My days of playing at C and S included sets against my School Teachers which always made for a bit of light banter either during or before a timed set on a Saturday afternoon. 'Hey Glenn if you want that A in Maths'......
That tennis club was so busy with players on a Saturday that it was not unusual to play a set against your local Doctor, Accountant, Vet or anyone else who owned a title of esteem in the Community. The Country and Suburban Tennis Club was THE place to play tennis in Albany, WA.
It's not to say that there weren't other tennis clubs in town but if you wanted a great hit then you wouldn't look any further than the Albany Highway facility. 'Hit and giggle' tennis was not on the agenda at C and S, it was a case of pride as the Senior set play from 1 pm onwards was your chance to make a statement amongst the elite of Albany's tennis community.
The club was fortunate to have Mark Leuba as a member, an outrageously talented kid who was in fact coached by his Dad. Bill Leuba took Mark to the top of the State rankings for the 12's and 14's training him at C and S three or four times a week. Mark would also play the senior club sets on Saturday afternoon but he was way too good for the junior club.
One of my first experiences playing Mark was in the afternoon tea break hit for the keen juniors who would never go and have a coffee with the 'oldies', it was a chance for that little bit of extra court time.
I thought I would try my luck and asked Mark for a few games, he obliged, nice kid was Mark. It was another one of those early tennis 'educations'. It only took him around 15 minutes to beat me 5-1, ( I never forget a score) with the afternoon tea bell ringing to save me from total humiliation. I knew I would have to get close to Mark's standard if I wanted to make an impression in Perth but at least I had that bench mark ( pardon the pun ) of ability etched in my mind.
How lucky was I ? Fair dinkum I had the best Tennis Coach this town has ever seen and one of the State's best ever Country juniors both playing and coaching at my tennis club. Spoilt rotten no doubt about it when I first commenced the journey into my chosen sport. It took around six months of coaching with Peter to become competitive enough to play sets with Mark but I recall telling Peter that I wanted to get to Mark's standard and we worked hard.
Mark and I would hit regularly once I became good enough to play him and I regularly won sets from him both at C and S and the indoor facility where we hit throughout winter. In an old chapter I wrote of the devastation of losing to Mark perhaps a year later at the State Schoolboys Championships in Perth at Trinity College. I lead Mark 7-5, 4-3 and won just ONE more game which I put down to my mind seeing the finish line way too soon yet I remained philosophical. I knew I was heading in the right direction as Mark lost in the final to David Culley in the 16's that year so my standard was thereabouts but I lacked the polish that guys like Mark owned.
The C and S Tennis Club was a place to forge your game against some talented players no doubt about it and the hallmarks were all there to raise your standard if you used your brains as far as training was concerned. By that I mean it was up to you how well you took your opportunities as far as junior club, senior club, hits with the better players when the chance arose and taking a lesson from Peter was concerned.
It was as though you were a kid in a candy store at the courts on the highway with an abundance of sweets to treat yourself with. If you had the inclination and the desire to get better it was all out there at C and S yet one thing has stayed in my mind from those days more than anything else and it was the amount of POINT PLAY that we did.
We learned drills from Peter and worked on technique in those sessions however I firmly believe that it was the hours and hours of point play throughout the whole of Saturday's matches that was the deciding factor in our improvement.
Point play is 'KING' when working towards tennis success because when you play points you develop a sense of knowing what to do and when at different stages in a match.
Players who train too much without point play lack that vital ingredient that is required to win at tennis.
It's the one thing that separates a good hitter from a good player, court intelligence. Plenty of great hitters out there, not as many great tennis players.......
Wednesday 27 April 2016
Tuesday 26 April 2016
'THE C and S DEBACLE' ( PART 4 )
You will have to excuse my way of writing, it stems from owning a mind that goes around at 100 miles per hour when it comes to tennis, a sport that has been good to me but a sport that has also consumed me. Axel Rose put things into perspective in one of the all time classics '.....reminds me of childhood memories where everything was as fresh as the bright blue sky'.....
That song, 'Sweet child of Mine' was not only a classic hit for the 'Gunners' but a song that made you reflect on past days and past feelings about life, it was a song for the ages. My time in tennis has been around 35 years, time to know right from wrong but not enough time to work out a formula for success, no one will ever own that status.
The C and S tennis Club towards the end of it's existence in fact held a tennis tournament on those 8 courts that for some unknown reason has never been replicated at another club in the region which I find to this day both disappointing and bemusing. Around a month or so before I was married I received an entry form in the mail from the C and S Tennis Club Secretary for a tournament that went by the title of 'The Great Southern Men's Singles Championship'. The tournament was of course put together by Peter Holmes who gained sponsorship through local businesses to the tune of roughly $1000, not a bad effort.
I looked at the entry form for about 30 seconds and said to my better half 'Let's go to Albany and visit the folks next month, my old club has a competition on, haven't played there in years'.
I was 28 years old at the time and it had been probably 15 years since Peter had first coached me and quite remarkably it was maybe the only Singles Championship for the town apart from club championships since the Albany Open Junior Tournament had ceased to exist.
Sentiment drew me to enter this competition because I wanted to take a trip down memory lane where my old coach was not only the person who put the tournament together but the number one seed also. When you look at that realistically, well, that was Peter for you. I had been to Europe, taken up coaching in Perth, given up playing, fallen in love, taken up playing again, got engaged, got a real job outside of tennis, and all this time there was one bloke who kept that old tennis club of mine running in my home town, Holmsey.
So this was the plan, we go to Albany and work on the theory that I can make the final providing I am on the other half of the draw from Peter. I finish runner up to a bloke who I had the most ridiculous amount of respect for and I pick up $100 as runner up for the privilege of playing him at the club where it all started for me as a kid. Plan was 'idiot proof'.
So we get to Albany and book in to possibly the most famous beachside resort on the South Coast of WA, The Esplanade, overlooking Middleton Beach, a place I had spent many hours of my miss spent youth at drinking like a fish and chatting up young blondes. I paid $200 for two nights accommodation which when you think about it was rather cheap for a room over looking the beach that also had a spa and was about twenty five steps from the main bar. It was the type of situation that had 'rock star' written all over it. Problem was I was no rock star and I was in desperate need of at least making the semis to at least pay for one night at the 'Nard'.
