Sem Verbeek: Using His Big Toe To Win A Wimbledon Title?

Hey everyone, on today's episode we've got Sem Verbeek, the world's 36th ranked doubles player on the ATP Tour. Last year he made the semifinals of the Australian Open and won the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon. On today's episode, Sem shares some really interesting insights like why he's working on his big toe strength in the offseason, his plan of attack for handling nerves, and how he visualizes a box on his volleys. So sit back, relax, and prepare to become a smarter tennis player.

All right, Sam, welcome to the pod. Thank you, Jonathan. Thank you for having me. So we've only, uh, the audience doesn't know, but we've already had like four technical difficulties, but we're about to get into a minute one of this podcast. So it's December 30th. You're at the tail end of an off season slash preseason about to head to Australia.

Every player does it differently, right? Some people just need a break from the long year and the travel. Some people want to work on the weaknesses that held them back. Some people build on strengths. What is your offseason look like? Yeah, I think it's a combination of all three of those things.

I did do it a little bit differently than years past. I put a lot more focus on the physical preparation for next year. And that's mainly because I started within a new workout system called Functional Patterns. And Functional Patterns works a lot on functional lines and also your fascial lines and stuff. And we've noticed quite a lot of improvements over the year that I've started it.

So what we prioritized this year was an intense functional patterns block over in Amsterdam, which is where I'm based. So after my last tournament, which was the tournament in Athens, the 250, I put my... rackets in the closet and didn't touch it basically for a month which is also nice because you get a little bit of a break but I did do intensive workouts and corrective exercises every day because we felt like

And when I say we, I mean my coach Jacob Meyer and I, we felt like that was going to make the biggest leap for my game in 2026. Because a lot of my... My tennis, we feel, is now in a place where if I can just have a little bit more muscle mass and if I can be a little bit more functional with the way I produce my strength, my game is going to catch up. So I did that for about three weeks.

And then I actually went over to Atlanta, which is where I spend a few weeks slash two months really over the year because there's a neurology clinic there called Georgia Chiropractic Neurology Clinic. And I've worked with them for years already, where we do a lot of brain-based training. So especially in combination with functional patterns, it's a great way to keep those movement patterns in your body and make sure your brain...

uses those new pathways that it's making in the gym and that translates onto the court. So that was about 10 days and then I spent a little bit of time away with my family, which is really good. because we don't get a whole lot of time to do that, especially I have one sister. So I think it was five years ago or something that my family last was able to spend some time away from home with the four of us. So that was really special. And then now I'm here in Florida.

where my coach lives for a few days before we both head out to Australia tomorrow. That's a big trip coming up. I'd love to hear more about the brain-based training. So how does that work? I've heard some CNS training, like central nervous system, where when you're doing a ladder, you're trying to get your feet to go faster. And a lot of that is actually brain, not necessarily how fast your feet actually move. What did that look like for you? What was it exactly that you were working on?

Yeah, there's a bunch of things. So for this off-scene specifically, we worked on my power block for my rotation and specifically also on my backend side. So it might get a little bit technical, but... When I rotate, I'm a left-hander, so when I rotate from my right to my left, there's a muscle on the left side of my back that is a little overactive, the quadratus lumborum, which also pulls you into a little bit of flexion.

When I do that, when I laterally flex, the rotation just becomes a lot less powerful and a lot less smooth. And even though I know rationally that I'm not supposed to do that. That's where really the brain-based training comes in because they reteach you movement patterns in the clinic where they put you in different positions and make sure your body can develop those new neurological pathways to get your rotation.

at least for me, from a different muscle in a different system. And then that work in the clinic, we do later on court as well to see if it's sticking. Because the way your brain works in a clinical setting might be different than when you go out. you know, for us as tennis players on course or for any other sport. And so that was a big one. The second one was the way I use my feet and specifically my big toe. So you can get as detailed as you want, but...

