Ille Nastase versus Arthur Ashe...1972 U. S. Open Finals

[hockeyscout]

So my question is, do you, as coaches, advise your players to "perfect" their swinging volleys for these situations (I don't think it can be done; looks great when it works, but I think it will cost you too many errors as well as instances where you get passed because the shot wasn't accurate enough)? It's clear that no one is teaching anyone to develop what I call the drive volley. But if you aren't sending your players down this rather risky road, and you are not teaching them to master the "drive" volley, then are you keeping them off the net except when they get a really short ball to invite them in or play the "change of pace" approach/serve and volley point? Sure looks that way. And, finally, doesn't it drive you nuts when pro tennis players fail to execute a crouch overhead or even a regular overhead in favor of a swinging volley?

don

Practice, practice and practice.

If you're not executing you probably didn't work hard enough at it.

Great article:

http://ballislife.com/storytime-team-usa-trainer-kobe

Anything can be executed if you're willing to work at it like Kobe.

[don_budge]

tennis_chiro on the drive volley

I really thought my little exposition on the drive volley vs the swing volley was one of my best, but it seemed to me my thoughts got very little traction.

I make a clear distinction between a "swing volley" and a "drive volley", but Stotty pointed out that on the other side of the pond, they don't make that distinction at all. Over here, there just are no "drive" volleys.

To restate my points briefly,

I don't think you can hit a swinging volley when you have to take more than a couple of steps to get into position to hit it.

I don't think you can hit a swinging volley when you are in a big hurry and don't have time to implement the whole thing complete with its SSC loop.

I don't think you can hit swinging volleys effectively in defense of a ball you have to move to and take at the outside corners of the service boxes; and this area must be properly defended against floaters down the sidelines if you hope to close on anything other than a really short ball.

So my question is, do you, as coaches, advise your players to "perfect" their swinging volleys for these situations (I don't think it can be done; looks great when it works, but I think it will cost you too many errors as well as instances where you get passed because the shot wasn't accurate enough)? It's clear that no one is teaching anyone to develop what I call the drive volley.

But if you aren't sending your players down this rather risky road, and you are not teaching them to master the "drive" volley, then are you keeping them off the net except when they get a really short ball to invite them in or play the "change of pace" approach/serve and volley point? Sure looks that way.

And, finally, doesn't it drive you nuts when pro tennis players fail to execute a crouch overhead or even a regular overhead in favor of a swinging volley?

don

Thanks tennis_chiro...that's the thing about this forum. You are often left to wonder if thoughts get any traction. Rest assured...yours did. They stuck with me too...thus the reference in my post. Hard to believe that your comments were made two years ago tomorrow. How's that for memory? Like a steel trap...good old don_budge! The "other don".

The game has tennis has definitely changed. It pays to know your history...particularly if you want to call yourself a tennis coach. You see even a topic as the drive volley has it's historical context. To be a coach worth your salt it is imperative that you are a student of the game. This aspect of coaching just may be as important as any...well there are a number of important prerequisites.

Swinging volleys have gotten too much traction as tennis_chiro alludes...concentrating on the mechanics of the drive volley is going be a better return on your investment. Even though Arthur's results were a bit spotty on this given day at the Westside Tennis Club against the Mercurial One.

Thanks for contributing your thoughts...sir.

[hockeyscout]

First off, when I am impressed by something I see, hear or read I always make a positive note of it on this board.

don_budge, your manifesto is great, however, their is no technical and scientific substance to it.

Right now all I am getting unfortunately out of you is a holier than thou attitude, and nothing of valuable.

Where is the beef?

Please, I need all the help I can get!

Regards
Theworldsworsttenniscoach

[don_budge]

The Fourth Set...a missed underspin forehand by Ilie, Arthur flubs a drive volley

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_NFgIa1I7g

In every five set tennis match there is bound to be some ebb and flow. Bud Collins says as much. This match was no exception. Great drama...it's a real classic! The key shots that I was looking for in this section of the match were the missed underspin forehand by Nastase and the flubbed drive volley by Ashe on set point.

