Invisible Greatness: Part 4

[stotty]

Thanks for the feedback, Stotty. I understand the reluctance to change what works for. I by no means look down on an experienced coach who has spent their life mastering the infinite details and variables of a sport. I can only speak for myself when I say, it's easy to shut down the learning process, especially when you are good, because then you think you know everything. That's what I thought when I started this series. I thought I knew everything these great masters were going to say. Ultimately, I was very surprised and delighted by what I learned and have already begun to implement the changes, slowly but surely, into my teaching to success. I hope this series inspires one or two helpful concepts. Cheers, N.

Thanks for your considered reply. Your articles have been interesting and certainly give any coach food for thought, and I most certainly respect your views.

I am from over the pond so the culture in tennis clubs and the methods of coaches no doubt differ greatly in given areas compared to the US.

The culture over here, by and large, is that parents of performance children constantly seek to place their kids in the best squads possible - even if they are clearly not ready for it yet. It's deeply ingrained that a player will only get better if they play up in standard wherever possible. While there is truth in this, I believe playing with ones peers also has great value, and that moving children up, first periodically, then permanently, is a the way to go in a performance coaching programme.

I do believe a powerful coach with a strong, influential character can create their own culture of training within a club. I know a coach who has established his own way of doing things and is fairing quite well. He has lots of followers despite his controversial methods which go against the governing body in countless ways.

Other coaches are an interesting study for me. Very little research has been done about coaches by our governing body or universities. Some coaches are powerful, others weak...some are quiet characters, some a colourful...some are clever, some are dumb....some make lots of money, some are on the breadline. We are a rich mix of people, are we not?

Stotty

[hockeyscout]

Nate, I am happy you loved my posts.

Nice of you to show up, promote yourself and kiss ass.

You will likely disappear into the abyss now.

Lets see how long you stay on the board, post and contribute.

Don_Budge did a THREE wonderful pieces here on the forum (a few of them in the recent month), and I printed them off for my boxers and daughters. John should publish a few of them, as they are great. My athlete's loved em!

Glad you like Trump - but, when you have written a few best-selling books and created tens of thousands of jobs, I will listen to you bad-mouth Donald all day.

I love these guys writing about winning and success who haven't done it in sport or business, and make a living teaching nothing good in tennis clubs.

Your article was the worst that has ever appeared on this site. I rate it 1/10. If I could give a 0, I would. 99% of the stuff here is great, but this was just so bad. And, I have never been critical of ANY article, EVER, on this site. Except this one. Really, its fantasy land stuff.

I printed the text of your four series nonsense rants, and gave it to three athletes who are all number ones in there home country in, my daughter (a tennis, MMA athlete), a U14 boxer and my oldest fighter who I have had for five years and is currently holding a MMA Heavyweight Championship belt for EU - Russia.

My daughter read it all, look puzzled, and said: “This doesn’t sound like don_budge or Geoff Williams.” “This guy does not like to compete. Budge and Williams, you can feel it in what they write. They take no crap from anyone! They don’t care. This guy is all over the map.”

In my opinion this four part series is just a roadmap for why USA Tennis never wins anymore, and is a complete disaster in need of a major overhaul. You’re one of the USA Tennis guys Nate. Rubber stamped and certified to boot. Not a lot of winning happening lately.

USA Tennis always likes to say, the world has gotten better, and we need more money, orange tennis balls … and Hockey Canada always says “We are the best, and there is no excuse for number two.” And, we win. See the World Cup of hockey. They took a team of six nations combined, and we still killed them. Hey, here is a suggestion, listen to the hockey coaches. We know how to win. In any sport. Tennis Canada has improved leaps and bounds, and its because they are smart enough to follow the Olympic hockey developmental model, and set up in Montreal. In fact, it looks like Canada is going to surpass the USA men in tennis soon. How embarrassing it that?

It amazes me how everyone in the USA has been allowed to line there pockets, rich country clubs, expensive fees, extravagant tournaments for 10 years olds, Orange Bowl marketing festivities, $60,000 a year academies, dart-fish certification, masters courses and win ZERO.

I like this line where you name drop:

"After I left the Evert Academy, I felt I finally had a roadmap. I felt reasonably confident I had identified the key pieces of the invisible puzzle that could improve any tennis player's game."

I love guys who are reasonably confident - that's inspiring,

Robert Lansdorp once talked about the "roadmap" of the Everett Academy when he asked "who have they ever produced" in an article (that I believe was on this site).

Budge nailed it in a recent article when he talked about his dad, and what a great job he did with his development, building passion and installing family values.

