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 By: Coach Davies
Rarely in the sporting community is there an activity that an individual can play in their early youth and throughout the life. Sadly many sporting activities are limited to adolescent age and by the time an individual completes high-school age or early adulthood, the chance to play disappears. While certainly in some regions of the world, adult leagues for team-sports such as Football ("Soccer") and Rugby exist, there is not another sport with such modest barriers to entry and played throughout the world by a variety of age groups as Tennis. Interestingly enough as we consider this issue and further the challenge of reducing the worldwide epidemic on weight gain, one of the key points of attack for members of the health and fitness community is promoting fun, healthy sporting activities like Tennis. Of course the vision of training for Tennis is generally far off-base by most in the sporting community. The sport of Tennis is a highly explosive event whereby the athlete needs to possess tremendous work threshold and the ability to manage extraordinary technical skill in a rapidly evolving and highly strenuous situation. Coupled with extremely challenging demands on the body, it is one of the most interesting sports technically from the vantage of a performance coach. Through the course of this guide, we'll examine ideas behind proper Tennis training and how to excel on the court, Renegade Style.
  Click To Enlarge. Roger Federer, Swiss Tennis Professional, Preparing To Hit A Forehand.
Theory is defined as a particular conception or view of something to be done or of the method of doing it; a system of rules or principles is a peculiar concept. Yet in the development of an athlete, the term "theory" raises a perplexed eyebrow between the terminology and actual action in exercise circles. When I review the present-day sporting world, the question of what are the goals of training and how does practice actually enhance performance? Truthfully most "modern-day" training does little to actually improve actual playing abilities in sport but is designed to make the individual "appear" more athletic. To a generation that was bred to believe "style over substance", the double-edge sword is that without "substance", training is a tree that bears no fruit.
The link between the practicality of training, medical science and the knowledge of the function of sport skills seem to rarely walk the same path now. Akin to the world of education where students study to take tests as opposed to improve their knowledge, athletes are now "training to train" and when it comes time to step on the court, performance suffers. Sadly much of the present training industry is a despicable world where half-truths and clever marketing ploys are used to sell a myriad of notions, potions and useless training mediums. Sports performance coaching and I use the term loosely, sell fairy-tale dreams of grandeur to clients but rarely utter the notion of "hard work" or possess the first-hand knowledge of elite athleticism. While it may not be fashionable, at the bedrock of success is a phrase that I learned early in my youth:
"Things Worth Having Are Worth Working For."
How and why a little old-fashioned roll-up-your-sleeves hard work became unfashionable is supposition and I suppose if it wasn't so sad, it would be funny. Yet I suppose it's these graying temples that will tell you, that roll-up your sleeves mentality is about to hit a renaissance and in-the-end, you'll learn the best route, is the one with challenges.
 Click To Enlarge. The Best Route, Is The One With Challenges. As the public searches endlessly for short-cuts, they find themselves victims to endless marketing forays by the training industry as well as being subjected to extraordinary low levels of "professional" coaching. While this is sacrilegious to a profession that likes to pat itself on the back incessantly, exercise is remarkably simple compared to sport specific skills. Any coach, or should I say someone who thinks he or she is a coach who considers say performing a lift is technically challenging is likely a unskilled athlete who has never accepted the technical and tactical challenges of an actual sport. If not more clearer, in my approach to training you will be asked to perform at a greater intensity you have ever imagined but in the end you will have learned how to accept challenges and possibly learn one of the great messages of Renegade Training, which is:
"Adversity Is Something We Overcome."
Prior to stepping into the training arena, the goals of training need to be spelt out succinctly. Summarily the goals of training are:
I wish to place heavy stress on the final two points in particular. At the origin of modern sport was the notion to enhance the quality of life and to be a conduit to teaching principles that will better their life and elevate society. One of the most important gifts a coach can give an athlete is showing a positive direction to lead their lives with a foundation of honor, commitment and integrity.
The problems with the present training world is that is not only too generalized and lacks sufficient stimuli to develop a proper athletic foundation, but that it also relies on ridiculous gadgetry. Additionally rarely does training recognize the organic, reactive nature of sport and the different cognitive process of right and left side of brain thought process. Renegade TrainingTM uses an approach that develops a baseline of general athleticism that specialized sports skills can be developed upon reflective of the chaotic nature of competition. The Renegade TrainingTM protocols are based upon the Renegade Concepts of TrainingTM which must be carefully understood as they are the cornerstone of every aspect of training. These concepts are:
With this in mind, athletic abilities are developed using a balanced approach such that the individual possesses power, speed, strength, grace metaphorically displayed as the "Renegade Wheel of ConditioningTM".
 Click To Enlarge. Renegade Training Wheel Of Conditioning. I wish to emphasize that each spoke must be developed of equal strength in that each "spoke" of the wheel is equal in strength. The basic fundamental structure of the "Renegade Wheel of ConditioningTM" is:
As you review "Renegade Wheel of ConditioningTM" one very obvious omission from standard training models is "balance". "Balance" isn't necessarily an attribute but a byproduct of a properly laid out training regime and through sound planning and appropriate mediums utilized, the development of "balance" occurs. Returning to the "Renegade Wheel of ConditioningTM", each of the attributes can be summarized briefly:
 Click To Enlarge. Body Planes.
Part 2 will be up next and go over fuidity of motion. Check back as this guide is very extensive and detailed. The following will be covered in great detail:
About the Author: John Davies is the founder of Renegade Training International, which includes sport training clubs in Hockey, Futbol and this August, the Renegade Tennis Club. This fall will see the first stage of Renegade Sporting Club's in Montréal and London, England which are dedicated to the development of heritage sporting activities of the region with particular focus on youth sport.
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