Welcome to the second season of The byrizz Rehab & Performance podcast. In the first episode of 2022, I'm speaking to Ali Glehem and Martin Stern Taipale, tennis performance coaches at AIM-X Performance Sports Club. This episode will touch on how both coaches test, train, and develop Tennis players at different ages and levels. 

Let's find out more about the man behind this episode;

• Ali's and Martins's background and present duties.
• The AIM-X concept - Tennis; 3 sports defining one.
• How the experience of both coaches aims to develop tennis players no matter their level and goals.
• Testing Tennis Performance: How does AIM-X test and develop tennis players? What tests are best correlated for Tennis performance? Past and Present of the AIM-X test database
• Do you need to be tall with great body levers to become good at Tennis?
• How can you develop your skills to become a better Tennis player? On and outside the Tennis court. 

This episode is the first one of the byrizz series of visual podcasts, meaning that we will be sharing more visual content aiming to educate our audience by presenting our podcast with video examples of exercises, tests, presentations, and other procedures to enhance the way of learning from our guests and episodes. 

Here's the video that both Ali and Martin reviewed and commented on. Thanks to Erick Hong for participating in the video shoot. Even though it seems I won most points, Erick did beat me.

Video-study case: The AIM-X coaches have reviewed recreational tennis players and have with the video screening come up with findings that are shared below the video. The exercise that AIM-X provides as the ones that can be done for improving performance, in this case, Split-Stance are also shown under the Video analysis. 

Primar findings of the analysis:

• The player (me) is often not performing Split Stance 
• This makes the player being to late in preparation before most of the strokes
• The player need to work outside and inside the court with the Split Stance

Although the player in question only plays once a week, the coaches said that he has the potential to develop his game by training on Split Stance (working with the feet) and not least playing more frequently.

Drills: Specific drills to improve Tennis split-stance;

All videos showed here are upload with permission from AIM-X coaches and are part of this episode. ©AIM-X. All rights reserved

Split stance exercise should be done both outside the Tennis court. If you struggle with the Split Stance as I do, the continuous and repetitive performance of the shown exercises is key. 

Reviewing the exercises:

• Stand tall throughout all exercise, that is an Athletic position when starting the drill
• Try to move as rapidly as possible after performing the Split Stance
• Implement the drills every time you hit the court - performing the drills as a warm-up for example. 
• Quick feet and being in position all the time are key in Tennis. Improving the basics will give you a better foundation in your playing style. 

This episode is sponsored by The byrizz™ Rehab & Performance application. The application gives you the continuity to reach your goals at any level, whenever, and wherever. The workouts, programs, and boot camps are made and customized to your needs and consist of trained therapists and strength & conditioning coaches with long experience in health and fitness. byrizz clients range from novice athletes to World Cup medalists and Olympians.

The episode is also brought to you in cooperation with Sparta Science. Sparta Science is the industry's gold standard for Force Plate Machine Learning that predicts, improves, and validates individual and team availability. With a simple two-minute scan per person, organizations increase fitness levels, prevent injuries, and accurately predict team readiness using the world's largest machine learning force plate database. For more information about Sparta Science, visit Spartascience.com.

Martin coach at AIM-X has a background as a tennis player and over 10 years of experience in training ATP, WTA, and Junior Circuit players. Photo: AIM-X.