The champions’ doctor who collaborates with Sinner: “Jannik has enormous mental power, he always wants to improve”

Jannik Sinner he has been working there for almost three years. Ayrton Senna he was among the first to look for it. Charles Leclerc he grew up with him. Also in the saddle is Jorge Martin. Skier Mikaela Shiffrin knocked on her door. Riccardo Ceccarelli trains the minds of athletes, but not only. Doctor, born in 1960, he started in motorsport 35 years ago to build a working method on the most important engine: the brain. With scientific and engineering tools: mental bend, software, algorithms, resonances, graphs, pressure tests. He has a training center of excellence in Viareggio, Formula Medicine, and has opened a gym in Milan with the new company, Mental Economy, in partnership with Pwc in the City Life Tower. In all, 20 full-time experts and 70 collaborators.

Why do they turn to you?

“We are the only ones to provide a scientific approach to mental. Which helps to dispel the taboo, due to a lack of culture and offer, that it is a field of investigation for those with problems. Instead, more and more companies and managers come to us. And the champions who want to evolve. Like Sinner: from being strong he became very strong.”

Mentally?

“Basically he has enormous mental power, he is determined, he never gives up, he is very resistant in character. He has strengthened himself by growing up on his own since he was 13 years old. He is solid and intelligent, he just needed to use his resources to the fullest. We helped him along this path, we followed him to Bordighera when he was with Piatti, then to Montecarlo and Milan. Jannik doesn’t make excuses and wants to work on himself. Concrete, down to earth, educated in values.”

Do they matter to be strong?

“In his case, values ​​determine it. That’s what his parents taught him. He is immersed in reality, he combines his determination with the pragmatism and realism of a person who knows that he is experiencing an adventure that others would only dream of. He is the boy with the umbrella who protects the ball girl: he cares about others and shows respect, even to those who are not President of the Republic. He is not a stage animal and his manager, Alex Vittur, is like him someone who looks at substance as well as his entire entourage. They have all fallen into tennis and the rest – starting from the appearances in Sanremo – is not functional, it takes something away: concentration, attention, mental energy.”

Can you explain your method to us?

“The champion, not only in sport, is the one who achieves performance with the least energy expenditure on a mental level. You waste when you suffer emotions, have negative thoughts, are under stress, are out of your comfort zone. I was amazed by Oliver Bearman, who replaced Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari at the Jeddah GP: he reacted calmly, without errors. At 18 he starts from an interesting basic economy. We train for maximum performance with minimum expense through “mental economy training”, we lead to the development of an internal consumption meter of brain energy. More simply, to self-awareness: you get to perceive yourself in a millimetric manner.”

Who else are you working with?

“We trained Colonel Walter Villadei, pilot of the spacecraft that went to the international station on behalf of Axiom Tre. For two years we have been collaborating with Italian and American soldiers, special forces and helicopter pilots. From this championship, with the referees of the Serie A VAR, we see each other once a month in Milan and we aim to continue the collaboration. Four football clubs at Champions level, between Italy and Europe, are interested in us. In F1 we ​​follow a couple of drivers after having nurtured many including Leclerc, Ricciardo, Ericsson. We were with Toro Rosso when Verstappen raced there. In MotoGP, there is Jorge Martin and in golf, Lorenzo Scalise. Many athletes looking for passes to Paris. They call me from Saudi Arabia and Australia. Former Olympic snow champion, Svindal, preparing to race in the Swedish Porsche Championship. Shiffrin came to Viareggio for 4 days in February while she was injured, she returned to the circuit and won. She met us through the Canadian national ski team that we followed: at the Courchevel 2023 World Championships she was beaten in the slalom by Laurence St-Germain, our student. Kilde, Shiffrin’s boyfriend, defeated in super-G by Canadian James Crawford, also trained by us. It’s the mentality of the modern champion: always wanting to improve.”