¶ Catching Up with Catherine Harrison
You're about to hear my conversation with former Top 70 WTA doubles player , catherine Harrison . Catherine has not been on the podcast in a while . She's actually had a couple of injuries the last several years and is now dedicating her career to focusing on doubles .
So she reached out to me a couple of weeks ago to try to set up some doubles training , and she came down to Fort Worth , texas , last week .
We spent two days on the court doing different doubles drills , talking serve strategy , return strategy , lots of tactics , all four positions on the doubles court and a lot more , and this conversation is at the end of our second day of training and she discusses her biggest takeaways from the two days . We also talked about her warm-up routine .
She has a very extensive warm-up routine before she steps onto the practice court and she goes into great detail about what that warm-up routine looks like . We talk about mindset as she comes back from injury , her improvement pathway , her goals over the next year , her dream doubles partner and mixed doubles partner , and a lot more .
So this is a fun conversation that you're going to learn a lot from and get to know Catherine as well , whether you're a club player looking for new drills to try out , or a WTA fan who wants to follow Catherine's journey . I think you're really going to like this one , so , without further delay , enjoy this conversation with Catherine Harrison .
Hey everybody , welcome to the show . Today we have a repeat guest on Catherine Harrison . Catherine , welcome back .
Thanks for having me .
So we're here in Fort Worth on the campus of TCU , just finished training these last two days . Update everyone first off on where you're at now . You were last on the podcast a couple of years ago and kind of the plan from here .
Yeah , so I think if it was a couple of years ago , um , I was probably in the midst of a foot injury or maybe just coming back from that Um . So I injured my foot at the Australian open in 2023 and was out until after us open 2023 and coming back I wanted to still do both singles and doubles in equal measure and you know I did well .
You know my singles got back up pretty quickly and you know doubles I reached . I got back to US Open as well the following year , in 2024 . Unfortunately , at US Open , I did tear my wrist in several places during my first round match , but the good news is I had surgery , it was completely successful and we are back 100 percent now or close to it .
I just started back playing um 100% now or close to it . I just started back playing tournaments about six weeks ago and we are fully dub specials . Now I'm excited for this new chapter of my career .
I'm going to be a little bit easier on my body and kind of go into a new phase , but I'm really excited about it so , um , the last couple days you came out here to Fort Worth , you've been in Dallas training with with Peter , the tournament director of the Dallas Open , who's been on the podcast a few times .
Uh , what were some of the biggest takeaways from this week , and then the two days here specifically ?
yeah , I really liked the advice that you gave me .
That was like really simple , easy , implementable , if that's a word fixes um , you know that drill we did with the first volleys off the return of serve going across my body , you know , sometimes I'll try and get a little too cute or I'll try and hit to a place where my opponent's not um , but I think playing those percentages are super helpful .
Also , um , the the overhead thing that you mentioned , hitting overheads deep when they're difficult . A lot of times I try and pop it , uh , cause I really like my overhead Um , but when we just implemented that I could easily see that it was a lot more effective . I think it's really interesting . You know , spreading the box more on the serve too .
That was something that was really surprising . You said that that was more effective in . Did you say it was eye formation and regular or just eye ?
Yeah , so you're talking about the body serve .
Yeah , like doing , you know , definitively tee or definitively wide versus you know body backhand or body forehand , because I find myself falling into a lot of you know body forehand , body backhand , trying to jam my opponents
¶ Training Takeaways and Simple Fixes
to get them to hit through the middle third of the court on their return to set up my net player , because if the ball's through the middle third of the court that's a lot easier poach than For sure the balls through the middle third of the court . That's a lot easier poach than for sure .
Yeah , and I've just always been a little hesitant of angles , uh , of like giving my opponent angle , because I really like angles and I with my two-handed forehand um , I like seeing openings of the court that I don't usually see yeah um , but it's interesting that the data shows that spreading the box is a bit better . Yeah , it can be more effective .
So I think , like a lot of coaches love the like , think the body surf is super underrated and then , like at certain times it is , but like when I'm , I guess the way I think about it is like I don't know , I majored in math in college , so I'm like oh , I didn't know that .
I'm looking at the data , like wide body T like what is the biggest win percentage ? And like report after report shows me , like , or almost all of them , like wide and T on first serve has a higher win percentage .
So like okay , I don't know , even though , like the wide one in the deuce court , for example , like even though you're giving them a bigger angle to go down the line , like they're hitting a stretch forehand and they have to redirect a serve , that's like 110 miles an hour down the line , like that's a difficult shot .
Yeah .
