Filippo Ferraris, Head of Athletic Preparation at Sanremo Tennis and coach to numerous elite-level athletes, outlines his coaching journey along with his experience on the MSc in Performance Coaching. 

Background and Passion for S&C

Filippo sites his passion for sports growing up as the reason he pursued a career in coaching. After graduating with a degree in sport and exercise science and one year working in the industry, he was presented with an opportunity. 

He outlines how different roles throughout his career also helped him to refine his approach. 

“During my youth career, I had the opportunity to challenge myself very often. In the beginning, my approach as a coach was a bit confusing because I was bouncing around in the working world and was scared about what and how to do it. Also, by mid-year, the COVID-19 pandemic had started,” Filippo shared. 

In 2020 Filippo was given the opportunity to take part in an internship at the Piatti Tennis Centre. “I had the chance to try my hand as a coach for the first time. At the end of the summer, I received the opportunity to move to San Remo and work at the city’s club. It also provided the opportunity to work with professional and semi-professional athletes. Today, I work as head of the academy’s athletic sector and collaborate with a professional tennis player ranked No. 30 ATP. In this club, I found my mentor, Diego Silva, who from day one gave me opportunities and the chance to grow every day as a coach and person.” 

Head of Athletic Preparation

As Head of Athletic Preparation, Filippo brings us through his day-to-day responsibilities. 

“I am responsible for scheduling weekly and daily sessions for the players. I also manage the off-court workload for the athletes and help them improve their performance and prevent injuries,” he explains.

Filippo also believes in the importance of communication in coaching. “I also like to be helpful by giving them the opportunity to talk to me if they have any kind of problem. To be a good coach, you have to be able to bring out the maximum potential from each athlete, and this can also be done through a trusting relationship that is created between player and coach through communication.” 

In his role, Filippo works with a number of youth athletes and he believes in building a strong foundation when it comes to the long-term development of young tennis players. “In my experience, the most critical factor in long-term development is to create solid physical bases in order to progress once they grow. For this reason, with the young tennis players, I manage the load to teach them how to move well. 

“With this approach in mind, I will allow them to progress gradually, making sure that what has been done before has yielded adaptation for what will be done next.” 

Working with Elite Athletes

Filippo has had the opportunity to work with high-profile players like Fabio Fognini, Gianluca Mager, and Matteo Arnaldi throughout his career. As well as his current role at Sanremo Tennis Team, Filippo works alongside his mentor Diego Silva as an assistant strength and conditioning coach to Matteo Arnaldi. 

“In collaboration with Diego, we help Matteo improve his physical performance while trying to avoid injuries. In addition, I have the opportunity to travel and work with Matteo during tournaments. This gives me a chance to interact with other coaches and exchange ideas and opinions about our work.” 

Discussing the challenges and rewards of coaching elite-level athletes Filippo shared “For me, one of the main challenges in coaching high-level athletes is gaining the necessary trust from the player to make them go along with you and trust what they have to do. They know themselves better than anyone else and can tell if you, as a coach, are not sure of what you are saying. As a reward, the best thing you can have is the amount of credit the athletes give back to you.” 

Supporting Athletes at All Levels

Filippo works with athletes at varying levels in their careers from rising stars like to established professionals. In balancing the needs of athletes at different stages of their careers Filippo tailors his coaching approach to each of the athlete’s levels and experience. “With young players like Victoria Lanteri Monaco, I try to create a background of high-impact skills that will help them start strength training without problems once they grow up. With professional athletes, I evaluate and screen them before we start working together to find weaknesses and start working on them. Once I reevaluate the athlete and see that weaknesses are no longer a problem, I begin to improve their performance with strength and conditioning.” 

Studying with Setanta

Filippo decided to pursue an MSc in Performance Coaching at Setanta College to further his skills and coaching knowledge. “The reason I decided to study the MSc in Performance Coaching was that I wanted to challenge myself by taking on a path that would give me the opportunity to learn new skills and immediately put them into practice in my work.” 

He adds, “I chose Setanta because it is a world-renowned college with great professors and a wonderful curriculum. It gives us the opportunity to study and work at the same time, so we can practice and try out what we study. Coaching skills, communication skills, scientific research, and analysis of data obtained from tests are definitely the skills that come in most handy for me in daily life.

If I look at myself today compared to my first year, I see a guy who is more responsible, capable of helping people achieve their goals, and sure of what he is doing.”

Looking to the future, Filippo aims to continue improving as a coach. “My long-term goal is to be happy as a coach and see what the future holds for me. In the meantime, I will keep improving my skills every day and give my best to everyone I am involved with.”