The presentations by Dr.  Neeru Jayanthi focused on an areas of great interest to me which considered injury prevention in elite junior tennis. With my main philosophy being that tennis can help develop young people positively whilst having great interest in talent development, I was intrigued to listen to the session. Indeed one of the first points made was that coaches (45%) have the most influence on players wishing to train at a high level in comparison to the player (35%) and then the parent (15%). This straight away made me think with coaches being the most influential person determining how intensely the player considers to take the game, even with the best intentions are coaches educated to a level where they understand volume, levels of appropriate intensity and how growth effects a young person’s body? Indeed the thoughts of children not being miniature adults sprung to mind. Jayanthi went onto discuss a number of research articles he has published in recent years including considering risk factors for medical withdrawals from USTA National junior tournaments and training and sport specialisation risks in junior elite tennis players. A host of possible conclusions can be made from these two pieces of research. For example cumulative match scheduling and competition without adequate recovery and rest (approximately two hours) can be detrimental for junior tennis players. Despite this many systems across the world which rank and rate players are based on volume such as how many matches you win within a certain time period which ultimately may lead to excessive volume. Other conclusions were that players should consider delaying early specialisation until middle or late adolescence due to a potential increase risk of burnout and injury alongside playing only one or two tournaments per month, having adequate time away and recovery from the sport. Thanks must go to Jayanthi for his passion and drive to delivery outstanding research in this area of youth development.

There were a host of other fascinating presentations attended by myself and Mike James. Page Love delivered a session on nutrition focusing on recovery and reducing the potential risk of injury for tennis players. Much of the focus was on tart cherry juice and the antioxidant nature of this to reduce muscle soreness and aid recovery. Indeed this would be a very interesting research topic for anyone in tennis considering the benefits of tart cherry juice during intense match play and recovery. Ollie Stephens then considered the important factors when working as a team to develop competitive tennis players and Dr. Larry Lauer discussed bringing back players from injury. This lecture provided a great insight into the stages an athlete goes through when being injured, such as going through the grief stages and how a team can respond in a way to create a supportive, nurturing environment to help get the athlete back to full fitness. This included factors such as clear and transparent communication, education and listening to the athlete. Other excellent sessions discussed injury and illness data from the US Open for the past 15 years and the age eligibility rule and managing WTA players. Both gave a great insight to working with elite professionals.

The practical elements from USTA Head of Strength and Conditioning Satoshi Ochi, Director of Strength & Conditioning at the University of Georgia, Katrin Koch, and Spanish Director of Education for the iTPA Lalo Vicencio gave delegates an opportunity to actively get involved and take home tennis specific drills and exercises. Focus on these areas included the split step and the opening of the hip and initial step, footwork and agility movements and co-ordination exercises to use with both younger and older tennis athletes. It must be said that with the great range and diversity of presentations and break out groups unfortunately we couldn't make each one, but based on other delegates thoughts and reviews every researcher or practitioner must be recognised for their excellent delivery and information either on a coaching, sport science or medicine level.

Away from the presentations the forums provided delegates to ask questions related to tennis science and medicine questions with two themes. The first one focused on developing young healthy tennis athletes. Indeed the topics varied from ways in which to strength train, manage volume and nutrition such as supplementation. The second panel discussed working with elite full time tennis professionals. It was also a pleasure to hear Atlanta based ATP tennis professional Robby Ginepri give his opinions on how tennis has changed over the past decade since he began his career on the tour. There was great acknowledgement that sport science and medicine has a larger part now to play when developing players and this is due to the advancement of the game physically. Ginepri explained that within his academy sport science plays an important role with the use of physical conditioning and performance psychology and nutrition sessions. This gave me great confidence with me recently starting my own business (www.scienceintennis.com) which is a sport science business solely focusing on tennis.

Ultimately both Mike and I feel there were a number of take home messages for practitioners working in tennis to be aware off. First of all you have to know the game, be aware of the common areas of injury, the challenges both junior tennis and senior professional players face alongside understanding the uniqueness of how to train a tennis player. Secondly, every tennis player is different and knowing your athlete and allowing them to feedback to you and the team you work with is essential to develop a strong professional relationship and maximise their potential. Thirdly don't over complicate things, tennis is a difficult sport to plan and periodise for so use the most effective ways of training but keep things as simple as possible. It was clear that educating players, coaches and parents alongside communicating with and understanding the roles of practitioners who can help develop tennis players, reduce injury and enhance performance is essential, the goal of any of us working within tennis. 

Over 11 Hours of Presentations from the 2014 Tennis Medicine & Performance Conference available for download at the iTPA Dartfish Channel

http://www.dartfish.tv/CollectionInfo.aspx?CR=p90378c98277

Announcing an in-person 4-Hour Specialty Course FREE for iTPA and USPTA members. Speed, Agility & Quickness for Tennis: Creative Programming to Add Value To Your On-Court Training. Sunday, June 9th in Mt Kisco, NY from 4 - 8 PM EST. See details below and register today! (If you are an iTPA Member, email us to let us know you are attending).

Event Webpage:   www.itpa-tennis.org/agility-course

When:
Sunday, June 9, 2013
4:00 - 8:00 PM EST

Where:
Saw Mill Racket Club
77 Kensico Drive
Mt Kisco, NY 10549
(914) 241-0797

Price:
Complimentary for iTPA and USPTA Members
$50 for any individual not a member of iTPA or USPTA

*If you are an iTPA Member in good standing and will be attending, please
email us here so we can get an accurate head count.
You must send us an email in order to attend the event.

Worth 50 iTPA CPE credits

What:

This four hour specialty course will provide specific drills and exercises to develop tennis-specific speed, agility and quickness. Improving tennis-specific movement is paramount to success on the court at every level of the game. The format of the course is designed to allow the participant to learn the best methods and progressions and how to link these drills and exercises with strokes and strategy. The entire course will be on-court and in an interactive format to ensure a full understanding of how these drills and exercises can be implemented into your lesson plans.

Come and join your fellow professionals in a unique format that will allow significant interaction and case examples with scenarios that you encounter every day with your players. Worth 50 iTPA Continuing Professional Education Credits and 2 USPTA credits. NO refunds, even if you are not able to attend.

The USPTA Eastern is hosting it's annual TennisFest on June 9th and 10th. Information and registration here.