2013 BNP Paribas Open...Indian Wells, CA

[don_budge]

Round of 16...it gets interesting; nausea and morning sickness

Condolences about T-Bird, Klarc. I think a key difference between him and the Big Four is movement. The Big Four just move so well that it is major a contributing factor that separates them from the rest of the pack. They can salvage rallies others would lose by incredible defending...and they always get in position so well when they are dominating rallies...amazing.

There is a real element of truth in this Kyle. Watching Tomas Berdych in the Final at Dubai against Federer I kept envisioning Berdych with a one handed backhand and guess what? He was entirely different player. The two hands inhibits his tactical choices and also a point that Stotty makes...salvaging rallies. Just a thought...pass it along to him in Miami.

Goodbye FafaPhooey. Life goes on and so will the 2014 BNP Paribas Open. Everyone gushes about what a great sport this impostor is yet I am still reading his pathetic crying about the loss to Wawrinka at the Australian. He never should have uttered one word about it. Not one. Be a man about it...pathetic million dollar cry baby. Get a real job...then we will hear the real bitching begin.

His loss is the tournaments gain. Everyone is here...or at least they were. They are disappearing though at the rate of one every match. Winners and losers...it's a fine line. The round of sixteen...the line of demarcation. One more round and the men will have separated from the boys. This round is always a dogfight...time to step up and be a man about it.

So it is what it is. But looming in the bottom half are a couple of matches of interest...Grigor Dimitrov vs. "Ernesto" Gulbis and Dominic Thiem vs. Jean Benneteau. Grigor and "Ernesto" have played twice in their careers. Twice in the last month as it is. Gulbis won in Rotterdam and Dimitrov won in Acapulco. Bets anyone? It's best of three at this point. Depending upon which Gulbis shows up...I am taking Dimitrov based on his future earnings potential and his classic game look modeled after one Roger Federer. But it's true...Grigor has made his game his own. He no longer is a Roger Federer wannabe...he's his own man and he is beginning to really "believe" in himself. Otherwise...it should be a dogfight if both show up ready to go. Then they must be ready for another fight...R. Bautista Agut looming in the next round. Another player showing signs of life.

Just one more match of interest before the real party starts in the quarters. Dominic Thiem defeated Gilles Simon after coming through the qualifiers and now he is faced with the match of his career against an opponent that couldn't have been better hand picked for him. Julian Benneteau has just defeated Jo-Wilfred Tsonga and should challenge Thiem on every level but if the adrenalin is flowing in all the right places Mr. Thiem could be looking at an opponent in the next round that could be beatable. This may be the coming out tournament for Dominic. Why not? He's done his homework. He's got an offbeat coach in his corner...someone who believes in not only himself but his protege too. He doesn't think of himself as offbeat...he's just being himself. A rare individual these days...with no regard to what others think. No need for a second opinion here. His compass is always pointed in the right direction...due north.

I'm back from the dead. A thirty hour puke-fest. I'm reeling...but I am back from the dead. As I write this I am somewhere betwixt and between. Thirty hours of nausea. I once translated a research paper on morning sickness and it left a terrible impression on me. Some women have morning sickness nonstop for the entire term of their pregnancy. Childbirth. Now that is one tough "sport". Fortunately men do not have to "man up". We just stand around looking helpless. Women really know how to take the pain. Plus they put up with us. Thirty hours of it and I was tossing in the towel. Phew!

[don_budge]

Nadal vs. Dolgopolov

Did anyone see the match? I am very interested in Dolgopolov's tactics against Nadal. Dolgopolov has the reputation of being a go for it all type player but I have seen him on occasion play some rather cagey tennis when he is outgunned. One match in particular that stands out in my memory is one that he played against Djokovic...he had Djokovic pretty neutralized on the backhand side by playing a mixture of slice with the drive.

I wish that I would have seen that match...it would probably have shed some light further on how to take Nadal out of his game and to make him play a game that he prefers not to play. Or maybe his back was still bothering him and it had nothing to do with Dolgopolov at all. This is more likely the case...according to Nadal.

