This is an area that we’ve covered before on this site, but I’ve been at a few tournaments recently and it still seems to be one of the most discussed topics. So, as it is such an important area to get right I thought it was worth covering again!
The best and the simplest guide to use is:
Boys
- 12 yrs – play around 12 hours of tennis per week
- If younger than 12 yrs – play less than their age in hours
- If older than 12 yrs – play more than their age in hours
Girls
- 10 years – play around 10 hours of tennis per week
- If younger than 10 years – play less than their age in hours
- If older than 10 years – play more than their age in hours
On top of these tennis hours there should be some other sports and tennis specific fitness sessions added in. With younger players there should be lots of other sports and some tennis specific fitness work added around the tennis sessions. With older players there is likely to be less other sports, but with up to five fitness sessions per week.
That’s a lot of hours!
Yes – that is a lot of hours. It is, however, based on a fair bit of research and duplicated in many other sports. The research used has looked in to how many hours it takes to achieve a high level in sport over the formative years.
How is it possible to fit that many hours in?
The problem we have in tennis is that we have got to the stage where there is almost too much organised coaching and tournament play. In a way, all this organised and high quality tennis is great, but there is a downside which is that children tend to play only when something is organised for them instead of going down to the tennis club and finding somebody to play against. If you consider football you can see how children have no problem fitting in that many hours, as at every school break, after school and at home they get out there with their friends and play.
Some ways to fit in more hours would be:
- Encouraging your child to arrange their own tennis with friends at the club
- Practising specific shots against the wall at home
- Having fewer 1 hour individual lessons and more shared 2 hour sessions
- More squad and match-play sessions
- Getting involved in club tennis leagues and practices
It’s pretty obvious stuff, but think of all the features you’ve seen on sports men and women that reached the top – there is always a story of how they practised by themselves for hours e.g. Bradman hitting a golf ball against a wall with a cricket stump etc. We must ensure in our keenness to do the best for our children that we don’t stifle that independent practice.
So if my child doesn’t play that many hours will they never be any good?
No, not at all. Although this is good research and we should take notice, it is clearly based on averages and by no means a definite rule. The biggest mistake you can make is forcing your child to play for loads more hours than they want to resulting in them playing without conviction or enjoyment – if that happens they won’t get anywhere!
If the recommended number of hours is impossible what can I do?
If you are struggling to get the full number of hours in then a good way to do it is to play fewer hours but in shorter sharper sessions. For example, if the recommended hours per week is 10, a player that plays 6 x 1 hour sessions spread through the week will probably do better than a child that does 3 x 2 hour sessions and a 3 hour session on a Saturday.
The other thing to do is to use practice matches and tournaments. If your child is struggling to get the right number of training hours in during the week, perhaps because of school commitments, then enter them in as many matches as you can at weekends. It’s not the recommended way to do it, but matches are a great way to improve – it’s the most realistic practice you can get!
Train smart! If you can’t do more make sure that what you do is better quality. One or two individuals per week but with good detailed goal setting will benefit the player in all the other sessions that they play in the week.
Keep the ratios the same. The first thing that goes if a player is struggling to fit in the full number of hours is physical training – this is a big mistake. If 10 hours of tennis is recommended with 2.5 hours of physical training then that is a 4:1 ratio. So if your child only has 7.5 hours available then it should be 6 hours tennis and 1.5 hours physical.
Hopefully this will help to clear up some of the questions and discussions that are going on out there. Don’t worry when somebody tells you at an event that their child is playing for 5 hours a day etc. Take note of the facts above and then make a decision that is right for you and your child and always remember it is the quality of those hours and your child’s application, commitment and enthusiasm that will make the biggest difference