Magic Number 3

So we are into week four of the new training programme and I have had two tough weeks of training. The focus has come off technique ever so slightly and we are beginning to introduce more tactical developments to my game.

Since my last blog, the first week was a tough one and I was feeling the effects of both tiredness from the work that I had been doing and frustration with over thinking of technique. As a result I had one day in that week that was particularly tough and it was more about working through it and putting the effort in than seeing a great deal of progress. Since then however, I have been extremely happy with the levels of progress that has taken place with my game. After the particularly difficult day, I was determined to ensure that the following day I was able to get on court and just make balls. I focused less on specific technique areas but made sure I was able to raise the level of intensity I had on court and was able to put a lot more balls back in court.

This last week has been even more positive as I have seen significant developments in my forehand. I am beginning to get a lot more confidence in the technical adjustments and feel like my forehand is developing into a real weapon now and I look to dominate points off that wing more than ever. My backhand is taking a little longer to adjust and I have been focusing my attention on my footwork to ensure I get into a better position, with my body behind the ball, through every shot. I have also been working on my serve and am seeing progress to a much more fluid shot. I have included a couple of short videos below that give you a little idea of what I have been doing.

As a result of the improvements technically we have been able to do a lot more point work and are beginning to work on a higher level of intensity through each point. We are also working on my court positioning depending on the shot I have hit and really looking to dominate and dictate each point off the ground.

Despite the freezing cold here in the UK, we continue to train hard each day this week outdoors in all weather conditions and for more regular updates and photos please follow me on twitter here: twitter.com/jacksaunders

We also had an interview with The Daily Echo on Friday and I will ensure I post the article as soon as it appears in the paper! Thanks for reading and here's to another week of progress! :)

A week of shoulders

First week of training with new coach, Gary Waughman, has come and gone already. It's been a very intense week getting used to his style of coaching and the adjustments he wants to make to my game. I have also been working with hitting partner Kev Gissing who is ideal as at a playing level his game was always about grinding out victories making very few errors. This makes the sessions even tougher when the ball keeps coming back but gives me the goal that if I can hit through him and outlast him on a court, I know I'm doing well!

The biggest changes that we are in the process of making to my game is adjusting the shoulder rotation on both my forehand and my backhand. We have also made changes to my serve to increase the shoulder rotation to increase the 'coiling' effect. All of these adjustments are being introduced immediately and my new coach is right on my back to ensure that right through from the first ball I hit in the warm up through every point situation I am disciplined enough to continue the technique.

Alongside the technique adjustments and tennis training my fitness training has continued with a few running sessions, along with a newly acquired heart rate monitor which has been great for allowing me to monitor my progress and make sure I am training in the right 'zones'. I will drop my gym weights sessions to just three each week which will focus on heavy weight training still for chest and arms, shoulders and back and legs. However, I have introduced more core training and tennis specific training that I am able to complete with relatively little equipment in and around my work on court. This includes some new training using gymnastic rings, courtesy of my brother. They provide some great exercises that use your whole body to stabilise your movement through each exercise and are ideal for core training for tennis.

That's all for this blog this week but I will keep you updated on my progress. Here are just a couple of short videos showing the kind of thing that we have started working on in a controlled environment, hence working from the service line etc. Please also take a look at my twitter account for more regular updates! www.twitter.com/jacksaunders

2012

Hello!

It's been a while since my last update about how my training block was going. So long in fact that a new year has begun!

My last post turned out to be the end of my tournament season 2011 and I continued my training through to the Christmas period. During this time I have been focusing more on the fitness side of my training than the tennis. I have continued to include up to ten hours of hitting a week but have had four heavy sessions in the gym per week as well as yoga, three running sessions per week and a seemingly endless time spent stretching and injury prevention!

Luckily for me, as opposed to many of the top players, I can forego some of my training over the Christmas period and treated myself to a week off training last week to spend with my girlfriend, family and friends. This is a really nice recovery period for the body as well as a really big boost ready to hit the new year hard. And I'm determined to make it a good one!

During the last couple of months of 2011 I have been in talks with a new coach and am delighted to announce that I will now be working with Gary Waughman and team at Sportstech. I have had several meetings with him over the past few weeks and after some discussions we have agreed a proposal which will see us work together over the next year.

I am very excited about the potential we have to work together and hopefully what we can achieve this year! Our current plan begins next week and we will work on a three month training block that will allow Gary to bring what he has to offer to my game and we can make the changes that we feel necessary before we are able to hit the tournaments hard and work towards getting my world ranking.

I will keep this blog much more regularly updated over this year as I hope it will accurately document my tennis career and hopefully what will be the best tennis year yet! In between I will also be updating my twitter account you can find me here: www.twitter.com/jacksaunders