The Functional Tennis Podcast

In this engaging conversation, Jeff Drock, a functional movement specialist and former college tennis star, shares insights from nearly 20 years in the tennis industry. He reflects on his role in shaping the dynamic footwork of young prodigy Coco Gauff. Drock discusses practical training techniques for enhancing agility and movement among junior players, the importance of foundational skills, and finding joy in fitness. He also offers advice for aspiring young athletes seeking to boost their performance through online resources. Expect a mix of humor and valuable tips!

In this week's episode, we jump into speaking to one of the most experienced physical trainers in our sport. I was lucky enough to speak to Kieron Vorster, the current physical trainer of Dan Evans, Liam Broady and Sorana Cirstea. Kieron has previously worked with Tim Henman, he's been the South African Davis Cup Captain and he's lead the Strength & Conditioning at the Qatar Tennis Federation. In our chat, we also cover ⬇️Dan Evans and his physical trainingSimilarities between Dan Evans & Tim HenmanWhy Djokovic's body is SO pureWhat's so impressive about Dan Evans The physical screening of junior tennis playersHope you enjoy it!FabioHave you seen the Functional Tennis Saber? Check it out here and don't miss the video of Stan Wawrinka crushing the ball.This podcast is sponsored by ASICS. ASICS is a Japanese company founded in 1949 with the purpose of giving more people the opportunity to experience how sports and movement can have a positive impact on mental well-being.To learn more about ASICS visit their website here: https://www.asics.com/nl/en-nl/sports/tennis/Find us on Social Media:Instagram: Instagram.com/FunctionalTennisTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@functionaltennis YouTube: Functional Tennis Podcast

Today I speak with Patrick Harding, long-time performance coach for F1 driver Alex Albon. Patrick spends 31 weeks a year with Alex has been working with him for six years. Patrick looks after all aspects of Alex's physical and mental performance. Look out for some similarities with tennis. There's lots of them!In our chat, we cover ⬇️Controlling boundaries with the athleteBuilding trust and relationshipsBeing focussed in intense momentsOptimising performance conditionsHow fit F1 drivers really areHope you enjoy it!FabioHave you seen the Functional Tennis Saber? Check it out here and don't miss the video of Stan Wawrinka crushing the ball.This podcast is sponsored by ASICS. ASICS is a Japanese company founded in 1949 with the purpose of giving more people the opportunity to experience how sports and movement can have a positive impact on mental well-being.To learn more about ASICS visit their website here: https://www.asics.com/nl/en-nl/sports/tennis/Find us on Social Media:Instagram: Instagram.com/FunctionalTennisTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@functionaltennis YouTube: Functional Tennis Podcast

Join Gary Cahill, former captain of the Irish Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup teams, as he discusses essential insights for tennis parents. He explores the dual roles parents play in their children's athletic journeys, emphasizing the importance of thoughtful decision-making. Gary discusses navigating coaching dynamics, evaluating academy progress, and the significant financial commitments involved. He advocates for long-term planning and education for parents to foster a supportive environment, ensuring young players thrive both on and off the court.

Today I speak to Timea Babos, a former doubles world No.1 and 4-time Grand Slam champion, as well as a former top 25 singles player. At a young age of 30, Timea tells us how her motivation and love for the game is as high as ever as she tries to move back up the rankings after injury.Timea speaks about growing up in a tennis family in her home country of Hungary and how her sister was a hugely talented player before her, having won the prestigious NCAA college tennis championships in the United States. She sheds light on her opportunity to train in and play for Great Britain when she was younger, as well as the challenges of coming from a smaller tennis nation when working her way up through the ITFs to the WTA Tour. And finally what I think you guys as listeners will find fascinating is how Timea deals with nerves, especially in the biggest stages of the sport at Grand Slams.FabioHave you seen the Functional Tennis Saber? Check it out here and don't miss the video of Stan Wawrinka crushing the ball.This podcast is sponsored by ASICS. ASICS is a Japanese company founded in 1949 with the purpose of giving more people the opportunity to experience how sports and movement can have a positive impact on mental well-being.To learn more about ASICS visit their website here: https://www.asics.com/nl/en-nl/sports/tennis/Find us on Social Media:Instagram: Instagram.com/FunctionalTennisTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@functionaltennis YouTube: Functional Tennis Podcast