Yeah, your big toe is a big driver in how you create force from the ground up. And I don't use that very well. So this...

off-season or pre-season, we focused a lot on that so that I can really push off better, which should make me faster and more explosive and things like that. And then you have the kind of standard... uh brain-based training where you work on your eyes and you work on your balance so your vestibular system uh your reflexes your timing and things like that but it's been it's been instrumental

really over the last few years that I've worked with them. So I owe them a lot over there in Georgia. So you're going to have the strongest big toe on tour next year. Yeah, I hope so. That sounds like a great goal. Yeah. Have you, so with that backhand that you were talking about changing those pathways, have you noticed now that you're back to hitting balls, have you noticed more freedom? It's coming off cleaner. It just feels smoother. Anything like that? For sure. Yeah.

If we take those two together, the rotation and the push-off, I'm much faster going to my backhand side. Plus, when I get there, I'm able to generate a lot more power without feeling like I'm off-balanced or like I'm jammed. And that's not to say that just because that new pathway is there is that my body is going to choose that immediately over my old habits, especially when it comes to a match type situation where there's pressure or where you may feel rushed or something like that.

But that's where the more you can get quality repetitions in, the more you can overwrite that old neurological pathway. But yeah, especially specifically today, there have been people that... at the courts that we train here in Jacksonville that haven't seen me in months or even longer. And those are really the people that you can ask me, hey, do you notice a difference? Because when you're in the minutia every single day, especially also for Jacob and for me.

you might not notice especially the little 1% things that add up. But then if you suddenly go to a place where you haven't been to for a while and they say, hey, that looks a lot better or that looks a lot different, it's nice to get that kind of feedback and confirmation for sure. Yeah. In terms of tennis, which you just started back up, do you watch video? Do you keep statistics for the year? Obviously, Jacob has eyes on you. I'm assuming a majority of the year. So how do you decide?

you know, what you're going to do moving forward into 2026? Are you looking at weaknesses? Is it you've watched video and you see certain areas that you can get better at? Like, how do you guys decide what those practices look like? That's a good question. So.

The short answer is yes, we do a lot with film, especially with more slow motion and high quality cameras so that you can really go frame by frame and see where things break down. So Jacob has a background in biomechanics. So he knows a lot about the body, which is also why we got to this preseason priority of making sure that I'm in shape physically.

It sounds weird when you say in shape because I feel like, you know, we're a professional athlete, so we are in shape, but I can just use my body in a different way. But yeah, you know, I watch all of my matches back. And then you can just see patterns that come out over and over again. So that's an easy place to start to be like, hey, you know, we're losing a lot of points when this and this happens.

When I'm in this position, it feels like my technique breaks down. And then you just kind of funnel it from there and see what those things are that you can actually physically control. And then we get into the minutia of, okay, we're not using our big toe correctly. or your wrist position on the volley needs to get better. And those are really the cool gems that are hidden, that you can uncover. So yeah, we're doing a lot of work on my backhand side, both on the volleys and...

and on the return, which I think is cool. And then not to forget how you win points as well. Because, you know, when you get into those tight situations, it's nice to know that you might not have a bigger weakness that you had last year. How are you also going to win points? So it's a balancing act with that, but I feel like we're in a good place for a good season for sure.

You obviously had a great year last year. I think a career high of 29 in the world. Is that right? Yep. And you're currently 36. You got semis, the Australian, lots of great things. This is the time of year where everybody sets goals, right? Because the calendar flipped two days. So now we can all try to improve ourselves, right? It makes no sense.

But everybody likes to set goals. So do you and Jacob, do you have any performance outcome goals? Do you have anything in mind or do you kind of just go, hey, I'm just improving and just taking it week by week? I mean, performance for sure. We don't have any rankings goals.

A career high can happen multiple times in a year. So we're not necessarily that focused on the ranking. At the same time, I think it would be a little naive not to know. when your points come off or what a strong part of your season was. So we have to be realistic. My ranking could be, let's say, after April or even after Australia.

But we have what we call roadmaps. So every three months, we check in with our roadmap and we go stroke by stroke to say, okay, for the next three months, what goal do we want to accomplish technically or tactically or anything like that? And then that just provides us a really good direction. I have always felt for myself when I focus too much on results, you know, things can look like an awful season if you don't get the result that you want.

