Training one hour twice a week vs two hours once a week

ByakuFubuki

Semi-Pro
Ok, let's say I'm in a bit of a crappy situation right now. It's pretty long to describe, so I'll put it under Spoiler.

In the last few years my tennis, as well as my school life (Chemistry Department at the University) both totally fell off a cliff, and as a result I kept away from tournaments (just kept having clinics and when possible practice/private lessons in an attempt to regain some sort of form). This Summer I've been a little less cringe-worthy at exams, and while I can't say I'm too satisfied with my tennis, at the moment I can defend myself playing a way I don't like nor feel natural. So I wanted to attempt a comeback in tournaments and see what I can do.

However, while I've had group training at my club in the afternoon the last few years, this time I'm going to have too many labouratory hours to make anything out of it, so I wanted to ask my coach if he could put me in a night group AND join the University's sport center which has tennis courses.

For the first thing my coach told me he would have messaged me "in September" should he find an available group to fit me in, but not only it's almost October, but I think regardless of when I asked him that, I'm so extremely low in the priority ladder he wouldn't even use me as a spare tyre in case more than one member of a group should miss for a night or more, as he talks in a very inclusive way but I know there's always someone he knows better or who plays better (plus I'm someone people tend to forget about easily).

As for the second, I had some issues (like exams in the way) subscribing, so I had to do too many things at the last minute and got there too late with all the "Agonistic" groups with an half-decent time schedule filled, so I asked about the "Pre-agonistic" groups someone named to see if I could at least have some clinics there. Turns out it's actually one half-independent group managed by members of the center which sounds actually more serious than the agonistic but which may end up unallowed or anyway include very few members, so the teaching pro told me to leave him my name and number so he can tell me if there is availability (again, I expect him to either not contact me anymore or tell me there's no room, as by the sounds of it he'd prefer to allow only people he's already familiar with, unless the number is too little).
Long story short, now that I can finally consider the idea of competing again (and I already spent time and money doing the relative medical exams, as it is a pre-requisite to subscribe to the Sports Center), I may find myself with no regular training for the whole year or at least for the next three months (I'm the kind of player who regresses very quickly, so I'd prefer to avoid it).

I remembered, however, that one of the "Agonistic" groups at the University had clinics at an accessible time schedule and some free room, just that at first I didn't consider it as they only play every Saturday morning from 11 AM to 1 PM, while the other groups have two sessions of one hour each a week.

Now, while it may sound convenient (as I would still train two hours a week but spending less time in warm-up), I think it would be a little too inconsistent a schedule, and consistency already isn't my forte. So I'm wondering: are there advantages in training two hours only one day a week over one hour two days a week which are escaping me or is it an option made just for people who have the time and money to practice regularly with hitting partners and just want to refine their technique a little in the end of each week?

Note: in the club I used to play three times a week 90 minutes each and had 60 minutes of fitness twice a week (it was obviously more expensive than training here), so, if I found at least one regular hitting partner I may be able to manage to play a little more. The problem is that most players I know are also University students and as such have about as much time/money availability as me but with different holes of free time.
 

ByakuFubuki

Semi-Pro
Hitting for 1 hour twice is much better, but you need to keep it more intense.
My thoughts exactly.
Also. please stop scaring me. I'm trying to go to college. You're not helping.
Don't worry about that: my situation (both regarding exams' results and time expenses) is a little peculiar. Many people I know, even among those who didn't really shine in High School, seem to have found their place at the University, or at least started doing very well after not surrendering to the first difficulties (I seem to have needed a couple more years to adapt, but in the end it's paying off even for me, by the way).
 

justballtennis

New User
Interesting question. As a coach I get asked this all of the time. I would always always recommend playing for one hour twice a week. In order to improve you need to learn 'deep practice'. This is when you are fully engaged in improving and what you are doing. Your learning in this state is at its peak. During a 2 hour lesson, towards the end, energy, concentration and focus start to deteriorate resulting in time wasting rather than focuses deep practice. JBT
 

ChaelAZ

G.O.A.T.
Quality and intensity always outweighs quantity.There are days I am on court for 4 hours + hitting and playing, but it is more social type work. I can get more focus and improvement wise in a good solid, tiring one-hour session. But I like social play too.
 