Now to try and finish this chapter in a reasonable time frame I will do my best to shorten the events of that weekend in Albany Feb, 1997; Saturday, GT wins both Mens Singles matches as the number 2 seed ( not sure why I was seeded 2 but I took it as a compliment ). That night my better half and I walk into the bar to have a 'quiet ale' and a counter meal. We bump into a couple who we knew well from Perth, we get stuck into the ale and neglect the counter meal. I looked at the whole scene realistically, I was never going to beat Peter, even though I had 12 years on him in youth, he was just too tough, let's just live a little. Idiot.....
Six beers later and a burger to soak it up we get back to the room, I do the sums, my semi has to be quick against Tarkin Lockyer, a talented young fellow who would eventually become the Captain of the Collingwood Football Team, nice kid. I belt him 1 and 2, an energy saving match. Peter wins comfortably in his semi, as expected.
One hour break, then the final where Peter picks the court ! This is what he said to me, 'Let's play on court 4 and let me take you into the wall with my serve' ! You see, court 4 at C and S had a brick wall to the left of it and Peter knew that if he put enough slice on his serve it would get to the wall before his opponent. I told you he was clever....
Pete leads 4-1, 40-30, just killing me, one point away from demoralising his former student when something clicked inside my head. 'You know where this is going GT, as soon as he throws the ball up start moving to your left, nothing else has worked so far but you know what's coming, think buddy, think.
Peter throws it out wide and I was there before it got to the wall. I hit a two hander to his feet and clean up his half volley easily with a forehand. I break, 2-4, break again, 4-4, hold, 5-5, 6-6, tiebreak. I lose the first point and win the next seven straight. I take the second 6-3 by doing exactly what Peter told me to do as a kid. There are ways to beat a serve and volleyer even if he is your former coach. If you take things in as a kid, one day it may just pay dividends.
Peter won me that match and title plus the $200 that paid for the accommodation for the weekend at my favourite beachside haunt. I mean that in all due respect.
The only way I got out of that hole I was in was from Pete's tuition, the days of coaching where we simulated match play and the days we worked on moments in matches that would prove critical to the end result. You can hit as many balls as you like in practice but if they don't have structure it is a wasted exercise.
I never told anyone I got half cut the night before that tournament out of respect for Peter but there was a reason why I drank that night and it was out of respect for my old mentor. I never gave myself a chance, I was only going for second place and a hundred bucks to help pay the expenses for the weekend. I was 28 years of age, I was over trying to make a living out of the game !
I cramped in that last game when I broke Pete's serve to win it. If it went to three, I was gone. From memory I hit a two hander down the line off Pete's serve to take it, Pete taught me how to hit that.
Nothing more memorable than beating someone who taught you how to play but one thing sticks in my mind about that match and it's called perspective.
Pete was 40, I was 28. Pete still was prepared to put it on the line against the 'young' fellas, that typifies the sort of person Pete was. He could walk it, not just talk it..........
Chapter 5 to follow
That song, 'Sweet child of Mine' was not only a classic hit for the 'Gunners' but a song that made you reflect on past days and past feelings about life, it was a song for the ages. My time in tennis has been around 35 years, time to know right from wrong but not enough time to work out a formula for success, no one will ever own that status.
The C and S tennis Club towards the end of it's existence in fact held a tennis tournament on those 8 courts that for some unknown reason has never been replicated at another club in the region which I find to this day both disappointing and bemusing. Around a month or so before I was married I received an entry form in the mail from the C and S Tennis Club Secretary for a tournament that went by the title of 'The Great Southern Men's Singles Championship'. The tournament was of course put together by Peter Holmes who gained sponsorship through local businesses to the tune of roughly $1000, not a bad effort.
I looked at the entry form for about 30 seconds and said to my better half 'Let's go to Albany and visit the folks next month, my old club has a competition on, haven't played there in years'.
I was 28 years old at the time and it had been probably 15 years since Peter had first coached me and quite remarkably it was maybe the only Singles Championship for the town apart from club championships since the Albany Open Junior Tournament had ceased to exist.
Sentiment drew me to enter this competition because I wanted to take a trip down memory lane where my old coach was not only the person who put the tournament together but the number one seed also. When you look at that realistically, well, that was Peter for you. I had been to Europe, taken up coaching in Perth, given up playing, fallen in love, taken up playing again, got engaged, got a real job outside of tennis, and all this time there was one bloke who kept that old tennis club of mine running in my home town, Holmsey.
So this was the plan, we go to Albany and work on the theory that I can make the final providing I am on the other half of the draw from Peter. I finish runner up to a bloke who I had the most ridiculous amount of respect for and I pick up $100 as runner up for the privilege of playing him at the club where it all started for me as a kid. Plan was 'idiot proof'.
So we get to Albany and book in to possibly the most famous beachside resort on the South Coast of WA, The Esplanade, overlooking Middleton Beach, a place I had spent many hours of my miss spent youth at drinking like a fish and chatting up young blondes. I paid $200 for two nights accommodation which when you think about it was rather cheap for a room over looking the beach that also had a spa and was about twenty five steps from the main bar. It was the type of situation that had 'rock star' written all over it. Problem was I was no rock star and I was in desperate need of at least making the semis to at least pay for one night at the 'Nard'.
Now to try and finish this chapter in a reasonable time frame I will do my best to shorten the events of that weekend in Albany Feb, 1997; Saturday, GT wins both Mens Singles matches as the number 2 seed ( not sure why I was seeded 2 but I took it as a compliment ). That night my better half and I walk into the bar to have a 'quiet ale' and a counter meal. We bump into a couple who we knew well from Perth, we get stuck into the ale and neglect the counter meal. I looked at the whole scene realistically, I was never going to beat Peter, even though I had 12 years on him in youth, he was just too tough, let's just live a little. Idiot.....
