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

Training Block Weeks 3 & 4

Hello,

Unfortunately I was around 30 on the alternates list for Glasgow futures this weekend gone. As such I simply couldn't justify the cost of travelling the entire length of the country if I wasn't guaranteed to get in, so instead this week saw the third week of my training block start and it was just as heavy!

For this week I decided to increase the intensity somewhat in the gym. This meant things got a lot heavier - and I focused more on shorter breaks in between the various exercises to really work the muscles. This has required some seriously early nights after being completely exhausted at the end of what feels like a very long day! The week finished with a hit with my old coach who is currently on temporary leave from the Royal Marines, but is a former top 700 ATP player, so it's always good fun. 

The training block has now become a five week training block as the futures in Cardiff were becoming more unlikely and I simply had to accept some work that I was offered. One thing you quickly learn in full time tennis is that, unless you are quite close to the top of the game, there is very little money in it in comparison to the expense. Thankfully one job that does pay well and offers good flexibility around training and competing is doing some coaching work, and so I will have a long weekend off working instead of training amid this block!

This comes at a very necessary time as this fourth week of my training block has gotten underway and, whilst it is only Tuesday, I must say I am already waning! I have had two two hour sessions on court that have been a mix of controls and practice sets, alongside a heavy chest and arms session in the gym yesterday. I will have three more sessions in the gym this week to complete the training alongside hitting. All those little niggles and aches are beginning to take their toll on my body and so I am looking forward to spending the weekend away from the gym; ready to blitz a final week of this block.

Next week should see a very different style of training so be sure to check in and find out what I've been up to! Then we are looking at a much longer off-season than previously expected as we go into the winter and I will be sure to keep updating this on my progress with videos, photos and reports! 

Training Block Week 2

Hi,

Week two of my training block has been the toughest week so far - it was far heavier in the gym and also included a lot more cardio training with two medium length runs and two pool sessions as well. I have decided to increase my pool sessions, it's not something I would normally include in my training programme as I prefer running, and whilst I want to keep up my running as it's the ideal workout for your legs and tennis cardio, swimming provides a much lower impact cardio training. This means that I have felt like I can train harder on a tennis court because my legs are less tired and have fewer aches and pains as they would from the pounding they take from a run. Obviously, I will continue to run also, as interval training, sprints and middle distance running provide the backbone of my cardio training.

During a training block like this it is very important to know about the nutritional side of things and implement it effectively. This can have a huge impact on your recovery and your energy through and after training. I say this now as I am tucking into two large steak sandwiches to prep me for a harsh gym session this afternoon! :) 

I also managed to get a few videos of some of my on court training this week - they are only short individual clips but hopefully it gives an idea of my tennis and my shots. This has also provided me with some good material to study and work with - it really helps to see your shots in action as you can pick up on exactly what you are doing both right and wrong visually, that you don't get to see when you are on a court normally. Thanks to the wonders of youtube unfortunately the quality is even worse then originally! But here are a just a couple to give you a taster of my game - will get some more of my training over the remainder of this training block.

Hope you enjoy watching and reading a bit about what I do - I am now on week 3 which is slightly lighter in the gym in preparation for Glasgow futures however I am currently around 30 on the alternates list so I will decide on Tuesday or Wednesday whether it will be worth me making the trip up the entire length of the country for that one or not. If not then I will be extending my training block ready for Cardiff the week after and making this week as heavy as last week.

I will keep you updated on my training and whether or not I end up in Glasgow or not. If you have any questions or feedback I would love to hear from you! Also I'm on twitter @jacksaunders so get in touch.

Training Block Week 1

Hi,

First off sorry for this taking so long - I can't believe how much time has passed since I last updated my blog but time flies when you're busy I guess! And the last couple of weeks have been particularly busy indeed.

