PEAK PERFORMANCE
n Stage 7
At this stage the full-time athlete is committed to tennis and producing consistent performances on demand. All aspects of the player’s life are centred on being well prepared for practice and major events. The challenge in this stage is keeping variety in the training to ensure that the athlete continues to be interested and enthusiastic about all aspects of tennis. While the primary focus for athletes reaching this stage is peak performance, there are other life activities that may enhance the athlete’s performance or could distract the athlete. These life activities may include marriage, having a family, financial distractions, or dealing with aging parents. These issues may be considered when developing the training and competition schedule.
Guiding Principles for Players, Coaches and Significant Others:
General Objectives:
• Consolidate all objectives from the “Learning to be a Professional” stage. • Further develop and refine technical skills. • Implement their game style integrating learned skills in high intensity competitive situations. • Gain all advantages by continuing to improve flexibility, speed, strength and aerobic endurance – in all the physical skills. • Refine the daily implementation of sport medicine and science knowledge e.g. nutrition, strength and conditioning, sport psychology, exercise physiology based on current results of monitoring and evaluation. • Effectively manage with the challenges of different competitive situations (surfaces, altitude, game styles, wind). • Implement psychological routines to produce the ideal performance state. • Maintain a positive lifestyle: no tobacco, no alcohol, no drugs. • Ensure use of pre-habilitation routines and recovery techniques to maximize overall performance.
• The development of an individualized annual plan is essential. • The athlete should be a responsible and autonomous player being accountable for his/her performances. • With results becoming more important, it is essential that athletes continue to focus on performance goals in competition. • A consistent individualized quality daily training program is essential. This program must take into account international standards, the athlete’s present abilities and the player’s long term goals. • With the training and competition environment becoming more complex and intense, the player must manage distractions to ensure solid performances.
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