Six beers later and a burger to soak it up we get back to the room, I do the sums, my semi has to be quick against Tarkin Lockyer, a talented young fellow who would eventually become the Captain of the Collingwood Football Team, nice kid. I belt him 1 and 2, an energy saving match. Peter wins comfortably in his semi, as expected.
One hour break, then the final where Peter picks the court ! This is what he said to me, 'Let's play on court 4 and let me take you into the wall with my serve' ! You see, court 4 at C and S had a brick wall to the left of it and Peter knew that if he put enough slice on his serve it would get to the wall before his opponent. I told you he was clever....
Pete leads 4-1, 40-30, just killing me, one point away from demoralising his former student when something clicked inside my head. 'You know where this is going GT, as soon as he throws the ball up start moving to your left, nothing else has worked so far but you know what's coming, think buddy, think.
Peter throws it out wide and I was there before it got to the wall. I hit a two hander to his feet and clean up his half volley easily with a forehand. I break, 2-4, break again, 4-4, hold, 5-5, 6-6, tiebreak. I lose the first point and win the next seven straight. I take the second 6-3 by doing exactly what Peter told me to do as a kid. There are ways to beat a serve and volleyer even if he is your former coach. If you take things in as a kid, one day it may just pay dividends.
Peter won me that match and title plus the $200 that paid for the accommodation for the weekend at my favourite beachside haunt. I mean that in all due respect.
The only way I got out of that hole I was in was from Pete's tuition, the days of coaching where we simulated match play and the days we worked on moments in matches that would prove critical to the end result. You can hit as many balls as you like in practice but if they don't have structure it is a wasted exercise.
I never told anyone I got half cut the night before that tournament out of respect for Peter but there was a reason why I drank that night and it was out of respect for my old mentor. I never gave myself a chance, I was only going for second place and a hundred bucks to help pay the expenses for the weekend. I was 28 years of age, I was over trying to make a living out of the game !
I cramped in that last game when I broke Pete's serve to win it. If it went to three, I was gone. From memory I hit a two hander down the line off Pete's serve to take it, Pete taught me how to hit that.
Nothing more memorable than beating someone who taught you how to play but one thing sticks in my mind about that match and it's called perspective.
Pete was 40, I was 28. Pete still was prepared to put it on the line against the 'young' fellas, that typifies the sort of person Pete was. He could walk it, not just talk it..........
Chapter 5 to follow
Monday 25 April 2016
'THE C and S DEBACLE ( Part 3 )
In sport we hear the word 'culture', often used when talking about an AFL side such as the Sydney Swans, a team which takes that word to a whole new meaning. The way in which the Swans go about their business is inspiring and can even boast calming 'Buddie' Franklin's ego to a respectable level that now sees him play as a team man and not an individual. Culture in sport is what makes a team or an individual player disciplined enough to carry out their 'work' with pride.
I think that with a club such as C and S there was an element of wanting to play the game not only to the best of your ability but there was also a sense of pride when you played at that tennis club. Peter Holmes would have that sort of aura surrounding him when he either played out there or when he talked about the game to you during a lesson.
In fact he was that knowledgeable on the game that at times it was just as much an education to listen to his take on the sport in general as it was for him to teach you how to hit a shot better. At less than twenty bucks an hour with Pete it was ridiculously great value.
Peter never charged much for a lesson because he got so many of them plus he wasn't full of his own self importance as many coaches are today. He knew that tennis took time to learn, a realist of the sport and he also knew that affordability was a big factor in keeping students in the game.
I would often ride my bike to C and S, possibly 15 k's from my house as a warm up, do a session with Pete then ride home, fit as a fiddle back then. What I liked so much about what Holmsey did on court was his variety. I recall one day he didn't come out with his usual basket of tennis balls, just his racket and a new tin of balls. 'Two sets Thommo, let's do this, think about what I have taught you'. He smashed me but boy it was an education of sorts. 'So this is why Pete doesn't want me to just look good in practice ey ? A dose of reality'...... ( Tough to grasp back then, easy to understand now ).
I suppose Pete instilled a type of culture at C and S that did not reward mediocrity because he did not accept mediocrity from you in a session. I believe I adopted his hard nosed approach to coaching as I am certain one day he took me home early because I cracked the shits with the game and threw a tantrum. That was just me wanting to get better and getting frustrated because it didn't happen over night.
I have many memories of C and S and they all involved Holmsey and my school buddies who lived for the sport and in particular the Saturday of each week. Once I became strong enough I would pack my lunch and play all day, perhaps 6 hours, maybe more. At afternoon tea time I would grab someone and we would play singles for 20 minutes, anything to milk the day for what it was worth.
I liken the time at C and S to what a surfer would do at a beach pumping with good waves all day as I am certain that I was looking for the perfect ride with a two handed backhand.
Holmsey was the equivalent of a surfing 'Zen Master', someone we all idolised, someone who we looked up to and strived to become as good as one day because he won everything locally, he was the bench mark of local tennis. He was the 'rock', the one who you would gauge your form against as to whether or not you should continue with it or go and find a team sport.
I loved the way Pete would teach you something and then watch as he delivered it in a tournament or pennant match exactly the way he described it to you in a session. Pete typified a tennis coach of that era who made a point of walking and not just talking, that back then was important, not so much now days.
The culture of the C and S Tennis Club in the 80's in particular could never be questioned as far as professionalism was concerned and neither could the strength of the playing groups. By that I mean the Junior Pennant teams as well as the Senior teams, both women's and men's who had a wall full of flags pinned up around the club house for all to see from their on court exploits. The argument could be said that it's not all about winning however back then it was almost a given that C and S teams would win the flag just about every season due to their programs.
Having senior pennant teams train on the courts next door to you as a kid was invaluable because it gave you a sense of what was required. At times it was a lesson in itself to just watch the best men from our club practice particularly when Pete organised the drills as they were 'reality' drills, ones that would help you in a pennant match or a tournament.
Again I never compare myself to Pete's coaching ability but I have never used a 'Walt Disney' drill that you can grab out of a Weetbix packet that looks dazzling but never really helps a player in a match.
