All things Rosco
Everything you could want to know about me – at least everything I could think of!
If I’ve missed something out, or you want to know more, send me your questions and I’ll answer as many as I can…Get in touch!
Name: Ross Dan Hutchins
Nationality: British
DOB: February 22, 1985
Born: Wimbledon, London
Lives: Wimbledon, London
Trains: Roehampton National Tennis Centre and Miami
Height: 6ft 3”, 1m 87 cm
Plays: Right-handed, two-handed backhand
Family:
Parents (Paul and Shali), one brother (Blake) and two sisters (Romy and Lauren).
Apart from my mother, all of us play tennis. Romy is a former junior International and WTA ranked player. Lauren originally played on the LTA National Futures programme and now plays socially. Blake was a regular tournament player and semi finalist of National 18 & Under doubles with me and was No.1 player at Edinburgh University.
My father is a former British Davis Cup player and was national team manager and British Davis Cup captain from 1975 to 1987, captaining the Davis Cup 31 times. He was head of Men’s Tennis at the LTA from 2007–2009, and still works for the LTA on the player performance side and is tournament director for a number of events.
Education:
Attended Kings College School Wimbledon from 1992 to 2001, and achieved GCSEs in Maths, English, Spanish, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, French. Left KCS in June 2001 to take up full time tennis continuing with French and Spanish language courses. Represented the school at cricket, tennis, rugby, basketball, swimming, and football.
Hobbies:
Golf – I play off a 12 handicap and can hit it for miles! I’m into music, especially R&B, like movies like Gladiator, Remember The Titans and films that make me scared. I support Fulham FC – not Arsenal like Blake!
Coaching:
I’m often asked who has coached me. A lot of different people have contributed different qualities at different times during my career. My Dad has obviously been there consistently, overseeing all I do, but while the list may seem long I have and still do enjoy great relationships with them all still. So here goes:
To start it was the garden with my Dad and then Linda Mottram in the park at Barnes Common. Linda was great with the basics. It’s so important to learn good technique when you are starting out, and I spent a lot of time with the ball machine as my dad is in favour of repetition feeding to hone your technique.
When I was around 12 I was playing a lot at The All England Club near my home and school with Roger Taylor, who coached me until I was 15 years old. I had some great battles trying to beat Roger during drills, and he was an excellent technical coach.
I worked with Miles Maclagan, now Andy Murray’s coach, when I was around 16 years old and then spent three years with Colin ‘Beech’ Beecher when I was at the LTA training centre at Queens Club and on tour. I still battle with ‘Beech’ now who is as keen as ever!
While I was based at Queens, Andrew ‘Flex’ Richardson coached me for just over a year from 2005 to 2006 at tournaments home and abroad. I then worked with Rhys Hanger, the head coach at Esporta Brighton.
In March 2007 I moved to the National Tennis Centre at Roehampton. How good is that place! The facilities there are unbelievable. It was about this time that I decided to concentrate on doubles, and Louis Cayer and James ‘Diesel’ Davidson have coached me since then. I drill a lot with Diesel, and Louis has helped me to develop the strategic side of my doubles and also travels with me for around 10 tournaments a year.
There are also other coaches at the NTC. Paul Annacone, the Davis Cup coach, is always on hand for advice at the NTC or at tournaments. When I’ve played Davis Cup, John ‘Flossy’ Lloyd is in the chair spurring me on.
I’ve also worked with various physical trainers such as Raphael Brandon and, since the move to the NTC, Joey de Beer who works for the LTA full time. Joey used to work with Tim Henman – he’s a coach, strength & conditioning trainer and a physio so has a great deal of expertise to lean on.
Right now, when I travel to Masters Series events, Grand Slams or training blocks in Miami, I get a lot of help from ‘Team Murray’. Guys like Miles Maclagan, Andy Ireland on the medical/physio side, and fitness gurus Jez Green and Matty Little push me hard, and there’s this guy called Andy Murray who hits a reasonable ball…I play with him a lot – he runs me ragged! He normally wins the touch football as well, but I am improving all the time!
So, as you can see, I’ve had a lot of different coaches, each with their own speciality and expertise, who have helped nurture my career as my game and body have developed over the years. Every coach has their strengths and no one coach has them all, so looking back I am very grateful to all the people I have worked with.
Training:
Since I was 7 years old I have trained at the All England Club, which is near to my home and school in Wimbledon, and also at Sutton JTC, Esporta Brighton, The old LTA HQ at Queens Club and now at the NTC Roehampton.
Also travelled to clay court venues to train in Spain and South America. Played a lot on carpet when young at The All England Club indoor courts after homework!
Strengths:
Serve and ground strokes and over last 3 years improved my volleys a lot. Height and strength plus fitness are all good. Feel I have a very professional attitude.
Supporting companies:
adidas: clothing and shoes
Dunlop: rackets
LTA contract with AEGON
Over my career a number of people and companies have helped me with sponsorship or support including Brian Morris from Aspria health & Fitness Company, Dresdner Anschultz Mezzanine, Nick Basing, John Edwards and of course my parents and the LTA who have sponsored so much of my training and traveling since I was young.
