Jim Courier on Commitment to Physical Fitness | TennisWorthy Moments

Jim Courier· Guest0:00

[gentle music] The first time I cramped up as a tennis player was in the state finals in, in Florida, playing a high school championship, and I didn't know what was happening. My body just started to ... My legs started to snap and move, and I couldn't control them, and I'd never lost control of my body at that point in my life. So that was a very scary feeling to go through that. But it helped me understand, okay, there are things that I need to do preparation-wise. Those were really tough lessons, having to go to the hospital because you're i- in an ambulance because you just, your body's giving out and you're, you're headed towards a full body cramp. Martina with her fitness and her diet, and Ivan Lendl was incredibly fit and someone that I looked up to when I was a teenager and, and going, "These are the types of athletes that I need to emulate because the game that I play is a very physical game. I'm going to need to be fit like them because I play that type of powerhouse baseline game." So they were easy for me to emulate. After I turned pro and in the first couple of years as I learned how to be a, a top professional as far as training goes, I lost a lot of close matches because I wasn't as fit as I needed to be. So those painful lessons really sparked a, a desire not to lose because I was tired. So I was lucky enough to hire a guy named Pat Etcheberry, who was a, a fantastic strength and conditioning coach, which he'd worked with Andre Agassi prior to, to me getting a chance to work with him. Pete Sampras and I hired him at the same time, and we both went