So why was the C and S Tennis Club on Albany Highway so good ? It was like a burger with the lot, it had everything including the extra bacon, egg and sauce, it was outrageously appealing to someone wanting to take their tennis as far as they possibly could because quite frankly the club was King. Peter Holmes was a man who loved his tennis to such an extent that it oozed out of him when he either played on a Saturday arvo, a pennant match or a local tournament as well as when he fed you a ball in a drill.
He was a man who basically single- handedly kept a tennis club running and kept people coming through the gates to either join the club or experience his brilliant teaching. There was definitely an aura about that tennis club on the highway, a culture that will be difficult to replicate in this Region as the sport now is a pale shadow of it's former self.....
Chapter 4 to follow....
I think that with a club such as C and S there was an element of wanting to play the game not only to the best of your ability but there was also a sense of pride when you played at that tennis club. Peter Holmes would have that sort of aura surrounding him when he either played out there or when he talked about the game to you during a lesson.
In fact he was that knowledgeable on the game that at times it was just as much an education to listen to his take on the sport in general as it was for him to teach you how to hit a shot better. At less than twenty bucks an hour with Pete it was ridiculously great value.
Peter never charged much for a lesson because he got so many of them plus he wasn't full of his own self importance as many coaches are today. He knew that tennis took time to learn, a realist of the sport and he also knew that affordability was a big factor in keeping students in the game.
I would often ride my bike to C and S, possibly 15 k's from my house as a warm up, do a session with Pete then ride home, fit as a fiddle back then. What I liked so much about what Holmsey did on court was his variety. I recall one day he didn't come out with his usual basket of tennis balls, just his racket and a new tin of balls. 'Two sets Thommo, let's do this, think about what I have taught you'. He smashed me but boy it was an education of sorts. 'So this is why Pete doesn't want me to just look good in practice ey ? A dose of reality'...... ( Tough to grasp back then, easy to understand now ).
I suppose Pete instilled a type of culture at C and S that did not reward mediocrity because he did not accept mediocrity from you in a session. I believe I adopted his hard nosed approach to coaching as I am certain one day he took me home early because I cracked the shits with the game and threw a tantrum. That was just me wanting to get better and getting frustrated because it didn't happen over night.
I have many memories of C and S and they all involved Holmsey and my school buddies who lived for the sport and in particular the Saturday of each week. Once I became strong enough I would pack my lunch and play all day, perhaps 6 hours, maybe more. At afternoon tea time I would grab someone and we would play singles for 20 minutes, anything to milk the day for what it was worth.
I liken the time at C and S to what a surfer would do at a beach pumping with good waves all day as I am certain that I was looking for the perfect ride with a two handed backhand.
Holmsey was the equivalent of a surfing 'Zen Master', someone we all idolised, someone who we looked up to and strived to become as good as one day because he won everything locally, he was the bench mark of local tennis. He was the 'rock', the one who you would gauge your form against as to whether or not you should continue with it or go and find a team sport.
I loved the way Pete would teach you something and then watch as he delivered it in a tournament or pennant match exactly the way he described it to you in a session. Pete typified a tennis coach of that era who made a point of walking and not just talking, that back then was important, not so much now days.
The culture of the C and S Tennis Club in the 80's in particular could never be questioned as far as professionalism was concerned and neither could the strength of the playing groups. By that I mean the Junior Pennant teams as well as the Senior teams, both women's and men's who had a wall full of flags pinned up around the club house for all to see from their on court exploits. The argument could be said that it's not all about winning however back then it was almost a given that C and S teams would win the flag just about every season due to their programs.
Having senior pennant teams train on the courts next door to you as a kid was invaluable because it gave you a sense of what was required. At times it was a lesson in itself to just watch the best men from our club practice particularly when Pete organised the drills as they were 'reality' drills, ones that would help you in a pennant match or a tournament.
Again I never compare myself to Pete's coaching ability but I have never used a 'Walt Disney' drill that you can grab out of a Weetbix packet that looks dazzling but never really helps a player in a match.
So why was the C and S Tennis Club on Albany Highway so good ? It was like a burger with the lot, it had everything including the extra bacon, egg and sauce, it was outrageously appealing to someone wanting to take their tennis as far as they possibly could because quite frankly the club was King. Peter Holmes was a man who loved his tennis to such an extent that it oozed out of him when he either played on a Saturday arvo, a pennant match or a local tournament as well as when he fed you a ball in a drill.
He was a man who basically single- handedly kept a tennis club running and kept people coming through the gates to either join the club or experience his brilliant teaching. There was definitely an aura about that tennis club on the highway, a culture that will be difficult to replicate in this Region as the sport now is a pale shadow of it's former self.....
Chapter 4 to follow....
'THE C AND S DEBACLE' ( Part 2 )
You will often hear in many sports that a team can be built around a player depending on their level of expertise and I believe that this statement could be correct. As far as a sporting facility is concerned well I believe that if it is run correctly then people will keep coming through the gates to play. A sport can be built around a venue, you just need the right people to run it.
The C and S Tennis Club had that sort of aura surrounding it when I was a kid because it owned a vision or rather one man owned a vision for the future of the sport in Albany.
Peter Holmes ( Holmsey ) who I often write fondly of on this site had a Business mind as well as a tennis mind and he put that business brain of his to work beautifully. I don't like to compare myself to Holmsey because he was by far a better tennis coach but I think we were both on the same wave length when it came to teaching juniors the sport of tennis.
Previously I have written about the program which we ran at the Lawley Park Tennis Club 5 or 6 years ago that brought juniors through into the senior club. Well that was also how Peter ran his program because he had a vision for the future as far as the youth of the sport was concerned and he wasn't just in it to make a dollar.
The Saturday morning junior club was an integral part of the C and S Tennis Club and it made kids strive for the afternoon matches with the adults. We all treated it as almost an honour to be selected to play in the afternoons because we knew that it would make us into better players. How could it not ? Saturday morning tennis was ridiculously competitive because of what was at stake for us if we continued to get better.