[stotty]

Did anyone see the match? I am very interested in Dolgopolov's tactics against Nadal. Dolgopolov has the reputation of being a go for it all type player but I have seen him on occasion play some rather cagey tennis when he is outgunned. One match in particular that stands out in my memory is one that he played against Djokovic...he had Djokovic pretty neutralized on the backhand side by playing a mixture of slice with the drive.

I wish that I would have seen that match...it would probably have shed some light further on how to take Nadal out of his game and to make him play a game that he prefers not to play. Or maybe his back was still bothering him and it had nothing to do with Dolgopolov at all. This is more likely the case...according to Nadal.

I didn't see it. I was hoping you had. My son may have recorded it. I'll check it out if he has.

[klacr]

Did anyone see the match? I am very interested in Dolgopolov's tactics against Nadal. Dolgopolov has the reputation of being a go for it all type player but I have seen him on occasion play some rather cagey tennis when he is outgunned. One match in particular that stands out in my memory is one that he played against Djokovic...he had Djokovic pretty neutralized on the backhand side by playing a mixture of slice with the drive.

I wish that I would have seen that match...it would probably have shed some light further on how to take Nadal out of his game and to make him play a game that he prefers not to play. Or maybe his back was still bothering him and it had nothing to do with Dolgopolov at all. This is more likely the case...according to Nadal.

Dolgopolov was hitting big. 99% of the time. Once in a while he'd try a drop shot which Nadal would run down and hit a winner off of but mostly he jumped launched himself into every shot, whole game was red lining and he was not afraid to litter the stat sheet. No obvious patterns of play. Went after Nadal backhand and went after Nadal forehand, he didn't care, gave Rafa no rhythm. Pretty confident and inspirational performance from Dolgopolov. Played with lots of positive emotions at the right time. He won this match for Ukraine.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[klacr]

Condolences about T-Bird, Klarc. I think a key difference between him and the Big Four is movement. The Big Four just move so well that it is major a contributing factor that separates them from the rest of the pack. They can salvage rallies others would lose by incredible defending...and they always get in position so well when they are dominating rallies...amazing.

Can't argue with those points Stotty. You're right. When I see Berdych in rallies where he is on the defense, I get a sinking feeling in my stomach. I don't expect him to turn the defense into offense like I see from Djokovic or Nadal.
But he's a hard worker and I know he's willing to improve that aspect of his game. I'll see him in Miami and try to pass along hat advice to his coach who is well aware of Tberd's shortcomings. Good news is he has plenty of rest now for Miami. Time to recharge the batteries and play some great tennis in Key Biscayne during the day and have a great time in South Beach during the night. And there are many places to have a great time in South Beach

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

The Ukraine...the real story?

Dolgopolov was hitting big. 99% of the time. Once in a while he'd try a drop shot which Nadal would run down and hit a winner off of but mostly he jumped launched himself into every shot, whole game was red lining and he was not afraid to litter the stat sheet. No obvious patterns of play. Went after Nadal backhand and went after Nadal forehand, he didn't care, gave Rafa no rhythm. Pretty confident and inspirational performance from Dolgopolov. Played with lots of positive emotions at the right time. He won this match for Ukraine.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Inspiring tennis. But if he won this for the Ukraine...which Ukraine? The Hammer is Falling in Kiev...in Crimea. Caught between a rock and a hard place. Another line in the sand. Meddling in other parts of the world. When will they ever learn? Never...that's my guess. The Hammer will fall first. Cold War...redux.

[don_budge]

Tennis Grips 101...hockeyscout and John McEnroe's continental based game

(I absolutely deplore anyone teaching grips, as I come from hockey, and we never, ever, never do that for a variety of reasons)

Coming from a true hockeyscout...grips are absolutely one of the most fundamental aspects of hitting a tennis ball. The grip is the conduit from which all of the energy or a player's efforts are transformed into the tennis ball via the racquet. I strongly urge you reconsider this statement if for only the sake of that dear little rascal...your daughter. Perhaps you would like to take my course on tennis grips...Tennis Grips 101.