It's like sure they're going to hit it some , but they're going to make a lot of errors versus I guess the body serve Like maybe it's more likely to come through the middle , but it's also way less likely for them to actually miss the return . Yeah , so maybe that seems to outweigh it . I don't know .
I just kind of know that makes sense .
But yeah , there's a certainly a use case for both Sure and then also I like the , because I've just never thought about doing this .
My doubles up to this point has been pretty ad hoc , uh , and so I um , yeah , the faking out of eye formation , um , just the clips you showed me of you know , other top players like . I think that that would be super effective yeah um , and yeah , just the focus on the emphasis on depth . I think that's I .
I like that because I I'm a big target-oriented player and if I'm focusing on a deep target , versus what I usually think about in doubles is taking it early . I think emphasizing the deep target area is something that will really help me personally .
Yeah , a word you used earlier was simple , and I don't know , I don't know , I don't spend a ton of time on the court , right , I'm behind my computer a lot of the time like looking at the data and studying the matches and like then I get onto the court and develop the structure , the practices around , what I know has worked in the matches , because that's
what the data tells me and the video is showing me .
In the videos showing me and I I see like I'll scroll through Instagram or something and see these coaches who are like having their junior players like jump off a chair and then like a 45 degree angle thing and then hitting four hands and I'm like man , I just don't know if that's going to make them that much better .
Like shouldn't we be training tennis shots ? And then , if we want to work on explosiveness and agility , like drop the racket and go work on that separately , sure , and then you'll play matches and you'll be good at both . I don't know it's , it's just a different philosophy .
I'm not saying these coaches are wrong to be doing that , but it's like it's just kind of weird to me .
Yeah , I , yeah , I agree . My philosophy has always been yeah , hit a lot of tennis balls , make decisive decisions and , you know , fix major things later . You know it's the less thinking the better .
Yeah , Simpler is always better . So you talked about being , I guess , easier on the body . Yesterday , when I showed up , you were doing some stretching , you had some bands out , you had your yoga mat out and I said man , you're dedicated . And you said it's my job . It is a great response . Talk about your warm up and like all the time amount of time .
And get specific with like the exercises you're doing to get your body warm before a practice .
Amount of time and get specific with like the exercises you're doing to get your body warm before a practice ? Sure , yeah , so since my surgery , that was kind of a wake up call , you know , because it just came out of nowhere . I've never had an upper body injury in my life .
And then , all of a sudden , the morning after we won our first round doubles at US Open , I couldn't even push myself out of bed . My wrist was so stiff Like I just couldn't move it at all .
Um , and yeah , the fact that I didn't even feel a pop or a snap or anything , and I just woke up one day and my wrist was , you know , I needed four different procedures done on it . Um , that's just crazy to me .
So it was a little bit of a wake up call , cause I'm like what else is lurking beneath the surface of my body , you know , because I have , you know , pushed my body so hard in the last almost decade that I've been graduated from college , you know , traveling every week different surfaces , different balls , different string tensions , you know , like it , just it .
There's wear and tear , and so my goal when I came back from my surgery was to , you know , be kind of the healthiest you know be , or , I guess , the most proactive I could be about my health . So I usually start from the ground
¶ Extensive Warm-up Routine
up . So I start with my feet . I'll usually roll around on a lacrosse ball . I actually have a special foam roller for my plantar fascia , which is kind of nerdy . You don't need that Um .
A tennis ball can be fine Um , and I'll kind of rock back and forth um on my feet to warm up ankles , kind of lock in the proprioception , go back and forth , up and back Um . I'll do'll do calf raises , so like go up on your toes .
Then I'll like lean up against a wall and bring my toes back up to my face , so it's kind of working the front side of your shin that muscle is really important for knee health and like stopping and starting , especially in doubles , you know forward and backward movement Um , and then kind of moving up the chain . I'll do like knee circles Um .
I'll get a band and go and put it around my ankles Um , like just a little resistance band , like whatever you would do , like in yoga or something , and I'll stand there and I'll both of my legs are straight and I'll extend my right leg um in front of me .
I usually just do 10 reps of every exercise , um , but the one with your leg going straight in front of you , that's a hip flexor . Warm up um . Out to the side for 10 is your hip and then backwards is your glute , so you're getting all of the muscles in your kind of hip core region warmed up .
Um , I also will go down on the ground and do um cat cows . It's kind of hard to describe , but you kind of arch your back and then make a U shape with your back . It's good for warming up your spine . Um , I'll do , uh , the world's greatest stretch several times If you . I feel like that's better to me .
I was going to say , like that's better to YouTube than have me describe it to you . Um , but yeah , I'll do that . Um , I usually do a few core exercises to warm up , like a couple of just 30 second planks .