Holmsey had a way with his teaching that brought the best out of a kid who showed potential and his methods were nothing short of brilliant as he urged kids to become a part of the club and not just someone who turned up for a session.
You see there is a difference, yet it is common now days for a kid to go to coaching yet not even play the senior afternoon club matches which I find bemusing to say the least. If a coach turns up at his local club at 1 pm on a Saturday along with 4 or 5 of their pupils it brings a good vibe to a tennis club, that's what Holmsey did.
You can only play so many tournaments due to what is available on the calendar so surely in between those competitions a kid of say 12 or 14 years of age needs some good hard hitting. That's where C and S was so damn good as it was a tennis club where ALL of Albany's best senior and junior tennis players competed due largely to Peter's management skills.
Peter had a way about him, a way that commanded respect and his Saturday morning junior coaching program as well as the junior club match play filled the eight courts easily week in, week out of the season. The strongest juniors would play for three hours in the morning and then stay on for the senior club matches which ultimately proved the difference in tennis club strength in the Region.
As an adult you just knew that Saturday arvo club play was going to be hard work due to the standard of players who would turn up each week. Peter's adult coaching was also brilliant because he would bring players through his program and into the club to strengthen it.
There was always an idea to bring a novice adult into the club, never a 'thanks mate see you same time next week' sort of situation that does nothing to help bring a club new members.
The club on the highway I believe was the strongest tennis club this side of Perth and I recall a competition which proved that statement to be correct.
From memory I believe that it was 1985 and Holmsey organised a City vs Country Competition where the State 16's and 14's best players came to town to play over a full weekend. It is a fact that every single player from our team was a member of the C and S Tennis Club and I was fortunate enough to be selected to play. Peter put a team together of around 10 players and we played their best 10, we won easily, our team was outrageously strong.
Putting that into perspective now I could not find more than 4 locals of any age who would even have a sniff of a chance against a team like that from Perth yet we had TEN who barely lost a match consisting of adults and juniors all operating out of one tennis club, the C and S Tennis Club.......
Part 3 to follow
The C and S Tennis Club had that sort of aura surrounding it when I was a kid because it owned a vision or rather one man owned a vision for the future of the sport in Albany.
Peter Holmes ( Holmsey ) who I often write fondly of on this site had a Business mind as well as a tennis mind and he put that business brain of his to work beautifully. I don't like to compare myself to Holmsey because he was by far a better tennis coach but I think we were both on the same wave length when it came to teaching juniors the sport of tennis.
Previously I have written about the program which we ran at the Lawley Park Tennis Club 5 or 6 years ago that brought juniors through into the senior club. Well that was also how Peter ran his program because he had a vision for the future as far as the youth of the sport was concerned and he wasn't just in it to make a dollar.
The Saturday morning junior club was an integral part of the C and S Tennis Club and it made kids strive for the afternoon matches with the adults. We all treated it as almost an honour to be selected to play in the afternoons because we knew that it would make us into better players. How could it not ? Saturday morning tennis was ridiculously competitive because of what was at stake for us if we continued to get better.
Holmsey had a way with his teaching that brought the best out of a kid who showed potential and his methods were nothing short of brilliant as he urged kids to become a part of the club and not just someone who turned up for a session.
You see there is a difference, yet it is common now days for a kid to go to coaching yet not even play the senior afternoon club matches which I find bemusing to say the least. If a coach turns up at his local club at 1 pm on a Saturday along with 4 or 5 of their pupils it brings a good vibe to a tennis club, that's what Holmsey did.
You can only play so many tournaments due to what is available on the calendar so surely in between those competitions a kid of say 12 or 14 years of age needs some good hard hitting. That's where C and S was so damn good as it was a tennis club where ALL of Albany's best senior and junior tennis players competed due largely to Peter's management skills.
Peter had a way about him, a way that commanded respect and his Saturday morning junior coaching program as well as the junior club match play filled the eight courts easily week in, week out of the season. The strongest juniors would play for three hours in the morning and then stay on for the senior club matches which ultimately proved the difference in tennis club strength in the Region.
As an adult you just knew that Saturday arvo club play was going to be hard work due to the standard of players who would turn up each week. Peter's adult coaching was also brilliant because he would bring players through his program and into the club to strengthen it.
There was always an idea to bring a novice adult into the club, never a 'thanks mate see you same time next week' sort of situation that does nothing to help bring a club new members.
The club on the highway I believe was the strongest tennis club this side of Perth and I recall a competition which proved that statement to be correct.
From memory I believe that it was 1985 and Holmsey organised a City vs Country Competition where the State 16's and 14's best players came to town to play over a full weekend. It is a fact that every single player from our team was a member of the C and S Tennis Club and I was fortunate enough to be selected to play. Peter put a team together of around 10 players and we played their best 10, we won easily, our team was outrageously strong.
Putting that into perspective now I could not find more than 4 locals of any age who would even have a sniff of a chance against a team like that from Perth yet we had TEN who barely lost a match consisting of adults and juniors all operating out of one tennis club, the C and S Tennis Club.......
Part 3 to follow
Sunday 24 April 2016
'THE C and S DEBACLE' (Part 1)
Final of the Boys 16's Singles, Albany Junior Open.
The idea to write a post about my old tennis club has been going around in my head for a while because it's one of those things in life, do you drag it up or let it go ? The problem in my own head is that I own a tendency to do the former, I drag many tennis issues up however that's just me and being me aint easy, trust me.
I think the one thing that bothers me the most about the old Country and Suburban Tennis Club ( C and S ) is that it could so easily have been avoided. I refer to the closing of the club. How does a once hugely successful tennis club which saw hundreds of kids once take part in a junior open tournament in the holiday season suddenly fall apart and become a 'ghost club' almost overnight ? Tough question but as I always I look for answers.
The C and S Tennis Club was a club that had everything except a perfect location as it was on a busy highway, Albany Highway to be precise yet as a player you would get used to the constant sound of cars going by. New York has aeroplanes flying over at the US Open so a car when you think about it is not really a major distraction. As I said, you got used to it.