You really kind of lost me when you ripped mom and dads, who pay your bills. Stupid. I'd never rip on a parent, ever. It's disrespectful. I always say, you have an issue with mom or dad, man up, go and discuss it and if your not willing to do what the customer wants or find a common working dialogue (mom or dad), then leave. Over-involved parents? Hell, I use that to my advantage.

I have a real good U14 boxer right now, best in the country right now. I have an MMA fighter who holds the heavyweight championship belt of Russia, and he recommended to the kid's dad and coach that I work with him. The kid's coaches are great guys, and they were happy to get the extra help! I think this kid will be my second champion in this country as he isn’t a dreamer, and he has shown me he is willing to do work when I am not watching over him.

Everyone warned me beforehand that the dad is a complete, and utter sports parent nightmare. Over beers I have heard the stories. They were not good.

So, I met the dad, chatted, and told him how I saw things working out. I told him his boy was talented, but, I could only work with the kid three times a week for three hours and it was going to be a major issue (my lack of time to help him as of late). The dad isn’t an athlete at all, but, he is a wise businessman. I told him he has taken his son a long way, and I would be counting on his big time for assistance. Like every parent, you need 100 percent cooperation.

His first order of work - videotape every session on the IPAD, and sit in on meetings with his son - me, so I can teach them how to clip take every time they work with me (three times a week). This by the way, works great with parents, it keeps them involved, busy, and if you instruct them to post it on the YouTube account when done they tend to watch there manners and catch themselves. They can then go to practice and work on things, and see the whole lesson, and interpret everything that was said. I video the coaches meetings as well, so they can go back. Video helps, it settles down the parents, makes them understand they got it on video and can review it with the team to discuss what really happened. I always state, “The fog of practice” and “The fog of game”, and not let them get caught up in anything when we are “working through things.”

My chat with the dad was done over beer, just the two of us. I gave him a set of keys to the gym, and said I was willing to work with his son, but the two of them need to in there working at 5 am to 8 am, each day ON THEIR OWN, or it would not work out (and be a waste of everyones times). I have spent a lot of time showing him the drills, asked him to video everything, and when the kid nails it, send me the YouTube clip. I also said, “Hey, be creative, and come up with some new stuff here. Let the kid have a part in this process, and he will make everything his own, and really want to do it.”

I am sure every lesson to do a new drill, and not repeat myself, and I am sure to run a specific set of base exercises that we time so we know where we are at at all times and to ensure we getting better. And, I mix up places we train, so things don’t get stale.

This kid has soared, and he is there every morning at 445 am (500 am, does not mean 5 am to me, he understood that without me explaining it), and his dad tells me he is in bed by 615 pm each night as of late. The kid is not a dreamer, so I think he will do that for the next five years of his life.

But, its also a deal where I am setting the kid up in lessons to fail badly with me. Its always something new. He shows me the old drills at the start, and he usually has them somewhat nailed, and if I see an issue, I adapt with a new set of drills. He is doing tough things. Then he leaves, figures it out and comes back and wants to impress me. And, the dad is playing a part in it, and I give them both the credit. They are a team, that will do it together, and with respect for each other. Kids get old quick, and we as coaches need to realise the process is about keeping families together, and sharing passion for excellence.

Its tough for parents not to see their kids succeed. Part of good coaching is encouraging the parents, and telling them when Little Jimmy gets it he will get it. This kids tennis, Orange Bowl, hockey, baseball, U10, U12, its hard on families if you can believe it, and it hinders development. How many Orange Bowl champs have made it? Not many, its irrelevant.

This kid that we have boxing now, he is fighting me, and my championship level fighter Donald, and learning from his “older uncles” how it is done in the ugliest smelliest and coldest gym you can imagine. Sending the kid to a big U16 event in Los Vegas, or to George St Pierre’s wonderful gym or looking for funding ain’t going to get him there in the long run. You need to earn it the hard way. These great facilities and well endowed national programs only end up holding players back. The BRITS are a prime example of this by the way in tennis.

I’ve had to sell to the dad that failure, and losses right now are the best thing. It used to frustrate him when his son could not do things. Now, he better understands why things are tough to do. Spend time with the parents, and really talk to them and they appreciate how hard sport is to teach.

It is hard to make kid realise there is a right journey to success, and these bells and whistles are irrelevant. They all feel like they are falling behind, when it is not true. If your good, you will make it.

To build a winner you simply need to do things other athletes are not willing to do. Its all about end game. Ten years from now, and the end of the day. And, its all about forgetting about yesterday, and getting it right today. Forgetting the setbacks. Looking forward. Knowing it is not going to be easy.

It helps me a lot with this young boxer I have now that I have developed a world champion, and both my younger girls are okay athletes as well who work harder and have more passion that anyone else … so, that helps.

