1. Today, September 7th has been the most exciting day of tennis at the U.S. Open. Up until today, the matches have really been a bore. 2. Andy Murray losing so early in the tournament was given very little publicity. Probably due to the fact that he lost on a summer Saturday late-afternoon over the…
I find it funny how so many of my tournament players refuse to take time off. I get looks like, "Huh? Are you crazy"? Name me a sport, professional or otherwise where the athletes participate 52 weeks (or however many weeks there are) a year. Pro tennis players are always clamoring for a break from…
As my 2nd year coaching the USTA/Eastern Intersectionals Team started, I expected a similar experience as last years. Last year’s team finished 5th out of 17 sections and everybody was into the team-concept. They welcomed a coach who was anal about team meetings and being organized. This year’s group was a different animal. There were…
Let me start out by saying I am very proud to be an American. However, my trip to the 14’s clays in Fort Lauderdale left a heck of a lot to be desired. Granted, nobody’s perfect and there was one coaching situation I wish I handled differently but between the behavior of the players, officials,…
For starters, every child is different and unique. However, as a baseline, the USTA has done a comprehensive study on world class players and what level tournaments they played as juniors. What they came up with is that a player has the most long-term potential if they have a 2:1 win/loss ratio. This means for every…
Not Important For Getting Better In A Drill Group: 1) Exclusively playing with better players – When a parent says their child wants to be in a group that is stronger than their level, this tells me that the child wants to artificially feel like he/she is stronger than he really is or maybe the parents…
An interesting comment was made to me in 1995. I was having a little give and take with some of my California college teammates when I mentioned that I won an Eastern Sportsmanship Award when I was a junior. My roommate and #1 singles player commented, "Winning The Eastern Sportsmanship Award means you are the best…
A lot of times people want to go out and seemingly do well for their young child. "Who are the best coaches in the area?" They may ask their friends. Truth is, the coaches who are known as top coaches are top coaches for a completely different demographic than the one a 6-8 year old…
My sophomore year at Stanford I was taking a class on 19th century American history. This is a topic that I found really, really interesting. For the first time that I could remember, I found myself at class listening, concentrating and trying to follow what my teacher had to say. I found this class very easy. …
People often say to me "You Must Have Loved Tennis As a Kid." Truth is, as a kid, I never specifically loved tennis. I loved sports. And still do. As a 12-year old, I played soccer, baseball, basketball and tennis. Unbeknowst to me, my parents saw me as what I was, a go-with-the flow kid…