With Syracuse’s season in the home stretch, head coach Younes Limam is getting creative in practice.

The NCAA allows 20 hours of tennis per week while in season, but Limam knows he can’t do drills and conditioning without burning out his team. To keep them fresh and engaged, Limam uses different practice strategies during the daily afternoon practice.

With Syracuse playing almost two matches per week, Limam keeps practice interesting by playing against the team himself and proposing games for the team to play against one another. No. 25 Syracuse (14-6, 6-5 Atlantic Coast) has two distinct practice settings with different vibes: individualized morning sessions and full team afternoon sessions.

“It’s really important to have them compete against each other, and we try to have everything in practice count,” Limam said. “We want them to have that mentality where every single point, every game, every match is important.”

Limam said he is careful to balance the players’ fitness with practice time. Whenever SU plays on a Sunday, it doesn’t practice Monday. When SU doesn’t have a Sunday match, players get that day off and practice the next day.

During the offseason, the NCAA heavily regulates how much time players can spend in practice and fitness training. Limam is only allowed two hours of tennis weekly during the off-season with six hours allowed for fitness. William Hicks, SU’s assistant athletic director for athletic performance, provides a workout plan to help the Orange improve fitness. Hicks develops two plans, one for the offseason and one for the regular season.

“When you’re feeling fit, it helps you mentally to know you can go the distance in tough matches,” Limam said. “Coach Hicks has done a tremendous job with the team.”

When the players build their class schedules for the spring semester, each plans around the daily afternoon practices and two individualized morning sessions each week. Individual practices are much more technical and focused towards improving skills with individual drills, Limam said.

Often, there are only one or two players that attend the morning sessions at a time with Limam and assistant head coach Shelley George. These individual practices are similar to how many of the players practiced growing up.

In the afternoon, Limam and volunteer assistant coach Len Lopoo frequently join in competitive mini-games. Syracuse’s favorite game is triples, where two teams of three face off on opposite ends of the court.

The ball is fed to two players standing on the baseline with one player at the net. This fast-paced, 3-on-3 game helps with reaction times, volleying and keeping the ball away from the person at the net, a major key to being successful in doubles.

“It’s important to have a lot of playful games within our practices,” Gabriela Knutson said. “Because if we don’t, we get into a lull and we’re too focused on just our game.”

SU plays king-of-the-court style games, keeping track of points to see who wins on the specific court. When Limam stops play, whichever team has more points moves up a court. The team with fewer points moves down a court. After the drill, there is either a prize for the victors or a punishment for the losers.

The winning teams sometimes win extra shirts or shorts, while the losing team is faced with a conditioning penalty. Limam joins the games to motivate his team as the players try to beat their coach.

“I like playing coach, it’s always pretty competitive,” Knutson said. “It’s always a goal to beat your coach, and I’ve beaten him a few times.”

When Limam isn’t playing alongside his players, SU practices more broad concepts, such as serving and returning. Limam and George discuss strategies for the upcoming match, making small changes in tactics.

After a 7-0 loss at Miami on Sunday, the Orange didn’t practice on Monday. But by Tuesday afternoon, Limam will be wearing a tracksuit, wielding his Babolat racket and ready to challenge his team on the court.

Published on April 9, 2018 at 9:18 pm

Contact Anthony: amdabbun@syr.edu | @AnthonyDabbundo