The Fourth Set...beginning at 48.30

Nastase down two sets to one and a break two to one in the fourth. Down 1-3 and looking a bit listless, he serves in the fourth. Ashe hits two great returns and Nasty is down 0-30 on his serve. He faces a break point at 30-40...both Kramer and Collins agree this is tantamount to a match point against Nastase. Ashe misses the return long on a second serve. Another missed first serve and another missed return off of a second serve by Ashe. Nastase manages to hold...a big hold it is.

At 53.58 Ashe hits a nice drive volley for 30-0 and at 54.20 it is a textbook forehand volley for 40-0. Ashe holds for 4-2...Nastase to serve. The match is Ashe’s to win. At 15 all Ashe unleashes a backhand pass that Nastase only gets his racquet on with a lunge at the net and he manages to just get the ball over the net and Ashe can only look at in disbelief. Nasty is back in it. He holds for 4-3 on Ashe’s serve. A backhand clean winner off of a first serve, Ashe nets a volley off of a backhand return and then he nets another backhand volley off a Nastase forehand pass. At 58.30, Nastase goes up 0-40...at this point Ashe hits a serve up the tee and Nastase blocks the return with underspin short to Ashe’s forehand. Arthur hits a forehand crosscourt but he has left the entire court open as his return falls short for Ilie. He takes a volley like swing at the forehand but the wind catches it and it sails just over the baseline. It was a beautiful ploy but he just barely miscalculated on the wind. Collins exclaims, “the whole court! He hit a strange chip forehand Jack”. Jack Kramer adds, “Bud, he must really be salty...unlucky. He hit a soft shot and the wind just picked it up and kept it going.” Finally on the fourth break point, Ilie steps around a backhand and laces his return past the advancing Ashe for the service break. Four games all! Nastase holds for 4-5 on Ashe’s serve.

Nastase was looking so listless only twenty minutes earlier has come alive...he plays very aggressively on Ashe’s service game as he smells the finish line of the fourth set. He plays to 15-40...double set point. At 1:03.25 Ashe serves solidly up the tee and Nastase’s reply is a wounded duck in the middle of the court. Ashe standing on the service line attempts a drive or swinging volley off of a ball that is barely above his head...an awkward shot and he flubs it three meters long. Fourth set to Nasty.

[don_budge]

The Fifth Set...that's the way the ball bounces. The brief handshake.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_NFgIa1I7g

The Fifth Set... beginning at 1:03.50

Ashe breaks Nastase’s serve to open the fifth set. Nastase returns the favor and breaks right back. Bud Collins says...”Once again, Nastase has pulled up”.

Jack Kramer ominously adds...”Well Bud Collins, at this point with the kids being one all in the fifth set it’s pretty tough to predict a winner, but you really have to hand it to Nastase. Twice he’s been behind on the break...once in the fourth set and once in the fifth set and he’s come back. That’s a bad sign for Arthur Ashe.” Nastase holds for 2-1 and he exhorts himself on. Ashe holds for 2-2...and check out the 0-15 point at 1:11.45. Nastase first serve to the Ashe backhand who returns at the feet of the advancing Nastase. Nastase half volleys up to the now advancing Ashe who takes the ball on the bounce to drive a volley at Nastase’s left hip...but Ilie parry’s a deft backhand off of his hip to the Ashe forehand and Arthur cannot handle the volley. What a reflex at what a time!

The video loses some action and play is picked up with Nastase holding serve for 5-2. Ashe holds at love as it appears that Nastase gives him the game...as he steels himself to serve out the set at 5-3.

Nastase appears to be just the slightest bit jittery, he misses his first serve but Ashe nets his backhand return for 15-0. Nastase misses a rather routine backhand volley for 15-all. Great action on this next point...first serve to the Ashe backhand which he drives solidly low to the Nastase backhand volley...he volleys into the middle of the court and Ashe elects to take it on his forehand and he goes with a reverse court pass attempt that clips the net and the ball bounces off of the net cord towards the sideline. Quick as a cat...Nastase is on the ball that is barely in front of the net and somehow he shovels his backhand from below the net cord and down the line, past the advancing Ashe so that Ashe must retreat and he misses his forehand down the line. Nastase pumps his fists just a bit...exhorting himself to the finish line.

The camera pans to Arthur’s father who is shaking his head. 30-15 to the server Nastase. Nastase serves once again to the Ashe backhand which he drives at the Nastase forehand and Ilie nervously pushes the volley long...30 all. Nastase misses the backhand volley in the net...break point for Ashe.

