April 2, 2025 • 42 mins
In this episode, Lorenzo Petrucci, performance coach to WTA top-20 player Liudmila Samsonova, shares his journey from a tennis-playing student in Milan to working alongside some of the sport’s top talent. He reveals how success on tour is about far more than hitting balls, it’s about managing pressure, building smart routines, and knowing when (and how) to push. From insights learned under Ricardo Piatti to the importance of on-court collaboration with tennis coaches, Lorenzo gives an entire look into elite tennis's mental and physical demands.
🗣️ 3 Key Quotes:
1. “It’s not about how good you are—it’s about understanding who you have in front of you.”
2. “The best fitness coaches are the ones who understand tennis.”
3. “You must be clear. The player doesn’t allow you to be in doubt.”
✅ 5 Takeaway Points:
1. Success in tennis depends heavily on mental resilience and communication.
2. Strength and conditioning must align with on-court movements, not just gym work.
3. Understanding each player’s physical and emotional needs is key to long-term progress.
4. Female and male players require different training and recovery strategies.
5. A cohesive and collaborative support team makes all the difference.
Hope you enjoy it
Fabio
This podcast is sponsored by ASICS. ASICS is a Japanese company founded in 1949 to give 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/FunctionalTennis
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:25):
Welcome to the FunctionalTennis Podcast. I'm your host, Fabio
Molle and I bring you insightsand lessons from players, coaches,
parents and experts who areingrained in the world of high level
tennis. Today's expert isLorenzo Petrucci, the performance
Coach to top 20 WTA rankedLuda Samsonova. I met Lorenzo at
the Essex Tennis Summit downin Melbourne in January, as well
(00:47):
as his teammate, Ludus coachDanilo Pizzerno. We said let's have
a small chat in the podcastlater this year, so here we are.
He discussed his journey tobecome the performance coach, working
with Luda and her team.Valuable lessons learned from renowned
coach Ricardo Piatti, as wellas managing pressure and workload.
Shout out to Asics for flyingme down to Melbourne earlier this
(01:09):
year where I met Lorenzo. I'malso looking forward to their collab
which recently launched withlifestyle brand APC for their upcoming
clay court season collection.Okay, here's Lorenzo. Hi, Lorenzo.
Welcome to the FunctionalTennis Podcast. How are you?
Good, very good. Thank you,Fabio, for having me with you and
your podcast and it's apleasure to be here with you.
(01:32):
It was great to only match forthe first time down in Australia
at the Asics event, yourselfand Danilo, which were super nice.
So it was great, really goodto meet you. And I did talk about
trying to get you on here, soI'm glad I've got you on. You're
in Italy this week. Why areyou not in Miami?
I was in Indian Wells beforeand we did all the preparation for
(01:55):
Indian Wells and I stayed inthe Indian Wells as well in the tournament
then at the end. So Luda wentvery good in the tournament. So I
stayed with the team untilIndian west and then they moved to
Miami and then I go back toMilan because I have other work that
I'm working on. I see them nowfor the clay preparation and then
(02:20):
it will continue for Stuttgartand all tournament ahead.
Nice. So I skipped by it here,but you are the performance coach,
the strength and conditioningcoach for Luda Samsonova, who is
currently ranked as of today19 in the world. She's been highest
12. And you work alongsideDanilo Pizzerno, who we post a lot
of his videos. He always hasgreat videos and from speaking to
(02:43):
him, he's about 50,000 videos.He's the original, the original video
guy. And yeah, he was tellingme goes down all through Italy filming
players. Crazy. But tell me,so where does your tennis journey
start?
So it's a very good question.So tennis journey start when I was
(03:05):
young because at the young ageI started to play tennis and I had
the national ranking, Italynational ranking. So I was not professional,
but I was very good in. Andafter I started to study in university
in Milan in sports, science.And then everything start with the
(03:27):
tennis about my internship andeverything start from there. So it's
a long trip, but I'm sohonored to be what I'm doing right
now with Danilo and the Liudateam because it's an amazing experience
them. And yeah, Danilo is anamazing person that work with. I'm
(03:49):
growing a lot with him. Andyeah, he is an amazing person to
work with.
Where in Italy are you from?Are you from beside Milan?
Yeah, I'm in Milan right now.Yeah, of course.
Okay. You grew up there?
Yeah, of course. Yeah, yeah,yeah, yeah, of course.
Do you remember any of theplayers from your age group? Did
he still play now?
When I was young, of coursethere's one people that I also training
(04:13):
in my future, it's Filippo,because I know him when was very
young and he was very, verygood at it. And one funny, funny
things that when I becameafter a strength and conditioning
coach, I trained him when atthe end of. I mean now his practice.
And was there. Was there everdecision for you to go pro or was
(04:37):
always like I'm.
Going to university, you know,I start university and then starting
to like it very much. I meanstudy sports, I love it. And then
was tough to do everythingtogether. So. And then I decided
to proceed to study and getfocus on in. And also because during
(04:59):
my path during the bachelor'sdegree I did bachelor's and then
master's as well. And duringthe bachelor's I had the opportunity
and lucky opportunity occasionto go to Inter Football Club to learn
how the football playertraining. And I saw the strength
(05:20):
and conditioning coach theywork with them. I speak with the
coach as well. At that time Iwas passionate a lot. So I decided
to continue to do my masters.And during my master's I was very,
very lucky to do oneinternship to Piatti Tennis center.
And there from thereeverything start and all my. I mean
(05:45):
careers starts because there II knew a lot of professional worker
there. I want to mention oneof my mentor that is Dalibor Sirola.
I think that he's one of thebest in my field. He was very, very
important in my path and Ilearned a lot from him. And now I'm
(06:08):
very, very, very lucky aboutit. So yeah, everything start from
there. And also RiccardoPiatti. So I was in that team at
that Time I could see all theprofessional players that work with
them. I mean, I see YannickSinner, Maria Sharapova, Borna Choric,
(06:31):
everything. So it was like adream for me because from after my
study I went there and thenafter my graduation I stayed there
four years. So I moved toBordighera, changed my life and I
stayed there for four yearsand yeah, was amazing, really.
(06:51):
We did have Dalabor on thepodcast before. Super, super nice
guy and knowledgeable. Soknowledgeable. We actually. Who's
it with? Lapo Beccarini onHulgaroons. Fitness trainer. He worked
in a football club. I rememberasking him. I think he work.
Yeah, maybe something.
Yeah, yeah. I think he stillworks with some footballers now.
I'm not sure exactly, but hewas another great strength and conditioning
(07:14):
coach. We've had a good fewstrength and conditioning coaching
on over, over the years. Iactually just did a podcast interview
earlier and we firstinterviewed the guy five years ago,
so I can't remembereverything, but. So you, you were
at Piatti? Sinner was there.Did you. How many years ago was this?
Did you start at Piatti?
2019.
When did Sinner leave Piatti?
(07:37):
He leaves after three yearsthat I was there. I think in 2023
around. I. I don't want tomiss, but I think it is two years
or three that he. He left.
I gotta check. I thought itwas earlier than that. Sinner left
Piatti in 2022.
(08:00):
Yeah, yeah.
Okay, so 2022, so three yearsafter you're there. But when you
were there and you saw Cenawhen you first arrived, did you think
he was going to be as good ashe is today?
I. Okay, so he really. I knowhim very well, so I'm lucky about
it. And he was very, verydifferent from other people. But
(08:23):
the very best things abouthim, that he was very, very a nice
guy, a normal guy. Nothingfocus on determinate, on the work.
And the first that arrived inthe gym, the late that left the gym
and every time dedicated withDalibor and Ricardo. Amazing. Amazing.
