Training Hours: How Much Is Too Much for Junior Players

Key Points

• It’s not the “amount” of hours you spend on court, it’s the amount of hours you spend “focused” on court
• On court training time should be a max of 4 hours per day with part of it active play where the coach is not giving constant feedback
• The ideal training structure between the ages of 17 and 21 would be fitness first followed by tennis and then lunch, and then tennis followed by fitness in the afternoon
• Injury prevention, mobility exercises and speed work with plyometrics can be included in the warm up
• If you’re training in extreme heat, it’s better to do 1 tennis session per day
• Once the player loses focus in a session, it's better to stop or you can create bad habits and the potential risk of overtraining and injury
• Coaches should seek feedback from parents on outside stressors in the players life that could affect training
• Recovery is just as important as training