The warm-up period is one of the most important periods of training for all tennis athletes. However, it becomes even more important in the High School setting due to the limited time a coach has with players, and also the divergent level of players who play at the High School level. So a major opportunity exists to maximize training time and use the time period as effectively as possible. Although many options exist to perform a well-structured tennis specific warm-up program, below are some great resources that you can implement to help you as a coach/trainer/specialist who works with High School tennis players.
Below is a 45 minute presentation that Dr. Mark Kovacs provided to hundreds of High School Tennis Coaches. It goes into some real depth around the theory behind the warm-up period, but also provides dozens of exercise examples and reasons behind the exercises.
Here is another great presentation on warm-ups with more of a focus on adult recreational players. Although this is a slightly different population group focus, it does have some real practical application that can be used in the High School setting. This live presentation was at the Tennis Congress where the International Tennis Performance Association (iTPA) has been the tennis fitness and sport science provider since the founding of this great event.
If you are a High School coach or someone who teaches, coaches or trains the High School tennis player, we highly recommend you look at the Tennis Performance Trainer (TPT) certification program. It is designed to help you better understand and deliver tennis fitness and sport science information to your players to help them improve performance and reduce the likelyhood of injury.
Our Parent's Guide To Basic Injury Prevention is also a really great resource for anyone working with the High School Tennis Players.