One should learn all of the grips on all of the possible shots. The permutations and combinations are infinite. Why? In order to understand the tactical possibilities and all of the ramifications. Tennis is not hockey. But you knew that...didn't you? Tennis isn't called tennis for nothing...even though to a tennis player "love means nothing".

Tennis is truly a unique proposition. Perhaps the closest simile that I can imagine from hockey is hopefully the impression is that the player is gliding to the ball on a pair of skates. There...how was that? But grips...that is a whole different story. At the very least a chapter in itself. Teach that little precocious darling to play eastern, western and continental. Teach her two hands on either side of her...forehand and backhand. Most importantly...the perfect service motion. That would be some feat in the age of the prototypical ATP Forehand, two hand backhand and random, whimsical service motions. But who could teach her that? Three guesses and the first two don't count.

Here are a couple of discussions about one particular grip...the continental. You probably haven't heard much discussion of this grip lately...but that doesn't mean that it is not worth discussing or investigating...or that it doesn't exist. At least I didn't think so...and it was discussed at great length much to the chagrin of some. To the furthering of our tennis education to others.

http://www.tennisplayer.net/bulletin/showthread.php?t=2238&highlight=john+mcenroe+continental+backhand

http://www.tennisplayer.net/bulletin/showthread.php?t=2252&highlight=john+mcenroe+continental+backhand:cool:

[bottle]

Since I don't trust what I or anyone else sees when they look at John McEnroe's playing grip (one grip for all shots according to JM), I tend to go with what he himself says in YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS...that his big knuckle, if he were a right-hander, would be on 2.5 in the TennisPlayer grip system. (John McEnroe of course uses words different from these to take his reader to the 2.5 pointy ridge.)

That grip is actually on the eastern forehand side of a continental and works great for me-- well better for me than a continental-- in hitting Rosewallian backhand slice. (THIS IS WHAT I ACTUALLY KNOW AND THEREFORE BUILD FROM.)

Am I correct in placing JM's big knuckle on that pointy ridge? Possibly not but most likely so. And Ellsworth Vines sees many players of his age with their grip precisely there, many more surely than I ever suspected. He calls this grip "Australian."

Two other big questions in my mind are, 1) whether arm is bent or straight since straight closes racket face more according to Ray Brown of Ray and Becky Brown instructional fame and 2) whether the wrist is frequently curled in a convex way per JM or Arthur Ashe-- a curled wrist will close racket beyond ordinary preconception about a continental or anything else.

Right now I am fascinated by WBTC's (Bill's) perception, similar to mine but maybe even more provocative, that J. Donald Budge's uncurled grip was weak combined with a swing similar to the modern 1htsbh's we best know.

In what configuration was Don Budge's hand then? We're more confident in knowing where his thumb was. But routine sleuthing or historical research is not the point.

What works or could work makes somebody feel alive.

[hockeyscout]

Don. grips are pretty DARN important in controlling a hockey stick. Even more-so then tennis. Their ain't much room for error with a hockey stick. And, to shoot a puck in the top corner of a hockey net with a wrister, slapper, backhand ect, takes 5000 hours of development. So, you may be underestimating how grips work in hockey. It's mind blowing complex. Yes, I agree, grips are important, but come on, lets be serious, tennis grips are so simple a monkey could do it.

However, at a young age the worst thing I think you could do as a coach put a kid into grips! It is best in my opinion to take a long term approach, and let the young person "feel" out the process, and see what works best for them. Let the kid be BAD, BAD and worse, to get to good. Yes, I agree, one should learn all the grips, yes, I do not disagree with you, however, as I said again I'm against force feeding it like is so commonly done in the tennis industry. I think many players use many different kinds of grips, for many different reason's, it'a a creative process and the last thing a young one needs is someone interfering and advising what will work, and won't work. With that said, I might be in a different situation then a regular tennis coach working with a kid who has different learning values, independence, goals, aspirations, wants and needs.

