Practice

Group practices:

Between 3 to 4 hours of tennis practice per day divided into two sessions (morning and afternoon)

Morning session :

When?

• After breakfast and “muscular wake-up”
• Associated with a fitness workout, the morning session is therefore just before or after depending on the type of work planned.

How long?

• Last between 1h and 1h30 maximum.

Content ?

• More technical and physical oriented sessions with increased intensity and volume according to the period and the fitness development program of the moment
• Completes fitness training when it is focused on a specific technical, physical or biomechanical work that can be reinvested on the court

Afternoon session

When?

• After lunch

How long?

• Last between 2h and 3h maximum.

Content ?

• The objective and content of each session is based on:
  • The period / cycle of work: based on the annual programming and therefore the competitions deadlines
  • Weekly programming: based on the work period and the individual goals of each player
  • (See the programming tab for more details)

Individual tennis sessions

When?

• These sessions are inserted into the schedule according to the age, the level, the objectives etc … making sure not to overload the weekly workload of the player
• They are added to complement or replace hours of group sessions.
• Although strongly recommended to ensure the progression of the player, the individual sessions are optional in order to allow each family to adapt its financial budget.

How long?

• Last 1h.

Content ?

• The objective and content of each session are:
  • Determined according to the weekly schedule to reflect the work axes thereof
  • Integrated in coherence with group and fitness training sessions
  • (See the programming tab for more details)

Fitness training :

• 1h per day in the morning
• Example of a typical week :
  • Monday / Wednesday: agility, PPG, circuit training, intevalles …
    • Session preparation according to the programming
  • Tuesday / Thursday: strenght workout
    • Sessions planned according to player’s age, physical maturity, and programming
  • Friday: team sports / games
  • Saturday: integrated physical preparation / team sports / games
• Performance Optimization and Injury Prevention

It goes without saying that the improvement of the player and the achievement of his goals require a considerable investment on the court both in terms of volume and intensity that solicits and pushes the body of the player in its entrenchments.

The body is therefore the player’s daily work tool, and preserving it is often an aspect that is neglected by the training centers that favors quantity at the expense of the player’s health and longevity.

However, if the player’s body is no longer at its optimum level, the player will not be able to train effectively. This brings other problems (loss of motivation, confidence, fatigue …), which will significantly slow down the player’s progress.

It goes without saying that injury prevention is a priority of our academy, as these injuries force players to a partial or complete halt.

Here are some of the areas we are working on at the academy:

Recovery :

• Each working day includes a minimum of 30 minutes of recovery
• Recovery takes the form of:
  • Stretching (yoga session and other techniques)
  • Meditation and breathing exercises
  • “Medical treatment” (cold bath, massage, ice…)

Warm-up :

• Precede each tennis or fitness session
• Includes various exercises and equipment :
  • Work with elastic bands
  • Ladders
  • Drills
  • Footwork with cones
  • Etc…

Muscular awakening

• Can take the form of:
  • Fasting footing
  • Yoga
  • Meditation
  • Etc…

Mental training

It is discussed continuously at the academy:

• On court: coaches help players to mentally handle the various situations our players face
• Through speakers: external speakers will be invited to the academy to share their experience and knowledge with our players
• Through meditation and yoga sessions

Among others, the objectives are:

• Emotion management
• Match management
• Optimization of concentration
• Development of self-confidence
• Positive inner speech
• Etc…

Player’s diagnosis

A complete preliminary diagnosis of each player will be made in writing before the start of each year.

It will be made in consultation with the young player and his entourage (family, former pedagogical team etc …)

Among other things, it will aim to:

• Establish the current strengths and weaknesses of the player in the different aspects of the game (technical, strategic, tactical, mental, attitude etc …)
• Evaluate the player’s progress in the last years
• Evaluate the fitness level of the player through various tests

Definition of objectives

Defining precise and realistic objectives is one of the most important axes to allow our coaching staff and the player to work well together.

These objectives create a common “vision” for the future of each player, allowing everyone to have the same guideline and to adhere to the player’s project.

The different levels of objectives are defined and conveyed through the academy :

• Aspirations: Ultimate tennis goal. Example: become a professional player, get a scholarship at a major American university etc …
• Long-term: 2 to 3 years
  • Objectives in terms of ranking (ITF, FFT etc …) and specific deadlines (major tournaments, national team …)
  • Qualitative objectives: definition of a global vision mainly in terms of strategy (style and field of play …) requiring the development of a fitness level, a mental approach, as well as specific technical and tactical tools.
• Medium-run : 1 year
  • Objectives in terms of ranking (ITF, FFT etc …) and specific deadlines (major tournaments, national team …)
  • Qualitative objectives: after having listed all the general lines of work in the long term, it is necessary here to select the specific elements that will be worked on during the year
• Short-run : 2 weeks to 1 month
  • Short-term goals are determined from medium-term goals. These are refined and spread over shorter periods
  • Regular meetings are established between the players and the coaching staff at the beginning and at the end of these short periods to evaluate the progress and the psychological state of the player, the aim being to ensure that the latter is focused on the objectives of the moment

Annual programming:

An annual programmation is established for each player at the beginning of the season. It is presented in writing and distributed to anyone who has a role to play in the development of the player.

It is displayed in several places so that the player can consult it daily. It is reviewed at the end of each cycle in order to evaluate players’ progress and to make adjustments for the next cycle(s).

The annual programming reflects in a structured way the objectives previously established with the player.

It constitutes a “plan” allowing the player, his entourage and the entire staff to agree on a global vision of development over the coming year and therefore to work in the same direction. This allows the player to avoid dissonances that are in the world of sport and to refer to a written document in case of confusion or in times of doubt.

The annual programming is established in several parts:

• Competition planning for the player over the year to come
  • Choice of competitions for which the player wants to be at his/her pick These chosen competitions are the objectives of performance for the season.
    We want our players to be at their best and to perform during those competitions.
  • Other competitions are taken as preparation matches. The main objective is to reinvest what has been worked on during the cycle.
• Cycle planning :
  • Macrocycles: Period of preparation (general and specific), competition (pre-competition and competition) and transition
    • Based primarily on the competition schedule
    • Defined more precisely in terms of level, volume and intensity
  • Mesocycles: lasts between 2 and 4 weeks
    • Based primarily on medium-term objectives
    • Each cycle aims to develop specific skills
  • Microcycle: lasts between 1 and 2 weeks
    • Based primarily on short-term goals
    • Reflects a session plan for the next week (or two weeks). This plan is posted within the club
• Planning of the skills to develop:
  • Is done on a weekly basis consistently with the microcycle
  • Established in terms of technical, strategic, tactical, mental, physical, etc …

Included in the “training” service, our players will be accompanied and coached on a limited number of tournaments per year.

A selection of French Tennis Federation national tournaments and International ITF is made at the beginning of the season (see tab “Programming”).

The selection of tournaments is based on the age of the player and the level of play.

A tournament plan will be implemented at the beginning of the season with the player, the coaching staff and the legal guardians.

Contact us for more information!