Nothing for strength , it's more just activating those core muscles , um , and then some hip boxes so you are sitting with your legs out in front of you , both of your knees are bent at 90 degree angles and you kind of flop your legs back and forth .
That just again warms up your hips and then , moving up the chain even more , I've got a thousand exercises for my wrist now because my life has been physical therapy for the last six months , so I'll exclude those because those are a little bit surgery recovery specific . But , um , yeah , I do for my shoulder .
Um , I have , you know , a band with handles on it , usually loop it around a net post or the net strap or whatever , um , and you can do internal and external rotation , um , and I also kind of go , I do , I call them around the worlds .
Um , you start with your arm , like straight up , um , and you're the band is pulling your arm forward Like you're facing the net . Um , if the band is around the net and you kind of bounce your arm all the way down , so like if it's on a clock , it's like 12 o'clock to six o'clock and then back up .
That really warms up your rotator cuff and then you can flip around and do it the other direction to warm up the front of your shoulder . Yeah , I have , I have so many I can keep going , but I don't want to take up the entire podcast with my rehab and warm up routine .
But yeah , I just I really I want to prioritize being strong and healthy and injury prevention going forward . And even like if a club player is listening , like I mean , this is a good workout too , like I showed my dad just retired in March and he's really trying to get back into tennis , and I do this stuff every day .
But , you know he's been a distance runner so he , you know , has run straight for like the last 30 years and changing direction and doing anything involving muscles that change direction is kind of new to him right now . So I took him through this entire warmup routine and I didn't realize it is a workout .
If you don't do it every day , like I do , for me it feels like warmup . But if you're not used to using a lot of these little muscles that tennis unfortunately uses a lot of , it can be a workout .
So if you're not a professional , if you're not a professional athlete .
it might be a workout and not just rehab , yeah .
But all this stuff , like I mean , I love this stuff , not just like , yes , it's your job . But then like people listening , if you're a three five club player , like , like who cares if it's not your job , don't you want to keep playing when you're ?
like 70 and 75 years old , Like and mobility is so important .
Yeah , Like don't you want to keep playing when you're like 70 ?
and 75 years old Like , and mobility is so important .
Yeah , like don't you want to be able to like get up off the ground when you're like I don't know ? So I'm like I've had back issues the last few months and like now I'm starting to do all these cat cows and hip stuff and like Superman swimmers . Yeah , do the same stuff , even though I'm like , not a professional athlete by any means .
So I want to talk about so this week you could have played a tournament . You decided to come to DFW and train .
Yeah .
How do you kind of manage and balance that schedule , especially as you come back , like there's tournaments almost every week of the year , basically , so you could just play a tournament every week , but then it's important to have training weeks . So how do you figure out that ratio ? I guess ?
Yeah , um , I'll be honest right now , with just playing doubles , I don't know what my ratio is going to be . Um , I started back . Um , I think it was . Yeah , it was about six weeks ago . Started back , I think it was . Yeah , it was about six weeks ago . I played one tournament . I was a little nervous for it .
You know , I have never had surgery before and my wrist still has some scar tissue . It probably wasn't fully mobile , you know , I've still got some restrictions in there . So I played one tournament , took a week off , just in case . Uh , there wasn't a tournament that week , so it worked out .
Um , and then I've played the last four weeks in a row and there have been some positives , but the results have not been great . Um , I again like myself personally , I've seen myself improve every single week , but I kind of got to the point where I knew that I needed to
¶ Balancing Tournaments and Training
increase my volume . You know , with surgery happening in November , you know I went November to , I think it was March , april , no , march or April .
I can't remember without hitting a tennis ball , which is the longest I've ever gone without hitting a tennis ball since I started when I was two and a half , which is the longest I've ever gone without hitting a tennis ball since I started when I was two and a half so and my game is for those of y'all who have not watched me play I take the ball really
early . There's a lot of timing involved , I hit the ball pretty hard and that's a big strength of mine , and so whenever I don't get the proper amount of volume , um , my game steeply declines .
Um , so I think I was going a little bit on adrenaline's the wrong word Like I was just kind of happy to be out there the first couple of weeks I was like wow , my wrist is fine , I'm healthy .
Um , maybe this wasn't a career ending injury , and so I played okay the first few weeks , and then I think the lack of volume caught up with me , um , and I I felt as though it would be better , it was a better use of my time to train this week than keep kind of beating my head against a wall doing the same thing . Whatever definition of insanity .
You know all the things . Um , all doing the same thing . Whatever definition of insanity , you know all the things . Um . So I took this week off , um , and I wanted to come here to Fort Worth .