After the last futures tournament I played I had scheduled a couple of weeks away with my girlfriend as a holiday which was much needed and extremely well-received! A few days off like this away from tennis and training and most importantly doing very little is essential and I am more conscious of this  nowadays after suffering from a form of Mono at a similar time last year as a result of working several jobs alongside my full time training. Since then I have been much more alert as to ensuring that rest periods are frequent enough to ensure the risk of burnout is minimised.

I arrived back from my holiday over a week ago and my three-week training block began last Tuesday. This training block has been setup in preparation for two more futures tournaments that begin at the end of the three-week block. The first is in Glasgow, Scotland and the second in Cardiff, Wales back to back - I am currently on the alternate list for Glasgow so am hoping to get in on withdrawals at the moment.

The first week of my training has been based on two hours tennis in the morning, with heavy gym sessions in the afternoons, followed by my regular stretching programme. My gym sessions for the first two weeks of the training block are very heavy weights and resistance sessions. This means that I will do around 4 sets of 6-10 reps of each exercise and each day is based around two muscle groups. My programme is broken down into Chest & Arms; Shoulders & Back; Legs & Abs; and Core Stability. Each day is focused around the respective muscle group and really allows me to heavily work that particular area of the body.

I have been feeling very good on the court this last week and have spent it hitting with another player, Ashley. This first week has been more about finding my rhythm back out on a tennis court after a little while off. This then included a lot of point based scenarios and towards the end of the week I began serve and return work also.

This next week holds a lot more hitting work and gym work, including some additional cardio work. This will be a mix of sprint training, interval training and 10k running which will really push me as it is the middle week of the block. The final week of my training block will include more hitting and matchplay getting me ready for the tournament qualifiers the following week and any gym sessions will be more endurance based (ie: lower weight; higher reps).

I hope this has provided a reasonably in depth breakdown of what this training block is looking like for me. I really hope to push my fitness to the next level over the next couple of weeks as the winter training off season will begin shortly after Cardiff and I want to be fully prepared to take my game to the next level after that!

I hope to get you some video of my training both on and off the court at some point over this training block and look forward to any feedback or questions on the blog!

Roehampton $10,000 Futures

Hi,

Well this weekend that just gone saw the second futures tournament in my series of three back-to-back in the UK, and luckily this time it was a lot closer to home - Roehampton, London. I had been feeling great all week, especially after my experience up in Wrexham the previous week and had been training even better. I had taken no days off after Wrexham as I wanted to get straight on with improving the things that I had learnt from my match and so training got underway on Monday.

The first couple of days were reasonably light with a couple of endurance gym sessions and 2 hours on court each day. I always then like to up the intensity greatly and had a couple of 4 hour days of more intense work on the court. I stop my gym work and running for a few days prior to a tournament and really focus on getting everything right on the tennis court. I felt like I was hitting the best that I have been hitting in a long time and felt extremely comfortable, particularly on the return, but also during points. My style of game leads me to have quite an explosive baseline game. I like to dominate points with my serve and forehand and often like to finish points at the net. My defence is getting better - particularly after spending so much time out in Spain, but I would rather counter-punch more than defend as it were (certainly in Spanish terms!).

I then spent Friday on the court for two hours in the morning but took the afternoon off in order to rest before Roehampton. Saturday was sign in and I travelled up with another player and hitting partner, Hassan, and hit with him and Ashley on the indoor courts at Roehampton. This is the National Tennis Centre for the LTA and the UK and is an amazing facility. The courts are fantastic and the environment is even better... it's just a shame the LTA are so poorly run otherwise with something like this facility (costing around £40million I believe) we could be producing a hell of a lot more players!

That evening the draw came out and I was lucky enough to have a bye through the first round of qualifying and so wouldn't be playing until the afternoon. This would give me enough time to head up earlyish to the centre, hit for around an hour before having some lunch and prepping for my first match. It would also mean that if I could get through this match I would be straight through to the last round of qualifying and the prospect of that excited me greatly!

