Ask a Coach: Train Not Drain

Oftentimes, players assume they need to go hard all of the time to accomplish their tennis goals. This is especially true with Junior players. But Coach Dio Miranda of Austin Tennis Academy said he relies on the basics; listening to your body, and knowing when to stop. Listening to your body is critical, paying attention to those nagging aches and pains and decompressing when it’s time.

According to Miranda, here are practical ways in which you can honor your body’s needs, and still see positive results on the court:

1. Maintaining good sleep habits. From 10:30 pm to 2:30 am your physical body repairs. From 2:30 am to 6:30 am, your immune system repairs.

    

2. Hydrating properly by drinking room temperature water. It’s room-temperature water, not ice cold, that hydrates the system during these grueling hot summer matches. 

    

3. Practicing nose breathing for deeper inhalations that help players remain calm under pressure.

    

4. Finding balance. Doing something aside from tennis so you have something else to think about. This doesn’t mean looking at your cell phone. Instead, he suggests things like going to a lake or movies with friends, even climbing a tree! Find something enjoyable outside of the sport. 

    

5. Utilizing the Golden Rule. Whatever your golden rule is, write it down and keep it handy during your matches. Golden Rules are written reminders of your main goal in the game, and help you stay focused. These are short phrases or single sentences such as “I know how to play this game,” “Remain calm when it’s boiling outside,” or “Go for your shots.”

    

Coach Dio’s biggest takeaway for players: Get to know yourself.

Coach Dio AKA McDoyle Miranda is a Puerto Rican native and has worked at the Austin Tennis Academy for 13 years. Miranda has an extensive background in physical education, special education, and natural science with an emphasis on massage. His most notable educational background is in kinesiology. Through his coursework in kinesiology, he learned about training the human body on the physical, emotional, spiritual, and limbic levels. It is in this space that he began to understand deeply how to help human beings become healthy and vital beyond just the daily physical grind.