Week of December 7th - 13th, 2020

Dear ACE Academy Players and Parents, 

We are optimistic that we will be able to open the club on December 21st. With this in mind we are prepared to operate the Academy over the holiday season from December 21st - January 3rd to make up for some lost precious time. We will be sending more information shortly.

As usual, please find the weekly update from your Head Coach below.


Craig Mercer
Tennis Director and Assistant General Manager
Toronto Tennis City
MINI TENNIS TEAM
Head Coach John Cairns
Little Aces’s: Zoom addition. It was nice to see a big turn out this week 11 out of 12 for zoom! Coach Isabella continued with some explosive workouts; lots of air jump rope and core strength. Coach Mario led the physical literacy challenges that emphasizes balance, strength and co-ordination. Coach John led the racquet skills work with lots of no bounce volley work. The players continued their familiar exercises, pops to peels to peel and stick with no bounce. Sasha came up with a new racquet skill challenge this week with his “peel, lift and stick.” Well done Sasha!
FUTURES / CHAMPIONS TEAMS
Head Coach Adam Dykes
We are having a great week of training. Slowly we are seeing more and more players come out which is great to see. The importance of maintaining and building our physical is so critical for our sport which can be tough on the body. During this time it's important that we are able to do as much as we can to improve off the court to be ready when we are able to go back on the court. This week we are continuing our theme with the cardio based workout that is more tennis specific and the strength days in between. We once again are focused on the athletic look and the proper form and balance when doing the exercises. The importance of the dynamic warm up and cool down are essential as well to maintain and get in a routine continue. I have attached below a video of Djokovic doing some of his stretching routines below just to show that professional players have their routines as well before and after matches to reduce the chance of injury and to help relax the muscles to reduce muscle soreness. 


For our mental training we are looking at a free climber and his quest for mastery through visualization and preparation. It demonstrates the work needed and steps needed to perform flawlessly under pressure. It is a great video and should provide some insight on what is needed to perform under pressure. 
PROVINCIAL / NATIONAL U12 PROVINCIAL INTERNATIONAL
TEAMS
Head Coach Sam Jonas
As usual during this lockdown we had four fitness sessions and one mental training session. Our two speed and agility sessions we focused on developing speed and fast twitch muscles. We are also trying to focus on whatever technical details we possible can given the situation. We have spent a lot of time training the quality of the split step and the quality and length of the cross over step. These two steps and positions are essential to being a high level tennis player. 

In our strength training sessions this week we focused mainly on core strength and developing an athletic base through the development of the squat position. With out this athletic foundation having a good and strong first step on the court will be much more challenging.

I have included some pictures below of some players using a squat position in a training session and also in a tennis playing situation.

In our mental training session this week we discussed an inspiring TED talk video centered around mental strategies for overcoming your fears.

Each session has had an average of 27 players present and I would love to see us break 30 attendees next week!