Um , I live in Austin , so it wasn't um super far , but I wanted to come and get Will's insight , because I've never trained specifically for doubles before in my entire career and I wanted to make sure that , going forward , I had my practices set up in a way that was making me better every day .
And I wanted to make sure that , going forward , I had my practices set up in a way that was making me better every day and I wasn't just hitting balls mindlessly , because , you know , part of injury prevention is load management . You know I'm 31 , I'm not 21 , which 31 by normal life means is not old at all .
But by tennis career standards , you know you're not young , um , not old at all , but by tennis career standards , you know you're not young , um . So I I really want to make all my practices count . So I thought this week would be better spent , you know , getting really intentional advice , um .
Then , you know , just throwing myself in another tournament and hoping for different results when I haven't changed anything , um , so , yeah , I think it was a good . I think it was a good decision . Um , I've got one more tournament next week and then I'll do a training block and then , really , after that training block .
I would hope that my level is um is back pretty close to where it was before I got injured . Um , unless the USTA , if you're listening wants to give me a US open wildcard in which case , I would absolutely love to go compete .
Do it .
But yeah , so we'll see .
Yeah , I think there's a few big takeaways for me there . One is you talked about the definition of insanity . It's true that we see it with players at every level .
They're doing the same thing over and over , and if it's like like , if you're not , if it's not working , like you got to try something different , yeah , and um we talked about that with the volley drill earlier .
Right like you were uh , you kept getting beat with the lob on this like cross court game we were doing , and the the guy was like hitting good lobs past you and I was like , well , get beat another way yeah like right , like it it's .
I get that you want to close the net , but like literally lose a point by him like hitting a shot too good down at your feet like try something different . Um , and people do that . I wonder .
I was gonna say club level , but literally every level like I'll watch wta or atp tournaments and it's like you're using regular formation every single time , or you're using I formation every single time and you're struggling to hold serve like change something . Yeah , um . So that's definitely one takeaway from that , um , that thought .
And then the other was , uh , getting input from , like , different sources .
Yes .
So , like you're here training with Peter , and then you come see me , and then you have another coach , jake , who does a great job , and it's like , like and I've told you a number of times here the past two days like I don't have all the answers , and like if something doesn't make sense to you , like then just forget it .
And like , go with what you know , sure , but like each of us , and , and if people are listening who have a coach at their club or whatever , take lessons from different people and you'll learn .
Agree .
You'll hear different opinions and they might disagree with each other , and then you figure out what works for you , because no one person has all the answers , and you'll ultimately be a better player if you're able to do that you'll ultimately be a better player if you're able to do that . Um , so a couple of quick questions and then we will hop off here .
Um , the how do you think about , like so this focus on doubles ? You're coming back from injury . Are you thinking about goals or just focus on the process ?
Um , I kind of both Um . You know I'm pretty much starting from scratch . I have some protected rankings but , like I said last time , I was focusing on singles and doubles and I was back for almost exactly a calendar year from my previous injury . So you know , I I got my , I almost lost my ranking in both singles and doubles .
So I got my ranking back from singles . You know , starting the year last year from , I was like 1100 , maybe I don't even remember like a thousand , something to like 300 , and doubles .
You know I was also pretty abysmal ranking wise at the start of the year , um , and then I was able to get myself back to like one , 60 , I think Um , which still , in the grand scheme of things , is amazing , but it's not um , it's not grand slam level . Um
¶ Future Goals and Dream Partners
, so I were top 70 , right , yeah , I was , so I will have to build back a lot . So right now I'm really process-oriented , really hammering down basics , but goal-wise , stretch goal is Wimbledon next year , and then , I really think , realistically , us Open next year , because I just have almost , you know , 11 months of no results on my record .
So , um , which I didn't realize , people didn't know this Um , the ranking system is based on a 12 month rolling calendar , so if , just because I played us open last year , it doesn't mean I just automatically get in , like I've had several friends that are casually involved in tennis and whatever texts me and they're like , so like I've had several friends that are
casually involved in tennis and whatever text me , and they're like so , like , should I come to us open this year ? Like when do you play ? And I'm like well , I don't , because I was injured and my ranking dropped . And they're like well , you won your first round last year , you proved that you can be there .
And I'm like well , yeah , but you have to like it's actually more complicated than that , so , yeah . So I think goals are yeah , definitely US Open next year .
Right now , though , is my main goal is to just be a lot more comfortable on a doubles court and really kind of work on my instincts , you know be make more calculated or take more calculated risks , um , be more comfortable doing everything on court . You know , implementing , serving and volleying .
