Right now there are more than 70 professional players in Melbourne who have been locked in a room for a week and a half. Unable to leave under any circumstances, forced to do isolation for fifteen days and under extreme control by the Australian government. Perhaps from the outside we see it as a simple anecdote, but it must be seen there. If we also add that they will have just enough time to prepare before a Grand Slam, the difficulties seem impossible to tackle. But the human being can handle everything, especially if we listen to the experts.
Alberto Lledo is he head fitness coach from Equelite Academy of Juan Carlos Ferrero, the man who marks the distance of Carlos Alcaraz. The Murcian, one of those affected by these isolations, follows the instructions of his coach so that the body does not remain rusty.
“We have had to adapt to the conditions of time, space and material. In principle we propose a first week with different exercises, and then study the results in this second. Input Carlos’s preseason has been very good, so the cardiovascular system is the one that worries us leastBeing unemployed for two weeks is not going to generate a very high deficiency, but something will be noticed. The idea is to do work that imitates tennis work times: bicycle intervals, mobility, coordination and hitting (even against a mattress) so that the technical gesture is not misaligned. The professional tennis player is used to training many hours, if you take away the court you have to make up for it in some way ”, says the physical trainer.
“We have two areas of work regarding strength, one in which we seek muscle improvement and the other where we seek prevention and compensation. Secondary exercises that are not a priority to improve but are to compensate. Tennis is an asymmetrical sport and you always have to develop the other side, aspects that are not usually worked on ”, highlights Lledó. “Another very important thing in confinement is joint mobility, physical work can take four hours but the rest of the time they are sitting, lying down or walking around the room. Check the change of position every 30-40 minutes, mobility and constant flexibility, putting 3in1 on the joints ”, he says with a smile.
David Andres He has been a trainer and physical trainer for a lifetime in the Valencian Community, now having his base of operations in the Lozano-Altur Tennis Academy. We have also asked him about the dangers of returning to competition without first having trained as necessary. “The risk of injury always exists, but that the physical trainers will already take into account. Everyone is doing injury prevention these days, jobs that can be developed in a room, what they lack is training on the track. When they start, in those first 2-3 days they will have to go prepared to do a longer warm-up, without looking for an intensity of 100% in order to avoid risks. Because of this, I don’t think there is a very high volume of injuries, the professionals take all these aspects into account ”, says the one from Guadalajara.
“Obviously, that preparation times are not the same for everyone will hurt some tennis players, I agree. It can condition certain results, but I do not think the tournament is distortedThat sounds too drastic, ”says the man who has worked with First Division football squads or tennis players of the stature of Ferrer, Errani or Andreev. “Good players always take shape little by little in the first games, the people who are less prepared will be the most affected. What is clear is that those who are mentally stronger will not rely on this excuse and will pull forward. Whoever is not so mentally strong will use it as an excuse and he will say that he lost because of that ”.
Here we come to the other large melon to open. How not to fall into despair and madness in a situation of so much stress? “It is not easy to work under these conditions,” says David, also a graduate in Psychology. “If you have some claustrophobia or anxiety levels skyrocket, what you should do is relaxation exercises, for example through breathing. If the confinement has had something good, it is that tennis players have already gone through a similar situation, although it was probably in houses and not locked in a 15m2 room. The personality of each one will be key to accept and fit in this reality, then in the competition anything can happen. It would be interesting if a statistician reflected the sporting result of those 72 people who will be isolated for two weeks to see if these causal connections can be established ”.
To cope with so many dead hours, David proposes a series of activities that help keep your mind calm. “Being busy is the best solution to avoid thinking too much about things. Find a routine of physical work, injury prevention, with a TRX today you can do many things in a room. They have probably provided them with certain material so that they can do strength exercises. Other types of routines are also important: getting up, going to bed, eating, leisurely watching a series, etc. Whatever it takes to occupy the time, that the head and body are concentrated in something that makes you feel less bored, thus avoiding depression, “he concludes.
Once we are mentally ready, we can face the return to competition, although the deadlines are still minimal. Can you go to a Grand Slam with guarantees with just seven days of preparation on the court? “It has been scientifically studied that to acclimate to new conditions, certain days of exposure are necessary,” recalls Alberto Lledó. “It is clear that there are physiological adaptations that occur after 10 days, but of course, the solution is not to put the air conditioning in the room at 35º to get used to it, because you are not doing sports there. This will certainly be a problem, even if they come from Doha. In the case of Carlos (Alcaraz), being so young, I’m sure he will hardly notice it. They will try to give their best in Melbourne, he is very motivated and in continuous evolution, Although it does not arrive in the best conditions I have no doubt that things will go well”.
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