#52: Michael Joyce – The Winning Tactics of Maria Sharapova

Today you are going to listen to Michael Joyce, Michael was a professional player himself reaching a career high of #64 in singles. He then went on to coach Maria Sharapova from 2004-2011 in which she won 2 Grand Slam titles & rose to #1 in the world. Since 2011 Michael has worked with Jessica Pegula who rose from #900 to #120 WTA within the first 2 years of their partnership before suffering from a serious injury which she is now trying to get back from. You’ll get to know: – About Maria’s Mentality – The exact winning strategies of Maria – About the short hop test Timestamps 01:30 Get the personality 04:10 Cultural differences 07:30 Maria’s mentality 11:30 Confidence 13:00 Looking at the bigger perspective 15:15 The importance of preparation 19:30 Scouting 24:45 Playing up an age group 31:45 Using doubles as practice for singles 36:10 Better people 41:00 The Phil Jackson story 47:30 Rubbing people the right way 49:00 Getting the players to feel good about themselves vs being honest 54:00 The fakeness of the tennis world 56:30 Eye-hand coordination 58:45 Landorph’s short hop test 1:02:15