Gavin MacMillan spent years building athletes nobody expected to make it — boxers, hockey players, tennis pros. Then Aryna Sabalenka hired him, and the tennis world started paying attention.

In this episode, Gavin breaks down the serve transformation that took Sabalenka from 6 double faults in a single final to 6 double faults across an entire tournament. He explains why 99% of strength coaches in tennis are operating on the wrong principles — and why bigger, faster, stronger is the biggest lie in the sport.

He's now working with Coco Gauff. And he has thoughts.

🎾 WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE

→ Why conventional weight training is actively hurting tennis players

→ The Federer "toothpick" principle: how elasticity beats muscle

→ Sabalenka's serve rebuild — the real story, step by step

→ What Gavin is working on with Coco Gauff right now

→ Why you can't think your way through a serve under pressure

→ The coaching lie: "I played it, so I can teach it"

→ The broken ATP/WTA system — and why nobody's fixing it

→ Caro Garcia on what she'd change about her career if she started over

→ Why tennis is the single hardest sport in the world to succeed in professionally

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⏱ CHAPTERS

01:00 Gavin's background — 7 sports, hockey, losing his mom at 15

02:00 Narcissistic tennis parents & the crystal ball problem

03:30 Why tennis is the hardest sport in the world to succeed in professionally

06:00 Tennis vs the fight business — the only comparable mental challenge

07:30 Inside boxing: weight cuts, Cotto vs Canelo, and the A-side

10:30 Why conventional weight training is destroying tennis players

12:00 Force vs power — the Soviet training science nobody in tennis is using

13:00 Federer's toothpick body vs Nadal — the real difference explained

15:00 The door analogy — why bigger muscles increase injury risk

18:00 Why there's almost no science in tennis coaching

20:00 Gavin's live analysis of Caro Garcia's game

22:00 Caro's shoulder injury & the 22,000 serves per year problem

25:00 The insane tennis calendar — no other professional sport does this

28:00 Instagram fitness coaches on tour & the science nobody uses

29:00 Technical flaws in the modern game — you cannot hide them anymore

32:00 Federer's on-the-run forehand & why Sampras would dominate today

35:00 The skills gap — why top players still can't execute the basics

37:00 Gavin joins Coco Gauff's team — his exact role

39:00 How long does it really take to change technique on a pro player?

42:00 Coco's serve numbers — the before and after

44:00 The Sabalenka serve transformation — the full story

47:00 The reps math — why "5-minute serve fixes" are for functional morons

48:00 What Freddie Roach taught Gavin about great coaching

51:00 One thing in the corner — simplicity under extreme pressure

56:00 The 70% first serve rule that made Sabalenka unbeatable

1:00:00 Advice to young players: what actually builds a career

1:01:00 The 85% rule — why going 100% loses Grand Slams

1:07:00 Women's tennis marketing — why the tour is failing its own players

1:11:00 Identity, mental health & living and dying with every point

1:18:00 The camera on Sabalenka after a loss — the tour's exploitation problem

1:22:00 Federer's parents — what Gavin learned meeting them at the Australian Open

1:24:00 Coco Gauff at 21 — changing her serve the week before the US Open

1:29:00 Caro: "I would have had a better team" — what she'd change about her career

1:31:00 Every athlete falls to their level of preparation — not one rises above it

1:34:00 George St-Pierre, stars aligning, and the luck factor in elite sport

1:37:00 The unlicensed conditioning industry — and why it's getting players hurt

1:40:00 Injury prevention: the right evaluation every player should have but doesn't

1:42:00 The serve biomechanics breakdown — why Rafter's motion damaged him and Federer's didn't

🎾 TENNIS INSIDER CLUB

The inside story of professional tennis — hosted by Caroline Garcia (former World No. 4, 2022 WTA Finals Champion)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Arthur Rinderknech didn't follow the typical ATP blueprint. At 18, when most aspiring pros were grinding Futures tournaments, he chose to go to university in the United States — a decision that French tennis culture saw as giving up. Today, he's ranked inside the ATP Top 30 and one of the most interesting stories on the men's tour.

In this episode, Arthur joins Caroline Garcia and Borja for an unfiltered conversation covering:

• Growing up in a tennis family without pressure — and why that made all the difference
• Why he walked away from the pro circuit at 18 and headed to Texas A&M
• The French vs American mentality — and what Europe gets completely wrong about sport
• The moment he nearly quit tennis for good (and the psychologist who changed everything)
• Working with Lucas Pouille — and learning to train LESS to win MORE
• Playing his own cousin in an ATP final in Shanghai (and what the odds on that would have paid)
• What it actually feels like to reach Top 30 at 29 — and why late success hits differently

⏱ TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Introduction — Arthur's tennis origin story

12:10 The deal with himself: Top 250 in 18 months or stop forever

15:00 Why starting at 22 vs 18 changes everything

20:30 French vs American mindset — not being afraid of anybody

28:50 "I told my wife I wasn't sure I'd keep going"

33:20 No racket for 2.5 weeks — one week before Roland Garros

37:00 The late-night idea: calling Lucas Pouille

44:00 What he learned from Lucas: train less, win more

49:10 US Open R16: hitting only 10 minutes between matches

54:30 Playing his own cousin in the Shanghai ATP final

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🎾 ABOUT TENNIS INSIDER CLUB

Tennis Insider Club is co-founded by Caroline Garcia — former WTA No.4 and Grand Slam Champion. We go deep into the minds of players, coaches, and insiders to bring you content you won't find anywhere else in tennis.

🔔 Subscribe so you never miss an episode → tennisinsider.club

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you raise two world-class champions on a budget in a country with no tennis infrastructure? Judy Murray shares her raw, "old school" wisdom on avoiding burnout, handling the "human ATM" parent trap, and why letting your kids play is better than any coaching manual. A very insightful conversation with the mother of Jamie and Andy Murray.

Chapters:

01:14 Starting with wooden rackets and Scotland's weather

02:19 Why Judy stopped playing to save her love for the sport

05:13 No dreams of pros: Just wanting kids to enjoy sport

06:24 Kitchen table tennis and cereal box nets

08:16 The "Human ATM": The reality of individual sports

10:41 Becoming a National Coach and learning by watching

14:42 Knowing when to be the parent instead of the coach

16:58 Teaching independence: Packing bags and supermarkets

22:15 The Parent-Coach-Player triangle

27:50 Watching Andy vs. Rafa: "Sit on your hands!"

31:18 Communication: Handling the "surprise" visit disaster

41:03 The danger of tennis becoming a child's identity

46:42 Why the American University route is a game-changer

49:03 Sending Andy to Barcelona at 15

53:57 Managing the business of a professional athlete

56:45 Stepping back: "Off you go, little bird"

58:52 Advice for parents of young athletes

If you’re a parent, coach, or athlete looking for the "real" side of the pro tour, make sure to subscribe and hit the bell icon! Let us know in the comments: what's the best advice you've ever received from a parent in sports?

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.