Fit for tennis
Teamwork is the key to all successful entourages
Jez Green, who is nowworking as DominicThiem’s physical conditioner after previous spells with Andy Murray and Alexander Zverev, says that every member of a player’s teambenefits from strong leadership
T ennis is largely an individual sport, but behind almost every successful player is a thriving team. Coaches, fitness trainers, physios, psychologists and agents all have their roles to play. As someone who has been part of the entourages of a number of top players, I’ve come to realise how important it is for all those team members to be pulling in the same direction. Different entourages work in different ways. Sometimes it’s the player who takes personal charge of the team, but I always think entourages work best when it’s someone else who leads the group. In most instances that person is the head coach, though in some cases it’s the agent, particularly if that person has a very strong tennis background. Whoever is in charge doesn’t have to be a dictator, but I think it’s best if there is one person responsible for the direction of the team. Of course they will do that in consultation with the player, but I think everyone within the team benefits from having someone in control. Central to everything is a plan for the player’s future development. The player is the one who dictates this, but all team members contribute to it. Everyone’s work will stem from this plan, which is the key to overall success. Within the plan there will be both an annual structure and more short-term processes. As a fitness trainer, I would generally agree my programme of work with the head coach, who would discuss with me how much time I would need with the player and what training blocks I would look to
run in the year. Without that leadership there can be confusion, with individuals not quite sure what they should be doing. I know that some players prefer having looser arrangements, but I like working in an environment where someone is leading the team. In my experience the best entourages are coach-led but player-driven. The player’s goals are what drive the team, but leading that team would take too much of their time. The player needs to focus on playing tennis. Instead, the head coach runs the team and supervises the work of everyone in it. The player can then relax, knowing that everything around them is under control. From my point of view as a trainer, the best head coaches will talk to you about your work, ask you what you want to do and why, and will then allocate the time you can work with the player. There will certainly be occasions when the coach will underline something that he or she wants built into the player’s fitness programme. I like that approach, because there’s always some important overlap between what different members of the team contribute. However, once everything has been agreed, the head coach will very much let me get on with my work. Of course there will occasionally be instances when there’s disagreement within the team, in which case it’s usually down to the player to resolve it. Disagreements are usually about the allocation of time. For example, the head coach might want to do a hard tennis session one day, whereas the trainer will want to do a hard day’s work on the track. In a case like
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