Robert Landsdorp

[GeoffWilliams]

Nice article by Bob Lansdorp, with lots of interesting stories.

[johnyandell]

Well said but don't ever call him Bob to his face. He'll tell you his name is Robert, but probably in more colorful language.

[GeoffWilliams]

Ok, Ok, I'll never call him Bob again. Mr. Robert it is!

[tommyt]

When was Robert's proposal sent to the USTA & what was their response?

[johnyandell]

Not going to go into that for now. We will probably do another article on that...suffice it to say it was not accepted.

[chuck62]

Geez. This guy coaches Austin, Sampras, Davenport, and Sharapova all U.S. Open champions and the USTA does not want to give him a shot at junior player development. You have got to be kidding me John.

[fcolunga]

He's right

the problem with Mr. Landsdorp's suggestion is money. He is right. An "academy" of players could come together, but how are the pros going to make money? I've worked with a few players and have seen players from academies with awful service motions destined to blow out rotator cuffs, poorly constructed forehands and just bad sportsmanship. Some of these kids know nothing about racquets types, weights and balances. Others don't realize what string tension are needed and they wait till strings break to change them. As far as grips it's a crap shoot. It just seems very random in developing players.

Please continue posting his thoughts and suggestions. If he has any specific recommendations for grips, stroke lessons and how to teach please ask him to share his knowledge.

He is also correct about fitness in the 15-16 year old. It's all about injury prevention and good form in order to have consistent stroke production.

[johnyandell]

Check out his other viewpoints and also stroke articles under Famous Coaches.

[GeoffWilliams]

I'd like to hear his video taped answer as to why it was not accepted. No chance of that going up!

[kakashi]

Yes Game has changed and himself changed way of teaching.

It is still just amazing that he has taught so many different top players.

And to me one of the most amazing part is that his student play exactly or very very close to what he teaches. As we can see Sampras and Davenport for example, they have wonderful follow through and it is Robert's signature shots.