(08:46):
Really? Really, really.
He was a totally differentperson to the other players there.
Yeah, yeah. I mean at thatperiod there were a lot of professional
players, the young and theywere also very lucky because they
could see Yannick training andhow his like behavior in the gym.
(09:07):
So. But he was very. I mean hecould do everything easy and with
no pressure and in the courtwas like amazing to see it, how he
can hit the ball, how he canmove on the court and yeah, it was
(09:28):
very funny.
I'm sure. It's tough for otherplayers there. When you see this
younger guy can do everythingbetter than you and you're like,
how am I ever going to beatthis guy? I'm older than him. I'm
sure that must be really hard.
Yeah, yeah. And also at thattime we were very lucky because Ricardo
Piatti also every day he spokewith the team and he spoke about
(09:53):
Yanning. So we knoweverything, the process and we saw
the process to be and tobecame a professional tennis player.
So it's. It's tough. It's verytough. But how they make that, it
seems like easy, but it's not.
Yeah, always looks easy on theoutside. We don't see the hard work.
(10:16):
You did four years at Piatti.What happened then? Did you get an
opportunity or just wanted tochange things up?
Yeah, after. After that I hada big chance. So I go back to Milan
because I had a chance tobecame a head fitness coach and so
a different role. And so Idecided to move to Milan again. So
(10:41):
I went to Buena Costa TennisMilano. Amazing place. Also there.
Also there I had a big, big,big opportunity because there were
a lot of young players, youngtennis player, woman and men especially
I started to work with women.When I arrived there were Bandeki
(11:04):
Susan that she were like 150when arrived. So she has a good ranking
and everything, everythingstart from there as well. And in
that occasion in Milan I hadtwo occasion also to work two weeks
with Radio Pelka and for mewas an amazing experience. Also there
(11:29):
also it was really fastbecause he. He was moving from Milano
to la and I worked with withhim two weeks and was. Was very,
very, very interested.
Also what made working withRiley interesting.
In that period he. He wasbacking back in after injured and
(11:52):
so we did some prevention,rehab, rehab exercises and. But after
the first week we try also tomove on into the court. So he surprised
me really because he was very,very. You. You don't think. But it
was with the feet, so. And hewas moving great. Also. If you think
(12:19):
that maybe he's a player thatit's not moving too much. But he
was really, really, reallyimpressed me. So was good. And he
also has a very, very niceperson with a nice culture and yeah
was very, very good for me.
(12:39):
Okay, so you do a few weekswith Riley, you're in Milan, who
comes knocking on your door?
Why? Because he knows someoneinto the club and he was searching
someone that helped him withthe program and prevention. And so
there I was. So I was lucky tobe in the right place. In the right
(13:03):
time, but I mean, after one ortwo training together, he won't continue.
And we did all the periodtogether and. Yeah, so right now
when I go around the world inthe tournament, I'm seeing him every
time. And we remember that time.
(13:24):
Nice, nice. And when did youstart working with Luda?
So I started since in 2023 inMilan, because there I had the opportunity,
and right now also to knowDanilo Pizzorno. And between him
(13:44):
I get in contact with Liudaand everything start from there,
because with Danilo, the firstyear that I arrived in Milan, I worked
with him because he workedalso in Buonacosta sometimes. And
we started to collaboratetogether to work with my part, the
(14:04):
physical part, in collab, inthe tennis court. So it's a part
of my work that I love. And wework very, very good together, because
we are in connection from mypart in physics, because I'm not
working just in the gym, but Iwork a lot also, also into the court
with exercise and how to feelthe body when the tennis player has
(14:30):
to hit and how to movedifferent situation. So we have a
good connection. So. And fromthere Danilo, after one year, asked
me if I'm ready to start thisjourn, this adventure together. And
yeah, and now our.
He was telling me he worked in.
Piatti also Danilo, yes. Butunfortunately, when I arrived, he
(14:56):
finished the collaboration. Sowith our first touch was in Milan.
Buona cosa.
Okay. A lot of coaches havecome through, you know, they've passed
through Piatti a.
Lot, A lot, everyone, really.
Just while we mentionedRicardo, what are one or two things
you learned from working withhim that make him such a great, respected
(15:17):
coach?
Yeah, he is, he is. So onething that I will remember forever,
he said to me, don't forgetthe your knowledge about the court,
because when I start to work,I was tennis coach, okay? And after
(15:38):
three years I changed. So Ibecame a strength and conditioning
coach. And he said to me, thebest fitness coach is one that know
a lot about tennis courttennis. So the fitness coaches also
has a tennis coach. So one isthis, this is one of the things that
(15:59):
I remember. And the other one,he teach us a lot about technical
part, a lot. The method wasamazing. Learn the method from Ricardo,
because also with easy, easyinstruction, you can change everything
in the player. And anotherimportant part, he every time asked
(16:23):
to us to watch a lot, a lot ofmatches and analyze that, analyze
the situation, analyze themoments of the game, the moment of
the match, because if youunderstand the moment of the Match
you can recognize when thematch has a moment that you can win
(16:45):
or not the match or you cansay the balance of the match. You
can change in a few shots. Andhe every time ask us which is the
moment of this match, which isthe moment of the other match. So
he's very, very nice personand he's very clear and yeah, that's
(17:07):
good.
No, I've heard only goodthings about him. So thanks for that.
So, yeah, so you start workingwith. When you start working with
Luda, what was her ranking?
She was 12.
Oh, she was 12. Okay.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So top20. And right now we are the same.
(17:27):
Now is like 19, 18. Yeah, 19.So we are always top 20. But you
know, it's the best things anda good thing is remain in the year
in that balance. So keep thistop 20. Ranking is very important.
(17:48):
But our goal is our goal. Sohis goal is going top 20, top 10.
So we see this year startedwell. I hope that it's going to be
there.
She's playing well. Like shegoes a bit, she goes under the radar
really. Like she just winsmatches, wins good. And she doesn't,
(18:08):
you know, doesn't. Not lookingfor any, you know, publicity or that.
She seems to be very. Just getthe job done. I'm here to a job and
then she's gone. Then she'sback in her job and very low key.
She seems to be from theoutside, which is, which is good
and probably bad forsponsorships and things like that.
But in general she's there toa job. She's really good. Can she
(18:31):
play for Italy or.
She played for Italy until 18years old or something like that.
And then she, and then she,she, she, she played for Russia for
Fed cup and yeah, we lost.She's very. Yeah, but she's very.
(18:51):
She's very nice, nice tennisplayer. She's very focused. She's
determinated. She wants towork, work, work and work. No distraction.
So it's not easy because atthat level you could be like many
distraction around because youtravel, because you're famous, because
for all reason, but she's Ithink, very, very hard worker.
(19:16):
You mentioned those qualities.What else have you learned from working
with her the past couple of years?
I learned, It's a goodquestion. I learned how to manage,
how to manage pressure. Ilearned the moment that you have
to speak with her because, youknow, speak with the tennis player,
(19:37):
it's tough. I mean, you haveto understand when you can say something,
when you can say anotherthings, when you have to be like
determinating when you have tojoke as well. So. But I understand
sincerely the load of volumeduring the year because we have different
(20:03):
period during the year. So wehave several preparation before the
tournaments that we want toperform. So I learned how to manage
the load for her. And it's noteasy because when you start to work
with new player that you don'tknow like how she works. So you need
(20:25):
time to understand how you canpush the athlete when you have to,
I mean unload and how manydays you need for recovery and everything.
