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Coming to the home stretch of the tennis calendar for 2022, I thought it would be a great time to analyze Carlos Alcaraz’s training and strength & conditioning programming that helped contribute to him winning the 2022 U.S. Open Champion and becoming the new world #1.
Granted this analysis is based off publicly shared video of his training in the gym and on-court. It gives a framework of how he has developed over the past few years, to what extent Carlos Alcaraz’s training methods have legitimacy, and how you can apply those same methods to your strength & conditioning.
*DISCLAIMER* Simply performing the same exercises won’t make you into a grand slam champion. They will serve as an underpinning foundation to your physical performance, but to completely ignore both technical and tactical mastery is ignorant to the fact this is a sport.
TL;DR: A handful of Carlos Alcaraz’s exercises can be considered advanced training techniques. These exercises are the “big drivers” that enhance physiological performance. Pieces of Carlos Alcaraz’s training sessions should not be performed by beginners; some of these techniques take years and a long term development model (LTDM) for athletic success.
Carlos Alcaraz, 2022 U.S. Open Champion, World #1, 19 Years Old
Since his debut at. the Rio Open in 2020, at 16 years old, Alcaraz has improved year-after-year. Winning the 2022 US Open not only made him the youngest US Open Champion, but also the youngest to ever achieve the world #1 ranking. Outside of his technical and tactical development that has some analysts say “he has elements of some of the best players to play the game all in one”, what has he done from a physical preparation standpoint to get to becoming the best?
Let’s analyze Calros Alcaraz’s training and figure out if his team has cracked the code or if he’s just one in a million.
The following opinion is based off videos found off Instagram and Youtube, recorded by his team or fans, and are analyzed as a window-view into his his total training program. The analysis is based on the tools used and potential reasoning behind their application.
1. Inertia Training/Flywheel Training
There are studies that suggest that inertia training with extremities can help with serve velocity (SV) in youth tennis athletes. Further research is required to analyze how effective they can be – particularly when loading a dominant side more than a non-dominant limb. Colomor & colleagues (2022) do suggest that inertia training can be effective “if athletes perform maximal intended execution velocity.” In other words, if the intent is there. Carlos Alcaraz’s training clip highlighting the inertia pulley with service motion looks to have heavy resistance: as indication why he is moving slow on his backmotion. This definitely is legitimate and is an advanced training method.
Similarly termed, flywheel training has been heavily researched. In Carlos Alcarz’s training, it serves to introduce greater eccentric forces and a battle to create more concentric force. In a meta-analysis comparing traditional resistance training (TRT) and flywheel training (FT) for athletes and their change of direction, Chaabene et al. (2022), found that FT was more effective than TRT in male athletes for change of direction because of the rapid eccentric and concentric muscle action.
This is an advanced training method. My only critique with some practitioners today is that they do not account for volume with flywheel training and that can lead to soft tissue injuries from overuse. There are technologies out today that can record and analyze force production which can highlight when an athlete should stop.
3. Medicine Ball
I cannot over emphasize how important medicine ball training is for a tennis athlete. I’m happy to see Carlos Alcaraz’s training comprises of different elements of medicine ball throws and tactical positions for throwing. You can click on either of these research studies to see the effects of medicine ball training on groundstroke velocity, serve velocity, and measurements of strength and power.
- Biomechanics of the Tennis Groundstrokes: Implications for Strength Training
- Acute and delayed effects of strength training in ball velocity and accuracy in young competition tennis players
- Effects of A 6-Week Junior Tennis Conditioning Program on Service Velocity
This insight into Carlos Alcaraz’s training with medicine balls also show that it can be used tactically on the court, not just in the weight room.
4. Elastic Bands
the the This is where I get lost when. I coaches/trainers used bands. The one component I see that does make sense is training or priming the quality of “stiffness.” For Carlos Alcaraz’s training or any tennis athlete for that matter, core stiffness and transverse core strength is important. However, rowing with distraction serves no purpose. Squatting with a row at the bottom, serves no purpose. Theres creativity and then no preparation – this might be part of the latter.
Apparently everyone lost their mind during Carlos Alcaraz’s training courtside when he broke a training band. Yes – a band. An elastic band.
5. Other considerations
It can be noted that in Carlos Alcarz’s training that has been shared, he does go through a considerable amount of cardiovascular training. There is also a great emphasis on acceleration through short sprint efforts and running mechanics. Learning how to create angles for acceleration can be the difference between getting behind a shot and barely making the shot.
Conclusion: Carlos Alcaraz’s Training
If I had to give Carlos Alcaraz’s training a score, it would be 90/100. If you need proof of his conditioning, he played multiple five-set matches in the US Open that ran into the early morning hours. His change of direction skills are elite. People boast about his forehand strength. There are questionable exercises from a practitioner standpoint in Carlos Alcaraz’s training.
Alcaraz has a bright future in tennis and his training during his teen years has prepared him to be an elite athlete.
To understand more about the strength & conditioning underpinnings of the tennis athlete, check out my other blogs on “Why Tennis Athletes Need Strength Training“, “How Strength Training Can Improve Your Tennis Serve“, and my guest appearance on the Cutoffs & Coffee podcast.