A first serve in and Ashe drives once again to the feet of Nastase who can only bunt the half volley up weakly over the net, barely past the service line and into the middle of the court. Ashe swoops in and from point blank range pounds a forehand towards the backhand side of Nastase...but the “Mercurial One” anticipates correctly yet again and stepping in he connects solidly flush on the sweet spot with the no backswing firm wrist backhand volley and deflects the ball past the scurrying Ashe. Ilie pumps his hands again. Amazing shot under immense pressure.

Deuce. Nastase serves wide to Ashe’s forehand and Ashe smashes a strong forehand return up the middle that forces Nastase to side step to his left in order to play a forehand volley from the backhand side of his court into the open court...Ashe runs it down and attempts to hit a big backhand in stride crosscourt...he misses inches wide. Match point!

Get a load of this...match point. At 5-3 in the fifth set...Nastase takes just a bit longer than normal. The boys have been playing at a pace of less than ten seconds between points. More like 6 or 7 it seems for most of the play. But at match point...Ilie bounces the ball three times on his way to the base line as he has walked nearly to the ball boy for the ball. He never did this the whole afternoon but now on match point he steels himself for the most important serve of his life. He misses. He hits a rather weak serve to Ashe's backhand and Ashe returns crosscourt but the ball catches the net cord...the ball ever so barely clears the net and bounces on the ground only inches from the Nastase side of the net...in a flash Nastase is there and he catches the ball only so high as half of the net height and just inches from the net itself...once again this time he delicately touches the ball barely over the net and it in turn bounces only inches from the net on the Ashe side of the court. As the ball bounces twice, then three times Ashe is futilely racing forwards...Nastase heaves his Maxply Fort high into the court and disbelieving he runs backwards towards his baseline where he collects himself and lifts his arms in the air briefly in celebration then immediately makes his way to the net.

In this brief instant Ashe has continued to walk back towards the umpires chair where Ilie catches up with him before he reaches the left sideline to briefly shake hands and he puts his hand on Arthur’s shoulder but Ashe isn’t pausing...he is walking off of the court. Arthur for his part barely acknowledges Nastase. It appears to be somewhat rude and condescending to me.

For the first time that I saw during this whole match...Nastase walks over to where his bench is and sits down. He briefly slumps with his head in his hands. He can hardly believe what he has accomplished.

He never appeared to sit down the entire match.

[stotty]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_NFgIa1I7g



Jack Kramer ominously adds...”Well Bud Collins, at this point with the kids being one all in the fifth set it’s pretty tough to predict a winner, but you really have to hand it to Nastase. Twice he’s been behind on the break...once in the fourth set and once in the fifth set and he’s come back. That’s a bad sign for Arthur Ashe.” Nastase holds for 2-1 and he exhorts himself on. Ashe holds for 2-2...and check out the 0-15 point at 1:11.45. Nastase first serve to the Ashe backhand who returns at the feet of the advancing Nastase. Nastase half volleys up to the now advancing Ashe who takes the ball on the bounce to drive a volley at Nastase’s left hip...but Ilie parry’s a deft backhand off of his hip to the Ashe forehand and Arthur cannot handle the volley. What a reflex at what a time!

What a point indeed. One thing I noticed from years of watching Nastase is that he would often reflex winners off balls belted AT him. Another great example of this is at 13:32 where Nastase reflexes a brilliant forehand volley off a ball drilled at him by Ashe. Despite being on the gentile side, Ashe wasn't shy of belting the ball at players if it was tactically the right option, which it often can be in good net play.

[don_budge]

Uncanny...Shape Shifter. The "Mercurial" Nastase...

Was there ever a player more gifted than Nastase? I don't think so. He was out on his own with his madness and wizardry...uncanny.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lou_yI0C5L4

At 13.32 serving for the second set, Nastase picks up a difficult forehand half-volley and lofts it harmlessly into the middle of the court. Ashe takes dead aim at Nastase who has positioned himself in the middle of the net...he pastes a forehand at Nastase’s midsection but Ille has shifted just out of the way and meets the incoming bullet with a crisp block of the forehand and volleys it away. It happens so quickly it is difficult to imagine...but Ille makes it look so routine. He serves out the set after breaking Ashe in his first service game...6-3. One set all.