So this is I think the hardestpart when you start to work with
tennis player. It's not howgood you are. I mean, you can say
(20:48):
a lot of things. You can bethe best, I mean technical and theoretic
fitness coach. But the bestthings is understand what you have
in front of you and what. Andwhat he is. I mean what she is or
he is.
The last thing you want to dois work them hard the first week
(21:08):
and they get injured thenbecause you know, you know, they're
not used to it or next yearyou're fired straight away.
Yeah, yeah, it's. Yeah, youhave. You have to be. You have to
put more attention. But thatis because you have to be every time
(21:28):
determinated. The tennisplayer don't permit you to be like
in dubs. So you have to belike clear to explain everything
that we are doing in a right way.
So they like to ask questionsand you know, make. Make sure you.
Why are they doing this?That's what I've noticed. Speaking
to a lot of people, the topplayers always like to ask why are
(21:51):
they doing this? And once youhave an answer, that's all they want.
Yeah, yeah, you are right. Youare right. Especially when the pressure
income you have to be you. Youhave to handle. And so. And this
is the important. I think it'sjust important for the team. So the
team has to be. We have tocollaborate because everything has
(22:14):
a part and when. Yeah, it'snot easy. But I think that one goal
to succeed in this part ishave a strong team around the player
and to be clear with theplayer and handle everything and
make easy what you can for theplayer and also travel together.
(22:37):
It's important things.
What is the travel team like?It's obviously yourself and Danilo.
Is there anybody else on the team?
Yeah, Danilo. Then MattiaPrati is the physiotherapist with
him. I really like tocollaborate because my work I put
(22:57):
focus on prevention, I putfocus on the body. I'M really, really
accurate about it. So we worktogether, we put some routine together,
for example, so when she hasthe treatment, I went with them because
we do some activationtogether, we do some tests together.
So I am really fun aboutprevention and recovery.
(23:23):
So it's yourself, Mattea andDanilo. That's the travel team. Really?
Yeah. And also her boyfriendAlessandro, he also helps Danilo.
When Danilo is not with us, hecan help Liuda in Tennessee.
That's good. It's good to have that.
Yeah, yeah. We are a big team,but we are so cohesive. So we are
(23:47):
good.
And so For a top 20 player,what's the typical training day?
When. How do you, how do youguys all work together? Like, is
it also pat first and a bit ofwork with you and then on court,
let us know how a typical, youknow, a heavy training day goes.
Yeah, I mean, we can, we can,we can establish two things. So before
(24:08):
the, before the tournament isone thing. So maybe the tennis player
work a bit, a lot. I mean,also in tennis court. So for example,
we are. We work a lot beforethe. The start of the tournament.
So we do outside with me gymand outside and then in a tennis
(24:29):
court. So morning andafternoon. Then when we are near
to the match, we do like lessvolume, but more quality intensity.
And one thing that we likework with within the team that with
Luda before the tournament, wealso work inside in the tennis court.
(24:49):
So me and Danilo together towork on the steps, to work how to
feel the load of the legs, tofeel more. Feel more good. The strokes,
forehand, backhand. So yeah,but each team work different. But
is the best things. Because ifeveryone are together, it's not funny.
(25:13):
So. Because everyone. So forexample, if I speak to. For myself
when I go to the tournament,for me, it's every time an occasion
to learn and to grow. BecauseI can speak with the other coaches,
other fitness coach, and I cansee what they do. Maybe I learn some
new exercise. Maybe I say I'mdoing better. So we are better. Okay.
(25:39):
Or no, I'm joking. But it'severy time a moment that you can,
that you can improve. Sothat's. I like it very much. Travel
and yeah, it's. I'm. I'm verylucky. I mean, yeah, it's, It's.
It's good.
Maybe you can tell ourlisteners the importance of like
leg strength, having thisathletic base recently on and off.
(26:01):
I've been doing a little bitof work with Matt Little, Andy Murray's
former strength and conditionCoach, he's given me a program and
I'm in and out of injury soit's a bit hard for me to keep it
going. But it's all likegetting into this at low athletic
position. A lot of likeobviously leg weights, getting the
legs strong, being stable onone legs, a lot of one legged stuff
where you're just like, it'sbalance but stability. Maybe you
(26:23):
can elaborate and say like theimportance for a junior listen today
or junior's parents, theimportance of having this like athletic
base. And I see Luna has areally good. She's always like has
those soft knees but she's lowin position and she makes it look
effortly and that's hernatural position. How like how much
work has to go in to get thatposition to be natural.
(26:47):
I mean so it's an attitude. Soyou know tennis player every time
the same stance. So it'simportant to understand what it comport.
I mean so you have to workvery accurate on the leg. It's not
just strength but it's alsoactivate the right muscles and deactivates
(27:14):
the muscle that bring youpain. So it's a balance that you
have to manage. But I thinkthat right now tennis, if you work
very good on the legs and onthe movements is the key for the
future of the sports. Becausethe ball is coming fast, fast and
fast every year and then maybematches are a bit longer, the tournaments
(27:39):
are longer because now a lotof Masters, Miller Masters, 'Thousand,
sorry, became two weeks. Soyou have to be a physical shape and
also into the core. When youplay you must be economic so you
don't have to put a lot ofeffort. Otherwise there's no time
(28:02):
because you just have a fewseconds between one shot and another.
So yeah, the legs movementsand legs work is very important.
But don't put all the effortin the strength, especially when
you're young. So the fitnesscoach has to know when it's important
to put effort on the strengthand how it's important to learn how
(28:27):
the movement, base movement,the shot, shuffle and crossover technique
is very important at thebeginning. And then everything that
you do outside of the courtand if you repeat in the time in
a right sequence,automatically, automatically you
put into the court. So Isuggest to work outside like technique,
(28:53):
then improve speed and improveintensity, volume and quality. Then
going to the court, worktogether strength and conditioning
coach and tennis coachtogether in specific drills and then
automatically withoutthinking, everything became clear
and you see a lot ofimprovements. So I'm working like
(29:13):
that with juniors when I Work,because right now I'm working also
in juniors in Milan, in a lotof clubs. When I have time, not traveling,
I'm in Milan and I travel likethat. And it's good.
I've noticed that when you dolook at a video of yourself, like,
we're not talking about topplayers here, but I'm sure they can
look at videos themselves. Butthe average player and you look at
(29:36):
your movement and then you geta performance coach like you to break
it down, and you see all theseinefficiencies because you don't
know all the proper movements.So you spend a bit of time off the
court working on the variousdifferent steps and movement patterns.
And you're right. That thenslowly transitions to your court
game. And then you're coveringballs with less steps, getting a
(29:58):
position, recovering quickly,and you're like, it completely changes
you as a player if you put inthe work, like, and you haven't even
looked at your strokes yet.You're just a quicker player without
working on your speed. That'sjust one thing. That's what I'm learning.
So, yeah, it's. It'sdefinitely good.
Yeah, yeah, you're right.
And tell me, Lorenzo, what'sthe difference between working with
(30:20):
females and males from acoaching perspective?
Okay. You know, with a female,maybe you have to work more maybe
to. I mean, it's notpsychological part, but the momentum
(30:44):
of the momentum of the matchand understand. Which is the key
to understand before theplayer. Because I think that all
the women play very goodtennis. But the difference is who
is more smart in the rightmoment of the match. Because maybe
(31:05):
they are more emotional, butit's normal, I think. And that you
can see also outside of thecourt, maybe the male into the court
is like more instinct. And Ithink that the big difference for
a strength and condition ifcoach about male and female, is the
(31:26):
recovery. I think that isdifferent. And you have to know that
there are different periodthat you can load and different period
that you can unload. So is themanage about volume and intensity?
