Growing up as a junior tennis player, I had no idea how to train for a tournament or even recognized that ‘training’ existed. I would go on a beach trip with my family, and after a long week of being in the sun, would return to have a first round match in a big state or national level tournament. I fooled myself into thinking that the time off relaxed me and made me ready for the tournament. However, during the actual tournament, I was quick to run out of steam and even have a couple of cramps in my legs. It wasn’t until I got to college that I really learned what it took to be in shape and ready for a tournament.
I also played soccer in high school and the day before tryouts I would go for a two-mile jog and be shocked at how tired I was the next day at practice. I would tell myself, “I went on a jog the other day, why am I so tired?” I see this in a lot of junior tennis players who go for jogs before tournaments and think they are getting themselves in shape. But, if you think about it, jogging only keeps your heart-rate in the 140 range. If you are a high level player, it might get up to 160-180 during a point. So, if you’re training your heart-rate at 140, when you hit 160-180 in a match your body is not going to be prepared.
For any sport with short bursts of speed like tennis, a good way to train for a tournament match or just a recreational match is to do some interval training. Since you get about 20 seconds in between points, using a treadmill can be a good way to train your heart. Put the treadmill level to 5.0. Every minute increase the speed to level 8.0 so that you are imitating a point. After a minute has passed on the sprint, bring the level back down to 5.0 and repeat for 30-45 minutes. (I suggest using 1 minute for these sprint intervals because pressing up or down on the treadmill every 20 seconds would be rather annoying.) I have even gone to the extreme of taking changeovers into account and taking a two minute walk every 5 minutes. You are wasting your time if you are jogging at 5.0 for 30 minutes because you are not training your heart for a tennis match – only for a jog in the park.
UFC fighters do this to prepare themselves for a fight. If they have three 5-minute rounds or whatever format it is, they will imitate a fight in their training. They bust it for 3 minutes, take a 1 minute break, and repeat as if they are in a fight. This prepares their body to perform at a maximum level when the time comes to compete. So the next time you are wondering why you are so tired in a tournament or match, ask yourself if you have trained your body adequately. Did you jog for a couple of weeks to ‘get in shape’ or did you train by imitating what a point would look like? I guarantee that you will outlast your opponents if you train properly.
You can do the following workout on a treadmill 4-5 times/wk for 3 weeks before tournaments to prepare yourself:
Level 5.0 (1 minute)  Level 8.0 (one minute). Repeat for 30-45 minutes.
• Levels are adjustable
• Heart rates differ based on age/sex/overall health