Oleksii, you recently returned from Kazakhstan, where you were engaged in coaching. Tell us about this experience.

In September 2017, I finished cooperating with the Ukrainian Fencing Federation. Then there was an offer from the vice-president of the Tennis Federation of Kazakhstan to become the head coach of the tennis club in Pavlodar. During the trip, I planned to apply my theoretical knowledge to the practice of tennis.

In the club where I worked, 300 children train. More than 20 children play tennis professionally – they take part in national level competitions. I organized the training process, carried out advanced training for the coaching staff of the club and applied the methods of sports training in tennis.

During my stay in Kazakhstan, we have achieved good results. Ilya Vedmed joined the national team of Kazakhstan under 14. Sofya Chursina won the Championship of Kazakhstan under 16 in singles and second in doubles. Egor Bily won the 1st category tournament, and also small athletes showed good results in the “tennis up to 10” category.

In 2011 – 2013 (indicate the correct dates) you worked at the Scientific Research Institute of the Research Laboratory (how to spell it correctly?). What did you work on there, what experience did you gain?

Before working at the Laboratory, I studied at the Institute of Physical Education and gained a lot of theoretical knowledge. But it was difficult to apply them in practice, nevertheless, the isolation of theorists from practitioners is huge, as well as vice versa.

Here I had to see how a person reacts to the load live, in real time. Also with experience came an understanding of how the Olympic champion or World champion differs from the level of National level champions – of course, at the level of physiology and their response to physical activity.

My duties included determining the resting lung capacity, maximum lung ventilation, and peak expiratory flow. As well as testing in a step-up test on the OXYCON gas analytical complex. I recorded the reaction from the cardiac and respiratory systems. Then after the test, I processed the data, wrote a report to the coach and a recommendation sheet. But it was not enough for me to simply see the difference between the athletes, I had to learn how to achieve such figures in practice. Which was done with the Olympic fencing team.

Most recently, in parallel with coaching in tennis, you were the coach of the fencing team. What are your achievements in this area?

Gained work experience in research institutes
(specify the name so that it is clear that this is the same institution) of the reserve capabilities of athletes, since February 2017 I have collaborated with the Ukrainian Olympic fencing team. During this time, we won gold at the World Cup stage in Tunisia and the World Cup in Leipzig. But the main thing is not even that. I consider it a more important merit than the 1st place that we returned the former sports uniform to the athlete who won the gold medal. With a huge margin, she defeated her competitors.

What was your function as a coach?

I was responsible for the overall physical training of the fencers based on numbers. The fact is that behind every physical quality of an athlete – speed, strength, endurance, flexibility – there are tens and hundreds of numbers that must be calculated and controlled. Because if you know how to use these numbers, it is easy to answer the question of what and how to train in order to achieve results in sports faster. This is what I did.

So you wrote a training plan based on numbers?

Yes, that’s the point of sports science. Sports science is based on the scientific method, where the main criterion is the requirement of objectivity, which excludes the subjective interpretation of the results. Conclusions are drawn on the basis of data obtained experimentally. To explain the facts that we see, hypotheses are put forward, and then a mathematical model is built. That is, as a result, we get the “standard athlete” under which we bring our player. Only this path is very individual, because there are no two identical people in the world, and they react differently to stress factors, including physical activity.

Every athlete has their own strengths and weaknesses. So the load for each should be selected individually?

Let’s start with the fact that, firstly, tennis is an individual sport. And usually the coach pays attention to one athlete in the group. Secondly, the load is divided into external and internal. The external side of its manifestations include: the speed of movement, the speed and rotation of strikes, the amount of distance covered during the match. Many indicators belong to the internal: indicators from the cardiovascular, respiratory, musculoskeletal systems. One of the integral (cumulative, integral, central – which word is more suitable?) Indicators in sports is power. It is measured in watts.

