20 Questions For 21 Coaches….Part 1

A big theme of my articles through the years is that many good coaches have differing opinions regarding on-court and off-court tennis issues.  I put my idea to the test and asked 20-top coaches with more than 450-500 combined years of coaching experience, 20-questions.

In this edition, I’ll delve into the responses of the on-court topics and in the May/June edition of Long Island Tennis Magazine, I will give the responses of more of the off-court tennis questions.  Interestingly, while I questioned coaches of many different clubs, the answers were not always consistent intra-club.

What is the best court-surface to train junior players?

The survey says….Clay 17, Hard 4, Grass 0.

My take: Right off the bat this over-whelming response surprised me the most. While I personally think clay is better because of the slower bounce to learn technique and construct points, I thought that more coaches would respond with hard courts since that is widely considered the “American” surface and most higher-level junior tournaments and almost all high school matches are played on hard courts.

Is it best to teach continental grip serve immediately to a junior player?

The survey says: No 12, Yes 9.

My take: While I was also incorrect in thinking more people would say yes than no, I knew this response would be close. One school of thought is that continental grip is extremely difficult to learn and that it is better to give the child confidence and get them going. The other school of thought is that if you are going to learn it, it’s better to have a clean slate than have to unlearn bad habits. Admittedly, this question is a bit simplistic. It probably also depends on the child emotionally, physically and competitively.

Is it best to teach continental grip on the serve to an adult player?

The survey says: Yes 12, No 9

My take: This response surprised me as well. Truthfully, I tried to predict which response would win before I started asking people and I got the first three wrong. Once again, this is probably dependent on the student. One thing I can comfortably say is that if the adult student isn’t going to put the time and work into practicing the serve in continental grip it’s going to be an uphill battle. If you are looking to play matches right away and don’t care about long-term improvement, it may not be worth it.

Should the net player look back in doubles when the ball is hit to their partner?

The survey says: No 15; Yes 6

My take: I have this debate with tennis coaches a lot and was pretty accurate with the results. It ultimately comes down to whether the amount of time seeing the ball travel before the opponent reacts makes up for the time that it takes the net player to turn his or head back around. Personally for me it does and I prefer turning my head but with that said, I’m in the minority in this opinion and the player’s personal choice should probably come into play as well.

What shot do you find the toughest to teach?

The survey says: Serve 18, Volleys 2, Backhand 1, Forehand 0

My take:  While I thought serve would prevail as the toughest to teach, I did not think the results would be one-sided. What I find toughest on the serve is the amount of elements to it. The toss is sometimes tough to get a hang of and when you add the elements of timing, controlling the racquet behind your head and transferring the weight there are definitely a lot of elements working together. Also, when a player gets nervous in a match, the technique breaks down easier because there isn’t as much of an auto-pilot aspect to it.

What forehand stance should a beginning player first learn when they are starting to play?

The survey says: Closed 17, Open 4

My take: I kind of expected the results to be about the way they came out. Of course, it is good to have both stances as you get better but I think it’s pretty unanimous among coaches that you shouldn’t start out with both at the same time. While I chose closed stance, I wouldn’t be surprised if in the future more and more coaches think beginning with the open stance is better.

What’s the best forehand grip to start a young player?

The survey says: Eastern 10, Semi-Western 10; Western 1

My take: While over the years, moving the hand more to the right has been more commonly accepted to my surprise just as many coaches still thought Eastern was better to start with.  Admittedly, this question is probably a bit generic. I would expect that the player’s expected size, physical attributes and what part of the world they live and which courts that part of the world plays on would also be a factor. For those unfamiliar, the more eastern a grip is, the more flat their shot will be and the more to the right or western the more spin it will have.

What is more important for a tennis player talent or hard work?

The survey says: Hard Work 19; Talent 2

My take:  I was pretty spot on with how this turned out. If two coaches think talent is more important though, it can’t be dismissed entirely. I’ve always subscribed to the 10-80-10 talent philosophy. In my own opinion, the top-10 percent of talented players can do a little bit less off the court to have more success than less talented peers. However to make it as a top-100 pro player you need to be in the top-10 percent, work your butt off and maybe have a little luck. The middle 80-percent of talented players I believe will take their tennis as far as their work-ethic, time dedication, mental toughness and passion takes them up to the top-100 ATP level as a ceiling. The bottom 10 percent talent-wise probably have their school team as a ceiling when they really dedicate themselves to tennis.

Have you ever stopped a lesson in the middle because of a student’s attitude?

The survey says: Yes 20, No 1

My take: I’m a bit surprised by how lopsided the results were because while most of the coaches surveyed have tons of experience they don’t all coach high-performance players. But I guess, ending a lesson early could be a good lesson for a student at any level.

In a perfect scenario should a junior player have one coach or multiple coaches?

The survey says: 11 one-coach, 10 multiple coaches

My take: While I thought the one-coach answer would prevail I was extremely surprised by how many coaches responded multiple coaches. After all, us tennis coaches are prideful people and sometimes think we know everything!

If you are a tennis coach and would like to be included in the next ten questions that will be discussed, please email me at rbecker06@yahoo.com and kindly let me know where it is that you coach!