What a point indeed. One thing I noticed from years of watching Nastase is that he would often reflex winners off balls belted AT him. Another great example of this is at 13:32 where Nastase reflexes a brilliant forehand volley off a ball drilled at him by Ashe. Despite being on the gentile side, Ashe wasn't shy of belting the ball at players if it was tactically the right option, which it often can be in good net play.

Yeah Stotty...I picked up on that one also in my second post of this thread. Good eye! Nastase was so uncanny...so instinctive. He was really comfortable playing it loose and fast. Muttering to himself the whole time. Interacting with the audience, the umpire, the linesmen and ballboys. The whole place turned into his very own circus. He was the ringmaster, the clown, the juggler...whatever the moment called for.

At 13.32 he takes on the shape of a shadow as just before Ashe hits the ball he sidesteps into perfect position to only place the strings on the ball with a firm wrist. He makes a difficult play on the half volley...then he merely walks into position. His half volley was so soft he has the time and the moxy to take one, two, three steps then a sort of gathering step then at the moment of truth he sidesteps and applies the matador's sword. Right between the shoulder blades. He does this repeatedly throughout the match.

He glides into position. Footwork? Mechanics? What does mercury do? How does it behave? It takes the shape of its immediate surroundings constantly adapting and assuming the shape of the moment. Look at that crisp ball contact on this volley. Dead nuts on his little teeny tiny Maxply Fort...the ball just jumps off of the strings leaving Arthur feeling quite flummoxed once more.

[stotty]

Another shot which is marvellous and which you also picked up on was Nastase's forehand at 11:28

Nastase sends back Ashe's overhead back with real venom. I love that forehand. With a wooden racket that is not as easy as many might think. He hits it so hard and cleanly.

Ashe said in his book that you could never appreciate how fast Nastase was until you had experienced playing him. He was certainly quick in that match, wasn't he?

I love this match because Nastase is really after the win. We get to see Nasty at his best. He isn't messing around. His fragile nervous system isn't letting him down this time. It's not going to either.

And I just love that second serve to bring up match point....

I like Ashe's father. He's dressed real smart and looks dignified, composed and decent. Without even knowing the man, you just sense the influence he had on Arthur during his childhood. You can't beat good parents. There the making of you.

[don_budge]

Match Point. The Handshake and the Champion's Ceremony.

Truly an unbelievable magical ending to a brilliant match on the part of both players. While Ilie naturally drew all of the accolades for his showmanship and his charisma...Arthur Ashe was and will always be a giant icon in his own right. Based solely on his tennis skills though...he was a great player. He had a style all of his own...based on the fundamentals...he had an aura about him as well. Some wanted to put a halo on him and make him a saint. Ironically, all of our feet are made of clay...he ended up passing away with the AIDS virus. Inflicted upon him through a blood transfusion as the story goes.

Here is the end of this match and the runup to the awards ceremony...and the ceremony itself. In the words of the participants...

bud collins: “and nastase has the match right here on his racquet. the open championship at match point. and he’ll have to suffer through a second serve. beautiful stuff! ilie nastase! on a netcord ball. he is the champion!”

the camera pans to his beautiful fiance as ilie makes his way to his seat a romanian compatriot drapes a romanian flag over his shoulders.

bud collins: “dominique says we’ll take the 25,000 in one dollar bills and spread them around.”

ilie buries his head in his hands briefly.

jack kramer: “well ilie is really overcome with what he has just accomplished. but let’s see the last...the match point in slow motion as ilie serves a second ball. arthur hit a very good return...comes up a let. now watch this. look where he places it...is that touch? is that feel? look at the reaction...and heartbreak for arthur ashe. and what reactions from a great, great athlete ilie nastase...and it reminded me of the time...and there’s arthur trying to compose himself. and he will do that very nicely. one of the great, great sportmen in our game, bud. but i was just thinking of nastase’s reaction to a let ball when mickey mantle was caught off of first base in i think the series against pittsburg...someway he got back. i think that is the way nastase reacted...just like the fantastic athlete that he is.”

bud collins: “a quick volley off the net cord...we’ll be

? hammond: “not only is arthur ashe a very great athlete...but he is something to me, that is even more important. he is a great sportsman...and i think that the united states can be truly proud of him.”

