Brad Gilbert has lined up practice sessions with tennis great Andre Agassi for his new charge Andy Murray in order to help the Scot's development.
The coach says the teenager can learn by watching fitness fanatic Agassi at close quarters.
"I would like Andy to practise a few times with Andre," said Gilbert, who has coached Agassi and Andy Roddick.
"He will be able to see just how hard Andre works, even at 36. He still trains like an animal."
Murray and Gilbert, whose salary is being partly paid by the Lawn Tennis Association, will work together for the first time this week at the Legg Mason Classic in New York.
"I want to get Andy on court with Andre at Toronto or Cincinnati before Agassi retires at the end of the summer," said Gilbert.
Andy has had trouble with his fitness - that is the first thing we are going to address
He is also planning to hire a fitness coach to put "a stone of muscle" on the 19-year-old.
"He is a friend of mine who has worked in basketball, football and tennis the past 20 years," Gilbert told BBC Five Live's Sportsweek.
"Andy has had some trouble with his fitness and that is the first thing we are going to address.
"We will be putting the emphasis on working hard. But we have to do it smart.
"We need to get Andy a lot stronger be more aggressive in his play."
Gilbert aims to give Murray an intense pre-season build-up once the current campaign is over.
"Maybe in December, when we have six weeks off ahead of Australian Open, is when we will really be working super hard," he added.
Andymonium wrote: Seems like brads giving murray hell from now on
good - i like the sound of things. lets just hope he sticks to it and adny puts in the effort. I like the sound of He is also planning to hire a fitness coach to put "a stone of muscle" - just what he needs i think (along with the improved fitness). From what i can see is he's got the shots, they just need to be refined slightly, he needs to sort out the strategies and then the main issues are physical. If andy listens to Gilbert i think in a years time andyu could be a REAL player (top 15+) - lets hope he takes it all on board
Andy wanted to play doubles in Washington but Brad wouldn't let him, I think he wants Andy to concentrate entirely on his singles game in between matches apparently
UltimateFlemingFan wrote: Andy wanted to play doubles in Washington but Brad wouldn't let him, I think he wants Andy to concentrate entirely on his singles game in between matches apparently
Well, I suppose Gilbert knows what he's doing, but I like to see young players playing as much doubles as possible to be honest. It's good for their game IMO.
I guess Gilbert has a particular plan of action though and if it gets results then who will argue.
I increasingly get the feeling that making Gilbert his coach will prove to be either a brilliant move for Andy, or a catastrophic one. I am hopeful that it will be the former because Andy really must have known what he was getting with Brad. I just hope he can cope with a coach who isn't going to let him have things his own way.
Out of interest, why do you think playing doubles is good for young players Ria ? [I'm speaking from a slightly biased perspective here as I hate playing doubles, lol ! ]
I agree it helps volleying but overall it's a totally different kind of game. I think that Brad knows that Andy is notorious for not practising much and working on aspects of his game during tournaments because he doesn't like the training so maybe he wants that to change. Maybe he also doesn't want Andy expending energy on doubles with the heat being so fierce in Washington, given that Andy's not, shall we say, the fittest player on tour.
The early signs between them are good. Andy says that he has far too much respect for Brad to argue with him given Brad's record. I think that was the problem with Petchey, as he didn't have any real previous track record with other players, Andy wasn't so prepared to listen and respect his opinions when he tried to alter Andy's game.
I think it's good for their games because, mostly, it helps them develop an all court game and gives them greater court awarness. It also helps improve fitness, especially if guys don't like to practice and find it easier to get going in a competitve match. Nadal played a lot of doubles a few years ago, Hewitt played a lot of doubles early in his career - it doesn't do them any harm to get more matches under their belt and more playing time. I just don't think it hurts to have to develop those skills.
I guess it's just my own observation, I can't really back it up with hard facts or anything, I just think playing doubles helps young players learn more about their game and how to improve it and a guy like Andy, who is working hard on improving his volleying, can really benefit from it.
Plus, I like doubles - I think it's a fun game and sometimes I think it helps them hit off some frustrations when the pressure is off. The new set-up is pretty speedy and it must be good to go out there and just play because you want to and not really need to worry about ranking and stuff. Obviously it's not like that for sole doubles specialists, but for young guys like Andy, Djokovic and Monfils who all play a tonne of doubles, it must be quite fun.
I agree about Andy and Brad - I think it will be a great match-up. Too many foggy boundaries with Petch and Andy and that got in the way, this pairing is much more a coach and a player set-up and it looks, even this early, like it could work out well.
"(Agassi) is the guy I liked growing up," Murray said. "He had great character. I don't remember specific tournaments, but I do remember Andre having the long hair and denim shorts with pink bicycle shorts underneath. He's done a lot for the sport."
Gilbert wants Murray to forget about the press: "It doesn't matter what the media writes," Gilbert says. "The court is only 78 by 27 (feet), and when you go out there, it's up to you to win or lose the match. He needs to just have fun with (the attention)."
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