You know, a lot of people say win Grand Slams or win X tournament or whatever. But, you know, if you don't win that, but let's say you win three 500s, have you failed then as a season or have you not reached your goal? You know what I mean? You know, especially the way tennis works and you can pick up points at many different places. We don't necessarily look too much at what tournament to win or anything like that. But yeah, just get better.

And the results should follow from that. I love that. I mean, obviously, obviously you're trying to win every match, right? So you're going to Australia. And of course you want to defend your points or you want to do even better. And then you want to do well in the next tournament. There's never a tournament you're not trying to do well.

Right. So I guess some people use it as a motivating tool where you're going, hey, since I'm trying to accomplish X, Y, or Z, but since you're a pro, I would assume like you are already just trying to maximize performance at the end of the year, however you do. you'll kind of know that's what you earned. And I would also assume and maybe correct me if I'm wrong, there's a fair amount of luck involved.

I mean, what kind of draw you get, where you get placed in the order of play, the timing of when you play a team, when they're hot or not. How much does luck play into all this for you?

Massively. And I think you actually asked two good questions there, but let's go with the luck first. Everybody gets lucky, whether they think so or not. There are moments throughout a professional tennis year where you are going to get lucky, whether that's... like you said, getting a good draw or getting a walkover or anything like that. We try to be as prepared for that lucky moment as we can be because you never know when it's going to happen. You know, last year in 2024,

I had that miracle in Miami, being an alternate team and getting to play a match with literally 20 seconds to spare. That's maybe a topic for another podcast. But I was prepared for that luck. You know, I played two really good matches and that was really the catalyst that got me to 2025. So it's really, like I said, being prepared for that luck. But then going back to your first part about...

having goals and always wanting to win that next tournament. I do think it's important to have an inspirational and an aspirational goal. 2025 was very lucky for me in the sense that I got to tick off two of my aspirational goals. One, winning Wimbledon and two, being able to play Davis Cup or be selected for Davis Cup. I didn't get on court this time, but, you know, those were goals that we set years ago.

And we call them BHAGs, Big Hairy Audacious Goals. It's from a book that we read together, Jacob and I. So I'm lucky to be able to make new BHAGs and use that kind of as your goosebump, like, oh.

That gives me chills to keep going. So I do have those. And my big one right now is getting an Olympic medal in LA 2028. So it's not specifically to 26, but looking ahead, that would be... a dream come true to to win that but like you said good year from year you're you're every week you're playing if you're not going to play for the title what are you really doing

So you, you are a Wimbledon champion. So one, one question I would have about that is what is that? It's the Wimbledon ball, right? Like describe that or the champion dinner, like tell, tell everyone what that is like. It's exactly what you would imagine Wimbledon does. It was indescribable. It's cool that the day of, in the morning, they have this tailor that comes into the locker room.

where you can get a tuxedo for the night because, you know, it's blackout and gala, so it's not like you can show up in your sweatshirts and have a good time. No, it's really well done. So you take your measurements there and you get a tailor-made tux, basically. And what made it even more special for me this year is that my college coach, Ryan Redondo, by sheer luck, he was in Europe.

that day. So I called him that morning and said, hey, I saw you in Spain. Is there any way you can get out of your commitments and jump on a plane to London? And he was able to, so we were able to share that moment together, which is such a cool moment. But yeah, it's nice to see champions and just legends of the game in a different setting than what you're used to.

You know, everybody's dressed up nicely. Everybody's had a drink or two. So everybody's a little bit more relaxed than, let's say, when you're in the middle of a Grand Slam and you basically have tunnel vision. But it's not like you can just go over to Sinner's table or Shreemtech's table and...

and have a chat because there's like guards left and right for them. But no, it's cool. They had Laura Robson who basically emceed the whole night and she did a great job and you got to witness the traditional dance. Just be with the people that you care about and that was there. So it was a really, really cool moment that we got to save you for the rest of our lives. Just a quick break to thank ADV for sponsoring the podcast and my 2026 doubles camps.

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which is why I include it in all my camps. And if you want to get your tennis friends or yourself a great holiday gift, use my 10% code in the show notes. You're a human being. So of course, I know you were nervous at some point in that tournament.