“ilie...first of all i want to present the cup to you as the champion of the united states. secondly...i want to present to you the gold ball that marks forever that you won the championship of the united states.”

“finally...as you seem to be so keen on leaving. i don’t know if you want it but i do have a check for 25,000 dollars for you.”

ilie nastase: “i try very hard to remember my english. i think that i just remember two words...one is thank you...one is i was lucky...and one is i’ll see you next year.”

“arthur...you are a great credit to the game. may you long be in the top tennis. i present to you the silver ball which the runner-up of the united states open championships is awarded. finally...the check for 12,000 dollars.”

arthur ashe: “it’s been a...it’s been a pretty hectic week both sides of the atlantic. it’s pretty tough to watch television...you really don’t know what to watch. so...we’ve been watching the olympics...and yesterday i went back and watched nastase beat gorman. mister nastase sorry. and i came out here today really expecting i’d win...knowing full well that i had played him three or four times before it would be a helluva fight. but i think that you will agree that he is a very colorful player...and when he brushes up on some of his manners he’s going to be even better.”

“maybe the answer is just do what nastase does and i would just get twenty five. i would just like to end with reiterating with what mr. talbert said...and thanking you all for myself and all of the tennis players, it’s really been a great year. tennis has been booming like crazy. it’s all due to people like you that come out so...i’ll see you again next year...maybe in the finals. thank you.”

Arthur showed his "holier than thou" side in his little speech. He could have said nothing on the matter and let the champion have his due without the little "church lady" speech. Ilie for his part didn't care. He was no angel...he didn't pretend to be one. In this match his behavior was rather exemplary. He was entertaining and wore his heart on his sleeve the whole way...right to match point. He held himself together admirably. It wasn't always like this...he wasn't really right in his head. Ion Tiriac said as much...he said Ilie had a little bird fluttering around in his head instead of a brain. That sort of would explain things.

[don_budge]

Kyle LaCroix USPTA...Boca Raton, Florida and "Journey to the End of the Night".

Correct on both points. Never witnessed this era first hand. I'll take full blame for that. My loss. And yes, I am being very diplomatic.

But I can identify great tennis when I see it. And this was it.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

This never gets old. Volleys are quintessential tennis shots. You can tell a lot about a person by the way they hit or don't hit their volleys. Fascinating stuff. The mind of a tennis player. The mind of a volleyer.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Thanks for your comments...it would be interesting to hear a bit more from you on this match. About what you see in this type of tennis. Real tennis. You are too young to have participated or even have been a spectator of such play. But I would imagine that it would be very much to your liking. Can you see how this is the true game of tennis as it was meant to be played? At the speed at which it was meant to be played? You are young enough to still be open minded. You probably still dream...and have hope for the future.

Tennis is a business...that is a fact. But here in his post match talk even Arthur Ashe acknowledges that tennis was booming. The game had been opened up to professionals only some few short years previous to this match so this match was played at a pivotal time in the history of tennis. Coaches should be students of the game in order to pass the legacy to the student. Unfortunately in the past thirty years there has been more of an effort to bury this legacy and discredit classic tennis than there has been to preserve it. What a shame.

The racquets were works of craftsmanship. The wood racquets that were being produced were of a very high standard and they were perfectly suited to playing the game as it was originally designed to be played. Listen to the music that Nastase plays with his Dunlop Maxply Fort. Even the new composite and metal racquets that were being introduced into the game were suitable in the sense that they had not been changed dimensionally speaking in relationship to the ball and the court. Thus in a sense...all things were equal.

I would never suggest in a million years that the game go back to standard sized racquets. I have in fact never suggested such a thing. There are those on the forum that have put those very words in my mouth...but that is them talking. I know that there is no going back. I knew that in 1981...the year in which I attained my highest ranking the tennis world was being engineered into something vastly different. To where we are today. A Wimbledon Championship that is captured by a tennis player that does not know his way to the net. A player that couldn't find his way to the net if Boris Becker was there to show him the way. So be it. All is well...or not. Is the glass half full or half empty? It is both.

