The Coach and the Star #1 – Shaun T.
The Coach and the star is a program by Tennis Majors. Tennis coach and mastermind Patrick Mouratoglou shares a training session with a personality full of passion for the game. Here is his meeting with the American fitness coach and motivator Shaun T.
In this episode of “The coach and the star”, Patrick Mouratoglou shares a training session with the American fitness coach and motivator Shaun T. The French coach knows how Shaun T. likes to play on the court and tries here to make him improve his aggressive game.
“Shaun is an aggressive player. He loves to hit winners. He loves to make the decision. He doesn’t want the opponent to miss. He wants to be the one who hits the winner. Which is great. Champions have that mindset. Even if they’re defensive, because they know how to defend, they want to hit the winners, that’s how you win Grand Slams. Shaun can improve by using all his power.”
First of all, Patrick wants Shaun T to play deep and after a few balls, trying to add some power on his shots, especially on the backhand by passing his left leg in front of his body after the shot. And it works…
“You know what I just found too? It’s the contact point. Like… If it’s here… Everything is going. So cool. So good. I’m happy right now.”
Shaun T. : “It’s such a mental game”
If Patrick Mouratoglou makes Shaun T. work on his backhand, it’s because he knows the importance of this shot on a tennis court.
“In the men’s game, most of the things happen on the backhand side. They play cross. And they look for the inside out. Turning around the backhand coming forehand. When you play your backhand cross, if you’re able to go down the line, and the guy knows it, you hit winners doing so. He’s hesitating to turn around. He doesn’t want to open too much of his empty space. So, it kind of… You create fear in him.”
During the practice session, Shaun T, 41-year-old American fitness coach and motivator, talks with Patrick Mouratoglou about his passion for tennis.
“People ask me why I love tennis, I say because it’s so terribly difficult. You need speed, power, agility, strength, hand-eye coordination. And you need to be able to conquer your mind. That’s maybe the most difficult thing. This is it. Because I realize that… The mental strength you have to have to be able to get every ball in and you miss balls that you should have gotten in. It’s such a mental game. So… I love that. I love it.