That's something I really haven't done historically , which is silly , because I like my serve and I like my volleys , um , and so I really want to get better at that . Um , a big goal for me by the end of the year that's a process oriented goal is to be as comfortable playing do side as I am playing ad side .
Um , I've played ad side just kind of out of habit . I played ad all four years in college and I just got into a habit of it and I have a two handed forehand , I mean I basically have two backhands . There's no reason that I shouldn't be as comfortable on the deuce side , um . So yeah , going forward , uh , definitely want to be comfortable on both sides .
I feel like that would open me up to a lot of different partnerships , you know , cause I know some girls , you know , will refuse to play a certain side , um , and I think that would make me a more dynamic player .
But yeah , right now , just you know , I'm shifting from the oh , I'm just happy to be back out to like okay , now we're , you know I've been here for six weeks . We're healthy . Wrist is good , now let's start . You know , really looking forward to the future .
So last two questions . These are just short , so last two questions .
These are just short fun questions .
Let's say you get to the goal , you're US Open next year . Yeah , and the USTA or whoever comes to you and says Catherine , you get to pick any partner you want . Who do you want to play with ?
Oh , my goodness For women's and mixed . Goodness , um , for women's and mixed . Oh , okay , um , okay , I have to say sue way , just because she's so cool . She's so cool , I'm sorry , with the two-handed forehand .
I've always been like a fan girl , because no other player has a two-handed forehand and how she does it is so unique and I just love watching her play . Her court sense is insane and she seems really funny . I don't know her , I've never met her , but she seems like such a cool person too . Um , cause that's always a bonus .
You know when you're get to be like , you know , partners with somebody , cool and funny , and so , um , oh , let's see Mix doubles . Um , gosh , I think it would be really funny just to play with Christian , because nobody would know who's who it'd be like . Uh , we've been getting mixed up . I know Christian Harrison and me .
We're not related for anybody on the podcast . We've been . Apparently , both of us have been asked that our entire tennis careers Um , but that would be . That would be funny . Um , but that would be that would be funny . Um , gosh , maybe . Um , I would definitely say yes to playing with , uh , joe salisbury .
Uh , I really like watching him play his one-handed backhand super cool . And he actually also played um at or I'm from memphis originally and he played college at memphis and um , yeah , I remember him from when I was a kid and he was always , you know , super nice and would hit with me sometimes . So , yeah , that'd be cool .
Good answers . Do you have any thoughts on the US Open mix ? This is something that I didn't write down .
Yeah , I'll be so honest . I don't love it , the new everything that's going on . You know I really respect singles players . I think they're just two very different . Obviously not sports , because it's the same sport , but it's just two very different mindsets . That's fine , okay .
We had a little golf cart go by but , the mics are good , we're good Okay .
Okay , yeah , yeah , I . I just , you know I like that tennis is , or the USTA is , you know , trying to get more eyes on tennis . I guess that's a good impulse or thought , but I just feel like it takes , it just takes away the prestige of it .
You know , I know there's no ranking points , I know that technically it is an exhibition , but like winning a mixed doubles grand slam , like you are still a grand slam champion . If you win a mixed doubles title , you forever , for the rest of your life , will be a grand slam champion .
And now it just kind of feels like a weird exhibition because correct me if I'm wrong it's a 16 draw with eight wild cards , is that ?
yeah , that's what . 16 , uh eight get in on their singles ranking
¶ Thoughts on US Open Mixed Doubles
, and then the other eight yeah , I just feel like they just announced 14 of the teams okay , I didn't see that but , yeah , I just I feel like that kind of takes away .
I don't know some of the merit of it , because you know there's such amazing doubles , players that haven't played single , you know . You look at like desiree is one . I mean , how many grand slams you know ? Four , yeah , four . I mean that's crazy , that's so accomplished , you know .
But she hasn't played singles in a while and if they really are just going on singles , I mean maybe they gave her a spot , I'm not sure . Um , I didn't see the list but um , like that's crazy to me to have an American with four grand slam titles under her belt , proven mixed , god , you know . And they're just like , oh , too bad .
You know that that could have been an American winning the US Open , you know , on home soil , and I mean again , american probably could . But it's just I don't know , I don't super love it . But again , I understand , you know they're trying to get more eyes on tennis , they're trying to get more people involved .
They're trying to , you know , to keep up with the times and tennis can be antiquated with its rules and whatever . So I appreciate what they're trying to do . I just don't think it's the best way to go about it .
Yeah , that's fair . I think it'll continue to change too , so we'll see what it looks like in the future . Sure , awesome , all right , catherine , this was a fun two days .
Thanks for coming on the podcast , I'm glad it worked out .
Good luck the rest of the season . Thank you , we all hope you hit your goals .