And is the manage about thepsychological part? I mean, I'm not
saying that the women are likeless stronger, but. But you have
(31:48):
to put more attention, I think.
Yeah, there's more emotionsgoing on.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I thinkthat it's a good things, huh?
Yeah, it's a challenge. I'msure you're probably better at reading.
You have to be read thefemales a bit better. You got to
understand what's going onhere. You know, you might get away
with It a little bit more withthe males. With the women, you just
(32:10):
got to be. Which makes you abetter trainer then. Because if you
can bring that to the males,then you understand them a bit better.
Yeah, of course. And onethings that I really, really love
to. To. To work with female.It's not because all female. This
is a strong things but can winall tournament. I mean also if it's
(32:34):
not top 10, top 20, they canreach the final and sometimes win
maybe in the man in you cannotsee this thing. So it's hard. I mean
it's more hard. No, because atop 30, top 20, it's difficult that
arrive in the semi final finaland women could win.
(32:54):
No, you always have a chance.What about Alex Ayle this week?
Wow. Wow. Amazing. Amazing.
She beat three Grand Slamwinners and. And she's a tough. She
lost three sets to. Who didshe lose to? She lost to Pegula in
three sets.
Yeah.
Tight set. So how you know shewas a top junior in the world. She
(33:17):
won Junior Grand Slam and sortof, you know, it takes a few years
to transition. All of a suddenthey appear like. It's pretty crazy.
Yeah, I think that. Okay, forsure. It's in a flow moment. I mean
but I think that alsosometimes it's amazing what she did.
(33:37):
Amazing. Unbelievable. But theyoung age helps a lot. Looks also
Andreeva with. With Sabalenkain India. Well, so maybe the young
age sometimes help.
I think Andreeva wasdifferent. She's been around for
like three or four years. Youknow, she's. She's been around on
playing on the circuit.
Yeah.
And she's been learning andshe's there. She's top 10. Like she's
(33:58):
there, she's there. I think, Ipersonally think the Alex one's totally
different. Like she's comefrom 200 in the world all of a sudden
beaten these, you know, like.I don't know. Yeah, I think like
to back it up normally.Sometimes it can happen where a player
beats a player in the malesand females and they don't back it
up, they just crumble. Nextmatch they're just emotionally gone.
(34:20):
But for her to back that upwas really impressive. So very impressive.
Yeah.
I know when the players startreading them, then give them six
months, then you know, the topplayers will know how to play them.
But it's interesting.
Yeah, a lot. A lot. So. Andnow everyone start to watch her.
Yeah. More. I mean more.
(34:43):
Yeah, that's the. That's theway it goes. But just. Just a couple
more questions since youstarted since you switched from a
coach to strengthen trainingconditioning coach in Piazzi, what's
changed from then to now? It'snot a long distance, not a long period
of time. But has anythingchanged in your world from a strength
and conditioning point of view?
My base it's from the Dalibormethod. So everything starts from
(35:07):
there. Of course, in this yearof my experience and everything I
changed something. Yeah. Forexample, in Piatti we didn't have
the chance to work into thecourt with the coach. So one one
one to one. And is one thingthat I add in my method and I see
(35:28):
I'm seeing tennis andpreparation a bit different like
more specific because Iunderstand that I have to put a lot
of attention prevention forexample in shoulder in the back.
So maybe I change that thingsI put put very very all the day all
(35:50):
the day training day attentionof that. What I change a big change
is the interaction with thecoach. So I also learned how to.
How to speak with the coach,tennis coach. Because everyone maybe
thinks that speak with thetennis coach of the team is easy.
But you know, sometimes likeI'm young, I'm young into the team.
(36:12):
Maybe I'm the younger and it'snot easy to change the mind or maybe
propose something that thecoach doesn't because maybe sometimes
they are. They're olderbecause the tennis player request
experience, you know, in themost case. And so maybe is they interact
(36:34):
that. That they can learn achange. Yeah. Interact with the team
and how to speak when speakwith the player. Yeah. That.
That sounds like you'vedefinitely matured as your as in
your role. Like, you know,they're important because I'm sure
a lot of younger people willnot want to, you know, spe somebody
of higher authority. They'reafraid to say things to sometimes.
(36:55):
Yeah.
Which. Which happened not onlyin tennis. It happens in it. It happens
in a lot of things even herethat where it used to be a problem
in hospitals that that wherelet's say somebody working underneath
a main surgeon would seesomething that could be wrong and
they'd be afraid to say it tothe surgeon. And then that led to
major complications becausethey were afraid because of this
(37:16):
authority thing. It's kind ofcrazy. I know your situation is not
life and death, but littlethings can change the course of some
of these game and result whicheverybody's happier then. So.
Yeah. And one thing that youhave to be cautioned to speak and
because the player doesn'thave to know this. This part of maybe
(37:36):
that you talk and you decidewhat to do what not to do. So in
front of the player, you haveto be perfect. So all the problem
are in the, in the back, inthe car before arriving.
So you're saying you're givingDanilo all the ideas, but he gets
all the credit. That's whatyou're saying?
No, no, no, no, no, no. He isreally. I think that he is one of
(38:01):
the best tennis coach in thecircuit because his knowledge is
amazing and he impressive howhe can find a solution for everyone.
Everyone. So. And a lot ofcoaches consider him and ask him
everything and.
Nice. He's too nice. He's toonice. And just final question. What
(38:24):
would you be doing if youweren't working in tennis? What would
you be doing today?
That's a good question, but Ican start from here. So for example,
now when I'm not with Luda,I'm not in tennis, I'm working with
Junior MotoGP motorbiker. So Ireally like that word. I really like
(38:47):
that word and how theypractice because it's very, very
tough sports. Maybe a lot ofpeople think that it's easy just
riding Formula one or Moto,but it's not. They're amazing athlete
and I'm lucky to work withthem also. So we working in online
(39:07):
mood and I see them when I'min Milan and yeah, that word. I like
it very much. So if I'm notworking in tennis for sure I can
travel with that them.
We did have Patrick Harden, Ithink his name was on the podcast.
He's the strength andconditioning coach or performance
coach as well for Alex Albon.I had him on the podcast before.
(39:29):
Really interesting. Wow. Wow.Yeah. I had a meeting last week with
Andrea Ferrari that it's astrength of conditioning coach of
Charles Leclerc and we had agood talk because it's similar. So
the driver and tennis playerare similar. I mean not in the program
what they do, but I mean inthe period. Because for example,
(39:51):
they have the same winterpreparation like us. So we do from
November to before, beforeAustralia and they have the same.
So the Grand Prix Formula onefinish around. They have three or
four months before. Yeah,before March. Because the first Grand
Grand Prix in Melbourne is inMarch. So we have the same period.
(40:15):
I mean three, three months,two months. And then during the year
they have like traveling. Sojet lag is the same of us and they
don't have a lot of time towork. So. And yeah, we. I find that
we were in the same situationto like manage time and manage training
during tournament or DuringGrand Prix, I mean, it's the same
(40:37):
and.
I know it's slightlydifferent, but it's the same. You're
both trying to stay focusedfor three hours or two hours. You
know, you're trying. No,tennis players get breaks and that,
and the racing is different,but it's all about trying to maintain
focus for an extended periodof time.
Yeah, it's very. They arevery, very focused. And one things.
(40:58):
They risk their life ifthey're not focused. Yeah. So I really,
I'm really impressed aboutthat athlete. And also, for example,
what I, What I'm seeing withmy, with my athlete, it. The MotoGP
Junior MotoGP driver that theyreach during the, during the race,
(41:18):
very high heart rate bpm. Sothey. They arrive in amazing fc.
