
Ross Hutchins blog: getting a sweat on Stateside
The world No.50 gives us the lowdown on his pre-season training with Team Murray at their sweltering Miami base
Hey guys Ross here, checking in from the off-season training base with Team Murray in Miami.
Not to rub it in, but unlike back home it is pretty toasty here right now! Its been amazing weather over here the temperature has topped 90 degrees, and I even got a bit sunburnt over the weekend when we first got out on court. It took me a while to acclimatise, get used to the heat and so on, but Im fine now and getting well and truly stuck in.
Before we got down to serious business though, Andy, me and the guys enjoyed a bit of downtime weve been jetskiing, wakeboarding, and caught a Miami Heat game those basketballers are massive, monstrous athletes
But even though we were meant to be relaxing, I couldnt help but hit the gym each day, and I feel good now that the real work has started.
Ive been out on court hitting for a couple of hours a day, but weve been doing a lot of fitness work this first week. Andys coaches Miles McLagan and Jez Green organise the training sessions.
Miles is a close friend of mine and I rate him so highly as a coach – he looks out for me, as does Jez…
Miles is great, hes a really close friend of mine and I rate him so highly as a coach. He looks out for me a lot and so does Jez he used to train me and he helps me out enormously. Hes a superb fitness trainer whos very qualified and very knowledgeable in everything that he does, but the best thing about Jez is he loves doing it. If he could get by on a half hour of sleep in a day, he would spend the other 23 and a half hours in the gym if needs be.
Until what he thinks needs to be achieved is achieved, he will not leave the gym. Hes so thorough we have three-hour gym sessions doing the same stuff until he is happy with what youve done and feels like a goal has been achieved, whereas other people make sure their hour is done, whether its done properly or not.
All the guys in Andys team are like that. Matt Littles very good keeping the intensity high hes on you, maybe a bit more light-hearted in the gym but still very thorough. Andy Ireland is excellent too. Theyre all great guys.
When Alex Corretja travels with us he also does some individual work with me. Hes got a very good understanding of match-play mentality and how to win, and considering how successful hes been during his time, he is very good with that. Im very lucky to get to work with them all.
The trainers have pushed us to the limit – our pyramid track sessions have been brutal!
Even before the week started, Id been out on court a fair bit Id had a hit with fellow doubles specialist Jean-Julien Rojer, a knock with Andy and some time out on court with Colin Beecher and my dad, whose been on court with me every day. Its been great having him here, I love having him around. He knows my game so well he knows everything about me.
Weve made a few changes to my game here and there, just tweaked a few things. He advises me on breathing, on technique, ball-striking, tactics, everything. Hes the one I go to if I have any ideas about what I think I need to do, and he hits the ball really well as well so I hit with him. It works really well he helps me enormously.
Weve been playing some tennis this week, but the real work has been the two training sessions a day. Weve had track sessions in the morning with an upper body workout in the afternoon, or sprint sessions in the morning and a lower body workout later on, with tennis sandwiched in the middle.
The trainers have kept it intense, got onto us and pushed us to the limit. Our pyramid track sessions have been brutal. We run a 200m-400m-800m-400m-200m circuit in succession to improve our endurance, before hitting the weights later on to boost our strength.
Check back next week for a special announcement about my plans for next year…
The training side of things has been very intense this week, and that will continue, but the playing time will increase next week. Well probably play about three hours of tennis per day alongside the two fitness sessions. Ive had a niggling hamstring strain, but the team are keeping an eye on it Im not letting it hold me back.
Ill be working on some doubles-specific features of my game while Im out here volleys and returns, thats going to help me a lot in the coming months I think. Then next week well start playing some points, work on my second shot, longer rallies and specific plays.
Generally I hit fine but I need to improve my specific doubles skills. I cant just go and do exactly what Andys doing because he has a completely different game to mine, but I can use him and he can use me in the ways we want to use each other during hits. Its a good relationship for both of us.
Check back next week for a special announcement about my plans for next year, and a look back on my 2009 season.
Thats all for now Rosco




