Bernard Tomic could learn a lot from Mitchell Johnson

Since he arrived on the world tennis scene at the age of 15, as the youngest champion of the Australian Open boys singles in the Open era, Bernard Tomic has been considered one of the most talented players on the ATP World Tour.

However, at the age of 24, Tomic is on the verge of being considered a complete waste of talent.

This is in stark contrast to the brash predictions he made as a teenager, that he was going to be No.1 in the world, win all the Grand Slams in a calendar year, and defeat Roger Federer.

Tomic said he wanted to have the serve of Goran Ivanisevic, the fighting spirit and general athleticism of Lleyton Hewitt, and the groundstrokes of Federer.

However, despite having a deceptively strong serve, brilliant groundstrokes, amazing hands, and an incredible feel for a tennis ball on his racquet, there is one major thing preventing Tomic from becoming the player that he wants to become: his physical fitness.

Tomic’s athleticism is like watching an elderly man with a walking cane in a young man’s body.

This, combined with the coaching from his father, John, has stopped Tomic playing well.

If Tomic had taken his career more seriously, he should have won six to nine career singles titles (at least), and be challenging deep into the second week of Grand Slams, especially at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.

Instead, he has won just three titles, and made the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam only once (Wimbledon 2011). He hasn’t come anywhere close to achieving what people had thought possible, considering his innate talent.

It’s reminiscent of Australian cricketer Mitchell Johnson.

Johnson had massive expectations placed on him as a teenager, with Australian great Dennis Lillee calling him a once in a generation fast bowler.

However, it took Johnson a long time live up to these expectations, and his struggles drove him to the point of losing interest in the game and wanting time out.

This is eerily similar to what Tomic has been through, and is going through right now.

Despite his laughing and joking attitude to the media after his third round loss to Daniel Evans at the Australian Open, Tomic is not enjoying the game at the moment. He appears to want to spend time away from the game to reflect upon his approach to tennis.

Like Tomic, Johnson spent his formative years in Queensland, both have laid-back personalities, and play in sports, and in roles, that require repeated bursts of speed over a long period of time.

In terms of his bowling ability, at his best, Johnson bowled fast, but because of his somewhat slingshot action, the ball reached the batsman at the other end quicker than expected, and the batsman wasn’t able to adjust to what was coming.

In tennis, Tomic has the uncanny ability, at his best, to deceive opponents through his pace of shot because of his take back and swing patterns, giving his opponents little time to react and adjust to the ball coming at them.

However, it is not like Tomic’s opponents can change their games to counteract him, because he has the ability to adjust quickly to tactical changes to continue to have a stranglehold over opponents.

If I was Tomic’s coach, the first thing I would do is improve his physical fitness and athleticism. Similar to the advice Lillee gave Johnson, I would advise Tomic to start long-distance running out on empty roads.

Like Johnson, Tomic is the type of athlete who needs to feel strong and confident to produce his skills on the biggest stage for long periods of time, and the only true way to achieve this is for Tomic to do plenty of long-distance running.

I would also get Tomic to embark on a program including leg power and speed training, core strength and stability training, and upper body and arm power, strength and speed training to improve his explosive power and speed.

Although this program might include some gym training, the idea would be to improve Tomic’s physical fitness in as organic a way as possible.

Beyond improving his physical fitness and athleticism, if I was Tomic’s coach, I would look to improve and change certain aspects of his game, not so much technically (although there is always room for improvement), but tactically and mentally.

The goal would be to turn Tomic into a more attacking player, in a similar mould to his hero, 18-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer.

These changes may help him make his opponents play one more shot, win one more point, win one more game, win one more set, win one more match, win one more title, and it may just help him achieve what he has wanted to achieve in his career.

The decisions are all up to one man: Bernard Tomic.