C and S had a huge club house, bbq area, a shed to watch matches from and above all it had EIGHT TENNIS COURTS. That was enough to hold an open tournament. Now this town only has six court clubs which do not cater for big tournaments so in a nutshell Albany does not hold big tennis tournaments. The Albany Open held at the Emu Point Tennis Club sees around 100 players hit the courts on a Saturday for Mens and Ladies A and B Grade doubles plus on the Sunday around 50 players contest the Mixed Doubles. So all in all it's not a bad effort from Emu Point to get through that many matches on six courts over a weekend.
So how easily would the C and S Tennis Club have been able to stage that same event over eight courts ? Well two extra courts do make a huge difference and the old junior event despite it's huge numbers was able to make it through Saturday and Sunday complete with best of three set matches for the finals which was the correct way to finish a tennis tournament.
Locally we now have to play on the clock or with a shortened version of scoring and tennis is not like that in the real World, just ask Mahut and Isner where they took three days to once complete a match at Wimbledon. Tennis tournaments should not be put on a clock, full stop, yet they are locally due to court availability.
So to the issues surrounding C and S and could they have been avoided and should that now defunct tennis club still be operating ? Well in my view it should be THE Albany Tennis Centre complete with lights and facilities upgraded to cater not only for 100 or more players on a Saturday ( juniors in the morning and seniors in the afternoon ) as it once did but it should be a showpiece for Great Southern tennis in general. The above photo tells another story.
Could the local town council have saved the club and resurfaced the courts, put in lights and kept it despite the droves of members who walked out on the club leaving it in disarray ? Well the club folded due to conflict within the committee and amongst members so there is your number one reason why you don't let people who are usually unsuccessful on court try to become successful in a boardroom.
I am sure that the C and S Tennis Club was not the first sporting club to be ruined by a group of people who could not get along and who couldn't make the correct decisions regarding what was in the best interests of a sport.
C and S needed to be handed to an independent group who actually had a vision for the sport in this town and should not have allowed it to be run by people with egos and personal agendas who did not have the good of tennis at the fore front of their decision making.
The final committee at the C and S Tennis Club simply washed their hands of the whole affair and could not see that the club was the future of tennis in this town. They found it easier to walk away from it and joined other clubs in town, Lawley, Emu and Merrifield.
I am sure those clubs would have been absolutely ecstatic with the influx of members at the time yet rather bemused all the same with the folding of the town's biggest tennis club.
Part 2 to follow......
Thursday 21 April 2016
'WORK THIS ONE OUT'
Chris Guccioni is an Australian Tennis Professional. He has been on the Pro Tour for nearly 15 years. Chris has earned just over $1.4 Million Dollars in his career which works out to be roughly $100,000 per year.
Take off tax, take off travel expenses, what would that leave him with ?
It is common knowledge that a Tennis Professional REQUIRES AT LEAST $100,000 PER YEAR JUST TO BREAK EVEN ON THE PRO TOUR. So if you look at Guccioni's career earning it looks as though he will have to get a 'real job' when he retires as he will have probably less than nothing left at the end of it all.
I am not sure if I am the only one who sees Pro Tennis players' earnings and raise my eyebrows at the viability of it all when you see certain player profiles and just how long they have been on the circuit for. Guccioni's earnings do not in fact add up to a figure that sees his incoming wages over ride his outgoing costs.
Call me cynical however I fail to see how many Tennis Professionals can in fact afford to live from week to week without hand outs from family, friends or tournament sponsors. I am all for the life of a Tennis Pro however after almost 15 years on tour and earnings after expenses that a local Taxi Driver would be comfortably making I find it hard to believe Chris's job is viable.
Chris is 30 years of age and he needs some big wins ASAP if he is to remain on tour and be able to afford to travel the World doing what he loves. Chris Guccioni's story is a typical tennis story but is not heard and seen as much as it should be as the glamorous life of a Tennis Professional is portrayed to the public as the 'norm'.
If a player is to be coached professionally by someone who really does know the intricacies of the game and I don't mean by a 'Walt Disney Tennis Coach' then they would have to be coming up with at least a grand each week to just cover their costs alone. Realistically they would in fact need two grand to cover a 'REAL' coach's costs per week on tour including flights and expenses.
The best players or rather the most successful players enlist an experienced coach to help them week in, week out and I would doubt that any player inside the top 50 does not have a full time coach. If they don't I would call them a 'Freak Show' as knowing all there is to know about tennis and being ranked inside the best 50 players in the World without a mentor would be nothing short of outrageous.
If nothing else a player who wishes to become successful in tennis needs a BIG WIN, one that sees sponsors chip in and one that affords the luxury of being able to hire a coach even if it is in the short term. If that big win does not happen then most players will scratch around the tour just as Chris Guccioni has done for nearly 15 hard years and perhaps just break even in the process.
Tough sport Tennis, not for the poor or the faint hearted.......
Take off tax, take off travel expenses, what would that leave him with ?
It is common knowledge that a Tennis Professional REQUIRES AT LEAST $100,000 PER YEAR JUST TO BREAK EVEN ON THE PRO TOUR. So if you look at Guccioni's career earning it looks as though he will have to get a 'real job' when he retires as he will have probably less than nothing left at the end of it all.
I am not sure if I am the only one who sees Pro Tennis players' earnings and raise my eyebrows at the viability of it all when you see certain player profiles and just how long they have been on the circuit for. Guccioni's earnings do not in fact add up to a figure that sees his incoming wages over ride his outgoing costs.
Call me cynical however I fail to see how many Tennis Professionals can in fact afford to live from week to week without hand outs from family, friends or tournament sponsors. I am all for the life of a Tennis Pro however after almost 15 years on tour and earnings after expenses that a local Taxi Driver would be comfortably making I find it hard to believe Chris's job is viable.
Chris is 30 years of age and he needs some big wins ASAP if he is to remain on tour and be able to afford to travel the World doing what he loves. Chris Guccioni's story is a typical tennis story but is not heard and seen as much as it should be as the glamorous life of a Tennis Professional is portrayed to the public as the 'norm'.