So the FC max is very high.Also, if they are not moving, they're
just moving the hands and bodyjust to the, to the curve and. But
they are like a sprinter when,when, when they have the race. Maybe
(41:43):
it's the motion, maybe it'sthe scare about something or maybe.
I don't know. But, yeah,adrenally, of course, they're amazing
athletes also.
They're fit. Well, Lorenzo,thank you very much. It was great
to learn about you and I hopeto see you on the road somewhere
this year.
(42:03):
Thank you. Fabio was apleasure, really. And you are. Are
doing an amazing job and youare like an amazing channel. Yeah,
thank you very much.
Thank you very much. Ciao, ciao.
Welcome to the FunctionalTennis Podcast. I'm your host, Fabio
Molle and I bring you insightsand lessons from players, coaches,
parents and experts who areingrained in the world of high level
tennis. Today's expert isLorenzo Petrucci, the performance
Coach to top 20 WTA rankedLuda Samsonova. I met Lorenzo at
the Essex Tennis Summit downin Melbourne in January, as well
(00:47):
as his teammate, Ludus coachDanilo Pizzerno. We said let's have
a small chat in the podcastlater this year, so here we are.
He discussed his journey tobecome the performance coach, working
with Luda and her team.Valuable lessons learned from renowned
coach Ricardo Piatti, as wellas managing pressure and workload.
Shout out to Asics for flyingme down to Melbourne earlier this
(01:09):
year where I met Lorenzo. I'malso looking forward to their collab
which recently launched withlifestyle brand APC for their upcoming
clay court season collection.Okay, here's Lorenzo. Hi, Lorenzo.
Welcome to the FunctionalTennis Podcast. How are you?
Good, very good. Thank you,Fabio, for having me with you and
your podcast and it's apleasure to be here with you.
(01:32):
It was great to only match forthe first time down in Australia
at the Asics event, yourselfand Danilo, which were super nice.
So it was great, really goodto meet you. And I did talk about
trying to get you on here, soI'm glad I've got you on. You're
in Italy this week. Why areyou not in Miami?
I was in Indian Wells beforeand we did all the preparation for
(01:55):
Indian Wells and I stayed inthe Indian Wells as well in the tournament
then at the end. So Luda wentvery good in the tournament. So I
stayed with the team untilIndian west and then they moved to
Miami and then I go back toMilan because I have other work that
I'm working on. I see them nowfor the clay preparation and then
(02:20):
it will continue for Stuttgartand all tournament ahead.
Nice. So I skipped by it here,but you are the performance coach,
the strength and conditioningcoach for Luda Samsonova, who is
currently ranked as of today19 in the world. She's been highest
12. And you work alongsideDanilo Pizzerno, who we post a lot
of his videos. He always hasgreat videos and from speaking to
(02:43):
him, he's about 50,000 videos.He's the original, the original video
guy. And yeah, he was tellingme goes down all through Italy filming
players. Crazy. But tell me,so where does your tennis journey
start?
So it's a very good question.So tennis journey start when I was
(03:05):
young because at the young ageI started to play tennis and I had
the national ranking, Italynational ranking. So I was not professional,
but I was very good in. Andafter I started to study in university
in Milan in sports, science.And then everything start with the
(03:27):
tennis about my internship andeverything start from there. So it's
a long trip, but I'm sohonored to be what I'm doing right
now with Danilo and the Liudateam because it's an amazing experience
them. And yeah, Danilo is anamazing person that work with. I'm
(03:49):
growing a lot with him. Andyeah, he is an amazing person to
work with.
Where in Italy are you from?Are you from beside Milan?
Yeah, I'm in Milan right now.Yeah, of course.
Okay. You grew up there?
Yeah, of course. Yeah, yeah,yeah, yeah, of course.
Do you remember any of theplayers from your age group? Did
he still play now?
When I was young, of coursethere's one people that I also training
(04:13):
in my future, it's Filippo,because I know him when was very
young and he was very, verygood at it. And one funny, funny
things that when I becameafter a strength and conditioning
coach, I trained him when atthe end of. I mean now his practice.
And was there. Was there everdecision for you to go pro or was
(04:37):
always like I'm.
Going to university, you know,I start university and then starting
to like it very much. I meanstudy sports, I love it. And then
was tough to do everythingtogether. So. And then I decided
to proceed to study and getfocus on in. And also because during
(04:59):
my path during the bachelor'sdegree I did bachelor's and then
master's as well. And duringthe bachelor's I had the opportunity
and lucky opportunity occasionto go to Inter Football Club to learn
how the football playertraining. And I saw the strength
(05:20):
and conditioning coach theywork with them. I speak with the
coach as well. At that time Iwas passionate a lot. So I decided
to continue to do my masters.And during my master's I was very,
very lucky to do oneinternship to Piatti Tennis center.
And there from thereeverything start and all my. I mean
(05:45):
careers starts because there II knew a lot of professional worker
there. I want to mention oneof my mentor that is Dalibor Sirola.
I think that he's one of thebest in my field. He was very, very
important in my path and Ilearned a lot from him. And now I'm
(06:08):
very, very, very lucky aboutit. So yeah, everything start from
there. And also RiccardoPiatti. So I was in that team at
that Time I could see all theprofessional players that work with
them. I mean, I see YannickSinner, Maria Sharapova, Borna Choric,
(06:31):
everything. So it was like adream for me because from after my
study I went there and thenafter my graduation I stayed there
four years. So I moved toBordighera, changed my life and I
stayed there for four yearsand yeah, was amazing, really.
(06:51):
We did have Dalabor on thepodcast before. Super, super nice
guy and knowledgeable. Soknowledgeable. We actually. Who's
it with? Lapo Beccarini onHulgaroons. Fitness trainer. He worked
in a football club. I rememberasking him. I think he work.
Yeah, maybe something.
Yeah, yeah. I think he stillworks with some footballers now.
I'm not sure exactly, but hewas another great strength and conditioning
(07:14):
coach. We've had a good fewstrength and conditioning coaching
on over, over the years. Iactually just did a podcast interview
earlier and we firstinterviewed the guy five years ago,
so I can't remembereverything, but. So you, you were
at Piatti? Sinner was there.Did you. How many years ago was this?
Did you start at Piatti?
2019.
When did Sinner leave Piatti?
(07:37):
He leaves after three yearsthat I was there. I think in 2023
around. I. I don't want tomiss, but I think it is two years
or three that he. He left.
I gotta check. I thought itwas earlier than that. Sinner left
Piatti in 2022.
(08:00):
Yeah, yeah.
Okay, so 2022, so three yearsafter you're there. But when you
were there and you saw Cenawhen you first arrived, did you think
he was going to be as good ashe is today?
I. Okay, so he really. I knowhim very well, so I'm lucky about
it. And he was very, verydifferent from other people. But
(08:23):
the very best things abouthim, that he was very, very a nice
guy, a normal guy. Nothingfocus on determinate, on the work.
And the first that arrived inthe gym, the late that left the gym
and every time dedicated withDalibor and Ricardo. Amazing. Amazing.
(08:46):
Really? Really, really.
He was a totally differentperson to the other players there.
Yeah, yeah. I mean at thatperiod there were a lot of professional
players, the young and theywere also very lucky because they
could see Yannick training andhow his like behavior in the gym.
(09:07):
So. But he was very. I mean hecould do everything easy and with
no pressure and in the courtwas like amazing to see it, how he
can hit the ball, how he canmove on the court and yeah, it was
(09:28):
very funny.
I'm sure. It's tough for otherplayers there. When you see this
younger guy can do everythingbetter than you and you're like,
how am I ever going to beatthis guy? I'm older than him. I'm
sure that must be really hard.
