Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of training professional tennis players including: Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Pete Sampras, Justine Henin-hardenne, and Jennifer Capriati, to name a few. Now, in this new series of articles for TennisONE, I will be sharing the same cross training secrets--techniques that can be used by players of all levels and abilities.   

Following this program, you will learn to build speed, endurance, flexibility, and power. I’ll show you how to train in stages the way top pro players train to peak for important tournaments and big matches. Believe me, following this program can be the determining factor in reaching your competitive goals.

The program is divided into six stages. These stages are progressive, that is, they build upon each other, with every stage using a different combination of work, rest, and training intensity. 

There are four stages leading up to the competitive stage. The final stage is recovery, or what I call “active rest.”

6 Stage of Cross Training

This may sound complicated, but for the recreational player, this training program is actually highly time efficient. It requires only two workouts a week, each a half hour to an hour in length. Day one each week is aerobic and on court training. Day two is strength training, using weights and other exercises.   

Unless you learn to use your time to train progressively, you’ll never reach your physical peak or achieve your best on-court performances. And remember, it only takes an hour or two a week! 

More advanced players can use this same program to train four days a week, with two days of aerobic and on-court training and two days of strength training. Or, they can even train six days a week, alternating three days of aerobic and on-court training with three days of strength training. 

The first four training stages are presented as a standard 12-week program, leading up to the competitive stage. But the length of the program as well as the length of the individual stages can be adjusted to fit your personal competitive schedule.

Work with your coach, teaching pro or personal trainer to determine how much training is appropriate for your level of play and current condition. The end result is, you will learn to move on the court like the pros and beat the players you want to beat.

Warm-up Jog

In this first article, we will explain how to do a dynamic physical warm-up. The purpose of the warm-up is to raise your heart rate, to warm up your muscles, and to prepare you mentally and physically for exercise so you reduce your chance of injury to a minimum. 

Most players do not warm-up sufficiently, or warm-up at all. The pro warm-up, presented here, is the same one I've used on court with multiple grand slam champions such as Jim Courrier and Pete Sampras. Believe me, it works! You'll be amazed at the difference it can make in your ability to move on the court and your overall performance.

The next article will add a tennis specific stretching program to complete immediately after the warm-up. The warm up and the stretch are a critical part of your training, and you’ll use them to start every workout throughout all the stages of your program. In addition, you’ll do the stretching program again after every workout to increase your flexibility. Better flexibility is a very important part of learning to move like the pros.

Start by jogging two slow laps around the court. Take it nice and easy. You're going to warm-up in a way that makes sure you won't get hurt on the court. While you’re jogging, you can begin thinking about how you're going to play today. 

Shuffle Step

After the jog, line up sideways to the baseline. Shuffle step to the baseline and back. 

About 50% effort is all you want. Repeat it twice. Your center of gravity should stay low. I don't want to see your head going up and down. 

To see the rest of the warm-up, click below to go to page two.

Go to page 2

Pat Etcheberry is one of the premier trainers in professional tennis. A former Olympic athlete, his clients have included dozens of highly ranked pro players, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Pete Sampras, Jennifer Capriati, and
Justine Henin-hardenne.

Etcheberry Sports Performance is based at Saddlebrook Resort outside of Wesley Chapple, Florida. For information regarding training programs, call
(813) 973-1111.