If a player is to be coached professionally by someone who really does know the intricacies of the game and I don't mean by a 'Walt Disney Tennis Coach' then they would have to be coming up with at least a grand each week to just cover their costs alone. Realistically they would in fact need two grand to cover a 'REAL' coach's costs per week on tour including flights and expenses.
The best players or rather the most successful players enlist an experienced coach to help them week in, week out and I would doubt that any player inside the top 50 does not have a full time coach. If they don't I would call them a 'Freak Show' as knowing all there is to know about tennis and being ranked inside the best 50 players in the World without a mentor would be nothing short of outrageous.
If nothing else a player who wishes to become successful in tennis needs a BIG WIN, one that sees sponsors chip in and one that affords the luxury of being able to hire a coach even if it is in the short term. If that big win does not happen then most players will scratch around the tour just as Chris Guccioni has done for nearly 15 hard years and perhaps just break even in the process.
Tough sport Tennis, not for the poor or the faint hearted.......
Friday 15 April 2016
'RAFA, A CERTAINTY'
Not sure how long it's been since Rafa has ruled the clay in Europe, maybe two years or so where injuries and lack of confidence has kept him from dominating the dirt as he did for ten years or so. It's funny how the Tennis World finds a way to give a champion another chance just as it did with Federer after all those beltings at the French Open by Rafa.
All that had to happen for Roger to gain tennis immortality was for Rafa to have a day against a challenger that didn't go according to plan and that's exactly what happened in 2009 when Soderling stunned the Spaniard in the Fourth Round.
To prove it wasn't a fluke Soderling also beat Roger in 2010 in the quarters at the same event. Back to 2009.
Roger took that unexpected loss to Rafa as a catalyst to put his name in the record books as maybe the greatest ever tennis player on the planet. It was almost all or nothing because if Roger didn't make the most of that opportunity then he quite possibly would never have won it. I am probably stating the obvious here.
This year in Monte Carlo Novak Djokovic got beaten rather early for his lofty standards and even though he was a 'local' he played like a tourist, perhaps more interested in the surrounds than the tennis. Monte Carlo is like that, trust me I have been there, the scenery is distracting. Maybe Novak thought that as a resident of one of the most magnificent places in the World to play tennis at he could simply turn up on his home turf and claim the title. Tennis aint like that.
So back to this year.
I put Rafa in now as a certainty to win the event because the pressure is off. No one has to play Novak in the final so there is no tightness, no concern over who is going to finish second to the World number 1 and no thought of a press conference asking why Novak can't be beaten. It's party time in Monte Carlo.
Rafa will take this opportunity to show the rest of the World that he isn't quite finished just yet and when he wins this year in Monte Carlo he may just put some doubt in the mind of Novak going into the French Open because that's all Novak requires to join Rafa and Roger as all time legends of the game.
You need to win all 4, Novak knows it but now he may be doubting it but best of 3 is a little different than best of 5, tactics change and so does the mind set.
If Rafa loses in Monte Carlo he can kiss his chances goodbye of winning another title on the dirt of any significance because Novak won't lose too many unless he is injured from now on. I think he simply turned up this year at the home of Bjorn Borg's last ever tournament match with the wrong attitude, he will fix it I am sure.
I am tipping Rafa to get through to the final in Monte Carlo and to win it comfortably to put him back on the clay court tennis map. He has won it eight times, I think his ninth is only a few days away. Not many champions let an opportunity like this go by just as Roger did in Paris in 2009 when Rafa went out early.
They sense a moment, I think Rafa already senses his.....
All that had to happen for Roger to gain tennis immortality was for Rafa to have a day against a challenger that didn't go according to plan and that's exactly what happened in 2009 when Soderling stunned the Spaniard in the Fourth Round.
To prove it wasn't a fluke Soderling also beat Roger in 2010 in the quarters at the same event. Back to 2009.
Roger took that unexpected loss to Rafa as a catalyst to put his name in the record books as maybe the greatest ever tennis player on the planet. It was almost all or nothing because if Roger didn't make the most of that opportunity then he quite possibly would never have won it. I am probably stating the obvious here.
This year in Monte Carlo Novak Djokovic got beaten rather early for his lofty standards and even though he was a 'local' he played like a tourist, perhaps more interested in the surrounds than the tennis. Monte Carlo is like that, trust me I have been there, the scenery is distracting. Maybe Novak thought that as a resident of one of the most magnificent places in the World to play tennis at he could simply turn up on his home turf and claim the title. Tennis aint like that.
So back to this year.
I put Rafa in now as a certainty to win the event because the pressure is off. No one has to play Novak in the final so there is no tightness, no concern over who is going to finish second to the World number 1 and no thought of a press conference asking why Novak can't be beaten. It's party time in Monte Carlo.
Rafa will take this opportunity to show the rest of the World that he isn't quite finished just yet and when he wins this year in Monte Carlo he may just put some doubt in the mind of Novak going into the French Open because that's all Novak requires to join Rafa and Roger as all time legends of the game.
You need to win all 4, Novak knows it but now he may be doubting it but best of 3 is a little different than best of 5, tactics change and so does the mind set.
If Rafa loses in Monte Carlo he can kiss his chances goodbye of winning another title on the dirt of any significance because Novak won't lose too many unless he is injured from now on. I think he simply turned up this year at the home of Bjorn Borg's last ever tournament match with the wrong attitude, he will fix it I am sure.
I am tipping Rafa to get through to the final in Monte Carlo and to win it comfortably to put him back on the clay court tennis map. He has won it eight times, I think his ninth is only a few days away. Not many champions let an opportunity like this go by just as Roger did in Paris in 2009 when Rafa went out early.
They sense a moment, I think Rafa already senses his.....
Thursday 14 April 2016
'YES, SAME OLD LINE'
" I was playing really, really bad ". That's what Novak Djokovic said after his match where he lost in the second round at Monte Carlo. Then he said that his opponent played well. I reckon once again that's a 'bet each way'. Now if a player says that their opponent simply outplayed them well that to me is the best answer because if you do get beaten at any level well you must give some credit to your opponent. But not secondly, it must be firstly.
