My Retirement Racket: Tennis Teaching Pros and long hours

A new study says men can get away with it as long as they don't have the additional responsibilities of managing a household.  This is where it seems to work against women according to this study though I wonder if applies to women teaching tennis as well.  I somehow don't think so.

One thing about the study that I found quite relevant was the point that arthritis was common among men who put in long hours but they tended to have fewer of the other degenerative diseases.

Meanwhile, women were subject to home stresses added to long work hours that seemed to set them up for many more health problems later in life.  This points to the idea of balancing work, family, and recreation.  Fortunately, tennis doesn't fall into the category of most corporate jobs that can be loaded with stress.  I never felt the stress of hours on the court.   If anything it was a relief from the management efforts of running a club.

The point here is that productive work can be okay and even long hours properly spent with time for rest and relaxation can be a good trade off.

Relative to the life of a tennis teacher or some other type of job that is more likely to fulfill personal goals you can see less burn out and greater satisfaction.  I found this to be true no matter how many hours I put in on the court.

Having tennis as a career can allow you to combine all of these things with your avocation if your spouse is part of this.  Another component that can make it part of a great lifestyle is to have your kids involved.  Tennis as a family affair seems like the ultimate example of work, play, and family.

The Everett family comes to mind along with some teaching pros I've known where both spouses worked as teaching pros and their kids became active in the sport eventually getting a free ride to college on scholarship and making it a career as well.

Long days on the court can be a way of life for a tennis pro, but in addition to the satisfaction of helping lots of players you may find that it helps you as well.  But for the arthritis, I can say I don't regret any hours I spent on the court whether teaching and coaching, or playing.   I earned enough money to pay my bills and with some discipline and delayed gratification set up a safe and reasonably comfortable retirement.   And remember, for me teaching tennis was a form of retirement from the hazards of jobs that left you worn out but uninspired no matter how much the pay.

Additionally, tennis gives you the option of doing a slow fade into retirement where you scale back your teaching hours as your energy levels flag and your physical abilities drop off.  Stamina is the one thing I found that you lose over time no matter what you do but at least as a tennis teacher and coach you can dial it back as needed.

Anti Dementia: Curry and Tennis

Curry may help fight dementia
Anything is worth a try and there are other reported anti-cancer and inflammation benefits as well.  One of the best ways is  to add curry to chicken as a cooking spice.

Simply Organic Turmeric Root Ground Certified Organic, 2.38-Ounce Container  It makes the meat tastier and it diffuses the sharp taste to those not used to eating the spice.

There are supplements you can take in pill form as well.

My favorite is Zyflamend Whole Body that contains the active ingredient found in curry among many other anti-inflammatory agents.




Exercise as part of a dementia prevention plan
Playing tennis is one element of a healthy exercise effort to protect yourself from mental decline.

One of the best singles matches

Roger vs Novak 2012 Wimbledon

If you want to see one of the best matches ever played, here it is.  The level of play is astounding and I've watched a lot of "best matches ever going back to the 60's."  It is worth watching if you have never seen it.

Junior Tennis Training

Kriek on what it takes to produce results.
Learn something from this article.  He reiterates that hard work and motivation is still the primary element in success on the court.  Other factors include technical aspects of coaching and learning and this is where a good coach with knowledge of technique can shorten the time needed on the court to master a skill.

I totally agree with this approach on technique.  It can shorten years of practice and training to just simply have proper form within the boundaries of physics and biomechanics.  Not everyone has to look the same but the laws of physics and human anatomy dictate certain approaches for good results.  The upside gain for proper technique is that your ability to improve your results has more to do with your physical abilities once you achieve proper form.


Control first, and power last.

Fitness training for tennis

Intensity and Endurance

The arguments for long and arduous tennis training workouts  may be challenged by a new fitness study that suggests fitness can be increased with much less time and instead the focus can be on intensity.  Observable results over time show why this may not be the best approach when you take into account over-use injuries.  I say that as someone who has spent most of his lifetime putting in the hard extra hours on the court and in the process often created repetitive use injuries including arthritis. Take this into account especially if you are forced to learn and play most of your tennis life on hard courts which are also hard on the body.  Such abuse may not be necessary and might even be seen as unsound.