How do you specifically handle the nerves when you're in the final of a Grand Slam? Wimbledon champion is something that you can always say. So when you got nervous in that final, kind of what do you do to help yourself perform at your best? Yeah, great question. So that doesn't start. Sorry, that doesn't happen right in the match, but that starts hours, if not days before. I get nervous every match. In fact, I seek it out now. I used to be on the side of, oh, I shouldn't get nervous because...

then this happens and then this happens and then you just kind of get into that spiral. But what really shifted it for me is when I was able to tell myself, hey, nerves are also excitement. Like your brain literally cannot... distinguish physically the difference between nerves and excitement. So when I was able to reframe that into, hey, your body's getting ready and it's getting ready to perform.

I actually started seeking out the butterflies or the tingles that you want before a match because it reminds me that I care about what's going on and that then I can say, hey, let's do this in a way that you can be proud of yourself for tonight.

specifically for the final, which was really nice, what they did at Wimbledon is because that was my first time ever on center court. Like I had never even stepped foot inside of the stadium. So the morning of the, I think it's the master of ceremony is what they call him.

He was able to grab me and my family and Jacob, and we were able to get on court, and he showed us the walkway of what you'd go through before the final and where you stop. So you kind of rehearse a little bit, so it's not the... It's still a wow factor when those doors open and you get to walk on that grass, but at least it's not the first time. So that really helped. And what I do, what really works for me is I keep a little notebook with me on court.

where after the warm-up that day, I write down some cues or some trigger words or mantras that really help me stay present. And then, you know, specifically the nerves, they can show up in different ways. Sometimes... You're a little distracted, so you actually need to get in your own bubble a little bit more. And then I start cueing into my body or what I want my shots or my game to feel like. But then sometimes nerves can also manifest as you're too much.

focused on yourself and you notice that your thumb is on the wrong side of the grip or you can go as detailed as you want there. And then I try to use the crowd or seeing something in the crowd to kind of pull me out of myself and more. present onto the court. So I try to look for a funny t-shirt or some cool sunglasses or something like that. Sometimes some things just to get your mind off of how thick your arm feels or anything like that.

So yeah, it kind of depends on how my nerves manifest for that match. Do you find that, you just mentioned a couple different ways, do you experience all of those? differently like hey in the in the Wimbledon final maybe you were thinking about like you were pretty specific about your thumb on the grip like that sounds like something before or you know maybe like you said you're not focused enough like is it different for you or do you find that you kind of fall into a similar pattern um I

I tend to be a thinker slash overthinker when I get nervous. So it actually helps me. You know, at the same time, I'm also an upbeat and positive person. So I tend to smile and have fun. in most things that I do. But it's also a strategy for me because it relaxes me. You know, when I'm able to smile and when I'm able to physically and also mentally enjoy myself during a match.

then I can relax a bit more. So I need to use the crowd more so than going inside of my bubble. I don't easily get distracted, thankfully. So for me, it's more so going from inside out rather than... zooming in all the time but you kind of go through ebb and flows um also in matches so also specifically for the wimbledon final um you know i the way the match started also because you walk on court you're like

oh my goodness, full center court, that does something different to you than when you're serving at a tiebreak for the first set because you've had a whole set of physical feelings and thoughts already. So in the beginning... I needed to get more in myself because I was a little bit too focused on the occasion and how many people were there and the match. And then...

In the tiebreak, especially in the first set, I was like, hey, look at where you are, man. How cool is this? You've got your family behind you. You've got your coach behind you. And so I was able to zoom out a little bit more. So it's kind of this ebb and flow that you go through.

Is there anything differently you do in mixed doubles tactically than you would in men's doubles? There's a lot of listeners out there who play mixed with their husbands or their wives or even just people at their club. And they kind of say that it feels different or they feel awkward doing certain things in certain situations. Is it just full speed? You play the same way and you're just playing strengths and weaknesses? Yeah. If you want to be successful, yes. That's the short answer.

I actually had to overcome the awkwardness that maybe some of your listeners also talk about of like, hey, am I supposed to just like smack an easy ball right through the woman? Like, is that what's supposed to happen? And that's where it really helped for me having Katarina next to me because, you know, she's a legend of the game. She's won almost everything. And she's ordered plays mixed before we played.