I think he will be my second champion (he is beginning to crossover now into MMA). I have the boys father involved, and doing all of my heavy lifting. Why not?

[Guest]

Thanks for your considered reply. Your articles have been interesting and certainly give any coach food for thought, and I most certainly respect your views.

I am from over the pond so the culture in tennis clubs and the methods of coaches no doubt differ greatly in given areas compared to the US.

The culture over here, by and large, is that parents of performance children constantly seek to place their kids in the best squads possible - even if they are clearly not ready for it yet. It's deeply ingrained that a player will only get better if they play up in standard wherever possible. While there is truth in this, I believe playing with ones peers also has great value, and that moving children up, first periodically, then permanently, is a the way to go in a performance coaching programme.

I do believe a powerful coach with a strong, influential character can create their own culture of training within a club. I know a coach who has established his own way of doing things and is fairing quite well. He has lots of followers despite his controversial methods which go against the governing body in countless ways.

Other coaches are an interesting study for me. Very little research has been done about coaches by our governing body or universities. Some coaches are powerful, others weak...some are quiet characters, some a colourful...some are clever, some are dumb....some make lots of money, some are on the breadline. We are a rich mix of people, are we not?

Stotty

We certainly are a rich mix! LOL! If you don't mind my asking, where are you from, Stotty?

[stotty]

We certainly are a rich mix! LOL! If you don't mind my asking, where are you from, Stotty?

I am based in the UK.

Stotty

[Guest]

Listen here, you loud-mouthed bully, I am not afraid of you. Anyone who has the patience to slog through your horribly composed diatribes can clearly see you are so self-conscious and insecure. Who beat you up as a boy to turn you into such a hateful bastard?

I never claimed to be a champion. I have, however, managed to make a very good living( for my entire adult life) from tennis, be it on the court or on the page. And I at least have the humility to seek answers about higher points of the game from people far more qualified than you.

So good luck in your pursuits, wherever you hail from, asshole!

[faultsnaces]

Wow hockeyscout, that's a pair of posts with a lot of truth.

I have to say the bit about US tennis really resonates: I go to USTA fundraisers more often than I should freely admit, and honestly, I don't think they care about winning / creating winning players. USTA has become like the government agency of tennis; they promote tennis, they build huge facilities, they talk about a lot of dreamy concepts, but building winning players really doesn't seem to be a primary goal. Moving money, now THAT is a primary goal, being the center of the US tennis spending world. (Slightly, but not extremely, off-topic rant: why build a massive training center in Florida, competing with well established private facilities? Not a good idea, unless you like the idea of authoritative committees designing training - and love the idea of spending vast money.)

It's really tragic, that this organization that describes facto represents everything tennis is the US seems to have lost the will to really develop the characteristics that form champions: at its core, tennis is essentially gentlemanly combat - train and play to win, not to just participate.

[johnyandell]

HS, Nate,
Both you guys please return to civility. I liked the articles and learned something from them--that's why I published them. HS you didn't and that's fine. If you guys want to discuss the ins and outs of some of Nate's points pro and con or US Tennis in general--fine. But both of you stop the name calling.
John

[hockeyscout]

John:

Where he lost me was the disrespectful comments towards mom and dads.

Immigrants and people from the wrong side of the track truly understand winning. Tough life outside the USA system. Kids have it way to easy. Great coaching, and, where does it get anyone. You need to struggle to endure.

Poverty, war, lack of government support, and no facilities, in a country say like Ukraine.

But, a lot of these people are real winners - they raised kids, survived against a lot of odds.

I view Nate’s articles as wishful thinking, and dreaming.

The series was a real eye opener for me.

To move on, I've liked every article here John!

Some guys here hated Geoff William's article, and called him out on it big time. He took the heat like a stud. I forget who, but someone called him a fat slob, and, whatever, that comes with the territory. I like Geoff, he used to always send letters to my daughter which were meaningful to her when she was young. Gotta appreciate a guy like that taking an hour or two out of his busy life, electrical business and family time to write some young kid from a far away land.

I'd never be disrespectful of any parent - because, I work for them, and they have entrusted their child to me. You are nothing as a coach if their isn't support at home from family, the community, uncles, aunts and older athletes in your system (mentorship).

Winning is interesting - its about who can take it, who can give it and who keeps coming back for more.

I was taught as a kid - you don't come quit until you win, and you don't come home until its to dark and - or mama or papa comes looking for you. Its about urging dad to build a rink, come pitch to you, play catch, shoot hoops or feed you balls.