I've got confidence in my eager beaver, and I think she'll make the right decisions, do a good job running her ship and find what is best suited to her style. She knows the grips obviously (again, it ain't complex like hockey's), and I am encouraging her to try everything, every shot, play, play, play and do what is best for her, and be as creative as possible.

Anyways, I guess you need a lot of time and patience for my approach, and hey, I've got that. What's the rush? I got a huge facility here, and guess what, no one ever goes to the place, and we can do whatever the heck we want. We blast skrillex loud, and play! By the way, I should write about that science on here on day, and how music can benefit training by shutting down certain parts of the brain you don't want activated in the learning process but I will save that for another day.

Now Don Budge, I do respect everything you say, however, my vision is to teach my kid to learn the value of being inventive, doing it the hard way, learning through trial and error, teaching like a mamma bear teaches her baby dear to hunt and just going with the flow. The playground approach, and unfortunately this model in sports is being forgotten, and based on what you say about the current state of the sport I think that is the reason why. The golden nugget I found in a research paper written about Bolletierri's early days at IMG talked about the grips, and he admitted he didn't know much at the time in that regards, and he was successful because of it because kids were allowed to be individuals without conformity, or trying to change them.

I understand the game is a lot more complex, and I do acknowledge coaching plays a part in an athlete being developed. However, I think a future champion in any field needs to be nurtured to be independent, think for themselves, inquisitive, highly analytic and praised for their ingenuity. One day, my kids will need to find mentors in life, and if they think differently, they'll learn better and be able to take better advantage of other people's knowledge. I found it interesting one tennis coach once said he was always worried to say something to Boris Becker, because he knew Boris Becker knew EVERYTHING about the game, and you'd better give him a 110% well thought out tip - plan or strategy or he'd run your ass out of town in two seconds. That's important for athletes (and every young person), to feel empowered, and to believe they are driving the bus.

Actually that was today's lesson, flow like water into your shots! Make it beautiful! Play, play, play! Bad shot? Why do you think it was bad? Great shot? What went right? How did it feel? How can you make it better? She mentioned something about wanting to improve the backhand, and I just said, hell I don't know, figure it out here on your own, go home, watch youtube and tennisplayer.net and play, play and play with it, and make it your own.

I had a kid once tell me at a hockey camp -- "You know their is always some coach or parent who ruins it for me." And you know, he made sense to me, the best times for me were on the pond playing with buddies with no coaches, no systems and no technique. We learned because we wanted to do it. So, that's my end system, and in fact, my lesson yesterday to my daughter and the 13 year old boy who came yesterday was simply this, "Me, daddy, and the hitting sparing partner we have (a kid who's ranked top 1500 in the world) are going to leave the court. I could care less what you two do when the three of us watch you. What is important is what you two do here right now when we walk away. Its about you two, and I hope you two love tennis, and are able to push each-other to new and improved heights. You may think you can fool me, fans, coaches, sponsors, teachers, and you will, and many have, however, when the lights go out at the end of the day, it'll be you their with yourself, and you will know what you put into it today, for you. Both of you are smart enough to know what you need to work on, and if you don't you can always ask on your own. Bye." Anyways, they worked hard, and then the hitting dude came out and beat the hell out of them in some short matches, and we asked them why this happened, got our answers, left them alone to play again, came back, played again, and then we all went for lazer tag and ran them into the ground

In a way I guess I am lucky I am a parent with the opportunity, age and freedom to have this sort of "educational" program in place with the young ones (I have two now). Glad I did not have kids at 20 to 25 when I was chasing dreams! I have never run out of time with my older kid, or had to be in a rush to do anything except spend time, and hopefully knock on wood, that will continue!

