Final Project: Describe One Athlete By Sport, Position, Age
Final Project1 Describe One Athlete By Sport Position Age Gender
Final Project 1. Describe one athlete by sport, position, age, gender, and athletic experience. 2. Briefly describe the physical activities this athlete performs in a single game or match A. How many minutes are they playing (Typical) B. What are the break periods C. How much is sprinting, jogging, jumping, standing, walking, etc. 3. Identify several key movements performed in order of performance Examples: Two-legged jumping, 1 legged jumping, attacking, swinging, kicking. A. What are the key muscle requirements of these movements B. What are the strength qualities of these movements C. What are the energy systems of these movements and the movements combined 4. Identify and Justify fitness exercises that will enhance key movement A. Justification includes how these exercises enhance the key movements. Does the exercise train the same muscles, does the exercise have similar movement qualities, are joint angles similar, is it the same energy system. B. How are these exercises performed? Fast, slow, high-repetition, low-repetition, high-intensity, low-intensity, short duration, long duration, and why. 5. Identify the athlete’s yearly schedule for training and competition. A. Separate the training into Phases and describe the training during these different phases B. Justify the training in these phases scientifically C. Write out 1 week of training for each phase in order help describe and justify your training plan Start by breaking down components into a chart like the example below. And then answer all questions in narrative form 500 to 1000 words. Figure 1 Tennis Player Key Movements Primary Energy Systems Key Strength Qualities Key Exercise Selection List of exercises Serving Accelerating/Decelerating Change in Direction Torso Rotation Shoulder rotation Creatine/Phosphate System Glycolytic System Explosive power Strength-Endurance Explosive leg work Short Sprinting Torso Rotation Plyos Med ball throws Lateral Sprints Back Pedaling Upper Body Weights
Paper For Above instruction
Introduction
The athletic performance of an individual is a complex interplay of physical attributes, technical skills, tactical understanding, and psychological resilience. In this paper, I will provide an in-depth analysis of a professional tennis player, focusing on their physical and physiological characteristics, movement patterns during matches, and a tailored training program to enhance performance. This comprehensive approach aims to serve as a model for sports-specific athlete development by integrating movement analysis, energy system contributions, strength and conditioning exercises, and periodized training phases.
Athlete Profile
The athlete selected for this case study is a male professional tennis player aged 27 years with approximately 15 years of competitive experience. He specializes as a baseline player with dominant right-handed strokes. His physique reflects the demands of tennis, with a height of 1.88 meters, weight of 80 kilograms, and a training background emphasizing agility, endurance, and explosive power.
Physical Activities in Match Play
During a typical singles match lasting around 2 hours, the athlete is on court for approximately 90 minutes of active play, interspersed with rest breaks and changeovers. Typical movement patterns include sprinting from the baseline to net, lateral shuffling, jumping for overhead shots, standing during shot preparation, and walking during rallies and recovery phases.
Break periods are brief, generally lasting 15-30 seconds between points and about 2 minutes at changeovers. The activity profile involves frequent short bursts of high-intensity movements—sprinting (10-15 meters), jumping to intercept balls, quick lateral movements—for a total estimated sprinting effort of approximately 10-15 minutes per match. Jogging and walking constitute the majority of activity, serving recovery and positional adjustments.
Key Movements and Their Sequence
The primary movements performed during a point include serving, quick accelerations, decelerations, changes of direction, torso rotation, swinging strokes, and overhead smashes. These movements are executed in a specific order, starting with the serve, followed by rapid court coverage incorporating lateral shuffles and sprints, and culminating in stroke execution involving torso and shoulder rotations.
Muscle Requirements and Strength Qualities
- Serving: Requires shoulder abduction and rotation, core stability, leg extension, and explosive hip extension—primarily engaging anterior deltoids, rotator cuff muscles, core stabilizers, and lower limb extensors.
- Accelerating/Decelerating: Demands powerful concentric and eccentric contractions of the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, calves, and core to produce explosive acceleration and controlled deceleration.
- Change of Direction: Involves lateral and diagonal movements recruiting adductors, abductors, hip stabilizers, and calf muscles, emphasizing agility and reactive strength.
- Torso Rotation and Swinging: Engage obliques, erector spinae, rhomboids, latissimus dorsi, and shoulder musculature, requiring rotational power, stability, and endurance.
