Clay Court Season: Getting Physically Ready for the Dirt

by Lalo Vicencio, CTPS, MTPS

Clay court season is in full swing, and Roland Garros will be here in a blink of an eye. For coaches, players, parents and fans who follow tennis, the tournaments leading up to any Grand Slam are always exciting. Tennis is a unique sport where athletes play on different surfaces, weathers, altitudes; the list goes on. Tennis also offers the audience the possibility to watch the best athletes in the world play on 3 different surfaces during the course of 4 Grand Slams every year. Let’s put aside the many variables that players and coaches encounter on the tour, and let’s focus on the physical preparation required to compete on clay. Here are some factors to consider:
 
Preseason
 
For many athletes the word “preseason” brings flashbacks of long days, hard work and a good amount of physical pain. Don’t take me wrong, all those things are necessary in order to improve the level of fitness and achieve some goals. Pre-season provides the time to regroup, write down and prioritize your goals, make a plan, create a calendar, take a look at your budget, evaluate your level of fitness, prepare for the unexpected, etc. Everybody can do long days and spend hours at the gym or on the tennis court. However, it is paramount for an athlete to have a well-organized plan where all the training variables are working together to enhance the athlete’s performance while minimizing the risk of injury.
 
These are some aspects where coaches and players have to make the best decisions:
 

• How many pre-seasons for this year? When would it be the right day to start preparing for the clay court season?
• How many weeks does the clay court season have? How many total weeks of competition?
• What is the current level of fitness of the player? Is the player going to reach a peak by the French Open? What about Wimbledon?
• How much off court training? How much on court training? How many days? Injury prevention? Strength? Power?
  
  

The challenge for all tennis and fitness specialists is to accommodate all these variables into the year-round calendar of the player.
 
Sliding on the dirt
 
All tennis players may have a different approach to prepare for the clay court season, and we can argue all day long about the best process to reach this goal. However, the one thing most players have in common is: to play more on clay. This means that players run practices, movement sessions, drills, practice matches, etc. on clay. From the physical point of view these are some considerations:
 

• Identify muscle groups that will be used (above average). For example: leg adductors
• Lower extremities: ankles play a huge role in movement. A good balance between strength and flexibility is needed to be efficient on the court.
• Hip and core stability. Keeping a low center of gravity and a very stable core is important at all times when playing on clay. Tennis players rely on these two factors to produce power and to keep the body stable during sliding movements such as defensive situations.

 
Longer points
 
It is no secret that clay courts make the ball bounce slower. A slower bounce has a direct impact on the game at many levels. So what if the game is slower? Wouldn’t that make tennis easier? Sounds like the answer would be yes. However, if players have more time to hit the ball, then they have more time to produce more power, more speed and more spin on the ball. This process of power – slow bounce – power – slow bounce – goes on during rallies making them longer and more physically demanding for the player. These are some factors that coaches and players may find when getting ready for clay court events:
 

• Tennis specific endurance. Athletes need to put it all together! You name it: aerobic base and anaerobic power and capacity.
• Upper and lower body: a strong shoulder. It is very important to consider strengthening of the shoulder and having a good injury prevention program for the player. If the ball bounces slower and the player has more chances to hit the ball harder, then we would think that the shoulder needs a lot of attention, correct? The answer would be yes but the shoulder is not the sole responsible for the racquet acceleration during a tennis stroke. Using the lower body with a good base to initiate the stroke is key to hit a powerful shot. Moving to the ball quickly, setting up a firm base and using the legs and hips to execute are paramount elements. Powerful strokes initiate at the lower body.

 
Hydration, food intake and recovery
 
At a high level of tennis most athletes understand the importance of hydration, nutrition and recovery. They understand that their bodies need to be ready for another session of training or another competition match. They know that the smallest difference can be crucial to win a match. Paying attention to detail is key and it is a process. Junior tennis players usually do not pay as much attention to hydration, recovery and nutrition as professionals do.
Here are some factors to be considered when playing on clay:
 

• Hydration. Before and after practice or competition. How are the weather conditions? Hot and humid? What type of sport drinks work better for the athlete? Do you use a powder supplement for hydration? What to drink for matches over 4 hours? What to drink right after a match?
• Nutrition. Eating the right way not only means to eat healthy; it means to eat adequate amounts at the right times. What to eat before practice or competition? Which would be the best snacks in between? What to eat during matches over 4 hours? What to eat right after finishing a match?
• Recovery. Ice tub? Massage? Stretch? Sleep? Foam roller? How long?

 
The mastery of putting together training and competition variables is always a learning process. Every athlete is different and unique and the calendar of a tennis player is changing constantly. If you want to know more and help your athletes with decisions based on science and based evidence, then come to iTPA and become a Tennis-specific strength and conditioning specialist!