Milos Raonic is chewing over a new addition to his game at Wimbledon.
In addition to vocal coaching consultant John McEnroe, the Canadian has sunk his teeth into a mouth guard in an effort to minimize the back issues that pained him last season.
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"The mouth guard has been there since the beginning of this year," Raonic said. "Obviously struggled with my back last year for about six months and cut my season short. So I ventured to see what I can do to help me prevent dealing with that pain. Maybe I won't be able to solve my back issue completely, but at least I can keep it under wraps.
"I got rid of orthotics and went to a mouth guard as a way to sort of align my spine... I think the whole point is so you don't grind you're teeth. So I think it's meant to give you like a certain amount of spacing which doesn't force muscles to tense up and so forth."
The sixth-seeded Raonic ripped 27 aces in his 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-4 first-round victory over Pablo Carreno Busta.
One man's trash is another man's treasure: Raonic's reliance on the mouth guard has even prompted him to pick through garbage to searching for the MIA mouthpiece after meals.
"I'm pretty protective of my mouth guard, though, but at least it stays in my mouth all day, other than when I eat," Raonic said. "I have had to go through garbage cans a few times."
If the powerful Canadian looks a bit lighter on his feet, there's a reason: Raonic rid himself of the orthotics he's used for the past 15 years.
"It took getting used to. I've played with orthotics since I was 10 years old," Raonic said. "It took getting used to. But now it's nice, if somebody steals your shoes, you don't have to worry about a pair of orthotics."
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