Gael Monfils, who has been ranked in the world’s top 10, and who is regarded by many as the best athlete in tennis, on ‘HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR FLEXIBILITY’ …
Stretch every day – if you’re not warmed up you could hurt yourself: ‘I am lucky enough to be naturally flexible, but stretching every day before and after practice sessions and matches is a must. In my opinion, flexibility is important for two reasons. One is that it will help you to prevent injuries, and the other is that it will help your defensive skills. For me personally, being flexible allows me to catch balls that most players would not normally be able to reach. You also need speed to get to the ball first, but the flexibility will help you to find the right position to hit it, perhaps by doing the splits, for example. The biggest mistake you can make is to start working on your flexibility without being properly warmed up as that’s the best way to get injured.’
Work on the practice court to recreate situations that you will face in a match: ‘It is very important in this case to be properly warmed up before you start.’
But you don’t just have to work on your flexibility on the court or in the gym: ‘I would suggest going to some yoga and hip-hop classes to work on different parts of your body. Those new moves will improve your flexibility and help you in match situations.’
If you’re stiff, and need to do a lot of work on your flexibility, you have to start slowly: ‘You should not start too hard but try to go progressively and do a bit more every day; this way you will gain flexibility. The routine for a stiff player should be different to the routine for someone who has better flexibility. There is no need to push yourself too much one day and not be able to do anything the next day. Flexibility training needs to happen every day, step by step with the intention of doing a little more every day.’
Be aware that doing the splits at full speed carries a risk – save the splits for the big moments in matches: ‘I would try to avoid doing the splits, especially at full speed. Doing the splits is very demanding for the body and there is always the risk of injury. Even when I’m on the practice court, I try to keep them to a minimum. I like to save myself for the big moments in a match. I always think that this one ball that I will get could make the difference in the end.’
Andre Agassi’s fitness trainer, Gil Reyes, on ‘HOW TO GET IN SHAPE FOR TENNIS’… Agassi achieved the career golden slam, winning all four majors and the Olympics.
If you’re going to be successful you’re going to need strong legs. ‘At every level of the sport, including amateur level, players are hitting the ball harder. What that means is you’re going to have to be able to retrieve and get to a faster ball. And that, of course, puts everything on the legs, everything. Whether you’ve just taken up the sport, or you’re an aspiring player, you also have to work on your lower back, and on your shoulders and wrists, but they are all secondary to the legs.’
If you’re working with a physical trainer or coach, communication is so important – tell the trainer how you feel on the court, and how you want to feel. And the trainer needs to listen: ‘Andre was a teenager when we started working together. He was so clear with me. He said: “Make me strong and I can win.” Everyone knew that Andre was a great tennis player; he just needed to become a more complete athlete. I needed to learn from Andre what it was that he wanted out there. So he taught me, and then he relied on me to put it into a plan for him, and to do it safely, because he didn’t have a background in weightlifting. That communication led to an amazing relationship that still exists today. We made it through an entire career.’
Don’t be in a rush. Start slowly: ‘That could just be a light jog around the block. The weekend warrior’s lament is starting too fast. It’s much better to think that you didn’t do enough, as you can easily correct that. Unfortunately, if you do too much at the beginning you might end up with a problem that could set you back weeks or even months. Young players see the extraordinary athleticism on the tour, and they’re in a rush to get into the gym and start lifting weights that can cause a wave of injuries. Tennis wasn’t previously associated with weightlifting and now it is. Sometimes the enthusiasm, the zeal, will create problems. That concerns me greatly.’
Squats are the best and the worst exercise ever invented by man: ‘After starting slowly, you then want to strengthen your legs. But you must do that safely. I happen to be one of those who loves squats. But there’s so much potential for injury to the knees and lower back.’
It’s important to strengthen your lower back: ‘Whenever you play a shot – especially a serve, but also with your groundstrokes – you’re generating torque, and that comes from your lower back and your abdominals.’
As well as building strength, you need to demonstrate it: ‘Andre running up the hills was a follow-up to our strength training. Andre felt as though running the hills was something he had to do to challenge his leg strength. Running the hills wasn’t about getting his legs stronger; it was a measure of where he was at any given point. That was him saying to me, “Keep on pushing me, keep on getting me stronger.”’
Martina Navratilova, a winner of 18 grand slam singles titles, on ‘FITNESS FOR TENNIS’ …
Don’t just play tennis – do other sports, such as football, basketball and track and field, for cross-training: ‘That will give you a different perspective of what you’re doing geometrically on the court, as well as using the body a little differently. If you just play tennis, you could end up with more physical issues.’
Players now spend too much time in the gym when they should be doing more physical work on the court: ‘Do drills on the court that are very physical because then, at the same time as getting in shape, you’re also learning how to play.’
Strength training will help you maintain control over your shots: ‘You want to be able to hit the ball just as hard in the final set as you did in the first set. When you lose power, you lose control. If you have to use more power to swing just as hard, you’re going to miss more.’
To avoid boredom, work on something different every day: ‘There’s always plenty to improve.’
Keep track of what you are doing on the practice court – that trains the mind: ‘Count everything. A lot of times, players will just hit, hit, hit. They miss three balls in a row and think “no big deal”, and don’t change anything. And then you play a match and miss three balls in a row it’s 0–40. Whoops. So when you do drills count to 11 or 20. And practise match situations, which means playing sets.’
If you’re going to serve and volley, or attack the net a lot, you have to be in excellent shape: ‘The type of game I played, you had to be in really good shape. I don’t just mean endurance; I played a very explosive type of game, so that takes a lot more out of you than just staying on the baseline and running from side to side. It takes a lot more energy running forward and back rather than side to side. Side to side you can do all day long. But running up and down, you need to be in great shape to do that.’