Skills VS Conditioning

My new perspective for workouts includes separating skill training from endurance and conditioning. Though of course there is an overlap but to limit the wear and tear on your body and to enhance recovery it might be best to think of skill training as precision training where your goal is to perfect a motion and control over the ball.  While conditioning could be looked at as simply pushing your cardiovascular system for heart rate increase and oxygen intake.  Strength training is separate from both though high intensity limited repetitions for short intervals can be the answer for increased strength and fitness and limiting injury risk from overuse.

New Study on Conditioning 

1 Minute of all out exercise equals 45 minutes of moderate exertion.

If this study proves to be a new definitive approach to gaining fitness then years or should I say decades of old methods have just been tossed aside, including mine.  I used to live on the court and the truth is I enjoyed it and still would if I could do so.  But time and long term use have shown me that all machines and bodies wear out and that anything you can do to protect yourself from excess mileage while maintaining skill training and conditioning is probably a good thing.   This reminds me of what I used to hear about Jimmy Connors and his training approach back during his prime years.  He would train for short periods, usually an hour if I remember correctly, but at very high levels of intensity and it worked for him in the sense that his skills were already in place and I rarely saw his conditioning become an issue during a match. 

Tennis Teachers and Tournament Players

Keep in mind that many tennis teachers who actively teach individual players in playing lessons and hitting drills are essentially doing long term over-use injuries to their system every day.  It is no different for a tennis player/teaching pro than it is for a any other job that brings regular repetitive strain on the system however limited that a price must be paid and usually this is in joint wear and tissue damage.  I don't know the statistics on longevity of tennis teachers but my observations tell me that few stay the course for 40 or more years without some serious problems relating to joint deterioration and the same goes for tournament players.  

I have come to understand that the last man or woman standing rule really applies to tennis after 60 and especially when the rarified air of 70+ tennis is viewed based on past participation.  It seems that the lawyers who spent most of their time behind a desk while still getting out to play recreational tennis are often the ones still able to participate well into their 70s and 80s, and often right until the end.  Could this be simply because they didn't trash their bodies on the court from athletic overuse.  I think so. 

Greyhound VS Bulldog 

The most obvious current examples are Federer and Nadal.  Looking at Federer play you can see that he puts relatively little strain on his system since his game is predicated on timing and precision. Where Nadal used physical prowess and sheer force of will and effort combined with relentless application of power and racket speed to impart spin as his source of success, and it's likely he has a training program that matches his competitive prowess.  I thought from the beginning that his style of play would eventually lead to career limiting injuries, and sadly this seems to be the case.

Meanwhile,   Federer keeps going, and going, and going in his glider like methodology of minimal strain and I have to imagine that his workout and training program are similarly restrained, and almost done with circumspect admission that he is getting older and can't push too hard for fear of breakage.

Race Cars and Tournament Players

Take a race car versus the commuter vehicle analogy and you can see why considering your body as a vehicle with a finite number of miles available to it over a lifetime might apply.  This could be true especially if those miles are rigorous and there is little time for recovery and repair such as what many tournament players experience where in between matches they will put in many hours of training on the court doing drills that often emulate the hard requirements of play.  Just as a racing vehicle has a short lifetime in competition so must a tournament player depending on their style of play and training methods.  

If you are a tournament player who wants to become the best then maybe this can be justified, and especially if you are already on the way to earning a living from it.  

But as a recreational player or a non-professional (amateur) tournament player there is a long view that should be your concern.  Will my body allow me to be on the court when I hit age 50, 60, 70, and hopefully 80+.  If you want to set that as your goal to make tennis your lifetime sport then I suggest taking a balanced approach that includes limiting yourself and to cross train. 

How to Train for Longevity

Skills

Think of skills as your secret weapon against the need for body damaging overuse and over-exertion. Choose  mastery of skills on the court that work toward this objective.  My suggestion is to make serving for placement, spin, and lastly speed as your order of importance.  Serve every day but serve two baskets  minimum (60 x 2 = 120)  and make these count.  

Ground strokes are your tools for putting pressure on an opponent and the more accurately you can do that with depth, angle, spin, and speed in that order will mean you do less running while your opponent is the one to suffer the physical outcome of chasing down punishing attacks from the ground.   

