When most people think about combining tennis and water, painstaking rain delays instantly spring to mind, but not for coach Andrew Fitzpatrick.
You pride yourself on an innovative approach to training. What do you encourage your players to do and why are non-tennis exercises so good?
I use swimming and boxing most. Swimming is good for all sports in terms of rehab – using swimming’s low-impact exercise as a great way to stay active while recovering from injury – and prehab – using swimming as a preventative exercise against injury. I also believe there are a lot of similarities to the mental side of tennis and boxing. Plus, if you think about a tennis player’s career, they do the same thing day in and day out for 10 to 15 years, so throwing in something different is appealing to the player too.
For tennis, swimming is particularly good for joints and shoulders. Tennis players are always changing the surfaces they are playing on and the majority of those surfaces are hard, so working in the pool keeps the body loose.
Swimming is low-impact and is the complete opposite to tennis, which is why it’s so good. You’re still being challenged and being given a full-body workout. It’s easier for the body than the harsh ‘bang, bang, bang’ of tennis.
