This is a first in a series of articles written by the top-ranked U.S Squash Professionals about their lives on tour. These articles will cover some of the players’ training routines, travel experiences, and thoughts about the tournaments they compete in around the world. Welcome to the life of a US professional touring pro.
All great athletes will tell you that they wouldn’t be anywhere in their sport without the hard work they put in behind the scenes. They spend countless hours with their coaches and trainers making sure they are in the best shape possible to perform at the highest level. However, I didn’t realize the truth of this statement until my move to Amsterdam to start my professional career.
Under the mentoring of Tommy Berden, who is now my manager, I began to put in the long hours that training professionals devote to their sport. The program he developed for me was something completely different than the scheduled two hour a day practice at Penn. Instead of 10 hours a week, I was thrown into a 23 hr a week program hitting with some of the best players in the world.
My week is usually structured around three physical sessions with my trainer (Floris Minnaert) working on movement, strength, and explosive quickness, one feeding session with my coach (Lucas Buit), four drilling sessions with top-16 players Laurens Jan Anjema and Cameron Pilley, and two solo hitting sessions.
The beginning of the program saw me really struggle physically. However, I was building a base for future tournaments and events. After two years of training like this day in and day out I have built a solid base from which I can structure further training with my manager and trainer.
While some people can manage this workload on their own, I find having people around who believe in me is the best way to push me to be the best. Not only do I have coaches and trainers who I count on for direction and support, I have players around me who I look up to and learn from. I have the pleasure of training with two top players on a daily basis and the ability to ask them questions and let them pick apart my game piece by piece, making me a stronger player.
While it was a heavy load to take on and came with some unexpected losses, my game progressed in the right direction. I used to think that pro tennis players looked foolish looking to their boxes after every rally, I now know why they do it. They are a source of support and strength for the athlete because they have put in their sweat and blood right along with the player on the court.