The hardest things is when you are ten years old and the fifteen year olds won't let you play, or when you are thirteen and the old men won't let you play. You want to (at least I did). Its funny, when you are young you take number, and remember all the old guys who kicked you, sticked you, hit you and beat you. You don’t realise in the fog of war, they are just playing with you for amusement and toying with you. Old men used to come to work with battle scars to show my old man. I’d think in my head I was giving as good as I was receiving. In retrospect, they were teaching me to compete.

But, again, old guys and they knew what winning and teamwork was really about being asbestos miners, and they developed the young lads in a certain way as you needed a lot of discipline to carry on, and follow in dad's footsteps (kids I grew up with generally got married at 18, and went to work in the mine).

As a young athlete, I don't care what anyone says, that is the greatest feeling in the world (playing with the big guys). Every athlete should have that moment in there life when no one is watching, and they beat their dad, uncle or cousin.

And, that is the issue now with youth sports. All that has been taken away. All these tourneys, trophies, events, Orange Bowls, big stadiums, ranking points, top ten ratings ETC.

And you get athletes who don't have that spirit to win.

And, young athletes are not playing ever sport imaginable, which is not good either. But, that is a matter for another day.

[hockeyscout]

Wow hockeyscout, that's a pair of posts with a lot of truth.

I have to say the bit about US tennis really resonates: I go to USTA fundraisers more often than I should freely admit, and honestly, I don't think they care about winning / creating winning players. USTA has become like the government agency of tennis; they promote tennis, they build huge facilities, they talk about a lot of dreamy concepts, but building winning players really doesn't seem to be a primary goal. Moving money, now THAT is a primary goal, being the center of the US tennis spending world. (Slightly, but not extremely, off-topic rant: why build a massive training center in Florida, competing with well established private facilities? Not a good idea, unless you like the idea of authoritative committees designing training - and love the idea of spending vast money.)

It's really tragic, that this organization that describes facto represents everything tennis is the US seems to have lost the will to really develop the characteristics that form champions: at its core, tennis is essentially gentlemanly combat - train and play to win, not to just participate.

Thanks. You're right, dreamy concepts.

[johnyandell]

HS,
And that's fine. You disagree. It doesn't mean he can't have his opinion--or that necessarily it has no validity or isn't worthy of respect. Maybe if you encountered more of the parents we see everyday in this country you would have a different or moderated reaction. But that was one of about 20 points.
Here are some of the ones I thought most provocative:
Is there something "invisible" about the person, the spirit, the physicality of players like Graf?
Practice--the idea that playing "better" players has limited value.
The idea that the feeling of the warmup dictates the rest of the day. Ever seen Novak warmup in person--so slow and deliberate.
We have this idea that there is some formula--and the USTA just has it wrong and that's why there are no American champions. I don't think so.
The USTA might have it wrong or right and that still might not be much of a factor either way. Remember the last great generation of American players weren't in any real system.

[don_budge]

The Key to Any Organization...

Wow hockeyscout, that's a pair of posts with a lot of truth.

I have to say the bit about US tennis really resonates: I go to USTA fundraisers more often than I should freely admit, and honestly, I don't think they care about winning / creating winning players. USTA has become like the government agency of tennis; they promote tennis, they build huge facilities, they talk about a lot of dreamy concepts, but building winning players really doesn't seem to be a primary goal. Moving money, now THAT is a primary goal, being the center of the US tennis spending world. (Slightly, but not extremely, off-topic rant: why build a massive training center in Florida, competing with well established private facilities? Not a good idea, unless you like the idea of authoritative committees designing training - and love the idea of spending vast money.)

It's really tragic, that this organization that describes facto represents everything tennis is the US seems to have lost the will to really develop the characteristics that form champions: at its core, tennis is essentially gentlemanly combat - train and play to win, not to just participate.

I have written quite a bit about American tennis here on this forum. My criticism has been unwavering.

faultsnaces...what is the key to any organization? This is a rhetorical question that I used to ask prospective employees in my department at the old Ford Motor Company Steel Division. The answer to this question is "its organization". The key to any organization is its organization. That includes everything doesn't it? The furniture, the money...the computer systems. How about people? Get the square pegs in the square holes and the round ones in the round holes. No easy task...unless you are an organization man. Organization is an art and there are very few people on the face of this earth that truly possess the skills to understand the big picture in order to have all of the little pictures contribute to the betterment of the whole. To understand that you must change the little pictures to change the big picture...this is a big hurdle for the small mind.

Show me the man that walks into an organization that is in complete disarray and he sees only solutions to problems and this is the kind of man you will need to clean up the mess that is American tennis. This is the kind of man that sees opportunity in chaos. Much of the solution is often in the logistics but who really understands the logistical problems inherent to a national tennis program? First you must understand that you need many little pictures contributing to the big picture.

