The Hindu : Sport : ‘I will be working on the fitness’

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 04, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Sport

Sport - Sports : General

‘I will be working on the fitness’

Kalyan Ashok

Shayamalan Vallabhjee.

BANGALORE: It is time for a unique camp at the ‘Tennis Village’ here.

India’s top tennis trio — Mahesh Bhupathi, Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna — get together for a pre-season training camp to sharpen their skills and fitness.

This camp was initiated by Mahesh and the trio have begun their three-week stint under the watchful eyes of American coach Davidoff and physical trainer Shayamalan Vallabhjee from South Africa.

Shayamalan spoke to The Hindu about the camp and the challenges ahead.

“I want to build on the success with Mahesh and Rohan. I will be working on improving the fitness, agility and speed. We would be doing a lot of drills to cope with drag and resistance using a parachute kind of device which strengthens the cardio vascular system,” said the physio.

The South African pro, who had worked with the Indian World Cup cricket squad, was happy to be at the camp.

According to Shayamalan, a tennis player who plays a three-setter puts more effort and spends more energy than a fast bowler does in a day.

Given the high intensity of the sport, it is absolutely necessary to minimise the risk of injuries and keep a player on optimum level of fitness, he said.

Lateral movements

On Sania, he said: “Sania is very talented and she will be given training to improve on her lateral movements, so that she gets to the ball quickly. Once she is there, she knows how to put it away.”

On Mahesh, the trainer said: “I liked the way he came back strongly after his back injury and subsequent surgery. He has played some great tennis and has recovered well. He’s really motivated to stay fit and perform well in the coming season.”

On Rohan, the physio said: “It was a big year for him and stood up to the physical aspect of the challenge.

His confidence level was high and we need to sustain that by getting him fitter and stronger for the coming season.”

The two-hour physical conditioning session in the morning is followed by a two-hour on court training and hitting sessions. “We have made a great start and we will strive to keep up the tempo,” said Shayamalan.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport