New England

I've hated this franchise since they lost the perfect season, yes, I was a huge band wagon fan, I wanted perfection, and to see them lose it made me hate them.  After seeing the post game score today, I was disappointed that they came back and beat the Packers, I'm not a huge Packer fan, and a small part of me was hoping the Pack got crushed, but to be up and lose, is worse than anything that could have happened to them today.  When Boston and the New England area were underdogs, I liked them a whole lot more than I do now, the days of Mo Vaughn and Nomar trotting up to the plate against the Angels, made them likeable because they were a middle of the road team, not great, but entertaining.  The Pats were the same, Brady was calm, cool, and collected just like he is now, but before he had this idiot savant quality to him, that was admirable, but now everyone expects them to win because they're the Pats, now they've become the hated ones in the NFL, much like the Celtics in the NBA, and the Yankees in baseball(don't worry the Red Sox are not too far behind in hateability).  When did the countries most bitter city get the most consistently successful sports franchises?  The Celtics were the only thing to gloat about back in the 80's and 90's, and then it was the abyss of the NBA for a decade or more, now they're back on top, and so are the Red Sox and the Pats?  Remember mediocrity in Boston?  Things have changed.  Matt Damon is one of my favorite actors and I love watching movies about Boston, but I'm not a huge fan of watching sports from Boston, maybe it's because I know how annoying that Boston accent can be when you're cheering at the top of your lungs!  Red Sox beating the Angels, Celtics beating the Lakers, Pats beating the Chargers, I can't stand it.  But that's just me.

Intensity=Pushing yourself to the limit

As a coach you always strive to iron out any technical deficiencies that your students have first, but how do you produce consistent results with technique?  How does your technique hold up under pressure, and do you sustain it when you're fatigued?  The only way to test this is to increase the intensity at which you execute your technique, there are a variety of things that occur when you're mind and your body are put under extreme duress and pressure, how well do you respond to these adverse times?  As a coach you know exactly when you're students are struggling with technique under normal circumstances, but do you know how to help them through these times.  Technique is corrected by executing movements over and over again, so that they become natural, and your muscle memory kicks in, and your mind begins to just flow through the movement without any excess thinking or strain.  You can give a player a 1000 forehands standing in the same place during a lesson, and it will definitely help, but it only helps them when they're stationary, what happens when you move them a little bit, what happens when you move them to the extreme, into the alley or off the court?  How do they respond?  If they can handle it in those extreme circumstances, chances are their results executing that particular shot under pressure and fatigue will increase dramatically.  In any sport and any athletic movement, there are various ways to improve, and there a myriad of coaching methodologies that are applied to help athletes improve efficiently and drastically.  Which method works for you?  Can we combine any or all of these methods to help cater them to your needs?  I believe that there is no one clear cut way to improve athletic performance, but there are some that work better than others, but I believe increasing the intensity at which you practice or execute any athletic movement will help tremendously, but this means something different to everybody, what does this mean to you?

Did anyone see Steve Nash get bashed over the eye, only to come back in the 4th quarter to help lead his team to a sweep of the San Antonio Spurs, a team that has dominated the Suns in the playoffs for god knows how many years.  There's one thing you have to give Nash credit for, and that's for being a gamer! A true warrior and tremendous leader, , it was defense, scrappy play, and 3 point shooting that lead them to the win.  That's one thing the Lakers lack, a consistent 3 point shooter, an outside threat, this whole Suns team is loaded with shooters, and scrappy defender/rebounders.  But one thing that has held true in the playoffs, no matter how well you shoot in the playoffs, the Laker big men, Gasol, Bynum, and Odom are just too much to handle inside, they offset all the missed three pointers and lack of outside shooting.  The Spurs didn't have the shooters or the inside threats to compete with the Suns, the Lakers do.  You thought at the beginning of the season when the Spurs acquired Richard Jefferson, they would be a powerhouse, because the Spurs much like the Jazz are such fundamentally  sound teams on both sides of the ball, offense and defense, but with role players, you need them to perform specific functions, Jefferson was an athletic 2nd option with any other team, but with the Spurs he was the 3rd or 4th option, and that leaves him open for jumpers and 3 pointers, not so many slashing opportunities, because one you have duncan posting up on the block, and you already have george hill, tony parker, and manu ginobili driving to the basket, leaving nothing open for Jefferson to do, he was a piece that on paper sounded great, but in reality didn't fit into the system, that's why Bruce Bowen was perfect, he was an all world perimeter defender, and an excellent spot up shooter.  Aging Big Three of the Spurs couldn't hang with the younger, athletic, run and gun offense of the Suns, plus the Suns were 9 deep in their rotations, their bench played a huge role in the sweep, terrible matchups for the Spurs across the board.  Which leads me to Ron Artest and his role for the Lakers, he's being asked to be a better version of Rick Fox, and be what Bruce Bowen was for the Spurs, he's been better than Fox defensively, but Fox just fit the Laker triangle, and he's the same as Bowen defensively, but Artest has never really been a role player in his career, he has either been the 1st or 2nd option in the offense, so now being the 3rd or 4th option in the offense, he is in the same plight as Richard Jefferson, he's open for jumpers and 3's, and not so much open for slashing to the rim or posting up.   His attitude and approach have a lot to do with how he's making it work for the Lakers, one the Lakers have a huge advantage inside that has to this point negated all the horrid shooting from artest and company, but it's also his selfless attitude to help the team do whatever it needs, scrappy play, loose ball chasing, defending, doing the dirty work if you will, these are the attributes that Richard Jefferson wasn't able to apply to his game to help the Spurs.  Lakers still have some unfinished business with Utah tomorrow night, but Utah doesn't have the pieces to beat the Lakers, had Okur and Kirilenko been 100%, this would have been a great series, but the Jazz just don't have enough surrounding Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer to make any noise against the Lakers.  Wes Matthews, and Kyle Korver had amazing performances for the Jazz, but they're still not doing anything inside the lane, jumpers  you can deal with, getting dunked on and surrendering easy buckets are demoralizing for your defense, you start doubling inside, and now your rotations and spacing are all thrown off, and the oppositions offense is allowed to flow.   The rest of the NBA has the same problem that the Thunder, and the Jazz are running into, you can't match up against the Lakers up front, a 50% bynum is still better than everybody in the league aside from D. Howard, Pau at power forward is too big and skilled for anyone else, throw odom in there, and you have an athletic big man who can do everything for you, and you're in trouble.   Now the Jazz and Thunder were able to slow those 3 down, but they couldn't overcome the size, I think Gasol had an offensive rebound tip in to win the Thunder series, and Gasol had 2 or 3 offensive rebounds in Game 3 against the Jazz that were the difference in the game.  Let's take a look at that Suns roster in the 4 and 5 spots, Amare, amazing, Louis Amundson, scrappy but still can't handle any of the Laker big men, Jarron Collins, I think he averages 4 minutes per game,  Channing Frye, good luck jacking up 3's when you have to spend most of your energy on defense guarding bynum or gasol, and well, I think he gives aways some weight to Gasol, so who knows, if the Suns stay hot shooting, they'll shoot themselves into the finals like the Magic did last year, BUT doing it for 4 games total against the world champs remains to be seen!   Eastern Conference I have no real interest in, I just hope Lebron loses, even though I despise the Celtics and the big two actresses, I like Ray Allen and Rondo, but Garnett and Pierce are just jibber jabber talkers, and whoever wins that will get their brains beat in by the Magic, they look too strong for either Boston or the Cavs.  If the Magic make it to the finals, they play exactly like the Suns, and they play right into the Lakers' hands, keep shooting threes, and let D. Howard waste his fouls on swatting kobe's shots away, while Pau and Bynum abuse Rashard Lewis, Ryan Anderson, and Marcin Gortat.  I'm telling you when you have to play defense, it's tough to get your shot going, when you're expending so much energy on the defensive end, look at last year, Lewis shot disappeared in the finals, will Jameer Nelson be the difference?  Vince Carter? Barners or Pietrus?  Unless all of those guys start driving to teh basket they don't ahve a chance, they shoot too many 3's and rely too much on D. Howard to do work inside and bail them out on teh defensive end, Bobcats had no offense to combat Magic poor shooting, and the Hawks are choking like they almost choked the Bucks series away, I actually really like that team a lot, Josh Smith, beast, Horford, nice work, marvin williams, what type of player are you supposed to be? Mike Bibby, where are you? Joe Johnson, man you shouldn't have left the Suns, but I like your work with the Hawks at least until this Magic series.  Jamal Crawford, you can't save this team, it's a mentality as a whole, you're a well spoke individual, that brings maturity to this team, but when your coach is getting called for technicals for being in the way of play, that tells you something, leadership is a huge deal.   Let the playoffs continue...

I feel almost like an intern, but more like the non profit lawyer at that prestigious law firm.  Working your way up for that big tenured position, but what if you don't want money, you want credit?  What if you don't want applause, but the satisfaction of knowing that you were able to do above and beyond not just the clients' expectations but your own lofty standards?  Respecting yourself, your craft, is the key to upholding your own sanity in the professional world, because often politics and other extra variables tend to dilute your passion for what you do.

Rocky II

I've seen Rocky II, but not in a very long time, and I forgot how inspirational these movies are, apart from the actual fight against Apollo Creed, is actually a very real look into the life of a man who is struggling with his identity, a crossroads in that he is looking to provide for his family, and also trying to do so without jeopardizing his own health.  But what you know is best, is you know yourself, or at least you're supposed to, and Rocky knows what he's good at, and that's getting his face beat in, and having the heart of a champion!

"Pre-Match Eating Strategies" – By Coach Mike Bolla

Most of your body's energy on match day will come from the foods you've eaten over the past several days. But you can boost your performance even more by paying attention to the food you eat on the day of your match. On game-day strive for a diet rich in carbohydrates, moderate in protein, and low in fat.

Here are some guidelines on what to eat and when:

Eat a meal 2 to 4 hours before your match: Choose a protein and carbohydrate meal (eg. cereal and milk, beans and rice, egg whites and whole wheat toast etc.)

Eat a snack less than 2 hours before your match: If you haven't had time to have a pre-game meal, be sure to have a light snack such as low-fiber fruits or vegetables (eg. bananas, watermelon, cherries, carrots etc.), crackers, a bagel, or low-fat yogurt.

Try not to eat anything for the hour before you compete or have practice because digestion requires energy — energy that you want to use to win. Also, eating too soon before any kind of activity can leave food in the stomach, making you feel full, bloated, cramped, or even sick.

Everyone is different, and has a different metabolic rate, so get to know what works best for you. You may want to experiment with meal timing and how much to eat on practice days so that you're better prepared for your game day.

"The Mental Game" by Coach Mike Bolla

A coach once told me tennis is like a mixture of boxing and chess. Boxing because you are head to head against another opponent trying to score points (you are hitting a ball though in tennis not each other -although I have seen the latter in a tennis match lol) and chess because there is a mental or ‘thinking’ aspect of the game which is what this article will focus on.

 If you have gone to tournaments or even watched ‘racquet gladiators’ battle it out, then you’ve no doubt been privy to matches where people say at the end  ‘Wow, how did he lose to that guy, he’s such a better player than him’ or  ‘wow she beat her? How? She’s nowhere near as good!’ or maybe those remarks where even a little closer to home ;) Many a times players can win matches solely on their physical skill or capabilities, while similarly players who do not have as much physical talent can win matches  with their ‘mental game’. When you have a combination of the two it is deadly and then you have players like a Federer or a Lendl or Graf etc.

Some Preliminary Ideas on ‘Tennis Chess’ or The Mental Game

State

 When you are frustrated, upset, or feeling bad do you usually play well? It is important to manage your focus.  So, if you have a match and you see your sister has eaten the last bowl of cocoa puffs (which is not the best pre-game meal anyway, but that’s another article ha!) you can get all upset and let it affect you, and you bring that to your match or you can just let it go and say to yourself ‘I have an important match this morning and I’m ready for it and focused and nothing will phase me.’  So as this example suggests, your state can have a lot to do with how you’ll perform.  As a general rule, the better you feel, the better you’ll play.

Strategy

 Another focus is strategy.  You know your opponent and therefore you have decided on a game plan on how to play him/her. Even if you just met this person a great opportunity to develop a game plan is during the warm-up. I recommend to all my players to really warm-up half hour before their match on their own before getting on the court with their opponent, especially if it is their first match of the day or if they’ve been sitting or waiting around for hours. Hitting with a coach or another friend is excellent, or if that is not available, hitting against a wall, or using a ball machine are excellent as well. This will allow your focus to be on your opponent during the official ‘warm-up’, enabling you to develop a winning game-plan. An example - You notice the player during ‘warm-up’ has a very weak overhead or has made 1 out of 8 overheads and struggles with that shot. Translation to game-plan – I will draw him to the net or when he is at
 net I will, the majority of the time as my shot selection throw up a high lob. Some people feel uncomfortable about this sort of picking on another player. At the higher levels of sport you can be assured players and coaches are watching video footage of their opponent for this very reason.

 Besides knowing the other player or your opponent it is very beneficial as well to know your own game. Not only for improvement during practices but also in match play. Some examples, if you know your second serve is significantly weaker than your first serve, try as much as possible to get that first serve in. Even if that means taking a bit of pace off of it. Another example, if your net/volley game is weak,  on an approach go for it, instead of using it as a set-up shot for a volley winner. The more you know your strength and weaknesses in your game, not only will it be a good barometer on what you should work on to improve in practice, but in match situations it will allow you to put your best game on display.
These are just a few ideas to help you with this many a’ times neglected aspect of the game.

 Remember you can play hard or you can play smart. Or if you really want to be a great player, you can do both.

"Explosive First Step" by Coach Mark Contreras

Sometimes overlooked is the first step a tennis player takes in order

to move to the ball.  This first step taken to attack the ball is like

a small explosion coming out from the balls of your feet.  In many

cases, you will be able to notice explosive movements and first steps

in several different shots.  A few examples are the serve, running

shots, and unloading into an approach shot.  We can even see explosive

movement in the first step in the recovery after a big shot.

You will notice gains in power and velocity not only in your footwork,

but also in your strokes.  My college coach once explained to me that

the roots of great strokes needs to start from the ground up.  You

will find yourself more alert on the court because of the intensity level needed to create this movement.

Some ways to help improve and develop an explosive first step:

1.) Begin practice with a dynamic warm-up.

2.) Work on a lot on plyometric exercises such as: Power cleans, wall

ball shots, etc... you an find examples of these on www.crossfit.com

3.) Keep your body alert on the court by staying off your heels and

always bouncing around on the court.  Not like a kangaroo or a rabbit,

but by constantly shuffling the feet.

Developing an explosive first step will make match play more exciting

because you will get to more balls and maybe put a "W" on your track

record.

Pro to follow: Rafael Nadal

Watch This:

Example:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-lvdvrw5yA  (Copy and paste

the link if you can't click on it)

"Diffusing a Powerful Shot" by Coach Mark Contreras

Many times in competition you will come across someone who is an
aggressive baseliner.  An aggressive baseliner is an individual who
prefers to win points at the basline using a lot of power and pace on
the ball to disarm the opponent.  Players will experience being over
powered on several different areas of their shot such as: lack of
balance, wider court to cover, and loss of control upon striking the
ball.  The question is now, how do we protect ourselves against so
much power?



Some key points to focus on when anticipating a powerful shot is to:

1.) Utilizing the court by running through the baseline to shorten the
angle of the ball.  This will allow you to get to the ball faster in
order to prepare for the shot.

2.) Create a wide base with your legs and stay down low.  This will
prevent you from being off balance and give you more stability and a
stronger center of gravity for your core.

3.) Keep the racket close to the hips.  This will shorten the distance
that the racket has to travel in order to make direct contact with the
ball.  When doing this, keeping the racket in the strike zone as long
as possible will provide control and power back into the shot.

In my experience as a tennis player, I have found that diffusing
powerful shots with these key points has not only helped me return the
shot, but has made my shot more effective with control and stability.

Pro to follow: Roger Federer-Examples of diffusing a powerful shot.

"Back to basics" by Coach Kirk Schaaf

Do you ever feel like playing tennis and no one is around to hit?  It happens all the time, that's when it's time to go BACK TO THE BASICS!  In Chersterfield, Missouri I grew up learning from dropping and hitting a million tennis balls with my dad.  He would always say “underneath pressure, bad form won’t hold up”.  We didn’t have a lot of money growing up so we couldn't afford lessons.  My dad was no teaching pro but he knew what looked right and what wasn’t right.  Drop hitting helps you find your rhythm, timing and is easy to see if any part of your swing needs tweaking.  If the majority of your balls are going into the net, maybe your not driving through the hitting zone long enough.  If the majority of your balls are going long try to finish lower by creating more spin to help keep it in the court.  Drop hitting is beneficial to look at the result of your shots and next time adjust it to where the stroke feels natural and smooth.  Some students I teach who could hit pretty well from the baseline, struggled when feeding a ball or drop hitting one.  Drop hitting is one of the most underrated drills in tennis.  People tend to think well I’m better than that and its boring.  After about ten minutes of drop hitting whatever stroke you want to practice forehands, backhands, volleys, overheads, slices, half volleys, taking the ball on the rise, to even swing volleys out of the air, these drills will make your swing more effortless and your shots will improve immensely.  Next time you hit the court just grab your basket, racket and go "Back to the Basics".

Contrasting/Similar Game Styles

I turned on the Aussie Open to find Maria Kirilenko down a set and a break to Zheng Jie, both players are counter punchers, that's how they both got to the Quarterfinals, being backboards and mixing up spins and speeds to throw off their opponents.  Something happens when you play someone with a similar game style, you either love it or you really hate it.  This was an example of a match where one player hated playing against the same game style, Kirilenko wasn't comfortable playing a counter punching Jie, so she tried to play a different game style, one she wasn't comfortable with, one that hadn't gotten her to where she was, she tried to overpower Jie.  Kirilenko forced the issue and it got her a nice butt-kicking, because Jie was very content playing her game, getting her 80mph serve in and just being solid from the baseline, and Kirilenko wanted no part of the patience game.  She went away quickly 6-1, 6-3 and probably is still wondering how she got destroyed by the smaller Jie, and the answer is easy, once you go outside of your game, and try to do more, you instantly put more pressure on your strokes, and it's not a strategy that you've been practicing everyday, such a drastic change is really uncalled for, because it's not who you are.  Players that stick with their game, and make subtle changes that actually are within their skill level are the players that will be more successful, as they will have much more confidence in what they're doing because they don't need to change their mindset.

Adversely the Roddick vs. Cilic match pits two very different players together, you have the American Machine in Andy Roddick that blasts serves in and tries to put holes through your racket with his forehand, and then you have the European artist, Marin Cilc that has a much more complete, much smoother game that can combine power and finesse.  In the beginning Roddick was trying to play high percentage tennis, work the point, pick his spots, find his way into the net, while Cilic just stayed calm and played his game, he had a couple loose forehands, but he stayed with his game, and BOOM, he takes a two set to none lead without even wasting half the energy Roddick had.  Roddick's attempt at finesse was unsuccessful, and it was predicated on his inability to get a first serve in and setup the point correctly.  After the shoulder injury timeout, he realized that his shoulder wasn't going to get better, and he wasn't going to last on the court if he kept trying to construct long drawn out points, so he raised his first serve percentage, by moving his serve around the service box, and started playing his game.  Roddick started pounding his groundstrokes to the corners, instead of trying to roll the ball with heavy spin, that game style plays right into what Cilic likes, he's 6'5'' he likes high loopy balls, it gives Cilic time to move that lanky frame around the court and setup.  But in the 3rd and 4th sets, Roddick started hitting through the ball, being more aggressive on 2nd serve returns and short balls, he even started hitting through his backhand, points got shorter and the match rhythm switched in his favor, now Cilic had to play at his tempo, and Cilic was not prepared for it.  Persistence and confidence in what you do best, is the only way to go, unless there's a glaring weakness on the other side of the net, taking the risk of playing a way you're not comfortable with is unwise.  Roddick snapped out his slump and just started playing his game, but now in the 5th, he's back to playing conservative, and now Cilic is back in rhythm.  We'll see what happens!

"Recovery" by Coach Ped Rouhafza

One of the most important fundamentals in tennis is Recovery. I firmly believe, especially at the junior level that many players tend to forget how important recovery really is. Let's put a junior player in a hypothetical situation to help understand what I am talking about. There they are, about to start their match. Player A and Player B have just taken their warm-up serves and they are ready to begin play. Player A serves the first point and a rally has begun. After exchanging several shots back and forth, Player A is pushed out wide and is able to hit an offensive shot down the line. Rather than recovering back to the middle, Player A hangs out in the alley admiring his or her shot. This is where problems arise and must be corrected. Because Player A is admiring the shot that he or she hit, Player B had a great get and was able to hit a cross-court winner because of the open court left by Player A. It is very important to understand that no matter how amazing of a shot you think you have hit and there is no chance of your opponent being able to return it, you should always assume that the ball you hit is coming back. The reason for this assumption is because you will find yourself being in the point longer rather than watching the balls go by as winners. I know for a fact that players will be able to stay in the point longer if they position themselves back on the court rather than hanging out in a specific spot. Once this concept in tennis is understood and practiced thoroughly to make it a habit, junior players at this level will have a major edge over their opponents. Remember, while you are watching your professional tennis idols play, you will never see any of them hang out in one spot after they hit a shot. They will always recovery to stay in the point because their mindset is simple: "Everything is coming back."

"Sportsmanship" by Coach Josh Hallman

My opponent just beat me 6-0, 6-0.

Should I:

A- Throw my Racket

B- Yell very loud so other courts can hear me.

C- Shake my opponents hand, and work on getting stronger.

The answer is pretty obvious but you would be surprised how often we choose A or B. This part of the game is called SPORTSMANSHIP.

SPORTS (tennis) MAN (the person) SHIP (uhh.. a boat?)

The word breakdown is more confusing than the word itself. Sportsmanship is very often over looked. Anyone can play the greatest match of his or her life but it can very easily be forgotten depending your sportsmanship. It is your character, it’s how you handle yourself, it’s how you treat your opponent, and it’s important after a loss OR a win.

We usually think of being a good sport when we lose. But, how many times have we found ourselves taunting our opponent? Sure, we all joke with friends or people we’re familiar with when we play against them in a sport. However, you can’t do that with an unfamiliar player, especially in tennis. Quite simply it’s not what you want done to you, it can hurt your chances of winning, and also hurt your chances of playing again.

If you are a player who likes to storm off of a court and not compliment a good shot from your opponent, so be it. But remember that we see the same people again and again. You don’t want to get a reputation of being a bad sport because people won’t want to play you again, and not playing does not help you get any better at your game, which is the ultimate goal.

How important is the mental aspect of Tennis? EXTREMELY! This ties in with sportsmanship. The way you handle your attitude on a tennis court reflects how your game is played. If you are completely out of control screaming at the person across from you, usually you are missing shots and getting more and more frustrated. However, if you stay in control, and can be aware of a good shot from your opponent your game will stay in control.

Sportsmanship is important in every sport. It’s who you are, and it’s a challenge for yourself to get better. Let your game speak on it’s own, don’t let your negative actions do the talking. Be a good sport, if someone hits a good shot on you… great good job, let him or her know, but learn from what they did and try to make a better shot.

"Split Step" by Coach Jack Tadevosian

So after reading GC’s blog I wanted to get involved and write about the ready position and split step. The ready position is the foundation for all your footwork. As Coach GC was explaining it at last week’s drop in clinic he said the “ready position is an athletic stance” that allows you to move in any direction of the tennis court quickly. For the ready position you want your knees slightly bent and feet shoulder width apart. You must stay on the balls of your feet with heels of the floor and racquet out in front and facing up. Shoulders relaxed! This should center your weight down and allow you to move explosively in any direction of the court. The feeling of the ready position should be almost like sitting on a tall chair. Your eyes should always remain on your opponent or better yet the ball. The ready position ensures you that you’re ready to play. The split step comes in after your ready position. Basically a split step is a small hop you take after you’re ready position. After you take that small hop your weight needs to come down on both of your legs so you can push of explosively to the direction of the tennis ball. For me the split step is like a reset button that tells my body to get ready for the incoming ball. The best time to split step is when your opponent is about to make contact with the ball. Since we do not have superpowers to mind read our opponents shot selection the split step will insure us that we will move in any direction as explosively as possible.

A Theory

I have a theory on why American tennis struggles so much on an international scene, and I believe that it's related to maturity. If you compare an 18 year old American kid with one of these 18 year old international players, the difference between the two would be remarkable, not just in physical appearance, but also in mental/emotional maturity as well. American culture is geared toward microwaveable development, but often doesn't have the capacity to accommodate such rapid growth. Youth in America grow up expecting to have everything by the time they get out of college, everything in their lives is geared toward monetary goals. They can't wait to turn 16 so that they can drive or have their own car, or start working part time to earn money. They can't wait to turn 18 so that they can make their own decisions. They can't wait to turn 21 so they can enjoy being an adult, and that definition of being an adult more often times than not is being able to drink alcohol, or go to bars or clubs. They can't wait to finish college so that they can start working, and they believe that their education will lead them to big money. Adversely what is the rest of the world's youth concerned with? Public transportation in most other countries or major cities in the world is outstanding, so not many of the youth are concerned with owning a car or driving. The legal age in most other countries is 18, so you figure most are drinking by the time their 16, and by the time they're 18 or 19 they're already over binge drinking, whereas here that realization doesn't happen until kids are right in the middle of the college experience or at the tail end of it where their education means the most. When most kids in the U.K. finish high school they're looking forward to traveling, taking that "gap year" to experience the world, instead of rushing into university or rushing to work a 9-5 job. Is money important to them, of course it is, but American society is so materialistic, and its so engrained in our culture that it's going to be hard to break that mentality. I'm not advocating lowering the drinking age, or anything drastic, but I am pleading with everyone to look to experience life and not be so impatient. There is a misperception that making a ton of money right away is the key to happiness, but everything will happen exactly how you want it to if you just take the time to understand what's going on. Now relating all this back to tennis, what is the major criticism of American tennis? None of the players are patient enough to construct points correctly, and rely heavily on their big weapons or athleticism to win matches. Now American tennis is taking a step to develop players on clay so that they do become more patient and learn how to work the court and have more variety, because they believe that the speed of hard courts has attributed to this fast paced smash and win impatient game that has been pervading junior tennis. Patience is an attribute that mature individuals possess. Now let's look at a top player the USTA is developing Donald Young, I just watched him crumble in a match against Lleyton Hewitt in the Aussie Open 2nd round. Does D. Young have talent? Yes, he does, he's got speed, he's got real good groundies, solid volleys, but he doesn't have a huge game. He's been on the tour for almost 5 years now and hasn't really done too much, is it because his game isn't that big, like Isner's or Querrey's, or is it because he just can't handle the pressure he feels from the things outside of the court. The pressure from the USTA expecting him to do better, the expectations of all the sponsors that have stuck with him. How can he perform when he's not truly playing for himself. Some players take a while to mature on the tour, but it seems that it takes American players too long to mature. The generation that preceded this current one, had greatness in its class. Sampras, Agassi, Courier, and Chang, all grand slam champions in their teens or early 20's, and now this generation of American tennis players has only one grand slam champion, Andy Roddick, the rest of the world is dominating the game, the new crop of top ten players in the world are all almost all under 24, and have been doing it consistently for quite sometime now. Nadal, Federer, Del Potro, Djokovic, Monfils, and Murry, all have one thing in common, at age 18 or 19 they made their presence felt on the tour, and are still around, which American players have maintained besides Roddick? I had alluded to this in an earlier post, American tennis hasn't caught up because we got caught up in the Sampras/Agassi era and expected greatness to just happen with the next generation because they were created with the same mold, the same mindset, create players that had bigger better serves and groundstrokes. The game evolved though, the rest of the world caught up to American tennis, Federer happened, Nadal happened, and now Del Potro is happening. They all hit bigger, move better, play the big points better, and handle pressure like icemen. What I saw from D. Young today, was just that a kid that was too young to handle the pressure of taking out an Aussie favorite. He had opportunities, and he definitely has the game to make some moves, but not the maturity to handle the big stage. Maybe he should set his own expectations instead of the ones placed on him by others? Isn't that what great athletes do? Don't they set their own bars of excellence and forget about everyone else's?

Big Man Tennis

I have a lot of respect for players of similar stature to me that are successful at all levels of tennis, but that does not mean I want the athletes I coach to play that way. From personal experience, playing scrappy sideline to sideline counter puncher, consistent back board tennis is too taxing on the body. Does that mean I would implore players that are in the 5'9'' or shorter to try to overpower every opponent they see on the court? No, I want everyone that steps on the court to play smart controlled aggression tennis, where you dictate points with your strengths, and you have no holes in your footwork or movement. I love players that are looking for short balls and want to transition into the net, most players are very reluctant to move forward, but as everyone is starting to hit bigger and bigger groundstrokes and serves, the court gets very small, so you have to look to capitalize and move in before you get angled or hit off of the court. If you don't have the power, then learn how to use drop shots and angles, learn how to mix your game up to keep your opponent out of rhythm. Variety would be useful for all styles of play, especially the shorter player that lacks that power. Some examples for those tennis savvy readers of players that were successful mixing things up are Fabrice Santoro on the men's side, Martina Hingis and Justine Henin on the women's side, the rest of the smaller players just try to grind out points, looping groundstrokes back side to side. Some more relevant examples are John Isner(6'9") played against a player that was 5'7'', Isner was physically tired from his previous round but used his serve and big forehand to overpower the smaller player. He conserved his energy on returns and waited for that one break because he knew his serve wasn't going to be touched. The smaller guy actually won more points total in the match than Isner, but just couldn't win any of the big points to close out games, it is so frustrating to play against a player who has a huge serve and big strokes because you feel so helpless on the other side. Now Juan Martin Del Potro 6'6'' is playing against James Blake 6', and right now Del Po is in control of the first set using his big groundstrokes and serve to make the court look real small for Blake, who doesn't have much variety. Blake hits really flat and through the court and doesn't really mix it up or transition into the net, so he isn't a real threat to Del Po unless his groundstrokes are absolutely on fire. Earlier in the day, Nadal and Roddick won easily by staying in control of all the points and wearing their opponents down to deep heavy groundies. You never felt like either player was in trouble the whole match, and you felt like their opponents could not keep up the pace mentally or physically. Again notice how the seeded players know how to construct points and conserve energy playing efficient winning tennis, while the unseeded/lower ranked players just come out and try to survive. They hit the ball cleanly, and they move alright, but they don't move the ball around like the top players do. There was no teaching today at the club, so it leaves a lot of time for tennis coaches like myself to analyze Aussie Open play, and of course take a break from the sun. It hasn't rained in a few hours, perhaps we'll get a dry morning tomorrow.

Rain or shine?!?!

After sitting through the start of stormy weather at noon today, I figured it was just going to stay that way until Saturday, but I was wrong, the clouds parted, the sun showed its face, and things started to dry. At around 3pm, the courts were still really wet, and were going to stay that way, but 530pm Competitors was still going to happen. Coach Ped and I tried to dry the courts with the rollers that we had available, we got the court somewhat dry, and had class, two kids showed up. I was happy that they came out, and endured the slick courts and listened to all the instruction that Ped and I were giving, and I was really pleased with the results. Competitor's theme was to learn how to drive the ball cross court through the baseline instead of angling the ball off the court into the singles sideline, an advanced drill, but effective if you can master it. Forehands were great, but backhands were a little shaky, but we only needed to tweak both players' footwork, and what they were doing with their hands on that particular side. Result deep backhand rallies crosscourt. Hip loading and the step down are important in learning how to drive the ball deep. Great class, looking forward to the next dry day, hoping the rain doesn't take over. Now watching the Lakers close out a win against the Magic and Roger Federer struggle at the Aussie??!?!?! Early round jitters? His footwork doesn't seem as clean, and at first glance he looks....older. His strokes require so much precision with his footwork, if he's off one step he'll look off balance the whole day. Much like Sharapova looked yesterday, Fed looks to be struggling, Nadal was able to pull off a bad day first round showing, because he wears his opponents down with those high loopy heavy groundstrokes, and he'll just sit out there all day long until you miss. Federer likes to intimidate his opponents, and doesn't like to give them space on the court, and if those pinpoint angles and forehands aren't there, it equals a long day ahead. Wind a factor? Let's not forget that Andreev is out there as well, so he has to play with the elements as well. Let's see what happens.

Early Rounds Australian Open 2010

In college, lineup issues were always a problem before matches, and our coach had a simple solution "Just Win". The top 3 were pretty much set, but the bottom 3 singles spots were up for grabs, and we had to play challenge matches all week to get into the starting lineup, even though we had a lot of talented players, we didn't have the many that were match tough. When things got sticky, there was no question of the fight in any of us, but it was the ability to control our own emotions, controlling those inner demons, and responding to the pressure of the match, and the pressure of pulling through for not just yourself but your team. I ended up pulling out all my challenge matches that week, even though I knew there 2 guys that were probably better than me, and I got that first start, and our first match was against the number 1 team in our conference. We played doubles first, and my partner and I got killed 8-3, then I played my first singles match at the division 1 level and got absolutely obliterated 6-0, 6-0. I couldn't hold my racquet and nothing was working. I was never very good at controlling those match nerves, that's because I practiced the wrong way. I hit too conservatively and depended too much on speed and consistency to grind out points, and at higher levels, that doesn't work, you need weapons, you need point changing strokes, or something that changes the dynamic of the point. I didn't have that, so I make it my mission as a coach to teach my students to be aggressive and hit the ball through the court. So few players are successful at high levels of tennis being counter punchers and retrievers, but at the same token great strokes don't mean anything if you don't know how to construct a point, so keep watching these early rounds at the Australian Open and you'll see in both the men's and women's game the difference between the seeded players and the unseeded players. The great players move and react much better and construct points effectively, playing high percentage tennis. Already a seed has been taken out, Maria Sharapova got taken out by a player who played much higher percentage of tennis, Sharapova's footwork was a little off and that's the difference between winning and losing. Her strokes are very flat and long, and if her footwork isn't great on that particular day, she'll start to spray balls all over the place, just like she did today. Keep watching, more thoughts to come.

New Session, New Year, Life Goes On

Monday January 11, 2010

Pee Wee Plan

Theme: Ball Skills and groundstrokes

Main Draw Plan

Theme: Footwork-Hitting forehands and backhands on the run

Skill: Directing the ball cross court

Game: Cross court points

Competitors

Point Play, bump up bump down games.

Tuesday January 12, 2010

Pee Wee Plan

Theme: Forehands and backhands from the service line

Main Draw Plan

Theme: Forehands and backhands on the run.