Here's a word...Synergy. Here's another word related to organization...Synchronicity.

Synergy...the creation of a whole that is greater than the simple sum of its parts.

Synchronicity...the simultaneous occurrence of events that appear significantly related but have no discernible causal connection.

If you can somehow get an organization based on these two fundamental principles of parts working together that are seemingly unrelated to get a supercharged unit that is over-achieving...you probably have a great organization man behind it. You've got to get the thing all pulling in the same direction. Unity...the beauty of unity. To get all of the diverse elements to pull together...now you've got something.

The USTA lacks a coherent vision of first of all what it wants to produce and the consequence is that it has no idea how to get there. If only they would ask me...I am a first rate organization man. I have answers to questions that don't even exist...yet.

Here is a good example of my organizational skills...I jump into a conversation that has virtually gone to the wind and suddenly everyone realizes that they all possess a small piece of the solution. Then I unite everyone to a collective cause...and VOILA! There you have it.

Connect the dots...the three little dots.

[klacr]

The Key to Any Organization...



I have written quite a bit about American tennis here on this forum. My criticism has been unwavering.

faultsnaces...what is the key to any organization? This is a rhetorical question that I used to ask prospective employees in my department at the old Ford Motor Company Steel Division. The answer to this question is "its organization". The key to any organization is its organization. That includes everything doesn't it? The furniture, the money...the computer systems. How about people? Get the square pegs in the square holes and the round ones in the round holes. No easy task...unless you are an organization man. Organization is an art and there are very few people on the face of this earth that truly possess the skills to understand the big picture in order to have all of the little pictures contribute to the betterment of the whole. To understand that you must change the little pictures to change the big picture...this is a big hurdle for the small mind.

Show me the man that walks into an organization that is in complete disarray and he sees only solutions to problems and this is the kind of man you will need to clean up the mess that is American tennis. This is the kind of man that sees opportunity in chaos. Much of the solution is often in the logistics but who really understands the logistical problems inherent to a national tennis program? First you must understand that you need many little pictures contributing to the big picture.

Here's a word...Synergy. Here's another word related to organization...Synchronicity.

Synergy...the creation of a whole that is greater than the simple sum of its parts.

Synchronicity...the simultaneous occurrence of events that appear significantly related but have no discernible causal connection.

If you can somehow get an organization based on these two fundamental principles of parts working together that are seemingly unrelated to get a supercharged unit that is over-achieving...you probably have a great organization man behind it. You've got to get the thing all pulling in the same direction. Unity...the beauty of unity. To get all of the diverse elements to pull together...now you've got something.

The USTA lacks a coherent vision of first of all what it wants to produce and the consequence is that it has no idea how to get there. If only they would ask me...I am a first rate organization man. I have answers to questions that don't even exist...yet.

Here is a good example of my organizational skills...I jump into a conversation that has virtually gone to the wind and suddenly everyone realizes that they all possess a small piece of the solution. Then I unite everyone to a collective cause...and VOILA! There you have it.

Connect the dots...the three little dots.

Good fair post don_budge

Synchronicity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsKz1FBPTxc

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

HS,
We have this idea that there is some formula--and the USTA just has it wrong and that's why there are no American champions. I don't think so.
The USTA might have it wrong or right and that still might not be much of a factor either way. Remember the last great generation of American players weren't in any real system.

Hmmm....

[stotty]

HS,

We have this idea that there is some formula--and the USTA just has it wrong and that's why there are no American champions. I don't think so.

The USTA might have it wrong or right and that still might not be much of a factor either way. Remember the last great generation of American players weren't in any real system.

True. We expect way too much from our governing bodies. Henman, Murray, John Lloyd made it in spite of the UK system rather than because of it. The bottom line is you can only work with what you've got and because we don't have much our emerging players often elect to be trained in Spain or France. I say it's a global game so who cares. Go where the game is enjoying a harvest.

I do think one best things any governing body can do is provide a system where coaches can be educated and trained. We sort of half have that over here. The main problem with our coaching courses is they cannot be failed....well they can but seldom are. We have way too many coaches who are beneath a given level of play, and on top of this they don't really understand the game. It's really embarrassing on some of the courses the questions the weaker coaches come up with...showing a complete lack of understanding.

I don't know about your system but the LTA need to toughen up their coach qualification criteria. Other than that the LTA promote the game well and are a well organised organisation in may respects.

Stotty

[hockeyscout]

Remember the last great generation of American players weren't in any real system.

Very interesting observation. Boy, this thread is sure interesting now.