D

Deleted member 23235

Guest
+1 on 2x 1h practice
presuming it's intense practice
i used to do longer 2h+ practice sessions back when i had time... and found that my focus dropped at ~75m mark.
i could keep playing 3-4h, but i'm basically doing what i already know how to do, not really pushing myself.

these days, i'll even do 2x 1h practice in one day... each session will have a very specific focus, and i've found myself improving more quickly, than just wasting time with "junk hitting" (ie. hitting from the center hash, not really moving, for a long time)
 

Bender

G.O.A.T.
I'd go for the x1 2 hour practice, but only because I have injury issues, which require an extended warmup before I can start hitting normally.
 

FiReFTW

Legend
Its proven that in sports its much more effective to have shorther sessions but more than have 1 long session.
Even common sense tells so.
If ur playing 3 hours 1x a week, its still 1 day play and then 6 days completely nothing. Ur skills will get rusty with time and ul lose those feelings from 1 week ago and ul need a ton of time again to get them back.
If you play 3x a week for 1 hour ur pretty much almost playing every 2nd day and while u might not be able to work at something as much that 1 time, you will keep ur feelings and rhytm with only 1 day break and continue where you left off and build upon that much more effectively.
 

ByakuFubuki

Semi-Pro
Its proven that in sports its much more effective to have shorther sessions but more than have 1 long session.
Even common sense tells so.
If ur playing 3 hours 1x a week, its still 1 day play and then 6 days completely nothing. Ur skills will get rusty with time and ul lose those feelings from 1 week ago and ul need a ton of time again to get them back.
If you play 3x a week for 1 hour ur pretty much almost playing every 2nd day and while u might not be able to work at something as much that 1 time, you will keep ur feelings and rhytm with only 1 day break and continue where you left off and build upon that much more effectively.
That's the point I'm making, in fact. The problem is I seem to have no option left than going for two hours once a week (still no news from either my coach or the other guy, and courses will start monday), so I wanted to see if at least there was a silver lining to look at. But from the replies here it seems it's even worse than I expected.

Since I'm here, I'll use this message to thank everyone for the replies.

@Bender: sorry about your injuries. Anything to do with a shoulder? I think I read something like that, but in that case it must have been long ago, and possibly an even older post.
 

Bender

G.O.A.T.
That's the point I'm making, in fact. The problem is I seem to have no option left than going for two hours once a week (still no news from either my coach or the other guy, and courses will start monday), so I wanted to see if at least there was a silver lining to look at. But from the replies here it seems it's even worse than I expected.

Since I'm here, I'll use this message to thank everyone for the replies.

@Bender: sorry about your injuries. Anything to do with a shoulder? I think I read something like that, but in that case it must have been long ago, and possibly an even older post.

Yeah, originally was a rotator cuff injury. Got better mostly but now it’s my wrist, and unlike the shoulder, it doesn’t seem to go away. Wrist bones out of alignment or something like that; can’t bend it back more than 45 degrees without pain...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

ByakuFubuki

Semi-Pro
Yeah, originally was a rotator cuff injury. Got better mostly but now it’s my wrist, and unlike the shoulder, it doesn’t seem to go away. Wrist bones out of alignment or something like that; can’t bend it back more than 45 degrees without pain...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Oh, that's awful to hear. Wirst is so delicate yet so essential, I see why you would take training less times a week into account. Hopefully it will get better too.
 

Crocodile

G.O.A.T.
2 shorter sessions of high intensity beats 1 longer session of mediocre stuff in terms of skill acquisition.
In terms of performance though the situation can actually be the reverse as the repetitive nature of a longer session can dial you in and then if you rest and freshen up you could be well primed to perform well.
A lot also depends on your individual predisposition.
 

thomas daniels

Semi-Pro
Ok, let's say I'm in a bit of a crappy situation right now. It's pretty long to describe, so I'll put it under Spoiler.

In the last few years my tennis, as well as my school life (Chemistry Department at the University) both totally fell off a cliff, and as a result I kept away from tournaments (just kept having clinics and when possible practice/private lessons in an attempt to regain some sort of form). This Summer I've been a little less cringe-worthy at exams, and while I can't say I'm too satisfied with my tennis, at the moment I can defend myself playing a way I don't like nor feel natural. So I wanted to attempt a comeback in tournaments and see what I can do.

However, while I've had group training at my club in the afternoon the last few years, this time I'm going to have too many labouratory hours to make anything out of it, so I wanted to ask my coach if he could put me in a night group AND join the University's sport center which has tennis courses.

For the first thing my coach told me he would have messaged me "in September" should he find an available group to fit me in, but not only it's almost October, but I think regardless of when I asked him that, I'm so extremely low in the priority ladder he wouldn't even use me as a spare tyre in case more than one member of a group should miss for a night or more, as he talks in a very inclusive way but I know there's always someone he knows better or who plays better (plus I'm someone people tend to forget about easily).

