Develop Fitness in Young Players - Part 1

Physical fitness is key to high performance in sports, especially for tennis.

Fitness In Elite Tennis

Strength and conditioning(S&C) is the staple for elite tennis. Competing at a higher level requires more than just technical soundness but also mental toughness (see my blog: Mental Resilience in Young Players ), tactical & strategic prowess, and physical fitness.

One of the most noticeable players for their physical transformation on the WTA tour is Aryna Sabalenka . The image below says it all.

During her post AO 2025 podcast interview with Andy Roddick , she attributed a major part of her success on court to her S&C/Performance coach Jason Stacy who helped her not only get tougher physically but also mentally. (See Served with Andy Roddick: ARYNA SABALENKA - Full Interview where she talks in detail on how she worked with Coach Jason Stacy to transform her body in the past 5-6 years, and how her physical transformation transformed her play.)

It is very common to see S&C coaches on tour with tennis players as an essential part of the team. Coaches in the tennis S&C hall of fame include: Marco Panichi, Novak Djokovic’s former S&C coach, Maciej Ryszczuk, Iga Swiatek’s S&C coach, Matt Little, Andy Murray’s former S&C coach, and of course the famous Dr. Mark Kovacs .

Fitness in Young Tennis Players

Now, what about developing fitness in young players?

The Motivation

I often say that I coach tennis players from 5 years old to 85 years old. Hours after hours on court, I noticed that players who are fitter plays better overall. By “better” I mean that they can last longer on court and even if their techniques are not the best or even just average, they tend to win more points. The finding stays true across demographics. Of course, during those hours, days, years on court, I have also witnessed many accidents/injuries. And I absolutely want to do my best to help players prevent pain and injuries. At the same time, I was pondering: what sets great players apart on the elite/professional level? Every elite player can hit a ball and hit a ball hard. Then one very wise and seasoned (don’t call people old 🤫) coach advised me: “They hit the gym and build muscles.” A great player can hit the ball hard and precise consistently through matches and busy tournament schedules.

All of these factors fueled my decision to enrolled in Australian Strength and Conditioning Association (ASCA) level 1 to expand my knowledge as a tennis coach. I had a great time learning and collected some amazing memories visiting and studying at some elite organizations for my placement: Brisbane Broncos Academy (Rugby), Acceleration Performance Coaching (Multisports) and Brisbane Roar FC (Women’s Football). While I enjoyed my time in awe of elite sports training and absorbing all the knowledge, I wondered: “What about the kids I coach?”, “For kids who just play tennis for fun or as a hobby, how can I integrate some S&C in their training?”, “and for kids who potentially want to pursue tennis seriously, how can I help them to develop fitness starting young? like 5 years old? 11 years old?” (PS. At the centre I currently work, i.e. Queensland Tennis Centre, only performance players get some fitness sessions in their weekly schedules)

Then one day when I was watching Roar practice, coach T hit me (figuratively): Parents Education.

The Method & Case Study

So I embarked on a journey this school term to try to integrate S&C into my players’ training. I carefully selected a few players to test ideas out and planned to slowly expand if the results are positive. I have used pseudo names for privacy in the following case studies.

Indigo - Green Ball, 11 yo

Indigo is a green baller with some rally capabilities, she’s very quiet and shy but she’s got very good work ethics and sportswomenship. There’s only one thing that prevents her from doing her best: her stamina.

During the first 2 sessions we had, Indigo would need constant breaks to keep the session going. I could tell that Indigo was really trying hard but after two dozens of balls, the quality of her shots declined and I could see fatigue through her struggle to keep up the good form. So I often pause the session to give her enough time to recover before resuming.

Then, one day during another break, I asked her: “Hey, How about some running?”

Prior to the beginning of her S&C training, I have eliminated other factors that impacted her play: her racquet is too light. She’s around 5 foot tall but still using a very small and light racquet. So we changed her racquet to a 25 inch 285 grams (unstrung) Head racquet (Thanks Indigo’s Dad for sponsorship. And Head! Please sponsor me!).

I have also got a pulse on her training load throughout the week: she does some acrobatics outside of tennis training with light training load. So we eventually agreed to: 3 times of running each week and each time 30 minutes non-stop. I emphasized that it does not matter how fast or slow she runs, what matters the most is that she can keep running for 30 minutes regardless of distance and speed.