Yeah, yeah. And also at thattime we were very lucky because Ricardo
Piatti also every day he spokewith the team and he spoke about
(09:53):
Yanning. So we knoweverything, the process and we saw
the process to be and tobecame a professional tennis player.
So it's. It's tough. It's verytough. But how they make that, it
seems like easy, but it's not.
Yeah, always looks easy on theoutside. We don't see the hard work.
(10:16):
You did four years at Piatti.What happened then? Did you get an
opportunity or just wanted tochange things up?
Yeah, after. After that I hada big chance. So I go back to Milan
because I had a chance tobecame a head fitness coach and so
a different role. And so Idecided to move to Milan again. So
(10:41):
I went to Buena Costa TennisMilano. Amazing place. Also there.
Also there I had a big, big,big opportunity because there were
a lot of young players, youngtennis player, woman and men especially
I started to work with women.When I arrived there were Bandeki
(11:04):
Susan that she were like 150when arrived. So she has a good ranking
and everything, everythingstart from there as well. And in
that occasion in Milan I hadtwo occasion also to work two weeks
with Radio Pelka and for mewas an amazing experience. Also there
(11:29):
also it was really fastbecause he. He was moving from Milano
to la and I worked with withhim two weeks and was. Was very,
very, very interested.
Also what made working withRiley interesting.
In that period he. He wasbacking back in after injured and
(11:52):
so we did some prevention,rehab, rehab exercises and. But after
the first week we try also tomove on into the court. So he surprised
me really because he was very,very. You. You don't think. But it
was with the feet, so. And hewas moving great. Also. If you think
(12:19):
that maybe he's a player thatit's not moving too much. But he
was really, really, reallyimpressed me. So was good. And he
also has a very, very niceperson with a nice culture and yeah
was very, very good for me.
(12:39):
Okay, so you do a few weekswith Riley, you're in Milan, who
comes knocking on your door?
Why? Because he knows someoneinto the club and he was searching
someone that helped him withthe program and prevention. And so
there I was. So I was lucky tobe in the right place. In the right
(13:03):
time, but I mean, after one ortwo training together, he won't continue.
And we did all the periodtogether and. Yeah, so right now
when I go around the world inthe tournament, I'm seeing him every
time. And we remember that time.
(13:24):
Nice, nice. And when did youstart working with Luda?
So I started since in 2023 inMilan, because there I had the opportunity,
and right now also to knowDanilo Pizzorno. And between him
(13:44):
I get in contact with Liudaand everything start from there,
because with Danilo, the firstyear that I arrived in Milan, I worked
with him because he workedalso in Buonacosta sometimes. And
we started to collaboratetogether to work with my part, the
(14:04):
physical part, in collab, inthe tennis court. So it's a part
of my work that I love. And wework very, very good together, because
we are in connection from mypart in physics, because I'm not
working just in the gym, but Iwork a lot also, also into the court
with exercise and how to feelthe body when the tennis player has
(14:30):
to hit and how to movedifferent situation. So we have a
good connection. So. And fromthere Danilo, after one year, asked
me if I'm ready to start thisjourn, this adventure together. And
yeah, and now our.
He was telling me he worked in.
Piatti also Danilo, yes. Butunfortunately, when I arrived, he
(14:56):
finished the collaboration. Sowith our first touch was in Milan.
Buona cosa.
Okay. A lot of coaches havecome through, you know, they've passed
through Piatti a.
Lot, A lot, everyone, really.
Just while we mentionedRicardo, what are one or two things
you learned from working withhim that make him such a great, respected
(15:17):
coach?
Yeah, he is, he is. So onething that I will remember forever,
he said to me, don't forgetthe your knowledge about the court,
because when I start to work,I was tennis coach, okay? And after
(15:38):
three years I changed. So Ibecame a strength and conditioning
coach. And he said to me, thebest fitness coach is one that know
a lot about tennis courttennis. So the fitness coaches also
has a tennis coach. So one isthis, this is one of the things that
(15:59):
I remember. And the other one,he teach us a lot about technical
part, a lot. The method wasamazing. Learn the method from Ricardo,
because also with easy, easyinstruction, you can change everything
in the player. And anotherimportant part, he every time asked
(16:23):
to us to watch a lot, a lot ofmatches and analyze that, analyze
the situation, analyze themoments of the game, the moment of
the match, because if youunderstand the moment of the Match
you can recognize when thematch has a moment that you can win
(16:45):
or not the match or you cansay the balance of the match. You
can change in a few shots. Andhe every time ask us which is the
moment of this match, which isthe moment of the other match. So
he's very, very nice personand he's very clear and yeah, that's
(17:07):
good.
No, I've heard only goodthings about him. So thanks for that.
So, yeah, so you start workingwith. When you start working with
Luda, what was her ranking?
She was 12.
Oh, she was 12. Okay.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So top20. And right now we are the same.
(17:27):
Now is like 19, 18. Yeah, 19.So we are always top 20. But you
know, it's the best things anda good thing is remain in the year
in that balance. So keep thistop 20. Ranking is very important.
(17:48):
But our goal is our goal. Sohis goal is going top 20, top 10.
So we see this year startedwell. I hope that it's going to be
there.
She's playing well. Like shegoes a bit, she goes under the radar
really. Like she just winsmatches, wins good. And she doesn't,
(18:08):
you know, doesn't. Not lookingfor any, you know, publicity or that.
She seems to be very. Just getthe job done. I'm here to a job and
then she's gone. Then she'sback in her job and very low key.
She seems to be from theoutside, which is, which is good
and probably bad forsponsorships and things like that.
But in general she's there toa job. She's really good. Can she
(18:31):
play for Italy or.
She played for Italy until 18years old or something like that.
And then she, and then she,she, she, she played for Russia for
Fed cup and yeah, we lost.She's very. Yeah, but she's very.
(18:51):
She's very nice, nice tennisplayer. She's very focused. She's
determinated. She wants towork, work, work and work. No distraction.
So it's not easy because atthat level you could be like many
distraction around because youtravel, because you're famous, because
for all reason, but she's Ithink, very, very hard worker.
(19:16):
You mentioned those qualities.What else have you learned from working
with her the past couple of years?
I learned, It's a goodquestion. I learned how to manage,
how to manage pressure. Ilearned the moment that you have
to speak with her because, youknow, speak with the tennis player,
(19:37):
it's tough. I mean, you haveto understand when you can say something,
when you can say anotherthings, when you have to be like
determinating when you have tojoke as well. So. But I understand
sincerely the load of volumeduring the year because we have different
(20:03):
period during the year. So wehave several preparation before the
tournaments that we want toperform. So I learned how to manage
the load for her. And it's noteasy because when you start to work
with new player that you don'tknow like how she works. So you need
(20:25):
time to understand how you canpush the athlete when you have to,
I mean unload and how manydays you need for recovery and everything.
So this is I think the hardestpart when you start to work with
tennis player. It's not howgood you are. I mean, you can say
(20:48):
a lot of things. You can bethe best, I mean technical and theoretic
fitness coach. But the bestthings is understand what you have
in front of you and what. Andwhat he is. I mean what she is or
he is.
The last thing you want to dois work them hard the first week
(21:08):
and they get injured thenbecause you know, you know, they're
not used to it or next yearyou're fired straight away.
Yeah, yeah, it's. Yeah, youhave. You have to be. You have to
put more attention. But thatis because you have to be every time
(21:28):
determinated. The tennisplayer don't permit you to be like
in dubs. So you have to belike clear to explain everything
that we are doing in a right way.
So they like to ask questionsand you know, make. Make sure you.
