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You might wonder how often you need to practice to succeed if you continuously want to improve your game. Most people usually say that practice makes perfect.
However, there are limits to practice. The worst thing you can do is overdo it, increasing the risk of getting injured.
Ideally, it would be best to practice once or twice a week to maintain your current level.
However, you will need to practice at least three times a week to improve.
If you can play four to five times a week, you will be in a position to advance your game much faster.
If you exercise more than that, you can get injured. The importance of relaxing your body is just as critical as training hard.
How Many Hours Do You Practice Each Day?
Practicing 20 minutes a day and spending five days away from the courts may not be as effective as practicing one hour a day, three days a week.
It is essential to warm up the body before performing many beneficial repetitions.
A person who wishes to compete at a higher level will not be enough to train for one hour.
It is necessary to practice several hours each day and general conditioning.
Athletes who want to become elite athletes must practice harder over time.
In most cases, how much time you spend each day as a competitive athlete is mainly dependent on how serious you are about becoming a competitive athlete.
Age is also an essential factor to consider. Young children should not engage in extreme exercises for an extended period. Additionally, older athletes tend to do fewer practice exercises to avoid injuries.
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How Intense Is The Training?
It is essential to practice hard enough to improve your game continuously, but, as I mentioned earlier, you should make sure that you do not overdo it.
As a general rule, if you are practicing very rigorously regularly, you can reduce the number of hours you practice per week and perhaps the intensity of your practice.
It is also essential to ensure that you get enough rest between sessions.
Training hard is essential, but you should also be intelligent at the same time.
The more you focus on your behavior during practice, and the more you target the areas you need to improve in your sport, the more you will gain from it.
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Age Plays A Role:
Children of young ages should engage in free play and participate in sports. There are also many games played throughout the year by children of young ages.
The majority of children do not master a sport until they are in their teenage years. Consequently, children mustn’t train too hard when they are young.
Generally, when a person is involved in a game for more than twice as long as they are involved in a free game, they should refrain from engaging for too long.
One other general guideline is that they should not engage in more than the amount of work they can do per week.
Thus, a 10-year-old child would not be interested in dedicating more than 9 hours a week to practicing.
The practice time for adults is more flexible, but keep in mind that our bodies develop additional limitations as we age, and we are more likely to get injured.
Tennis Practice Drills:
Practicing drills is an important part of training, just as hitting against a partner is also very important.
You should include drills in your practice time as much as possible. A practice drill involves the player setting up a specific goal and then repeating the shot.
It is possible to hit down the line, crosscourt, serve and return, volley, overhead shots, concentrate on the backhand or forehand, etc.
In the end, practice drills can be made competitive by keeping score, but for the most part, they are non-competitive exercises, like practicing with a partner.
As mentioned above, practice drills aim to improve consistency and repetition of specific strokes and game situations.
When you play against a partner, you are not simulating a proper competitive environment but hitting against your partner.
Conditioning Vs Training
You can either train to improve your stroke or work on your conditioning during practice.
You can focus specifically on improving your conditioning through strength training, resistance training, plyometric exercises, running, footwork drills, etc., even though there may be some overlap during training.
The training frequency for this type of sport needs to be factored in when you decide how many times you practice each week.
As you do conditioning-specific training once or twice a week, you need to add 3 days to work on improving your game, such as your groundstrokes, serve approach shots, and anything else you need to work on.
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Conclusion
The amount of practice you should do each week depends on several factors and variables.
Every person plays tennis for different reasons and has different goals and objectives.
Nevertheless, you should practice at least three times per week to see a steady improvement in your gameplay.
If you are a complete beginner, once or twice per week may be sufficient, but after a while, you will become accustomed to it and no longer observe any improvement in your skills.
The ultimate goal is, therefore, to continually improve as you progress. The only way to achieve this is to practice more and more. Make sure that you do not overdo it.