, their training history influences what they can and can’t tolerate and their tournament schedule, along with their on-court tennis schedule, will have big impacts on how much work is going to be done.”
One of the principles that Kuzdub teaches is the importance of becoming an overall better athlete, rather than spending all day, every day on the court. Take speed and acceleration for example, two crucial components of high-performance tennis.
“While tennis players rarely reach their true max speed (in other words, what they could achieve in say a 60m sprint), it doesn’t mean that this type of training doesn’t have a place,” explained Kuzdub. “There’s evidence to suggest that performing longer max effort sprints – 40m to 70m – can actually improve the entire acceleration profile of an athlete. Furthermore, traditional speed training (track work) targets other qualities that are important for tennis players – which will help them become faster on court.”
This means that tennis players must get comfortable with stepping off the court in order to improve certain areas of their game. “The main issue I have is that most tennis players already spend a ton of time on the court – that in itself is specific movement training for tennis…you’ll get a lot of your first step, change-of-direction and agility training right there,” Kuzdub said. “Many don’t develop basic sprinting mechanics which will surely help them express tennis specific movements more efficiently, and they’ll become overall better athletes.”
However, one of the struggles for many tennis players in terms of strength and conditioning is that they do not have access to a weight room or training room. According to Kuzdub, this is not necessary to increase power and strength.
“Plyometric training is one way where players can increase power and explosiveness. Of course this type of training also needs to be progressed appropriately – learning how to jump and land are critical. These are also great because we can perform them in all planes of movement and all directions – which is more reflective of a tennis point. Unpredictability is the name of the game so it’s critical players can express movement in all directions,” he said.
“On top of that, med ball training is a great option – you only need a couple sizes to get a lot of work in. They can help with context for speed and acceleration training but because tennis is a striking sport, have huge rotational and overhead power implications.”
Kuzdub is also a proponent of varying training each day so as not to burnout his athletes. “The body needs time for recovery and regeneration – it’s the only way we can adapt. Stress and rest equal growth,” he explained.
“That said, flexibility training is one quality I think should be done daily – and I prescribe it as homework. But even within flexibility training, there are different aspects we could be targeting. Some forms are designed to increase range of motion at a particular joint while others are designed for relaxation and recovery needs. All in all that would be the quality that we do daily…with the spine, hips and shoulders being the primary targets for most players.”
A properly designed strength and conditioning program is vital for players looking to elevate their game to the next level. According to Kuzdub, having detailed training plan is crucial to success. “I would say that’s it’s not exactly the details of the program, but rather the structure and organization that it brings to an athlete’s overall training regimen. I get a lot of good players contacting me for training – players who compete internationally or juniors that have won nationals – and they are training from one day to the next, with no plan. This quote by a track coach I admire really holds true for me, ‘discipline equals freedom.’ Being disciplined to get up early and get the training done gives freedom for the rest of the day, provides peace of mind and accomplishment,” he said.
For coaches, Kuzdub expressed the significance of monitoring the athlete’s training closely. His number one piece of advice? Don’t overdo it. “Progress diligently but with caution,” he urged. “For instance, if a player is just starting a strength and conditioning program, how is their tennis training changing? Or is it? Just adding more work to a player’s plan is not the answer…that’ll just lead to over-trained, stale and unmotivated players.”
Kuzdub also believes that all coaches should have a broad understanding of physical preparation, even if they’re not the ones administering the strength and conditioning program. They should also coordinate with the strength and conditioning coaches to outline practice schedules.
“You can’t put a player through a tough two-hour on-court practice – going through a variety of movement drills, with short rest periods – and expect them to also get a tough off-court session in too (at least not one right after the other). It’s my belief that planning is critical,” he said.