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Wednesday, February 13, 2008

British Tennis Development Debate

A few days ago, Neil Harman, the esteemed tennis writer for The Times in London, wrote a column calling on the LTA to "inspire" the sport in Great Britain. Says Harman of the national federation:

So many good intentions, so little to show. Of course, there are some brilliant people in the sport in Britain, devoted, working endless hours, doing all that they can in a cause they know is worth fighting for. And yet many of them are at odds with a British game gripped as never before by petty factional infights, as emphasised by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) regime that trumpets its devotion to revolution but spends too much time worried about its image rather than increasing the numbers of juniors in competition, which have risen by a meagre amount since it came to office two years ago.

For that is the essence of their job, when all is said and done. A governing body prepares the way for its sport to flourish, it encourages growth, it builds bridges rather than dismantles them, it secures partnerships instead of undermining them, it covets relationships rather than scuppering them the minute “the other” side disagrees. And it keeps its good people rather than losing them, as this new LTA has a tendency to do.
Today there was a followup, with Harman bringing in four people with deep roots and commitments to British tennis, but not currently involved in the LTA, to discuss what's gone wrong and how they would fix it. There's plenty of talk of juniors and their parents, the must-win-now and ranking obsessions, and several other issues in player development.

(The Times website has been balky all night, but I have been able to access the stories on occasion.)

And if you missed it, please check the comments in the Craig Tiley post below. Steve Smith, one of the foremost tennis teachers in the U.S., has plenty to say about Tiley and why his methods will work in Australia.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I want to know the opinion of many on this weeks college indoor title for the mens. Who do you think takes the title and why?

Anonymous said...

Please tell me someone on here was at the Donald Young vs. Amer Delic match last night. I read Donny threw his racquet completely out of the stadium after he choked a 5-0 lead and 6 set points. Anyone?

Based on the draw I will go with the following:

1st Round
UVA over PSU, 4-0
UCLA over ND, 4-1
Bay over OkSt, 4-1
Miss over UNC, 4-0
OSU over Boise, 4-0
USC over Ill, 4-3
Texas over Bama, 4-3
UGA over Wash, 4-0

Quarterfinals
UVA over UCLA, 4-2
Miss over Bay, 4-3
OSU over USC, 4-3
UGA over Texas, 4-2

Semis
UVA over Miss, 4-2
UGA over OSU, 4-3

Finals
UGA over UVA, 4-3

I dont think there really is a clear or overwhelming favorite, which should make it extremely competitive from the quarters on.

Colette Lewis said...

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Anonymous said...

Austin,

I was in Delray and watched Young and Spadea practising a day before the match.

Probably the worst practise I have ever seen in 30 years of watching tennis. They played points that lasted about 2 hits and either one missed badly.

Young slammed his racquet to the ground at least 3 times and was putting forth absolutley no effort in the practice session.

I have watched ATP pros, college and junior players practice a day before the match and no, they are not out there for a long peroid of time- but however, short the time is - they compete, if the players are playing points out.

Spadea I can understand, he is 33 or 34 and he has seen his best days.

Young on the other hand, has his entire career in front of him - and plays like someone owes him something -- not going to happen with the big boys, Donald.

BTW- they list Young at 5' 10" -- I was standing right next to him - and if he is 5'8" that is a lot- he might be 5'10" on his tippy toes.

I did watch the doubles match Spadea / Young vs David Martin / Scott Lipsky and the 2 Stanford guys crushed S / Y. Young is a spoiled brat!!!

Let's see where Young goes without all the Wild cards and opponents defaulting (a la the US Open).

I still think he can be a top 50 player, anything more is just not going to happen, and for all the hype he has gotten -- he should be top 10.

He has a long way to go in tennis, work ethic and growing up and I am not talking about his height!!

Anonymous said...

Sorry for the misspellings - I am typing on a small keyboard and viewing on a very small screen.

I will try and do better the next time!!