Marcin Bieniek

When we look at the tennis match from the statistical point of view it doesn’t look like a big effort for athletes. Generally, only 15-25% percent of the total match time is used for playing – the rest of the time consists of pauses between the points and breaks between the games. Knowing that is it important to learn how to deal with tiredness in tennis?

Competitive players have busy weekly schedules. They have one or two tennis practice sessions per day. Additionally they also spend a lot of time in the gym because modern tennis preparation has to include detailed plan of physical preparation. We can’t also forget about other aspects that have an impact on a player’s performance: recovery, nutrition, and mental preparation. When we add all these factors together we can clearly see that players go from one activity to another almost without any break.

Can players be tired both during the practice sessions and during the competitions? Of course, they can. Should being tired deteriorate the player’s performance and have a negative impact on his results? It shouldn’t. The fact is that the best players in the world have an outstanding ability to deal with tiredness and be able to still perform well even when the legs want to say „stop”. If we take a look at pros who win titles of Grand Slam tournaments we can clearly see that they not only fight with an opponent or own weaknesses but they also have to deal with the difficulties of the previous 2 weeks.

Many players complain about being tired. They perform training exercises with less motivation or they accept doing things with less than maximum quality. Some players lose competitive matches because they accept the belief that feeling own muscles tired is an excuse for not playing up to their own potential. To achieve greatness these and other players have to learn that getting to the top takes a lot of work and energy. There is no easy way to the summit but when you get there you will see that it was worth.

Why is it important to possess the ability to deal with tiredness?

1. The most important match is in the final

All players should go to the tournament with a winning mindset. They should aim at winning the whole tournament and every match should be another step to achieve the final success. Pro players need 7 matches to win the tournament and players at lower levels need 5 matches to achieve the same task. It simply means that at the end of the tournament player’s body has to feel tired. If a player accepts this fact and works through it there is a big chance that he will lift the trophy.

2. Good practice sessions from Monday to Saturday

Competitive players train 6 days a week. They understand how important for their progress is consistently practice so they have to work every day to improve different aspects of their performance. It is a reality that after few days players start to feel tired. If they are able to maintain a high level of motivation and still give own best even while their legs hurt a little bit they are on the right way to become successful players. On the other hand, if they give up after feeling a little bit tired it is a sign that they will give up also in different situations both on and off the court.

3. It is all in details

Cyclists win races while sprinting at the end. Runners get medals bypassing opponents just before the finish line. Soccer players score goals a few minutes before the end of the match. Tennis players win tough matches by being better during crucial points. Many times the last part of the match has the biggest impact on the final score. Players who are able to give more when they are really tired are the ones who get an advantage over opponents who are not strong enough to push own body and minds to the limits. You can play great almost the whole match but against an advanced opponent, if you don’t win these last few points you can lose the whole effort and match at the same time.

Tennis is definitely the sport where players are tired really often. Daily practice sessions, almost all-year long calendar of tournaments and a lot of traveling put an athlete’s body in a constant state of tiredness. If you want to be an outstanding athlete you have to accept that being tired is part of the sport and learn how to deal with it both physically and mentally so this state won’t cost you underperformance.

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