The tennis season has just started, the first Grand Slam is about to start and I thought it would be appropriate to talk about little things that can be important to succeed in a big tournament.

The scenario that I will develop is for contestants with a chance of winning a Grand Slam. The location is Melbourne, Australia, Australian Open. You can extrapolate this to any important tournament with identical conditions.

Many players, either out of sheer anxiety or because they believe they are not well prepared for a big event, tend to overtrain and go into a series of events that ultimately backfire on the tournament they really want to do well in.

EXAMPLES OF WHAT NOT TO DO:

– Overextend yourself in extremely long practice matches or tournament matches the week before a major event.

– Enter 2 or even 3 tournaments in a row before a Grand Slam or major tennis event.

-Enter a professional ATP/WTA Tournament the week before a Grand Slam or major tennis event. This is a NO NO for a title candidate…especially if you consider yourself one. Let’s take Roger Federer as an example.

– You overtrain or train too hard the week before a Grand Slam or major tennis event thinking you need extra hours of training to feel confident. Instead, it’s time to taper off.

– Hit the gym and “pick up some iron” the week before a Grand Slam or major tennis event.

– Do long runs the week before a Grand Slam or major tennis event.

EXAMPLES OF WHAT DO:

– Start working 6 weeks before the Grand Slam or a Major tennis event 5 to 6 hours a day, tennis, mental, physical and regeneration training. Tapering off at the end of the 2 weeks of training, play the first tournament ideally in the 3rd week. (Yes, in periodization training it is called Microcycle)

– Enter an official ATP/WTA tournament three weeks before the Major or Grand Slam, play hard and try to win it.

– The next 2 weeks should focus on keeping reflexes, reaction time, overall strength, speed and endurance alive, with short time and fitness time reduced to 2.30/3 hours. Use a lot of variety in workloads and intensity in all training sectors.

– In the week before a Grand Slam or major tennis event or any tournament, forget about drills and repetitive work and just focus on match play, point play and variety.

– Enter an exhibition or play some friendly matches the week before the Grand Slam or a tennis Major.

This is the best way to play matches without the stress of ATP/WTA points or rankings… and it allows you to try anything you have practiced or want to continue practicing.

– Do short sprints and sprints to stimulate your reaction time and speed.

– Keep workouts short-term, short, varied, interesting, and lively.

– Smile a lot, enjoy what you are doing, have fun doing it.

– Enjoy your practice partners, make them your friends and fans.

WHY NOT participate in an ATP/WTA professional tournament the week before a Grand Slam or major tennis event?

– As we all know, no amount of training can reverse the natural cycle of regeneration of our cellular system that goes in high and low cycles of approximately 21 days.

– Playing a winning tournament the week before the Australian Open is NO NO. Playing 7 days at a great cost of physical and mental resources can drain you of much-needed energy for the Grand Slam Tournament.

– Also, considering the Australian Open is another 15 days for a total of 22 days until the final, it means you could salvage the first five days at the Australian Open. But, physically you are pretty much doomed to lose in the next 10 days, because after 12 to 15 days your red blood cells start to die and your natural low red blood cell count will kick in. This reduces your physical performance by 30% or more, leading to mental and physical fatigue and poor performance, leading to crucial mental failures in close matches. As we saw in the 2007 US Open final, where Novak Djokovic fell victim to the sun, long matches, a horrendous schedule, and the failure of his regenerative system, in other words, his red blood cells or lack of.

– Some try to cheat with EPO and other means to compensate for the lack of red blood cells, but scientists and scientific laboratories know that Superman does not exist!… and even if the athlete is not caught by EPO, the consequences can be told: EPO, for example, thickens the blood to the point where the risk of heart attack increases by 90%!

OTHER FACTORS TO PAY ATTENTION TO:

– Another factor to consider is the myth that practicing in the sun makes you more resistant! That is a complete fable. If you are well conditioned, the week before a Grand Slam like the Aussie and during the Aussie, if you are a contender, try to practice very early in the morning or very late in the afternoon or in the evening after sunset.

– Stay as far away from the sun as possible. Save every ounce of energy for your matches, training in the Australian sun is suicide, you just don’t need it. (Of course you will need some training in the sun, but keep it to a minimum)

– While you are in the tournament, there is a great temptation to go to a pool in the hotel or elsewhere. Just no! Swimming demands muscle groups that will slow you down and even lead to poor coordination.

– Use the Jacuzzi for a short time (max. 5 minutes) for the short regenerative and relaxation time it offers. Hurry up, don’t stay too long, it may turn you into a soft swamp for the next day.

– DO NOT expose yourself to the sun to get a full tan, the sun will deplete your energy!

– If you are scheduled to play in a one-day match, take the following precautions two to three days before and during tennis matches:

– Drink at least 5 to 8 liters of good, clean water the day before. Yes, you will go to the bathroom a lot, but you will need fluid reserves.

– Eat your usual carbohydrates, jams, cheese, milk, müsseli, cornflakes, fruit, a beer or a glass of wine from time to time (if you are of legal age), etc… and sleep, sleep! much!

– On the court Don’t eat bananas! It’s the most ridiculous thing you can do! Bananas take 3-4 hours to digest and will only drive important and needed blood to your digestive system that would otherwise be used elsewhere in your body to generate or deliver energy specifically to your lungs and muscles (oxygen and glycogen ).

– Take a pre-cut watermelon and eat it at every break in the first game.

– Take your energy bars and electrolytes with you, but if you need a high, have a few shots of Coca Cola just before the closing phases of each set and especially before tiebreaks. Of course, you’ll have to deal with a possible low blood sugar after that, but you won the set!

– DO NOT wait for a physical failure to occur. Take precautions against sun and fatigue before it happens, once heat stroke or cramps start, it’s too late!:

1-Wear a hat that covers the back of your head/neck if possible (from the first game onwards!).

2- Cool your head with water or a towel full of ice from the first change!

3- Use the towel filled with ice cubes on the back of your neck and leave it there during each change of sides of the match!

4- Use another towel filled with ice cubes at each change and give your legs a good rub (quadriceps, hamstrings, calves and arms too!)

5- In all the changes, drink water, clean and fresh water (do not drink too cold water and drink in small sips)

6- As I was saying before, eat watermelon, a lot of watermelon.

FLUID REPLACEMENT, VITAMINS AND MINERALS FOR TOURNAMENT PLAYERS

There’s a lot more, but some are really private, like how many kisses you give your girlfriend! Let me tell you, it didn’t seem to have negatively affected Björn Borg’s tennis performance, on the contrary, he was doing very well! Back in the seventies, while playing the Turó Sub 18 and the Barcelona Open qualifiers, I saw Björn almost every night glued to the lips of his girlfriend on the stairs of our hotel! Boy what the hell was he a World Champion Kisser! But you should be more serious than Björn and check with your coach or training team before taking any of those steps. (smile)

All the best in your tournament!