Why are they doing this?That's what I've noticed. Speaking
to a lot of people, the topplayers always like to ask why are
(21:51):
they doing this? And once youhave an answer, that's all they want.
Yeah, yeah, you are right. Youare right. Especially when the pressure
income you have to be you. Youhave to handle. And so. And this
is the important. I think it'sjust important for the team. So the
team has to be. We have tocollaborate because everything has
(22:14):
a part and when. Yeah, it'snot easy. But I think that one goal
to succeed in this part ishave a strong team around the player
and to be clear with theplayer and handle everything and
make easy what you can for theplayer and also travel together.
(22:37):
It's important things.
What is the travel team like?It's obviously yourself and Danilo.
Is there anybody else on the team?
Yeah, Danilo. Then MattiaPrati is the physiotherapist with
him. I really like tocollaborate because my work I put
(22:57):
focus on prevention, I putfocus on the body. I'M really, really
accurate about it. So we worktogether, we put some routine together,
for example, so when she hasthe treatment, I went with them because
we do some activationtogether, we do some tests together.
So I am really fun aboutprevention and recovery.
(23:23):
So it's yourself, Mattea andDanilo. That's the travel team. Really?
Yeah. And also her boyfriendAlessandro, he also helps Danilo.
When Danilo is not with us, hecan help Liuda in Tennessee.
That's good. It's good to have that.
Yeah, yeah. We are a big team,but we are so cohesive. So we are
(23:47):
good.
And so For a top 20 player,what's the typical training day?
When. How do you, how do youguys all work together? Like, is
it also pat first and a bit ofwork with you and then on court,
let us know how a typical, youknow, a heavy training day goes.
Yeah, I mean, we can, we can,we can establish two things. So before
(24:08):
the, before the tournament isone thing. So maybe the tennis player
work a bit, a lot. I mean,also in tennis court. So for example,
we are. We work a lot beforethe. The start of the tournament.
So we do outside with me gymand outside and then in a tennis
(24:29):
court. So morning andafternoon. Then when we are near
to the match, we do like lessvolume, but more quality intensity.
And one thing that we likework with within the team that with
Luda before the tournament, wealso work inside in the tennis court.
(24:49):
So me and Danilo together towork on the steps, to work how to
feel the load of the legs, tofeel more. Feel more good. The strokes,
forehand, backhand. So yeah,but each team work different. But
is the best things. Because ifeveryone are together, it's not funny.
(25:13):
So. Because everyone. So forexample, if I speak to. For myself
when I go to the tournament,for me, it's every time an occasion
to learn and to grow. BecauseI can speak with the other coaches,
other fitness coach, and I cansee what they do. Maybe I learn some
new exercise. Maybe I say I'mdoing better. So we are better. Okay.
(25:39):
Or no, I'm joking. But it'severy time a moment that you can,
that you can improve. Sothat's. I like it very much. Travel
and yeah, it's. I'm. I'm verylucky. I mean, yeah, it's, It's.
It's good.
Maybe you can tell ourlisteners the importance of like
leg strength, having thisathletic base recently on and off.
(26:01):
I've been doing a little bitof work with Matt Little, Andy Murray's
former strength and conditionCoach, he's given me a program and
I'm in and out of injury soit's a bit hard for me to keep it
going. But it's all likegetting into this at low athletic
position. A lot of likeobviously leg weights, getting the
legs strong, being stable onone legs, a lot of one legged stuff
where you're just like, it'sbalance but stability. Maybe you
(26:23):
can elaborate and say like theimportance for a junior listen today
or junior's parents, theimportance of having this like athletic
base. And I see Luna has areally good. She's always like has
those soft knees but she's lowin position and she makes it look
effortly and that's hernatural position. How like how much
work has to go in to get thatposition to be natural.
(26:47):
I mean so it's an attitude. Soyou know tennis player every time
the same stance. So it'simportant to understand what it comport.
I mean so you have to workvery accurate on the leg. It's not
just strength but it's alsoactivate the right muscles and deactivates
(27:14):
the muscle that bring youpain. So it's a balance that you
have to manage. But I thinkthat right now tennis, if you work
very good on the legs and onthe movements is the key for the
future of the sports. Becausethe ball is coming fast, fast and
fast every year and then maybematches are a bit longer, the tournaments
(27:39):
are longer because now a lotof Masters, Miller Masters, 'Thousand,
sorry, became two weeks. Soyou have to be a physical shape and
also into the core. When youplay you must be economic so you
don't have to put a lot ofeffort. Otherwise there's no time
(28:02):
because you just have a fewseconds between one shot and another.
So yeah, the legs movementsand legs work is very important.
But don't put all the effortin the strength, especially when
you're young. So the fitnesscoach has to know when it's important
to put effort on the strengthand how it's important to learn how
(28:27):
the movement, base movement,the shot, shuffle and crossover technique
is very important at thebeginning. And then everything that
you do outside of the courtand if you repeat in the time in
a right sequence,automatically, automatically you
put into the court. So Isuggest to work outside like technique,
(28:53):
then improve speed and improveintensity, volume and quality. Then
going to the court, worktogether strength and conditioning
coach and tennis coachtogether in specific drills and then
automatically withoutthinking, everything became clear
and you see a lot ofimprovements. So I'm working like
(29:13):
that with juniors when I Work,because right now I'm working also
in juniors in Milan, in a lotof clubs. When I have time, not traveling,
I'm in Milan and I travel likethat. And it's good.
I've noticed that when you dolook at a video of yourself, like,
we're not talking about topplayers here, but I'm sure they can
look at videos themselves. Butthe average player and you look at
(29:36):
your movement and then you geta performance coach like you to break
it down, and you see all theseinefficiencies because you don't
know all the proper movements.So you spend a bit of time off the
court working on the variousdifferent steps and movement patterns.
And you're right. That thenslowly transitions to your court
game. And then you're coveringballs with less steps, getting a
(29:58):
position, recovering quickly,and you're like, it completely changes
you as a player if you put inthe work, like, and you haven't even
looked at your strokes yet.You're just a quicker player without
working on your speed. That'sjust one thing. That's what I'm learning.
So, yeah, it's. It'sdefinitely good.
Yeah, yeah, you're right.
And tell me, Lorenzo, what'sthe difference between working with
(30:20):
females and males from acoaching perspective?
Okay. You know, with a female,maybe you have to work more maybe
to. I mean, it's notpsychological part, but the momentum
(30:44):
of the momentum of the matchand understand. Which is the key
to understand before theplayer. Because I think that all
the women play very goodtennis. But the difference is who
is more smart in the rightmoment of the match. Because maybe
(31:05):
they are more emotional, butit's normal, I think. And that you
can see also outside of thecourt, maybe the male into the court
is like more instinct. And Ithink that the big difference for
a strength and condition ifcoach about male and female, is the
(31:26):
recovery. I think that isdifferent. And you have to know that
there are different periodthat you can load and different period
that you can unload. So is themanage about volume and intensity?
And is the manage about thepsychological part? I mean, I'm not
saying that the women are likeless stronger, but. But you have
(31:48):
to put more attention, I think.
Yeah, there's more emotionsgoing on.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I thinkthat it's a good things, huh?
Yeah, it's a challenge. I'msure you're probably better at reading.
You have to be read thefemales a bit better. You got to
understand what's going onhere. You know, you might get away
with It a little bit more withthe males. With the women, you just
(32:10):
got to be. Which makes you abetter trainer then. Because if you
can bring that to the males,then you understand them a bit better.
