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Originally posted by don_budge
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Well that's the point isn't it? They are kids. Some of their form and technique looks like they are cannot miss candidates for future hall of famers or at least future top tenners. But so much can happen between the years of 6 and adulthood…and this is the real point…start to take notice when these kids are 14 or 15 and starting to nip at the heels of professionals in the lower ranks. This is when you can start to separate the pretenders and the contenders.
Which brings us to an interesting question and one that hockeyscout has been beating the drum about. While he has been questioning the worthiness of just about every tennis coach on this site…well not only questioning their worthiness as well as their morality in some cases…in my case…he has not really shown us anything that could amount to any genuine proof that he himself knows what he is doing in the case of his "three world class juniors".
After watching some of these youtube videos of these young phenoms all we have to compare them to is a very poor quality video of his daughter hitting two forehands. To tell the truth the most impressive thing about those two swings was the amount of noise that the youngster emitted. The first thing that I would advise as a coach would be to keep it down on the screaming. In most tennis clubs in the world there are other people playing on the court next to you and it would be crazy to expect them to have to listen to that wailing while they are trying to concentrate on their own games. The first lesson would be one of tennis etiquette and respect.
So then we are left with the image of two rather inconclusive forehands that she is taking a rather wild swing at. This is what I suppose is the birthing of "Armageddon Tennis". Ok…good luck.
But that being said one must remember that she is only nine years old. She is just a kid. As far as I can see her tennis acumen is not at the same level or standard of the videos that we have seen. But we must keep in mind that the same rule applies to her…at 14 or 15 it will be more critical to assess her stature in relationship to other juniors her age or even older if she is to be a world class junior.
The positive that I can see from what we have heard, read and seen is this. Apparently hockeyscout is focusing much on her athleticism and developing her in at least one other sport…martial arts apparently. In this way you cannot go wrong. I don't believe that it is critical to have a finished looking product at 8, 9, 10 or even 14 years old. I think that at or around 14 one should begin to see some real promise if one expects to make it to the top echelon of the world. But if you spend a lot of time and effort developing hard core fundamental athletic skills in a child in those formative years it will be a good investment in the future of their tennis.
A lot of these wonder children don't turn out to be such great athletes after all even though they look very polished in their strokes. There is much more to playing this game than having a game that looks manicured and polished. There is a lot of grit and fight in it as well. But the thing is…it must be fundamentally sound.
I don't know who is in charge of the tennis development of hockeyscout's child now but sooner or later it is going to have to be some knowledgeable tennis person. This game is so much deeper than just bashing the ball about and I am afraid that is what Armageddon tennis sounds like. Trying to rely on blazing speed and laser placement is not going to cut it…it doesn't cut it now and it hasn't cut it in the past and it isn't going to cut it in the foreseeable future.
The game is not just a matter of going on the attack. People are in the end human beings. No human beings can come with their A-game 100% of the time. There must be something beneath that veneer that one can rely on when the best that they have isn't there…particularly in the developmental stages. They must learn rule number one…keep the ball in play. Otherwise they will spend many years having their asses handed to them by players that understand the game of defense. Afterall…what wins championships in the NFL, NBA, MLB and perhaps even NHL? Defense is what wins…cannot the same be said in tennis these days? In reality it should be a combination of both offense and defense…it must somehow be a balance of these two aspects of the game.
So as with any other 8 or 9 year old the jury is still out. But one must keep in mind how the parent represents the child and as 10splayer once casually remarked to the effect of the child having to pay for or cash the checks that were written out by the parent…or something to that effect. I wish the child of hockeyscout all of the luck in the world and my first lesson for her would be to show respect to those that are playing on the court next to her…it isn't polite to disturb others when they are trying to concentrate on their own games. The screaming leaves a real negative impression to me…it appears that someone is trying to dramatize their own efforts while at the same time trivialising the efforts of those around them. I personally witnessed this sort of thing at the French Open last year watching Maria Sharapova when she was screaming like a banshee against Muguruza. Trust me…it is quite nauseating. A Russian lady next to me with a young tennis playing junior child was appalled as well. The second lesson would begin with my lecture on power that is initiated by the rhetorical question…What is power? The answer…control. The main elements of control being speed, spin and placement.