You know, for me, it was only the second time that I got to play a mixed slam. So she really helped me answer those questions of, hey, what am I supposed to do? Or is this awkward? And she basically said, like, don't care. Just go after it, you know. But, you know, I think especially for, I can only provide a male perspective.

But I think a lot of males make the mistake of, oh, I'm only supposed to target the woman. I'm really only supposed to hit to her side, which then makes the court a lot smaller. And, you know, especially at that level, you're playing against top 10, top 20 doubles players. So it's not like they cannot handle your ball, you know. So there's that aspect to it. And then the second part is a lot of guys, me included, especially in the beginning.

try to do too much because they're like oh i'm supposed to be taking over the court so they move on balls they're not really supposed to or they they go for too big of a serve or something like that when really you're just you're playing the dimensions of the court You're playing angles, you're playing strategies and then it doesn't really matter whether that's a guy or a girl on that specific side of the court. So that really helped me just go back to the tennis and the way we had our strategy.

not necessarily over every ball we're supposed to hit to the guy or the girl or something like that. The more you can kind of just make them invisible opponents, if that makes sense. Absolutely. You mentioned, obviously, you had a great partner in Wimbledon, Sinyakova, and I love watching her play doubles. Besides the ethics of mixed doubles, what did you learn by playing with her? Was there anything positionally?

tactically that you saw kind of through her eyes were like, Oh, that's interesting. Like she does this and this is something that I can incorporate in my game or just seeing something from the outside that you thought was pretty cool. Um, her short cross court backend is.

A chef kiss. It's unbelievable how masterful she is at that shot. So in that sense, you know, I think especially the difference in men's and women's doubles is at men's... I think we can have a threshold of power that we can put into the ball that it almost doesn't really matter where you go because it's just too big if you connect. I don't think in women's doubles that's as prevalent.

So they need to use the angles of the court a lot more. And they need to use their positions, especially at net, a lot more than maybe guys do. We can get away with just smacking the ball and then good luck handling that. Whereas girls... I think they do a much better job of crafting the points and making sure you have a target there. So I think as the tournament went on with her, I was able to look at the court a little bit differently than what I used to.

and more so specifically in the width of the court. I tend to play a little bit more vertically, if you want to call it that, and not so much horizontally. And I think as the tournament went on, I started thinking more about horizontal angles as well rather than just go straight through the court. So that was cool. So now you're going to be using your big toe. You're going to have better flexibility and you'll be able to...

kind of crank backhands cross-court, just like her on the reverse. Yeah, exactly. So, yeah, I hope to stand by her side a few more times this year. We'll see if we can get on the same court again. So you mentioned that Jacob is into biomechanics, that you use slow motion video. I can't let you get out of here without asking you at least one or two thoughts that you have on your volleys. It can be forehand or backhand, but...

Volleys are a shot that a lot of people struggle with. And in one way, they can be incredibly simple. Like you can literally just set your strings out. But in many ways, people struggle with that more than a full swing. So do you have a consistent thought on either side that you kind of rely on when you're struggling with your volleys?

For sure. So going back to brain-based training, I typically have a brain that does things too quickly. And that's not a brag at all because it gets me in trouble. So I think I have less time than I actually do. So what we work with specifically is this box of contact where you can have it. I try to imagine a box that is kind of like a...

an arm's length away from my side, both in the x-axis and in the y-axis. And I tried to hit my volleys in that box. And the bigger you can make that box, I think the more versatile you can be. But I tend to, especially when things get a little bit more tight or emotional, I tend to move that box too far in front of me, which then messes up my wrist position. And speaking of wrist position, that was a big focus for us this offseason as well.

where when I used to come in, I used to come in kind of with my wrist, not necessarily in extension, but kind of forward as so, which would make my racket drop too much. And then, you know, when I turned to my back and to my forehand, my wrist was not in a strong position. It would just kind of be in this weak, flexed position. So we actually changed my starting position a little bit, which allowed me to keep my racket head up more.

And also when I turned. So I think that's a physical cue that I can tap into. Be like, hey, make sure it feels like your racket head is up, especially when things go faster. And the early results have been quite good. So I'm excited with what that could do. So I'm excited to keep training that against the best in the world next year.