Because of these moments, it is difficult to choose the load individually directly on the tennis court, except perhaps in a general physical training session. It happens like this – two players stand on the court. Begin to play an intense exercise. For one tennis player, the load is felt as acceptable and he only increases his results with each training session, while the second works with overstrain and worsens his performance. Or another example. Two athletes run at the same speed. The first only develops its physical qualities, and the second has already overstressed the functional systems and continues to work with the expenditure of the body’s reserves.

In the fencing team, my task was to walk a fine line in order to constantly increase the adaptive mechanisms of the athlete’s body, but not let him go into overstrain. And of course, to perform a positive transfer of physical qualities to specialization. This means not only to train physical qualities, but also to translate the trained qualities into competitive activity.

Loading is understandable. What needs to be done in order not only to do quality work, but to fight for cups and medals?

If you decide to go in for sports professionally – not just for yourself to wave a racket or relieve stress with physical activity, you need to start with testing the body. In the beginning, you need to conduct load tests with a coach – to get certain numbers with technical, tactical, functional training.

Then you interpret the results, determine what exactly you will develop and what result you are striving for. Find out your strengths and weaknesses in order to understand the strategy of victory. After that, you and your coach make a preparation plan with specific competition dates and move towards your results. Whether you achieve them or not, evaluate the result, draw conclusions, and repeat all over again.

Great, with the sport as a whole figured out. What are your accomplishments in tennis?

I played tennis from 6 to 12 years old. After the break, I picked up the racket again at 19. It was an amateur game at that time and the level was the same. But as a result of work on himself, at 25 he completed the master of sports, won the Cup of Ukraine in pairs. Of course, this is not the best result, but I understand what kind of sport it is and how to play it 🙂

Since 2005 you have been working in tennis as a coach. What victories do your students have?

If we are talking about significant results, and not about the winners of the Ukrainian championship, then I didn’t have any student victories at grand slam tournaments 🙂 Well, let’s be honest – there are not so many such coaches in Ukraine. In principle, I initially understood the huge difference between tennis players who play tennis and those who win. But I had to not only understand this, but also learn how to manage this process. Many of my “famous” colleagues take athletes out by overstraining their adaptive mechanisms to national tournaments. At the same time, the reserve capabilities of the athlete’s body are used. And it turns out such a “fork” – it seems that the player can do everything, but wins only low-level tournaments and does not get close to high-class tournaments. But that’s a completely different story. I wanted to say that top-level athletes need a professional scientific approach.

How does functional training affect a tennis player?

The tactical capabilities of a tennis player are limited first by his technical and then by his functional training. Will he be able to become a winner with the chosen tactics and technical abilities and will he have enough strength for this. That is, will he be able to run from corner to corner several times, win back the hardest balls, and then perform attacking actions, and so on throughout the match. At some point, he will get tired and what he considered an advantage will no longer help him in his game.

Therefore, the improvement of physical qualities will expand these possibilities. Work on endurance – you will be able to “neutralize” the opponent with your stability and getting into the court. Working on the speed of hitting means focusing on quick draws so that your opponent does not keep up with your game and makes mistakes.

Even Semyon Belits-Geiman (Soviet swimmer, silver and bronze medalist of the 1968 Olympic Games, Honored Master of Sports of the USSR, sports journalist – leave the most important thing) said: “What is the physical fitness of an athlete – such is his tactics.” Fully agree with this statement.

You are talking about sports training methods – but are they the same for fencers and tennis players?

In fact, knowing the laws of sports physiology, you can work with any athlete from any sport. You just need to understand the specifics of this sport. Here you need a coach with an understanding of sports physiology and practical experience in your chosen sport.

How can you influence the result in tennis?

Each element that you want to influence needs to be translated into numbers and work with them. As a result, you get a natural efficiency that simply cannot fail to work. This applies to both physical and technical training.

Tennis is first and foremost a game. And the best are distinguished, first of all, by constant (?) work on oneself. I want to play and win.