Guest post by Dean Hollingworth, CTPS, MTPS, CSCS

Practice: perform (an activity) or exercise (a skill) repeatedly or regularly in order to improve or maintain one's proficiency. Practice is what takes an athlete from where he or she is, to where they want to be skill wise. My question is, when does an actual practice start? Is it when they first step onto the court? During the warm-up? Maybe it’s during the first drill? And then, when does it end?
 
A few days ago I was walking through our gym and saw three athletes sitting in a circle apparently “stretching.” I took the time to encourage them with their stretching and told them that this should become a habit. Every bit of effort that you put into your training will pay off in the future. Essentially you are training today for tomorrow’s successes.
 
So, where does practice start and end? Many athletes seem to put considerable amount of attention into their training when there is some type of competition, like when playing points or practice matches. But what about the rest of the time, during the more mundane tasks of warming-up or recovery? The old saying is that practice makes perfect. Then it morphed into perfect practice makes perfect. I’m telling you that purposeful practice will lead to success on the court. This must transcend not only during times where the athlete wants to be present, but also during any activity that is adding in the advancement of their career. Without the attention and intention of the athlete, they will not progress as much as perhaps they could.
 
So again, when does it start and end? I believe that for any athlete that has expressed a desire to have a career in sports, practice doesn’t start or end, it’s always there. Every facet of an athlete’s life aids in their development as a complete person and player. The athlete must have ownership of their path. Every little thing counts, whether it’s hydrating properly prior to training, getting enough sleep or working on the mental aspect of their game. It’s like a recipe, if any portion of it is left out, you cannot predict the outcome. If you’re trying to bake a chocolate cake and you leave the chocolate out, I assure you that it will not be what you expected. In life however, there are no guaranties, even if all aspects of training are perfected. But it is good to stack the odds in your favor.
 
Dean Hollingworth, MTPS, CSCS
[email protected]
Twitter: @deaner99

Conference summary by Oliver Stephens, CTPS, MTPS

iTPA’s World Tennis Fitness Conference raises the bar once again.
The International Tennis Performance Association’s (iTPA) annual World Tennis Fitness Conference has quickly become associated with excellence.  This year’s event was no exception.  For many Physical Therapists, Strength and Conditioning Trainers, Medical Doctors, Chiropractors and Tennis Professionals, this has become the one event that is a regular fixture in their calendars.   

This year’s event included a host of world class speakers such as Allistair McCaw, Page Love, Lalo Vicencio, Page Love, Joanna Goldin, Dr. Neeru Jayanthi, Jonny Fraser and more, and was headed up by keynote speakers Dr. Ben Kibler and Gil Reyes, who has worked with Andre Agassi for over 20 years! 

Some of the highlights included:

• Gil Reyes, discussing how the athlete should have a strong degree of control in developing a fitness program, which really gave the audience a new way of looking at developing programs.
• Lane Evans, discussing injuries and injury prevention for the over 50 athlete.
• Dr. Neeru Jayanthi presenting Scientific Evidence on injury rates as they relate to frequency and velocity of training. Dr. Jayanthi has a great presentation style and can actually present statistics and keep the audience laughing and engaged at the same time!
• Dean Hollingworth, who gave an exceptional session on movement drills and emphasized the importance of incorporating the split step into movement training sessions.
• Lalo Vicencio, who gave a great presentation on movement patterns for the forehand and backhand, emphasizing that we have to teach our athletes to move in all directions in order to create space to make the appropriate strokes. 
• Dr. Paul Lubbers from the U.S.T.A. discussing the importance of developing a quality support team and the importance of the sharing of information among coaches, trainers and P.T.’s. 

There were too many golden nuggets of information to list here; however, one of the most significant impacts that the iTPA World Tennis Fitness Conference is having on the Tennis Community is the networking opportunity available.  The quality of the attendees, who were from several countries around the world, is very high and cannot be matched elsewhere.  There were several of the iTPA’s Master Tennis Performance Trainers on site and many College Trainers & Coaches, PhD’s and well-known tennis coaches were in attendance.  Over 26 Universities had staff in attendance including Princeton, Ohio State, Michigan, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Florida State among many others. Top coaches were also in attendance, and were all eager to share ideas and network with other attendees. 

Overall, this was another amazing event.  Dr. Mark Kovacs, Mary Jo Kovacs and their team have worked tirelessly to create a quality experience for all involved and we are all looking forward to the 2017 World Tennis Fitness Conference.