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Let's get your thoughts on Dick Gould's article, "Coaching John McEnroe: Part 1"
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Dick Gould seems to be one of those rare coaches who can recognize and address the needs of individual players while appearing to treat all of his team members the same. His record certainly reflects his effective coaching style. However, in the current college environment of endorsements and agents, getting players to sacrifice for a team is becoming a foreign concept. The mission of college athletics in Gould's day is now unrecognizable. -
Probably true... Hoping my friend Paul Goldstein can pull it off one more time at Stanford...Comment
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Nice article, giving further confirmation that McEnroe is not always as bad as he seems. I never had him down for team spirit.
Interesting Dick's comments on McEnroe's attitude towards practice and the value of it in his case. Back in the late 70's I watched McEnroe practice at the Benson & Hedges tournament held in London. He walked on court for 10 minutes and stroked the ball around and then went off. Nastase was in the same tournament and did much the same. Neither of them were intensive drillers and looked positively disinterested in practice. They played pretty well in matches though...
StottyComment
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John McEnroe is always as bad as he seems. He has his faults...had his faults. And they were glaring at times. But he isn't alone and tennis sort of does that to some of us. Bringing out the worst and the best at times. He was complicated but it seems that the situation at Stanford was a good support system for him. I think having people around him was a good idea for his loner complex. Coach Gould obviously recognized some of his virtues and he had to have been pretty dedicated to accomplish what he did. That is one trait that tends to rub off on teammates...dedication. Competitiveness is another trait that rubs off on teammates. Determination. Desire.Originally posted by stotty View PostNice article, giving further confirmation that McEnroe is not always as bad as he seems. I never had him down for team spirit.
Interesting Dick's comments on McEnroe's attitude towards practice and the value of it in his case. Back in the late 70's I watched McEnroe practice at the Benson & Hedges tournament held in London. He walked on court for 10 minutes and stroked the ball around and then went off. Nastase was in the same tournament and did much the same. Neither of them were intensive drillers and looked positively disinterested in practice. They played pretty well in matches though...
But it was the comment about his attitude towards practice that got my attention. Specifically that Wembly tournament. It was Wembly...wasn't it? In 1978 which was his first full year on tour he won eight doubles tournaments and lost in the finals of three. Wembly was won of the tournaments he won. In 1979 he was thirteen and one in doubles finals. During the course of any tournament week he was actually doing double duty...his attitude towards practice was he was doing it on the doubles court. John was a pretty tough hombre when you think about it. Seventy-seven and thirty-two in singles finals. Seventy-eight and twenty-one in doubles finals. Nobody is playing that kind of tennis these days.Comment
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StottyComment
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Originally posted by stotty View Post
Yeah...these old draw sheets are so interesting. The names and memories they dredge up are beyond nostalgic. Case in point...Harold Solomon whom Johnny whooped on in the finals. This is a guy who used to give a lot of the big names fits. A small man...a virutal human wall. Not to over use the word "wall" when it comes to tennis players, but Harold was just that. As far as my tennis memory goes he is the original human wall. He would resort to "moon balls" or what ever it took. My buddies and I used to joke about "Solly slop" referring to his style of play. We used to laugh at it but in reality he was using one of the most fundamental theorems in tennis...keep the ball in play. By any means necessary. Lo and behold...a 3 and 4 record against one of the best players that ever lived. In his prime too.
The only time I ever saw Bj?rn Borg play was at the U. S. Open and he was playing against noneother than Harold "Solly Slop" Solomon. Unlike McEnroe...Solomon did not appear to cause Borg any discomfort as the Swede drubbed Solly into obscurity with a 15-0 head to head. I see that the match that I witnessed was the 1978 U. S. Open. From the stands it appeared that Borg was hitting the ball as if he was using a baseball bat and just pounding on a scurrying about Solomon. 6-2, 6-2, 6-0. Amazing that this type of info is at our fingertips now.
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I saw Solomon play once - a match at Wembley versus Mark Cox. I actually didn't pay much attention and cannot remember much of it. Over here, Dibbs and Solomon were considered one and the same in terms of game style. I wouldn't know as I never witnessed Dibbs play either live or on TV. My memory of Solomon is also limited. They both usually skipped SW19.
It seems Dibbs went the same way as Solomon when playing the great Swede: https://www.atptour.com/en/players/a...borg/D026/B058
Dibbs did enjoy some success over McEnroe it seems: https://www.atptour.com/en/players/a...nroe/D026/M047
Certain match ups can be inexplicably strange. Who would have thought Lleyton Hewiit would have a superior head-to-head against Pete Sampras..and a superior record on grass: https://www.atptour.com/en/players/a...witt/S402/H432StottyComment
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