020 - Dr. Mark Kovacs - Sport Science Basics
Back when I was doing basic research after I would finish teaching on court, I started reading about LTAD.
What intrigued me were the “Windows” of development and how we had to get this important stuff in before it became much more of a challenge to develop particular skills.
The first was the window for agility, balance and coordination. The second was puberty.
What I didn’t know that with A,B and C, the window started to shut somewhere around age 10-12. Which meant it was important to have these skills developed as much as possible by then.
Now when I was a kid, it was easy, we climbed trees, played army and had P.E, every day in school., not anymore………
P.E. in a lot of schools is twice/week where I was and kids are on their devices all day, so the best way to develop these skills was to play multiple sports.
I will talk about this in more detail in a future episode, but I got 8 leaders of different sports in town and turned my 10 and under tennis camp into a tennis and sports academy, which was basically tennis every day plus and alternate sport, led by the leader of that sport in the community.
It was extremely successful, plus I got to introduce tennis to a bunch of kids who I probably would not have, because they were coming to play all the sports.
Parents loved it because they did not have to sign up their child for 12 weeks of a sport only to find out the child hated it. They could try a sport for one day and report back with no risk.
The point is, through my drive to want to learn as much as I could, this concept developed into an amazing summer experience and I retained a lot of these kids in the fall, winter and spring.
It was an easy sell to the leaders of the other sports, because they understood the science behind it, plus we promoted their programs to all of the kids at the same time. Win-win for all.
This basic concept of sport science leads us into my interview, with Dr. Mark Kovacs who will simplify “Tennis Science” as he calls it and tells you where you can get started.
Sport Science is basically all of the scientific areas that allow you to teach tennis better.
In it’s complex form, it is a combination of:
1. The physiology of the body
2. The biomechanics of the body
3, The anatomy of how our muscles and movements work
4. Sports Psychology
5. Nutrition
6. Motor Learning
7. How the brain functions
8. How we develop skillets
9. How we teach the
10. How this all integrate with how to hit a ball under stressful situations
But this IS NOT for just the top players
The goal is how we can make teaching and learning more efficient and more fun.
Skill develop is VERY IMPORTANT at all levels of play and makes you a better coach and makes you more versatile.
Where you can start:
1. USTA Sport Science Course
2. Get involved in the international tennis performance association. helps educate you on how to understand sport science and how it relates to make you a better coach and teacher.
1st Step:
The Tennis Performance Training Program
- Not heavy on the science
- Not a lot of big words
- Tries to get coaches to understand the basics in video and written form
- Lots of resources provided if you want to dig deeper in a particular area
You can get there by going to: http://itpa-tennis.org
Bottom Line: Skill development is very important at all levels, especially when players are young, so coming up with a basic plan will not only help you develop these kids but your parents will know that you get it, which makes you MORE attractive to them.
Getting both you and your platers started as early as posit;e will be an advantage for the both of you.
Links
To get a hold of Dr. Kovacs go to:
1. mkovacsphd (Twitter. Facebook, Instagram)
2. http://kovacsinstitute.com and send an email
Good Luck,
Coach Mick, USPTA