Today I speak to Craig Boynton, the coach of Hubert Hurkacz. I was lucky to meet Craig last year at the IMG Future Stars event in Greece as Hubie was playing in the exhibition match and also stayed on to train for a few days.Going into chat I didn’t know too much about Craig and I was intrigued to find out more about his early tennis and coaching career. He gets straight into it talking about stories of Pete Sampras and Jim Courier. He also talks about the type of coach he is and how he adapts to players he has worked with. He tells us about his relationship with Hubert, we touch on his match against Novak in the Wimbledon 1/4s and he ends by giving advice for our listeners who are tennis parents.FabioHave you seen the Functional Tennis Saber? Check it out here and don't miss the video of Stan Wawrinka crushing the ballThis podcast is sponsored by ASICS. ASICS is a Japanese company founded in 1949 with the purpose of giving more people the opportunity to experience how sports and movement can have a positive impact on mental well-being.To learn more about ASICS visit their website here: https://www.asics.com/nl/en-nl/sports/tennis/Find us on Social Media:Instagram: Instagram.com/FunctionalTennisYouTube: Functional Tennis Podcast

HiI am on the search for a Content and Marketing freelancer to help with this podcast. I thought this might be a good place to ask.You can get all the details here.If you know somebody who might be interested please share this with them.Thank youFabio

Welcome to our 200th Episode. Today I chat with Former Australian Open winner and current coach of Sorana Cirstea, Thomas Johansson. Thomas gives us a look back at winning the Aus Open, what changed in his life afterwards, being forced to retire, his advice on the skills needed to be able to coach males and females, characteristics of top pros and a lot more.Hope you enjoy the episode.FabioHave you seen the Functional Tennis Saber? Check it out here and don't miss the video of Stan Wawrinka crushing the ballThis podcast is sponsored by ASICS. ASICS is a Japanese company founded in 1949 with the purpose of giving more people the opportunity to experience how sports and movement can have a positive impact on mental well-being.To learn more about ASICS visit their website here: https://www.asics.com/nl/en-nl/sports/tennis/Find us on Social Media:Instagram: Instagram.com/FunctionalTennisYouTube: Functional Tennis Podcast

It’s been a while since we had a top S&C trainer on the podcast so I’m excited to chat with Dalibor Sirola, the current S&C coach of Sasha Zverev.As well as working with Sascha, Dalibor is the head of S&C at the Piatti Tennis Centre. He has previously worked with Ljubic, Seppit, Milos, Jannik Sinner, Born Coric and Sharapova.We chat about his role at the Piatti Tennis Center, getting confidence back into Zverev, what differentiates the top players, testing players, strength levels, flywheel technology, touching on a development model for juniors and a lot more. Strength trainers are probably my favourite guests to talk to and this chat did not disappoint.FabioHave you seen the Functional Tennis Saber? Check it out here and don't miss the video of Stan Wawrinka crushing the ballThis podcast is sponsored by ASICS. ASICS is a Japanese company founded in 1949 with the purpose of giving more people the opportunity to experience how sports and movement can have a positive impact on mental well-being.To learn more about ASICS visit their website here: https://www.asics.com/nl/en-nl/sports/tennis/Find us on Social Media:Instagram: Instagram.com/FunctionalTennisYouTube: Functional Tennis Podcast

Today I have a quick catchup with Queens Finalist and Current ATP number 17 Alex De Minaur. Alex was visiting the Asics House of Tennis located near Wimbledon carrying out some sponsor work and I got to quickly ask him a few questions in between his work.He tells me what high performance is for him, where the extra pop has come from in his serve this year, playing Alcaraz and he tells us his advice to be 1% better Every day.There are also 2 bonus questions in there.And if you enjoy it check out our original chat with Alex back in episode 83.EnjoyFabioHave you seen the Functional Tennis Saber? Check it out here and don't miss the video of Stan Wawrinka crushing the ballThis podcast is sponsored by ASICS. ASICS is a Japanese company founded in 1949 with the purpose of giving more people the opportunity to experience how sports and movement can have a positive impact on mental well-being.To learn more about ASICS visit their website here: https://www.asics.com/nl/en-nl/sports/tennis/Find us on Social Media:Instagram: Instagram.com/FunctionalTennisYouTube: Functional Tennis Podcast