It’s not Cardio or an exercise class with a racket in your hand it’s a tennis coaching and conditioning class that works on your strength, flexibility and cardiovascular capacity using routines that get you to move in the ways you need to when you play tennis.
It’s a given that, as recreational players, our bodies are not in the same peak condition as those of young professional athletes. This can be true at any age, but we are more sedentary than previous generations, which adds to the effect of ageing.
I am stating the obvious to make an important point; learning a new skill and/or improving performance will be more difficult if you or your coach ignore the condition of your body.
Recreational players are by definition playing a sport for fun, The question you need to ask yourself is what do I need to do to get that greater sense of fun that comes from achieving a higher standard of play and/or competitive success, with a reduced risk of injury.
Functional Tennis Training helps you achieve your tennis goals by addressing your conditioning needs in short functional routines, in the warm-up, at the start of each class. These short routines based on applied functional science and it’s 3DMAPS system progressively build the physical range of motion you need for the rest of each session.
After the Functional warm-up, the sessions will cover the movement patterns and ball striking drills,(rolling content) that give you time to prepare, execute and recover as you would in a game. I will help you develop your skills, or learn new skills and tactics by giving you the time to practice them repeatedly in the classes…it’s the way we learn motor skills, repetition ( neurobiologists call it proprioception)
Its capacity and performance building in a progressive and sustainable way with a reduced risk of injury and a heightened sense of achievement – see Testimonials.
Vaughan Ebrahim, LTA accredited Level 4.
Gray Institute, CAFS 2013, 3DMAPS 2017, FT 2023
Functional Tennis Training. 1. The foot/ankle/subtalar complex
In this first session I will introduce the concept of FTT and the exercises that focus on the feet, as one of the three main locomotor units of your body, in upright function, in all three planes of movement. This course aims to progress your biological function for your chosen function (Tennis) by working with ... Read more ...
Functional Tennis Training. 2. The split step and unit turn
Second Lesson plan for FTT (For both groups with progressions) Introduction Part 2, it’s the same as 1, with an emphasis on a key role of the foot/ankle complex , namely the split step/unit turn. These combine to break that state of inertia which is the preferred state of our bodies, at rest. It takes ... Read more ...
Functional Tennis Training. 3. The Hip in all three planes of motion. a. The serve
Lesson plan for FTT 3 For both groups. Introduction .Part 3. We are progressing up the body with the focus on the hip within the six chain reaction lunge matrices, in all three planes of motion with tweaks for the serve. I will also reference the vestibular system in the inner ear and it’s role ... Read more ...
Functional Tennis Training 4. The Hip. More on the serve
Lesson plan for FTT 4(For both groups with progressions) Introduction .Part 4, Last week we completed the mobility lunge with bilateral hands matrix with videos of the six chain reactions covering both directions of the 3 planes of motion. No apologies for repetition as it is the way we learn. The six chain reactions We ... Read more ...
Functional Tennis Training. 5 More on the hip and upper body in the serve.
Lesson plan for FTT 5 (For both groups with progressions) Introduction .Part 5, We continue to focus on the hip with particular reference to motion in the upper body in the serve and how the six chains help to create the pathways for a more authentic and fluid motion , based on the chain reaction ... Read more ...
Functional Tennis Training. 6. An approach to preparing to serve.
Lesson plan for FTT 6 (For both groups with progressions) Introduction .Part 6, After the warm up and revision on groundstrokes as below, we will look at ‘A functional Approach’ in preparing to serve. My post from Chain Reaction Biomechanics . The serve details the load stages and in the video below I take you ... Read more ...
Functional Tennis Training. 6.1 Progress stroke mechanics with tweaked functional routines
Introduction . 6.1. Developing your range of motion with flexibility, strength, and balance functional routines, that work the connectivity between the upper and lower body in groundstrokes , and the serve. Warm up. 15 mins, it makes sense in preparing to play that you increase body warmth and circulation first with: Two laps 1 ... Read more ...
Lesson plan for FTT 6.2. More on tweaking the six chains
Introduction .Part 6.2. We are continuing the development work in the previous session using the six chains and tweaking these chains to create pathways for specific tennis movements. The emphasis is still on the essential interdependence of the upper and lower body and the need to exercise that in both more local and global movements. ... Read more ...
The role of the Fascia in Human Movement Training for Function. Part 1 What is Fascia
Watching the highlights of the French open in May, reignited my interest in fascia, which I looked into a decade ago, but failed to grasp it’s significance in human movement. Fascia is the connective tissue found in all parts of the body that enables movement and is a major part of the body’s sensory capacity, ... Read more ...