Week 3, Indigo came in with her new racquet in hand, after hitting a full basket of balls, Indigo can keep going! The quality of shots has become more consistent with built-up stamina. This is an amazing result! Now we could do more on court! We took this opportunity to do more technique improvement work on her forehand. During our water break, I approached Indigo’s mom and brought up the idea of some bodyweight strength training for Indigo, her mom happily onboarded and Indigo embraced the new challenge. So I got a piece of paper and wrote down her first program after some initial assessment of her strength. I have asked her to do 2 times a week on top of the 3 times 30-minute run. I also have explained to both Indigo and her mom how to use Rated Perceived Effort (RPE), to be more specific the Modified Borg CR10 RPE scale , to record her training so that I can prescribe more accurately as she progresses.

Week 4, Indigo came in with the paper I gave to her last week with RPE filled out. This has brought a smile on me. She listened and she put in the work. Great kid! Back on the court, Indigo’s forehand has got some punch on them! Unlike her floaty and soft forehand before, I can feel there’s more aggression and power on her forehand. My joy was beyond words. She’s definitely got a good work ethic and good genetics that responds to training well. The program worked!

With her RPE input, we did another quick assessment and updated her program for the following week, same load and frequency, slightly different exercises. I look forward to seeing her next week to find out how did she go!

Fei - Orange Ball, 7 yo

Fei is an orange baller with great movement on court. He’s definitely taller and stronger than most players of the same age. I could tell that this boy has got some muscle in him already. He’s also got a great focus on court: there’s only tennis balls in his eyes and nothing else.

Initially, I arranged a break every 5 minutes for him as the session is quite intense, he hits a ball every 2 seconds, forehand, backhand, forehand, backhand, nonstop. Whenever I ask him to take a break and drink some water, he will do it but a bit unwillingly.

Week 3, I asked his parents’ if they are open to some S&C training off court and supervise him to do it. They happily took the homework. As Fei is still little, I have showed both parents and him how to perform the exercise and coordination correctly so that they can help him during the week. We agreed to 20-minute run twice a week and strength training at least once a week and maximum 2 times a week.

His Strength Program is as follows after initial assessment:

Squat 10 x 3

Lunge 6 each side x 3

Bridge 8 X 3

Plank 30s x 3

Knee push up 5 x 3

Week 4, his parents told me he only did strength training once a week. For the rest of the time, his dad cannot get him off the bed in the morning 😂. Well, starting a new routine is hard for anyone, but I am positive and hopeful. Once is better than nothing. Slowly there will be momentum and new habit will be formed.

I arranged a break every 10 minutes this time and racquet fed balls every second, and you know what? This time I didn’t have to ask him to drink water or take a break. He ran! and guzzled down half a bottle every time. 🤣 I used this opportunity to “preach” the benefits of running and strength exercises, then topped up with Indigo’s amazing progress to inspire him, he pinky promised to stick to the training plan and will try to do better next week. I look forward to seeing him again in our next session - hopefully he would have trained more than once by then! 😄

The Necessity (Even If They Don’t Go Pro)

Well, Not very kid will grow up playing professional tennis, some kids only play tennis for fun, some only play for a term or two, then try out a different sport later on, Is it really necessary to help them with their S&C training as a tennis coach?

✅ YES.

Even if they don’t go pro, they will have:

• better fitness & better health

• along with that, reduced risk of injury resulting from repetitive motion from a young age

• formed good habits: getting up early in the morning, living an active life, etc

• good bonding with family & friends : training together with mom/dad, training with friends, etc

• learning about persistence and mental toughness: there will always be days we don’t want to train but learning how to deal with hard days and persist through builds character

• learning about commitment: we made an agreement together, and honouring commitment is a big life lesson for any kid to learn

and I will have:

• known that I have done everything in my power to help and grow every player I encounter in my life and forever be grateful about the time we shared 💚

and for the players who want to go far in tennis:

• I have built a solid physical foundation for them to go the distance

The Teaser

I will write part 2 after some more time experimenting and learning!

I am also thinking about writing another blog on how to integrate conditioning into tennis sessions based my experiments so far.

Stay tuned!

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