Be that as it may...this is just a glimpse into the past. The way things used to be in the planet of tennis. Twenty five thousand dollars to the champion. It was a lot of money back then. There wasn't so much pomp and circumstance. The professional game was still rather new and had not completely lost the luster of the amateur game. Things do change as a great man once said. Not always for the better...said a man that lived in the woods. Progress is one thing. Illusion is quite another. It's all about money now...that is a fact too. Image is everything...one very large twit once said. But he was right...electronically generated images have now been the accepted reality. One might even ask if ML370 was the same plane as ML17. Who the hell knows these days? How can you trust anything? Thus my skepticism about modern tennis. It's all a pack of lies.

Ilie Nastase was my favorite tennis player...I think of all times. In 1972 I was young and impressionable and sighing a huge sigh of relief that my beloved government would not be requesting me to serve in the military and be shipped off to Vietnam for all of the wrong reasons. I forgave Ilie for all of his mistakes...actually I never forgave him. I never had that right. One might say I overlooked them. Afterall...he's only a man. A poor Romanian guy trying to make a living. He certainly wasn't asking me to go and die in some nameless rice paddy in Southeast Asia. Later on as I got a little older it was one John McEnroe who I saw as the light of tennis. He and his rival Bjorn Borg made tennis what it was for me...when I was young. When I was "growing up". Let's just leave it at I can see the irony of things...both sides even. Somehow bad guys are more believable.

Those days are gone...I know they aren't coming back. I am not trying to bring them back either. I don't even long for those days. I know all about the glass being half full and half empty. Nobody had to tell me that either...I figured it out all for myself. So I won't apologize for telling this story. I am a champion for freedom of speech...but I claim it for myself as well. I don't ask for respect...I demand it. I give it freely...if it is deserved. I was just intent on telling a story. I didn't know where it was going all week long. It is terribly hot here in Sweden and I am on vacation. I guess that I was just looking for something to do. I thought that I would just hang on the forum for a bit. I live out in the country...no people around. Twenty five acres of loneliness...solitude. I don't like being interrupted with obnoxious reminders about how shitty people are. I don't like being reminded about how two-faced and holier than thou they can be. I had seen enough comments about John McEnroe to last me a long while.

At the same time this week I was plodding my way through my favorite novel of all time..."Journey to the End of the Night" by Ferdinand Celine. I had started it in Paris last month. It confirms what I believe in people. The prospects are not all that bright. I leave you to yourselves...and I thank those for reading and listening. All of those. Even you.

Seriously, who the hell do you think you are? This is a forum. Got it? I have to say, you are an incredible hypocrite. You come across as some sort of champion of free speech, but if anyone disagrees u become venemous or whine like a little bitch. I actually find your opinions highly unimpressive, and would like to hear others point of view. Quit trying to run the show.

I can see how you feel like you do. You never liked what I was writing since day one. It's all the same to me. I won't lower myself getting into a name calling contest with you. Suffice it to say that I believe that you have the right to say what you did. Trust me...I don't hold it against you. I don't have the energy to care. I know that I am not for everybody...it is that thought that helps me to sleep at night. So goodnight everyone...as we journey on...into the night.

[don_budge]

The Story of Tennis...

The most compelling story of tennis is the history. How did it get to the point to where it is today...and where it is going. Secondly...is the teaching aspect. What is the best way to teach a student how to play the game of tennis keeping the compelling story in mind.

[10splayer]

The most compelling story of tennis is the history. How did it get to the point to where it is today...and where it is going. Secondly...is the teaching aspect. What is the best way to teach a student how to play the game of tennis keeping the compelling story in mind.

Yes, and the answer is, to teach a student the game which is played now..anything else is doing them a disservice. Continental forehands, slice backhands (as the staple) etc. is only going to inhibit them. Period.

My problem with you, is that you seem unable to separate your bias's (old school, outdated methods) from what needs to be taught to players which will allow them to compete in TODAYS game. Talking about sheep to slaughter.

You can post another 100 of these old videos, continue to trash current players, (which illustrates how much you actually know) but the game is not going backwards...and IF YOU ACTUALLY teach the game, then perhaps you should use the resources of the site and equip your students with a game that can survive in todays game..