[stotty]

Dolgopolov was hitting big. 99% of the time. Once in a while he'd try a drop shot which Nadal would run down and hit a winner off of but mostly he jumped launched himself into every shot, whole game was red lining and he was not afraid to litter the stat sheet. No obvious patterns of play. Went after Nadal backhand and went after Nadal forehand, he didn't care, gave Rafa no rhythm. Pretty confident and inspirational performance from Dolgopolov. Played with lots of positive emotions at the right time. He won this match for Ukraine.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

I caught a good section of the highlights. Yes, no tactics. Unless playing loose and going for broke is a tactic. It has been for some...Soderling and Rosol. Nadal wasn't hitting the best length from what I saw, which made Dolgopolov look even better. Dolgopolov was getting plenty of opportunities to work inside the baseline and did so with aplomb.

Dolgopolov deserved the win 100%, but I cannot read too much in to his victory. It's just I was hoping for something more tactical, but then Plexipave doesn't allow for much in the way of tactics. It's a slugfest surface and not much else. If it were down to me I would dig them all up or turn them into carparks.

[stotty]

Gulbis

I saw the third set of Dimitrov v Gulbis yesterday. I thought Gulbis played really well. He actually looks quite comfortable at the net. So many times when I've watched Gulbis play close matches like that, he loses. But against Dimitrov he really took the match by the balls in the last five or six games. Some of his backhands were scorching. I was impressed. It's about time this guy did something. Let's do it here...right now...at Indian Wells.

[klacr]

Dimitrov made the tactical error of hitting over his backhand too much. His ball stayed in the Gulbis strike zone. If Dimitrov would have used his slice, Gulbis would have had a much tougher time generating pace and being able to dictate. Opportunity lost for Dimitrov. I was rooting for him.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

Slice and dice...to win

Dimitrov made the tactical error of hitting over his backhand too much. His ball stayed in the Gulbis strike zone. If Dimitrov would have used his slice, Gulbis would have had a much tougher time generating pace and being able to dictate. Opportunity lost for Dimitrov. I was rooting for him.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Missed it...but I suspect you are right. Like his mentor he has a tendency to try and topspin drive through the brick wall instead of dismantling the structure piece by piece utilizing a slice and dice tactic. One brick at a time...adds up.

One tactic alone is not going to win for you all of the time...mixing up the tactics has a multiplier effect on your strategic goals. The ability to mix it up is a good tactic to throw against the brick wall structures of modern tennis players today. It won't necessarily win all of the time...but it sure evens up the process. Of course the better one gets at it increases ones success ratio

Murray and Wawrinka join Nadal on the flight to Miami. Federer remains as does Djokovic...and six other lesser choices. All of whom are capable of one more upset. It's getting interesting. Best of three makes it a bit of a crap shoot. Indian Wells is not a fifth major no matter what anyone says...the two out of three format assures us that it is not..

[don_budge]

Roger Federer...and primal movement.

Roger in the finals with a victory over Alexandr Dolgopolov...from Ukraine...6-4, 6-1. Very impressive run up to the finals. He's back. Kicking butt and taking names.

What a difference 10 square inches can make.

[hockeyscout]

Missed it...but I suspect you are right. Like his mentor he has a tendency to try and topspin drive through the brick wall instead of dismantling the structure piece by piece utilizing a slice and dice tactic. One brick at a time...adds up. One tactic alone is not going to win for you all of the time...mixing up the tactics has a multiplier effect on your strategic goals. The ability to mix it up is a good tactic to throw against the brick wall structures of modern tennis players today. It won't necessarily win all of the time...but it sure evens up the process. Of course the better one gets at it increases ones success ratio.

So explain to me why don_budge this is the case? Every tennis coach is saying "we'll teach the young man a tactical game." Is it happening. If so, why isn't it happening. Bows and arrows, khopesh, gladius, pilum, sawed off shotgun, machine gun, kaleshnikov, shields, amours, well you get the picture, you gotta use every tool in the art of war right? So, what's going wrong in the developmental process aside from space age rackets and unbelievably scientific stringing techniques? Why aren't their more tools being used now?