November 1, 2005
It's with great pleasure that I introduce Pat Etcheberry and his new tennis fitness training series to our TennisOne readership.
Whether you're playing tennis at the club level, or aspiring to the college or professional level, you can learn and apply the secrets of tennis training from one of the sport's greats. Stay tuned for Pat Etcheberry's insights each month on TennisOne! Kim Shanley, Publisher, TennisOne
Pat Etcheberry: Physical Conditioning and the
Modern Game Pat Etcheberry
Today a player wouldn't have a chance of winning if they showed up for a tournament out of shape. So, as the physical demands of the sport have changed, so have the methods and modalities of training a tennis player. The training program that I have developed and modified over the many years of working with top tennis professionals is very tennis specific. You cannot train a tennis player the same way in which you would condition a football or a basketball player. A conditioning coach and tennis coach must have a good understanding of the physical needs that are unique to a tennis player.
Players need to understand, and coaches need to emphasize, how being physically fit effects their confidence and mental toughness as much as it does their endurance, speed and mobility on the court. By strengthening a person physically, I believe they can also be strengthened mentally. Over my career many people have asked me how I became involved with the sport of tennis and had the opportunity to train so many A-list tennis players. Even when I was competing as an athlete myself, first as an elite soccer player and later as an Olympic track and field athlete, I knew that someday I wanted to coach other athletes. I was keenly aware of the importance of being physically fit and I knew that a good conditioning program could always make a player better. I spent 27 years as the head strength and conditioning coach at the University of Kentucky, coaching all varsity sports, both men's and women's. While there, I began doing consulting work for the Nick Bolletteri Tennis Academy. Eventually I left the University of Kentucky to train and travel with Andre Agassi. Since then I have been fortunate to be able to work with such players as Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Sergio Bruguera, Jennifer Capriati, Justine Henin Hardenne, Gabriela Sabatini, and many more.
To design a winning conditioning program that is sport specific, you must be able to analyze the needs and physical requirements of the sport. I became a student of the sport of tennis by studying the top players extensively and talking with them and their coaches about their specific needs. I set out to become an expert on movement, footwork, strength, flexibility, and all other components of a great tennis player. I studied the movement and footwork of the top players, compared to the length of the matches, the number of matches played in a given week, the strengths and weaknesses of different players, etc. My program has been developed and modified over the years. In addition, the program is adapted on an individual basis taking into account each players strengths and weaknesses; you don't want to train a baseline player the same way you would a serve-and-volley player. For example, Pete Sampras and Jim Courier worked with me at the same time. However, they needed different programs due to their different physical needs and styles of play. The same was true for Mary Joe Fernandez and Jennifer Capriati. When training players in any sport, but particulary in
tennis, I work on his or her strengths, but focus even more
on their weaknesses, as that's where they have the most
room for improvement. The training is such that anything
they could face on game day couldn't be any more
challenging than what they have been through in training.
Finally, a player's motivation, drive, perseverance, and character can determine the degree to which he or she will be successful. When I evaluate a player, not only do I look at their physical possibilities, but also their desire to be the best. Are they willing to do the work required to be the best? Their answer is not always yes. There have been many players who were not the most gifted physically, but who made up for that with a toughness, a heart, a work ethic that took them to the top. For me, Monica Seles, Jim Courier, and Justine Henin-Hardenne immediately come to mind. My philosophy seems to have worked over the years. By evaluating each of my players both as athletes and as unique individuals, and then customizing their training program to fit their skills and personalities, together over the years we have won more than 100 Grand Slam Championships and Olympic Medals. As always, we would love to hear from you! Questions, comments, personal experiences all create helpful dialogue for everyone! Please click here to send us your email.
And now it's your turn! This is your chance to experience the same drills, exercises and words of tennis wisdom that Pat gave to Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jennifer Capriati, Martina Hingis, Jim Courier, Justine Henin-Hardenne, and others, that helped launch them on their incredible careers. For the first time, Pat Etcheberry shares his training secrets in a series of DVDs for players of all ages, their coaches, and trainers. Visit EtcheberryExperience.com to learn more.
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In the modern game it is widely accepted that physical conditioning is very important for success on the tennis court. As recently as ten years ago many people did not accept this as fact. At that time very few tennis players were trained as athletes.
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