You've given a ton of thoughtful answers already, but the most important question is always at the end, which is we've got junior players, coaches, recreational adults listening. What is your best generic doubles advice for anyone listening to the podcast today? Cover the middle. Period. You legend. Cover the middle. Yeah, I have to remind myself of this point so many times still, but...

We used to work a lot with the golden rules of doubles. And I put the same statistical method on my own matches. And so many times... the ball goes over the middle when you might think, oh, now he's going to go line or now he's not going to go. A simple rule that my college coach, Ryan Redondo, introduced to me was...

Until they pass you up the line three times, just keep going to trade the middle. And it's fascinating to me how many matches I don't get passed three times down the line. But I do let, let's say, middle ball go or I do...

not poach because of that fear, I guess, of getting passed down the line. Because I think for a lot of people, and I put myself in this bucket as well, it's almost a little bit embarrassing when you get passed down the line because, you know, a lot of... doubles traditionally is played like i cover my side you cover your side and um you know when i don't get passed on the lines i feel like i didn't mess up almost um but that mindset has really shifted to me where it's like hey

You know, you set out to almost be passed three times down the line because that means you're aggressive enough to make them think. So short but sweet, but cover the middle more than you think. I love that. I wish I could remember where I saw this. This was like a week ago, but someone said, when you get passed down the line, you're applying pressure. And when you get passed through the middle, you're giving it away. Yeah, great point.

I love that because I was like, you know what, even when you get beat line, they still respected you for the future. But when you, they can go cross court comfortably, they feel like, oh, I can relax. Like there's no, there's no threat here. Yeah, for sure. That's music to my ears. And last thing before you leave, you have a very cool award you're nominated for, which I believe is the male at Amsterdam, Amsterdam male athlete of the year, any sport. Can you kind of describe?

What award you're up for right now. Very cool. Yeah, it's nice. So the city of Amsterdam every year has this gala where they give out prizes for their athletes. This is the third time in history that a tennis player has been nominated for this award. So it's me and two other nominees. And both of them are in track and field. And everybody in the world can vote. So that's the cool part. So they have a part.

popular vote and then part jury vote. And the popular vote closes, I think, January 4th. So yeah, if anybody listening and or watching would like to help me ringing the new year in well. then it would be an honor if they could vote. The website is in Dutch, but it only takes a minute or so. And I've made an explainer video on my social media, on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, everything.

So yeah, if they could vote and share it to as many people as possible, that would be cool because it would be the first time in the history of Amsterdam that a tennis player could actually win this award. I know that I've learned at least two things that I've never heard today. And my challenge to my listeners would be if they've learned something new from you.

that is going to help their games. And then you click on the link in the show notes, take the 60 seconds and let's see if we can make history with you as the first male tennis player. Yeah, that would be awesome because then everybody's involved. You know, we, we help each other.

in that way. And if listeners have learned something, please also feel free to reach out and tell me exactly what you learned, because that would be cool to hear also. And if I could be of any more service, I would love to be.

You're a legend. I really appreciate you dealing with all the technical difficulties we had at the beginning. I know, like you said, you're about to make the trip to Australia, but we'll be watching you and cheering for you. Appreciate it. Thank you so much. And yeah, all the best for the new year. And hopefully we get to meet in person next year too. All right. I want to thank Sem for coming on the show today.

Honestly, one of my favorite guests we've ever had on the show. I learned so much. And this episode was officially the last episode of 2025. And with that, I have two favors to ask of you. One, if you enjoyed Sem today, please consider clicking on his link and spending the minute to vote for him as Male Amsterdam Athlete of the Year. Second, if you're a regular listener of the pod on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube,

It would make my holiday season if you'd be willing to leave a rating and a review on Apple Podcasts. Right now, about 3% of listeners have left a review, and I'd love to have an avalanche of reviews coming in to help the show in the next week.

And finally, I make this podcast for you. So if you have any suggestions for topics or guests you'd like to see that could help out your game in 2026, feel free to DM me on Instagram. As always, thanks again for listening. I hope you just improved attendance without even hitting a ball.