Whither American Tennis? Peter Bodo's TennisWorld
I wish this topic was surfacing on Bodo's blog when I had adequate time to post a comment. But as I told Peter, who asked me for a response or comment earlier today, I agree with 90% of his original post. Maybe those of you who have been reading zootennis the past month can guess the 10% that I don't agree with.
For those new to the debate this USTA Evert announcement has brought to the fore, here are the posts from zootennis earlier this month about the topic:
Player Development Roundtable
Defending American Tennis
2 comments:
There is a post from this blog by "tired of the USTA"..sort of a rude title I suppose, but very good points were made. It was suggested that the USTA look for much younger kids, 3-6. Yes, that does sound a bit drastic, but I had suggested in an earlier message that perhaps the USTA should have a "division" that would focus on PROSPECTS, and not ranking points. Without question there are many children out there that may have God-given racquet speed, or extraordinary timing. Mike Agassi wanted 100% to develop his children as PRO's, and from what I read, Andre showed the most promise from the get-go, even though he pushed all his children. Well, as "tired of the USTA" said, many of these talented youngsters like young Andre will go to other sports, only because tennis wasnt even on the radar screen for them or their families. I think the USTA is sort of getting it, in a warped sense. I totally disagree with the comment that the USTA coach made concerning Michael Jordan..basically saying he would have been a great tennis player, had he taken up the sport at a young age. Well, the USTA is really pushing young minorities, thinking they will discover a gem, and perhaps they will...but I believe that these "gems" can come from EVERYBODY. If I was in charge, I would propose "scouts" and tennis promoters, in every major city and suburb..perhaps conducting free clinics to young children. It will be easy to spot some of the naturally gifted ones...the little boy who on his second day, starts taking balls early, and sending them to the back curtain. Get these kids hooked, make it affordable and fun, and then maybe we can see some talent come through. And for the kids that cannot seem to do well in tournaments in the younger age groups..SO WHAT!!! Keep them playing matches, as well as instruction, of course, trying to win..but playing the right way! Get them comfortable at net, and get them comfortable not being AFRAID to miss. Then see what you may have at age 14-15. It could be an Edberg, Navratilova, or Agassi!
The author of this blog claims he is not running a commercial for IMG academy, but the more I read the more it seemed like Nick himself was writing it. If he thinks IMG is so successful he needs to talk to the thousands of kids that spend 5000 dollars a month to go there and get zero attention. Very few of the champions mentioned in the article ever spent considerable amounts of time at the academy, and if they did they brought their own coach and simply used the courts. It is very easy for a kid to come for a week to the academy and for the academy to claim they "produced" him. The USTA is doing a fine job, we have 4 guys in the top 20. You cant ask for much more than that.
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