Volleys are your friend.  Become a volley master.  Why?  Because the better you can volley from anywhere on the court the smaller the court becomes for you.  Rather than having to retreat on some shots to hit your groundstroke it is so much easier to move forward and the bonus of getting more angle available to you means your opponent will run more.  At the net you can cover the court in two lunging steps in either direction while at the baseline your opponent may have to travel 7 sprinting steps or more in either direction to cover the angle you generate from volleys.  Learn to love volleys.

Conditioning - Cardio

Think low impact whenever possible.  If you are working out on a court then clay is your friend and hard courts are your long term enemy.  Do your conditioning training on a soft surface if possible by running  most of your movement drills and sprints on grass fields.  If you must do it all on a court then at least have cushioned shoes and inserts.  DO NOT RUN STAIRS.  These are great for conditioning but unless carpeted with padding you risk serious long term injury such as tendonitis and joint deterioration.  I speak from experience going back to high school where a coach had us run stairs and I had my first bout of tendonitis in the knee.  Squats are okay but again these have a risk especially as you age.  I prefer to use crossover step training for volleys that will do as much for your squatting ability while improving your balance and movement as well.  Cross train on a bicycle or stationary bike,  or a stair climber machine to save your knees from wear.   Walk on a treadmill though I  myself won't run or jog on one.  Instead run across a field of grass and preferably do interval sprint training over long distance jogging.  Remember, tennis is a game of sprints often up to 4 miles of them in a professional match.  

Conditioning - Strength

Dumbbells of limited weight, say 10-20 pounds, can be your safest approach when it comes to strength training for your upper body.  I prefer repetitions that simulate and train the muscles I use for tennis. Add in stretch bands and a medicine ball and you have most of what you need.  Fancy equipment found in many fitness centers can be the source of injury if you aren't careful.  I've witnessed many injuries from these that took players off the court

I stopped doing strength training on my hamstrings and quads decades ago when my only payment for trying these were leg muscle injuries that were debilitating, so I don't recommend this approach. Instead I stretch these regularly as in daily, and prior to play I do dynamic stretching. All the strength training I do on my legs are limited to what your body can do without equipment such as squats and lunges.    Take the approach you are comfortable with but if I were to go with equipment on these I would use a professional trainer with an extensive background.

Take the Long View

Think of your tennis career as one that can last from age 5 to 95 and act accordingly when it comes to protecting and preserving your body.

Proof this exists.

Men's 70, 80, and 90 tennis Championships.

90 Plus Men's Doubles Championship 2012  at Pinehurst - You gotta love these guys.

Match Fixing in Professional Tennis

Lower level players seem to be the ones more susceptible to the allure of payment for throwing a match.  In this article it appears the players are usually not even in the top 200 of the world.
Match Fixing

What can be done about it.  Unless there is some better way of compensating players that earn barely enough to meet expenses to continue competition I see no way to correct it.  Then there is the reality of it.  Does it really matter if some low level player throws a match since it won't change the outcome of tournaments appreciably.   Yes, it does put a tarnish on the concept of sportsmanship.   I suppose a top player might pay someone in their way through the tournament to grease the skids and give them an easy win and for sure some top player could afford it.  Has it happened.  Truthfully, I never even imagined such a situation.  How would you approach someone and ask them to do it except through an intermediary.  It all seems doubtful.

 Can you even imagine a top ten or twenty players not competing or throwing a match for money.  Not likely.  Usually they will throw a match if mad or tired.  Some players have been known to use such tactics if they need time off.  As for the rest of the players doing this I suggest looking for patterns rather than one off events.  The problem is that with a lower level player why would they develop a pattern of throwing matches since it would clearly impact their ranking to send them even further down the ranks.  If there is a betting market for matches at such a level I've not heard of it and so I wonder if it matters at all.  The only thing throwing a match does is harm the player unless it is someone at the top.  To me, this whole thing is a non-issue.

Drug Testing in Professional Tennis

Top players including Federer support a better more intense system for drug testing players.

The best players know it is in their interest to make sure no one is cheating both for their personal results and for the long term protection of the sport.  Since they have skin in the game I'd say that it is a good idea to listen to them.  One great thing about professional tennis is that the top players do have a lot of influence in things like this.

I suppose this focuses specifically on performance enhancing drugs such as steroids that may give an advantage to an athlete over one that doesn't use these.  If so, yes, testing is a good idea for these substances.  As for recreational drugs I don't see them as any advantage since tennis really does require your full physical abilities and mental acuity.