As for the second, I had some issues (like exams in the way) subscribing, so I had to do too many things at the last minute and got there too late with all the "Agonistic" groups with an half-decent time schedule filled, so I asked about the "Pre-agonistic" groups someone named to see if I could at least have some clinics there. Turns out it's actually one half-independent group managed by members of the center which sounds actually more serious than the agonistic but which may end up unallowed or anyway include very few members, so the teaching pro told me to leave him my name and number so he can tell me if there is availability (again, I expect him to either not contact me anymore or tell me there's no room, as by the sounds of it he'd prefer to allow only people he's already familiar with, unless the number is too little).
Long story short, now that I can finally consider the idea of competing again (and I already spent time and money doing the relative medical exams, as it is a pre-requisite to subscribe to the Sports Center), I may find myself with no regular training for the whole year or at least for the next three months (I'm the kind of player who regresses very quickly, so I'd prefer to avoid it).

I remembered, however, that one of the "Agonistic" groups at the University had clinics at an accessible time schedule and some free room, just that at first I didn't consider it as they only play every Saturday morning from 11 AM to 1 PM, while the other groups have two sessions of one hour each a week.

Now, while it may sound convenient (as I would still train two hours a week but spending less time in warm-up), I think it would be a little too inconsistent a schedule, and consistency already isn't my forte. So I'm wondering: are there advantages in training two hours only one day a week over one hour two days a week which are escaping me or is it an option made just for people who have the time and money to practice regularly with hitting partners and just want to refine their technique a little in the end of each week?

Note: in the club I used to play three times a week 90 minutes each and had 60 minutes of fitness twice a week (it was obviously more expensive than training here), so, if I found at least one regular hitting partner I may be able to manage to play a little more. The problem is that most players I know are also University students and as such have about as much time/money availability as me but with different holes of free time.
Just find a hitting partner, ask around, there has to be somebody you know who knows someone that can give you a game. You could also start a ladder too. Get creative and things will work out for you.
 

S&V-not_dead_yet

Talk Tennis Guru
Yeah, originally was a rotator cuff injury. Got better mostly but now it’s my wrist, and unlike the shoulder, it doesn’t seem to go away. Wrist bones out of alignment or something like that; can’t bend it back more than 45 degrees without pain...

Sorry to hear that! Sure nothing's broken or way stretched out of normal? Maybe if motion is too painful, how about trying immobilization, if only for a few days, to let any residual swelling go down?
 

Bender

G.O.A.T.
Sorry to hear that! Sure nothing's broken or way stretched out of normal? Maybe if motion is too painful, how about trying immobilization, if only for a few days, to let any residual swelling go down?

That’s actually the funny thing. There is no swelling and the pain goes away once the wrist is warmed up or stretched out in advance.

Nothing broken or stretched out but the physio said the wrist bones were no longer aligned so I need to warm up the wrist and stretch it before play.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

S&V-not_dead_yet

Talk Tennis Guru
That’s actually the funny thing. There is no swelling and the pain goes away once the wrist is warmed up or stretched out in advance.

Nothing broken or stretched out but the physio said the wrist bones were no longer aligned so I need to warm up the wrist and stretch it before play.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If you strengthen the muscles in that area, will that cause the bones to realign themselves? A chiropractor can adjust vertebrae but I need to do the exercises to make sure the muscles don't pull the verts back out of alignment.
 

Bender

G.O.A.T.
If you strengthen the muscles in that area, will that cause the bones to realign themselves? A chiropractor can adjust vertebrae but I need to do the exercises to make sure the muscles don't pull the verts back out of alignment.

I’ve been doing weights for a while now in hopes I can sort it out that way, but so far the only success I’ve had was when I played four hours in one session and my wrist injury cured itself for a week until the next time I went out to play :S


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

S&V-not_dead_yet

Talk Tennis Guru
I’ve been doing weights for a while now in hopes I can sort it out that way, but so far the only success I’ve had was when I played four hours in one session and my wrist injury cured itself for a week until the next time I went out to play :S


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Have you tried one of those gyroscope-type balls?

Also, some exercises I saw for tennis elbow might also be applicable:
- squeezing a dead tennis ball [non-dead ones are too stiff, IMO]
- put several rubber bands around your fingers and expand your fingers outward [the opposite motion of the tennis ball squeeze]

Could it also be that your carpal tunnels are somewhat restricted and that by warming up you cause them to widen slightly?
 
Top