Just a couple of thoughts…tennis-wise speaking of course.
Which brings us to an interesting question and one that hockeyscout has been beating the drum about. While he has been questioning the worthiness of just about every tennis coach on this site…well not only questioning their worthiness as well as their morality in some cases…in my case…he has not really shown us anything that could amount to any genuine proof that he himself knows what he is doing in the case of his "three world class juniors".
After watching some of these youtube videos of these young phenoms all we have to compare them to is a very poor quality video of his daughter hitting two forehands. To tell the truth the most impressive thing about those two swings was the amount of noise that the youngster emitted. The first thing that I would advise as a coach would be to keep it down on the screaming. In most tennis clubs in the world there are other people playing on the court next to you and it would be crazy to expect them to have to listen to that wailing while they are trying to concentrate on their own games. The first lesson would be one of tennis etiquette and respect.
So then we are left with the image of two rather inconclusive forehands that she is taking a rather wild swing at. This is what I suppose is the birthing of "Armageddon Tennis". Ok…good luck.
But that being said one must remember that she is only nine years old. She is just a kid. As far as I can see her tennis acumen is not at the same level or standard of the videos that we have seen. But we must keep in mind that the same rule applies to her…at 14 or 15 it will be more critical to assess her stature in relationship to other juniors her age or even older if she is to be a world class junior.
The positive that I can see from what we have heard, read and seen is this. Apparently hockeyscout is focusing much on her athleticism and developing her in at least one other sport…martial arts apparently. In this way you cannot go wrong. I don't believe that it is critical to have a finished looking product at 8, 9, 10 or even 14 years old. I think that at or around 14 one should begin to see some real promise if one expects to make it to the top echelon of the world. But if you spend a lot of time and effort developing hard core fundamental athletic skills in a child in those formative years it will be a good investment in the future of their tennis.
A lot of these wonder children don't turn out to be such great athletes after all even though they look very polished in their strokes. There is much more to playing this game than having a game that looks manicured and polished. There is a lot of grit and fight in it as well. But the thing is…it must be fundamentally sound.
I don't know who is in charge of the tennis development of hockeyscout's child now but sooner or later it is going to have to be some knowledgeable tennis person. This game is so much deeper than just bashing the ball about and I am afraid that is what Armageddon tennis sounds like. Trying to rely on blazing speed and laser placement is not going to cut it…it doesn't cut it now and it hasn't cut it in the past and it isn't going to cut it in the foreseeable future.
The game is not just a matter of going on the attack. People are in the end human beings. No human beings can come with their A-game 100% of the time. There must be something beneath that veneer that one can rely on when the best that they have isn't there…particularly in the developmental stages. They must learn rule number one…keep the ball in play. Otherwise they will spend many years having their asses handed to them by players that understand the game of defense. Afterall…what wins championships in the NFL, NBA, MLB and perhaps even NHL? Defense is what wins…cannot the same be said in tennis these days? In reality it should be a combination of both offense and defense…it must somehow be a balance of these two aspects of the game.
So as with any other 8 or 9 year old the jury is still out. But one must keep in mind how the parent represents the child and as 10splayer once casually remarked to the effect of the child having to pay for or cash the checks that were written out by the parent…or something to that effect. I wish the child of hockeyscout all of the luck in the world and my first lesson for her would be to show respect to those that are playing on the court next to her…it isn't polite to disturb others when they are trying to concentrate on their own games. The screaming leaves a real negative impression to me…it appears that someone is trying to dramatize their own efforts while at the same time trivialising the efforts of those around them. I personally witnessed this sort of thing at the French Open last year watching Maria Sharapova when she was screaming like a banshee against Muguruza. Trust me…it is quite nauseating. A Russian lady next to me with a young tennis playing junior child was appalled as well. The second lesson would begin with my lecture on power that is initiated by the rhetorical question…What is power? The answer…control. The main elements of control being speed, spin and placement.
Just a couple of thoughts…tennis-wise speaking of course.
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