[hockeyscout]

I really do appreciate don_budge, and what he brings to the table here ...

It would appear don_budge and I disagree, however, I don't see it as that!

I happen to like don_budge, A LOT. I listen to everything he says. He's a lot like my eight year, very passionate and opinionated.

I was trying to cook dinner tonight over a flaming hot stove, and the young one is in my face talking about tennis warehouse, and trying to show me some string from Wilson when I asked her, "Does it ever occur to you that the rest of the world might not be fascinated with tennis as much as you?" She stopped and thought for about two seconds, and then asked what the difference was between Babolat Xcel 16 String Reel Blue and Luxilon ALU Power Spin 16 String Reel was, and why don't we start buying string on the larger reels?

God, make it stop.

When my daughter was seven years old don_budge wrote some very complimentary things to her about her talent, size and engagement after seeing some video of her.

These types of comments have inspired my young one to continue to move mountains, and it was a relief for the wife and I to read the nice comments from Steve (don_budge), and to know even at a young age she was putting herself on the right path.

When my little girl was six years old she used to go to the tennis facility next door to the house at 5 am and the cleaning man would open up for her. He told her, "You know little girl, I have cleaned her for forty years, every morning I come in at 4 am, and I now see you, and in ten years you will be number one in the world, and I will tell everyone I used to open up the door for you so you could sneak in and not pay for the extra court time." My young one replied, "You're here at 4 am? Great! Can I come earlier?"

So, Steve, thanks!

I do get you. I see you have a passion, and for some it is hard to understand.

You have a few real nuggets.

[hockeyscout]

I want to discuss 10splayer's comments of:

"Yes, and the answer is, to teach a student the game which is played now..anything else is doing them a disservice. Continental forehands, slice backhands (as the staple) etc. is only going to inhibit them. Period. My problem with you, is that you seem unable to separate your bias's (old school, outdated methods) from what needs to be taught to players which will allow them to compete in TODAYS game. Talking about sheep to slaughter. You can post another 100 of these old videos, continue to trash current players, (which illustrates how much you actually know) but the game is not going backwards...and IF YOU ACTUALLY teach the game, then perhaps you should use the resources of the site and equip your students with a game that can survive in todays game."

Right now my daughter is eight, and if she played today's style ten years from now if she makes it to the pro level, I am sorry, she will get killed.

So, I really don't buy the model of teach a student the game which is played now.

The problem that I have in general with tennis is that is a stand-alone sport, and the athletes exposure usually stands out to much, is to obvious and open to continual negative observations which aren't helpful or positive.

I decided we'd have a program, create a team and bring in people to observe and engage in dialogue (not coach) and create a system like hockey where my young one could find a way on her own to better educate herself, and learn what an athlete needs to learn on their own to get good.

Slotty's comments of the Slavic coaches and parents giving signs all the time at the Wimbledon Championships (and Bouchard having a fight with her coach where she stated she was entitled to her own opinion) was an eye opener for us on this end, and it made us think it might be best for us to ensure our athlete felt independent so they can improvise and adapt on their own without worry, rejection, second guessing or interference coming from outside sources in a match play scenario.

Now to what don_budge had to say:

Yes, I agree, we need to respect the old timers as they survived in a time where they actually had to be brilliant and resourceful. Remember, more innovations happened during the wars than any period of time.

[hockeyscout]

And final thoughts!

A few brilliant things I liked for don_budge's latest book on the TennisPlayer.net forum:

At the speed at which it was meant to be played ...

Tennis should be played at a lot of different paces and rhythms. In the woman's game it isn't. That's what we work on.

You probably still dream

Yes.

The racquets were works of craftsmanship.

I like the word he uses, craftsmanship. That's a word we'll use more often.

Great player - great work crafting themselves into that!

To where we are today. A Wimbledon Championship that is captured by a tennis player that does not know his way to the net.

The magic of what don_budge and the old timers preach, is crafting a complete game. We call it slice, dice, mix, puree, do everything, serve, volley, half volley, drop shot, spin, flat, hard, off speed, drive volley, slice (forehand and backhand), practice every grip, strings, tensions, rackets, WD 40 spray, leather grips, thin handles, whatever, experiment more than the next guy. That is a valuable lesson that should not be ignored in the developmental model.