Yeah, of course. And onethings that I really, really love
to. To. To work with female.It's not because all female. This
is a strong things but can winall tournament. I mean also if it's
(32:34):
not top 10, top 20, they canreach the final and sometimes win
maybe in the man in you cannotsee this thing. So it's hard. I mean
it's more hard. No, because atop 30, top 20, it's difficult that
arrive in the semi final finaland women could win.
(32:54):
No, you always have a chance.What about Alex Ayle this week?
Wow. Wow. Amazing. Amazing.
She beat three Grand Slamwinners and. And she's a tough. She
lost three sets to. Who didshe lose to? She lost to Pegula in
three sets.
Yeah.
Tight set. So how you know shewas a top junior in the world. She
(33:17):
won Junior Grand Slam and sortof, you know, it takes a few years
to transition. All of a suddenthey appear like. It's pretty crazy.
Yeah, I think that. Okay, forsure. It's in a flow moment. I mean
but I think that alsosometimes it's amazing what she did.
(33:37):
Amazing. Unbelievable. But theyoung age helps a lot. Looks also
Andreeva with. With Sabalenkain India. Well, so maybe the young
age sometimes help.
I think Andreeva wasdifferent. She's been around for
like three or four years. Youknow, she's. She's been around on
playing on the circuit.
Yeah.
And she's been learning andshe's there. She's top 10. Like she's
(33:58):
there, she's there. I think, Ipersonally think the Alex one's totally
different. Like she's comefrom 200 in the world all of a sudden
beaten these, you know, like.I don't know. Yeah, I think like
to back it up normally.Sometimes it can happen where a player
beats a player in the malesand females and they don't back it
up, they just crumble. Nextmatch they're just emotionally gone.
(34:20):
But for her to back that upwas really impressive. So very impressive.
Yeah.
I know when the players startreading them, then give them six
months, then you know, the topplayers will know how to play them.
But it's interesting.
Yeah, a lot. A lot. So. Andnow everyone start to watch her.
Yeah. More. I mean more.
(34:43):
Yeah, that's the. That's theway it goes. But just. Just a couple
more questions since youstarted since you switched from a
coach to strengthen trainingconditioning coach in Piazzi, what's
changed from then to now? It'snot a long distance, not a long period
of time. But has anythingchanged in your world from a strength
and conditioning point of view?
My base it's from the Dalibormethod. So everything starts from
(35:07):
there. Of course, in this yearof my experience and everything I
changed something. Yeah. Forexample, in Piatti we didn't have
the chance to work into thecourt with the coach. So one one
one to one. And is one thingthat I add in my method and I see
(35:28):
I'm seeing tennis andpreparation a bit different like
more specific because Iunderstand that I have to put a lot
of attention prevention forexample in shoulder in the back.
So maybe I change that thingsI put put very very all the day all
(35:50):
the day training day attentionof that. What I change a big change
is the interaction with thecoach. So I also learned how to.
How to speak with the coach,tennis coach. Because everyone maybe
thinks that speak with thetennis coach of the team is easy.
But you know, sometimes likeI'm young, I'm young into the team.
(36:12):
Maybe I'm the younger and it'snot easy to change the mind or maybe
propose something that thecoach doesn't because maybe sometimes
they are. They're olderbecause the tennis player request
experience, you know, in themost case. And so maybe is they interact
(36:34):
that. That they can learn achange. Yeah. Interact with the team
and how to speak when speakwith the player. Yeah. That.
That sounds like you'vedefinitely matured as your as in
your role. Like, you know,they're important because I'm sure
a lot of younger people willnot want to, you know, spe somebody
of higher authority. They'reafraid to say things to sometimes.
(36:55):
Yeah.
Which. Which happened not onlyin tennis. It happens in it. It happens
in a lot of things even herethat where it used to be a problem
in hospitals that that wherelet's say somebody working underneath
a main surgeon would seesomething that could be wrong and
they'd be afraid to say it tothe surgeon. And then that led to
major complications becausethey were afraid because of this
(37:16):
authority thing. It's kind ofcrazy. I know your situation is not
life and death, but littlethings can change the course of some
of these game and result whicheverybody's happier then. So.
Yeah. And one thing that youhave to be cautioned to speak and
because the player doesn'thave to know this. This part of maybe
(37:36):
that you talk and you decidewhat to do what not to do. So in
front of the player, you haveto be perfect. So all the problem
are in the, in the back, inthe car before arriving.
So you're saying you're givingDanilo all the ideas, but he gets
all the credit. That's whatyou're saying?
No, no, no, no, no, no. He isreally. I think that he is one of
(38:01):
the best tennis coach in thecircuit because his knowledge is
amazing and he impressive howhe can find a solution for everyone.
Everyone. So. And a lot ofcoaches consider him and ask him
everything and.
Nice. He's too nice. He's toonice. And just final question. What
(38:24):
would you be doing if youweren't working in tennis? What would
you be doing today?
That's a good question, but Ican start from here. So for example,
now when I'm not with Luda,I'm not in tennis, I'm working with
Junior MotoGP motorbiker. So Ireally like that word. I really like
(38:47):
that word and how theypractice because it's very, very
tough sports. Maybe a lot ofpeople think that it's easy just
riding Formula one or Moto,but it's not. They're amazing athlete
and I'm lucky to work withthem also. So we working in online
(39:07):
mood and I see them when I'min Milan and yeah, that word. I like
it very much. So if I'm notworking in tennis for sure I can
travel with that them.
We did have Patrick Harden, Ithink his name was on the podcast.
He's the strength andconditioning coach or performance
coach as well for Alex Albon.I had him on the podcast before.
(39:29):
Really interesting. Wow. Wow.Yeah. I had a meeting last week with
Andrea Ferrari that it's astrength of conditioning coach of
Charles Leclerc and we had agood talk because it's similar. So
the driver and tennis playerare similar. I mean not in the program
what they do, but I mean inthe period. Because for example,
(39:51):
they have the same winterpreparation like us. So we do from
November to before, beforeAustralia and they have the same.
So the Grand Prix Formula onefinish around. They have three or
four months before. Yeah,before March. Because the first Grand
Grand Prix in Melbourne is inMarch. So we have the same period.
(40:15):
I mean three, three months,two months. And then during the year
they have like traveling. Sojet lag is the same of us and they
don't have a lot of time towork. So. And yeah, we. I find that
we were in the same situationto like manage time and manage training
during tournament or DuringGrand Prix, I mean, it's the same
(40:37):
and.
I know it's slightlydifferent, but it's the same. You're
both trying to stay focusedfor three hours or two hours. You
know, you're trying. No,tennis players get breaks and that,
and the racing is different,but it's all about trying to maintain
focus for an extended periodof time.
Yeah, it's very. They arevery, very focused. And one things.
(40:58):
They risk their life ifthey're not focused. Yeah. So I really,
I'm really impressed aboutthat athlete. And also, for example,
what I, What I'm seeing withmy, with my athlete, it. The MotoGP
Junior MotoGP driver that theyreach during the, during the race,
(41:18):
very high heart rate bpm. Sothey. They arrive in amazing fc.
So the FC max is very high.Also, if they are not moving, they're
just moving the hands and bodyjust to the, to the curve and. But
they are like a sprinter when,when, when they have the race. Maybe
(41:43):
it's the motion, maybe it'sthe scare about something or maybe.
I don't know. But, yeah,adrenally, of course, they're amazing
athletes also.
They're fit. Well, Lorenzo,thank you very much. It was great
to learn about you and I hopeto see you on the road somewhere
this year.
(42:03):
Thank you. Fabio was apleasure, really. And you are. Are
doing an amazing job and youare like an amazing channel. Yeah,
thank you very much.
Thank you very much. Ciao, ciao.
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