Gil Reyes, who worked for 17 years as Andre Agassi’s strength and conditioning trainer, on ‘HOW TO WORK ON YOUR FITNESS DURING THE OFF-SEASON’ …
You’ll need a physical and mental break after a long season, but it’s important that you don’t let yourself get out of shape: ‘The off-season should be the time when you do your toughest training.’
To counter the problems of wear-and-tear, you need to keep your body in tip-top shape. Whether you’re a competitive or a recreational player, use the off-season to build up your strength and it will increase your enjoyment of playing tennis: ‘Think about how many times a player starts and stops, starts and stops, in every point – that’s jarring and jolting and putting a beating on your knees, your lower back, your hips, your ankles. So you have to keep your body strong.’
Madison Keys, a US tennis star, on ‘HOW TO FUEL YOURSELF FOR TENNIS’ …
Try to avoid getting stuck in a routine during the tournament, as otherwise you will end up eating the same food in the same restaurant all week: ‘If I go to the same restaurant two days in a row, I feel as I though I have to stick with the same routine and go there for the rest of the tournament. So on the second day I always try to go somewhere different so I don’t get stuck in a routine.’
It’s very important not to eat a big meal just before going on court: ‘If you get the timing wrong, it’s not going to be fun. I would suggest having a snack about half an hour before you go on court.’
Avoid foods such as pizza, cake and ice cream: ‘On the day of the match, and also the night before, you should be eating proteins and carbohydrates.’
During the match, eat and drink during every changeover: ‘Every time I sit down, I drink something with electrolytes in it, and I take a bite of something, whether it’s a banana or an energy bar.’
After the match, drink some water and a recovery shake, and then have lunch or dinner.
Leander Paes, a former doubles world No. 1, on ‘HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR REFLEXES’ …
Play video games: ‘When I was a kid, my dad gave me 100 rupees a day to play video games. He realised that when I was looking at a screen, I would be really working on my hand-eye coordination.’
Play tennis against your garage wall: ‘Don’t do it against your living room wall, as your mum won’t be pleased. Go outside and just go bang, bang, bang with the ball against the wall. And go forehand-backhand, forehand-backhand. And then after that you go low forehand-high backhand, low backhand-high backhand. You basically work the different reflexes. Start off by standing ten feet from the wall, then you go to eight feet from the wall and then you go to five feet from the wall. And then three feet. By the time you get to three feet away, it’s bang, bang, bang, bang. It’s very quick. It’s like a boxer working on a punchbag. You’re building up muscle memory, as well as building up your forearm muscles.’
You can also do the wall practice with a football: ‘This helps your eye-foot co-ordination and reflexes – people seem to forget about that.’
Heather Watson, a former junior US Open champion, on ‘HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR MOVEMENT’ …
Push yourself so hard that you’re almost in tears: ‘This sport is just 10 per cent talent – the rest is hard work – and you will have to apply yourself to improve your movement. I do lots of running drills, side to side and back and forth, and while I’ve never felt sick, I have sometimes felt as though I’m about to cry my eyes out. I’m working so hard, both mentally and physically, and I’m trying to push through.’
Run on the beach: ‘Running in the sand is very good for your legs. It’s especially tough when you do it at 7am, and you know that you’ve got a full day of weights and tennis ahead of you. But you need to train hard.’
Kei Nishikori, who reached his first grand slam final at the 2014 US Open, on ‘HOW TO MAKE SPEED YOUR WEAPON’…
First you must recognise that speed can be a weapon in tennis. If you can run down a lot of balls, you can hurt your opponent: ‘I have to be fast around the court because I’m not the biggest guy on the tour. So speed has become my biggest weapon.’
When you do your drills, you should replicate your movement in matches: ‘In matches you’ll be running to get a ball, and then you’ll be trying to get into position before chasing another ball down. Those are the movements you should be making in training.’
There are different running skills – running forwards, running backwards and running sideways – and you need to work on all of them: ‘Some people are good at running side to side, but aren’t so good going forwards and backwards, or vice versa, and then you have a weakness.’
Don’t assume that you know how to run properly – you might need to change your running style: ‘I worked with a trainer who taught me how to run correctly.’
Sloane Stephens, who reached her first grand slam semi-final at the 2013 Australian Open, on ‘HOW TO BE A GREAT ATHLETE’ …
Appreciate that being in good shape will give you a psychological and mental edge: ‘Fitness leads to better stamina, quickness, and heavier balls. Fitness also affects the mental side of the game. Going into every match, I believe I am in better shape than my opponent. That gives me an advantage before the match even begins, as I have the confidence to play my best.’
Becoming a better athlete takes a lot of sacrifice and hard work, so you’d better make sure you love it: ‘To become a better athlete, you need to spend a lot of time on the court, and on the track and in the gym. I spend between 7 and 10 hours a week on physical fitness, and I truly feel it makes a big difference to my game.’
Stretch before and after you train or play if you want prevent injury: ‘Dynamic stretching is really good for warming up. It gets the blood flowing and stretches out the muscles at the same time. After matches, I recommend static stretching. This really cools the muscles down and gets the lactic acid out, which causes soreness.’
Ice after training: ‘This is the hardest part of my fitness regime – it’s so cold – but how you recover after training is as important as the training itself. I know how important this is, so I suck it up. I always feel way better afterwards, too.’
Fuel your body: ‘I try to stick to protein and carbs in the morning so I have energy for practice. I eat a big lunch so I can refuel my body for my next practice. It is very important to put some food in your body within an hour of when you finish training. And I try not to eat dinner too late, before 6pm if possible.’