The strength qualities necessary encompass explosive power (for quick movements), muscular endurance (for sustained rallies), and reactive strength (for rapid changes). Energy system contributions vary: initial points rely heavily on the ATP-PC system for explosive movements, with glycolytic pathways supporting prolonged exchanges, while aerobic metabolism sustains longer durations and recovery phases.
Fitness Exercises for Enhancing Key Movements
Targeted exercises are selected based on their ability to replicate movement patterns and stimulate the appropriate muscle groups and energy systems. Examples include:
- Serve Enhancement:
- Overhead Medicine Ball Throws: Develops explosive shoulder and core power, similar to a serve’s upward motion.
- Dumbbell Shoulder Press: Builds strength in muscles used during serving, focusing on concentric lifting with controlled eccentric phases.
- Acceleration and Deceleration:
- Short Sprints and Resisted Sprints: Improve explosive acceleration, mimicking match starts.
- Eccentric Hamstring Exercises (e.g., Nordic curls): Enhance deceleration capacity and injury resilience.
- Change of Direction:
- Lateral Cone Hops: Enhance reactive strength and agility.
- Proprioceptive Balance Drills: Improve joint stability during rapid changes.
- Rotational Movements:
- Russian Twists and Cable Woodchoppers: Boost rotational core strength relevant to strokes.
- Plyometric Rotational Throws: Emulate rapid torso rotations during swings.
All exercises are performed with appropriate variation in tempo, load, and volume—fast, high-intensity for explosive movements; slower, controlled for strength development. High-repetition, low-rest work improves muscular endurance, while low-repetition, high-intensity work targets maximal strength.
Annual Training and Competition Schedule
Periodization is crucial for optimizing performance and injury prevention. The athlete's yearly cycle is divided into three main phases:
Preparation Phase (Off-Season)
This phase emphasizes building a robust foundation of aerobic capacity, strength, and mobility. Training includes general cardiovascular workouts, hypertrophy-focused resistance training, and broad motor skill development. A typical week involves 3 strength sessions, 3 cardio workouts, and 2 mobility/rehabilitation sessions.
Pre-Competition Phase (Pre-Season)
Focus shifts toward sport-specific power and agility. High-intensity interval training, plyometrics, and tennis-specific drills dominate. For example, 2 days of sprint and plyometric work, 2 days of technical skill plus conditioning, and 1 day of active recovery.
Competition Phase (In-Season)
Training volume decreases to maintain peak performance while allowing adequate recovery. Emphasis on maintenance of strength and endurance through low-volume, high-intensity sessions. Weekly sessions include 2 technical drills, 1 strength maintenance, and 1 tactical review.
This periodized approach ensures progressive overload during the off-season, specificity during pre-season, and maintenance during competition, supported by scientific principles of sport training (Bompa & Haff, 2009).
Sample Weekly Training Plan
Preparation Phase (Off-Season):
- Monday: Full-body strength (heavy lifts, 4 sets of 6 reps), mobility drills.
- Tuesday: Aerobic base, moderate-intensity cycling or running, 60 minutes.
- Wednesday: Plyometric training (box jumps, bounds), core stability exercises.
- Thursday: Resistance training focusing on hypertrophy, 3 sets of 12 reps.
- Friday: Low-intensity aerobic workout, flexibility, and recovery.
- Saturday: Technique drills plus agility and change-of-direction exercises.
- Sunday: Rest or active recovery.
Pre-Season:
- Monday: Tennis drills emphasizing quick court coverage, plyometrics.
- Tuesday: Interval sprints, rotational power exercises.
- Wednesday: Technical tennis, light resistance work.
- Thursday: High-intensity interval training, proprioception.
- Friday: Recovery, stretching.
- Saturday: Match simulation and tactical drills.
- Sunday: Rest.
In-Season:
- Monday: Light technical training, mobility exercises.
- Tuesday: Maintenance strength workout, low-volume.
- Wednesday: Tactical review, light cardio.
- Thursday: Plyometrics and rotational drills.
- Friday: Rest or active recovery.
- Saturday: Match play.
- Sunday: Rest.
Conclusion
Developing an effective athlete training program requires an understanding of sport-specific movements, muscle demands, energy system contributions, and periodization principles. For tennis players, integrating sprinting, rotational power, agility, and endurance work with appropriate exercise selection and structured training phases optimizes performance and reduces injury risk. Continuous evaluation and adjustment are necessary to meet the athlete's evolving needs throughout the competitive cycle, ensuring peak performance during key tournaments.
References
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