Once I got onto the match court I discovered I was playing Fares Ghasya from Libya, who had won through earlier that day. He had gone through qualifying in Wrexham the previous week to win a match in main draw and get his first point there so I knew this would be a tough one! He is a left-hander with a big serve and reasonably big shots off the ground. He hits relatively flat and didn't like the points to last long. Unfortunately, I came out and played what I can only describe as horrific tennis. It was honestly the worst I have played in a long time. I felt great going into the match and felt as if I knew I was striking the ball particularly well and went in with a reasonable amount of confidence (something I have lacked in the past). However, I didn't make anywhere near enough balls in the court, his lefty serve really troubled me and I failed to notch a single game on the scoreboard. I cannot remember when I last played this badly in a match on a hard court and came off desperately frustrated by myself. I knew going into the match that I would have to take my opportunities and play well, but believed that with the way I had been playing I would have a good shot at taking this match and the opportunity of a last match shootout for a place in main draw. Whether it was nerves or not, I felt extremely tight on the court. I was sluggish and did not move well. I felt a step slow and extremely hesitant and the match flew by in just under an hour. I came away from the match pretty distraught. Not because I lost 0&0 - this has happened before and I have learnt how to deal with this - but because of how well I was playing going into the match and how poorly it came across during the match.

That afternoon I headed home with my girlfriend and decided straight away that it would be necessary for me to take the Monday and Tuesday of this week off. I looked back at my schedule and realised that I had actually only had one full day off in over three weeks and I believed that this may have started to take it's toll on me. Not because of my fitness or my body necessarily, but simply mentally I think I needed to have some time away from a tennis court after such an intense period.

I have spent those couple of days with my girlfriend and with my friends and have had some time to reflect on the match and the days leading into it. I should mention now that I am an exceptionally hard worker. I do not give up at any sign of failure; it simply motivates me to get back out there and work harder. Oh and trust me, I have learnt how to lose and am not afraid to say that.

I had a lot of time over the last couple of days to really think through what I can take from this match and more so my preparation for the match. I came away from Wrexham extremely positively and with lots of things to work on that I knew would put me up there with the guys that have points, but it was a lot harder to decipher what I needed to learn from this match in Roehampton. After some time, I believe that there are two major things that I need to take from this match to reduce the chances of this happening again (I recognise that these things happen and people have 'bad days' so I would never strive to eliminate it altogether - an impossible task). Oddly, the two things seem to contradict one another slightly but also maybe explain each other. I believe that I may have overtrained prior to the tournament, but also gone in underprepared for my match.

I believe this simply because I think that I went into the match knowing I was striking the ball well because I had been training so hard for the previous 3 weeks, and as a result the day and morning before my match I was too relaxed through my pre-match hitting. I think I may have got too confident that the game that I had been playing all week in practice, would simply turn up again once I got out on the match court and as a result my intensity and discipline (which is usually what I take my pride in) was lacking somewhat in my preparation before my match. I think I may have become a little complacent and so my stretching routines and mental routines were not quite there. Obviously, I have to give credit to my opponent and I know he is a good player and deserves the points he got last week. But I honestly know that I could have performed much much better on the match court yesterday and it frustrates me that I failed to do so when I've felt like now is such a good opportunity for me.

I apologise now if I have babbled on a bit here but I certainly feel a lot better getting it out and down on paper. I know it may seem like my two points contradict, but I also believe that as a result of my over training I think it may have caused my lack of better preparation on the mental side certainly!

Anyway, I have been back to training today and came off court around 1pm after a three hour hitting session. I will now get in the gym this afternoon and will be hitting all the rest of the week. I have entered the futures in Nottingham which start next week but I am currently around 17 on the alternate list so I am not sure if I will travel for this one or not. I am planning on a short holiday with my girlfriend the following week which will be some much needed time off prior to the hard training and tournament run in to Christmas, the off-season and more training!

Thanks for reading and as ever any questions/feedback will be answered/greatly appreciated :)