Two Genius Coaches and What You Can Learn From Them: Training and Drills

Pato Alvarez and Gilad Bloom, opposite approaches, equally influential. In the first article in this series, I identified two genius coaches who have influenced my own development, although they are probably less well known than many of the famous coaches on Tennisplayer. (Click Here.) The first is Gilad Bloom, former tour player and Israeli Davis Cup player and coach. The second is Pato Alvarez, also a former tour player, a National Coach for Spain, and the architect of the Sanchez-Casal Academy training system. In that article I outlined their opposite approaches: Gilad's aggressive, uncompromising hard court attacking style, and contrasted that to Pato's more defensive Spanish clay court approach. Now in this second article, I want to go into more specifics about their training programs and outline a series of drills from both schools. These drills that are fantastic for aspiring junior players but will tremendously benefit serious players at all levels. In my opinion, one of the biggest problems for all players regardless of level is the lack of footwork training. Most coaches in this country focus on racket work not footwork. But footwork and movement are a prerequisite to success whether in club tennis or on the tour....