Farmers Classic – Prep for Hawaii, Federer, Djokovic, Nadal, Shubert

Written by: Staff on 29th July 2011

Farmers Classic - Prep for Hawaii, Federer, Djokovic, Nadal, Shubert |

(Left: Thomas Shubert and Alexandra Stevenson)

Hey all, just wanted to give you a quick update on the happenings going around the Farmer’s Classic and my preparation for my upcoming tournament!

Tuesday was my final day in California before taking off to Hawaii and I managed to have a great practice with former Wimbledon semifinalist, Alexandra Stevenson. We had a 2 hour session and I learned a lot from our conversations. One thing that strikes me as the greatest difference between the pros and let’s say, college or top junior players, is the level of intensity that the professional puts into the practice. I’ve been lucky enough to be a hitting partner for a few pros now and can justify the statement that pros put in twice, and sometimes three times as much intensity into their practices, every single minute of them, than college/juniors/future tennis stars. Every shot they hit has a purpose, their footwork is more efficient, and the balls are struck with a lot more depth. I end up running around the court most of the practice like a chicken with its head cut off. But experiences like these offer a great learning experience. I don’t travel with a coach so I’m not constantly reminded how to play the game, but when you see a superior player across the net from you, you can emulate whatever it is about them that makes them better, and in this case, it’s intensity!

Djokovic, the most prime example this year of how intensity in practice pays off in tournaments: At the BNP Paribas Open earlier this year, my coach at the time was walking around and stopped by Djokovic’s practice court to speak with Djokovic’s coach, Marian Vajda. My coach and Marian had been friends on the tour about twenty years ago and my coach asked the question, “So what’s the difference now (about Djokovic)? New training? Racket? Marian replied to the effect of: “No no, we don’t do any more fitness than we used to before, it’s just that Nole puts a lot more intensity into his practices now, we only need an hour and a half a day to get in all the hitting we need, he works much harder now.” You see, when you put more intensity into your practices, you get a lot more done in less amount of time, a big advantage to players if your day is filled with other responsibilities.

I’ll share another story about Federer and IMG Juniors: IMG signs the top junior prospects from around the world. Roger Federer trains in Dubai during the ATP off season, temperatures are deathly depending on the humidity. Federer and IMG get together and fly 2 or 3 top juniors out to Dubai for a few weeks every year in order to give Federer hitting partners and for the juniors to get better in return. Federer puts so much into his practices that the juniors end up running out of gas and get rotated every hour. You might be thinking “Really? An 18yr old kid who’s probably #1 in his country can only last an hour with Federer??” Intensity. You don’t realize how tiring tennis can be until you step out onto a court with someone who doesn’t miss, hits a big ball, and puts every bit of intensity into every minute of their practices.

Do I even need to mention Nadal’s intensity in his matches? You just know that guy is dialed in, every game, every point, for 5 maybe 6 hrs straight if he need be. The great thing about Nadal is that you can see his intensity rather than Federer’s Borg-like persona on court. He comes to the court sweating, he’s jumping sky-high during the coin toss, he’s sprinting back to the baseline just to get the warm up started. Did I mention his grunt and his hustle around the court? The name of the game when it comes to top 100 pros and the rest of us is Intensity.

Anyway, I’m trying to apply the same intensity and competitive spirit to my practices since arriving in Hawaii. I’m bouncing all the time, thinking about every point like it’s break point, and getting some good results in practice. A few more good days and I’ll be ready for my first round match, August 1st, at the Kailua Racquet Club!!!

Always trying to improve,

Shubert