Sure we have all lost matches to people we either dislike or have beaten in the past but when it really comes down to it we have days we would rather forget on a tennis court. Personally I have had many but I am sure that I am not alone there. I have always thought however that it was my head that lost me a tennis match and not my shots, I am sure most would agree.
Novak got beaten by Jiri Vesely, a player who can hit a ball extremely well but should not be smart enough to outsmart a player of Novak's ability, yet it happened, Novak is human after all. Novak may have played 'really, really bad' as he described his performance but that's tennis for you as your game only needs to be off a little to get beaten by someone who's game is on. Nature of the sport.
Novak needs to clean up his press conference dialogue as it's typical tennis banter that has arrogance written all over it. A loss is a loss, a fact of life on a tennis court that will usually happen more than a win due to the impossibility of regular victories in a sport that requires a genius and nothing less to keep winning.
I hate press conferences because it's the same old 'crap' as Gulbis said quite some time ago. Ernest was correct and he would know, he loses more than he wins and he does not provide cliché's as answers like many do.
You got beaten by a better player on the day Novak, fact of life in tennis............
Sure we have all lost matches to people we either dislike or have beaten in the past but when it really comes down to it we have days we would rather forget on a tennis court. Personally I have had many but I am sure that I am not alone there. I have always thought however that it was my head that lost me a tennis match and not my shots, I am sure most would agree.
Novak got beaten by Jiri Vesely, a player who can hit a ball extremely well but should not be smart enough to outsmart a player of Novak's ability, yet it happened, Novak is human after all. Novak may have played 'really, really bad' as he described his performance but that's tennis for you as your game only needs to be off a little to get beaten by someone who's game is on. Nature of the sport.
Novak needs to clean up his press conference dialogue as it's typical tennis banter that has arrogance written all over it. A loss is a loss, a fact of life on a tennis court that will usually happen more than a win due to the impossibility of regular victories in a sport that requires a genius and nothing less to keep winning.
I hate press conferences because it's the same old 'crap' as Gulbis said quite some time ago. Ernest was correct and he would know, he loses more than he wins and he does not provide cliché's as answers like many do.
You got beaten by a better player on the day Novak, fact of life in tennis............
Saturday 9 April 2016
'NEVER A LOT IN IT'
American Tennis Pro Denis Kudla had a rather frustrating week at the 'office' in this week's Clay Court Championships in Houston, Texas. Kudla is a battler on the circuit though he is now at an all time high ranking of 59 in singles so he is at last making some good dollars. He has in fact made US $1.2 million in his six years on the tour, but let's put that into perspective.
Two hundred thousand a year before tax and after expenses does not leave a pro tennis player a whole lot at the end of the year but it isn't a bad way to tour the World either. The frustrating thing about Kudla's week in Texas was that he was a whisker away from some much needed dollars but in particular some ranking points that would have eliminated the requirement for him to qualify for the smaller 64 man events. Currently he is right on the edge.
Kudla lost in the Round of 16 to big serving American John Isner by the typical Isner match score line of 7-6, 7-6 but his heart break didn't end there. Now Kudla is not really a doubles exponent as his current ranking of 600 plus suggests but he and fellow Countryman Don Young lost 9-11 in the third set super tie breaker to the greatest team of all time in Men's Doubles, the Bryan Brothers.
Kudla picked up almost $9,000 US for the singles effort and whilst I don't have the Doubles Prize money in front of me the smaller tournaments offer around $2,000 US for an early loss to each player, so it was a lucrative week none the less for Denis. If he had managed the tie breakers a little better against Isner he would have been guaranteed an extra $6,000 US plus double what he went home with if luck had been kind to them against the Bryans.
Yet that's Men's Pro Tennis for you, never a lot in it and usually it's a couple of points here and there that decide a match.
Denis Kudla picked up 20 ranking points for making the last 16 in the Men's Singles which has given his number a small boost on the rankings list. His 600 plus doubles ranking will probably stay the same. For the record Kudla scraped into the second round by a score line of 3-6, 7-6, 7-6 against a guy by the name of Mischa Zverev of Germany who is currently ranked 164 in singles. I suppose we could say the same thing about Zverev as we have about Kudla in regards to a close match and a score line which suggests it could have gone either way.
Look at how many games Zverev won ( 18 ) and look at how many Kudla won ( 17 ) and you tell me whether or not it seems totally unfair that a player goes out of a tennis tournament as the 'loser' sometimes. Tennis, tough sport to make a living out of. A sport of small margins and a sport of close line calls that may turn a match result if a linesman gets it wrong and Hawkeye is not at that particular smaller event.
Hats off to the Pros who make a living from a sport that requires some to hire a psychologist as well as a coach just to help them think better.......
Two hundred thousand a year before tax and after expenses does not leave a pro tennis player a whole lot at the end of the year but it isn't a bad way to tour the World either. The frustrating thing about Kudla's week in Texas was that he was a whisker away from some much needed dollars but in particular some ranking points that would have eliminated the requirement for him to qualify for the smaller 64 man events. Currently he is right on the edge.
Kudla lost in the Round of 16 to big serving American John Isner by the typical Isner match score line of 7-6, 7-6 but his heart break didn't end there. Now Kudla is not really a doubles exponent as his current ranking of 600 plus suggests but he and fellow Countryman Don Young lost 9-11 in the third set super tie breaker to the greatest team of all time in Men's Doubles, the Bryan Brothers.
Kudla picked up almost $9,000 US for the singles effort and whilst I don't have the Doubles Prize money in front of me the smaller tournaments offer around $2,000 US for an early loss to each player, so it was a lucrative week none the less for Denis. If he had managed the tie breakers a little better against Isner he would have been guaranteed an extra $6,000 US plus double what he went home with if luck had been kind to them against the Bryans.
Yet that's Men's Pro Tennis for you, never a lot in it and usually it's a couple of points here and there that decide a match.
Denis Kudla picked up 20 ranking points for making the last 16 in the Men's Singles which has given his number a small boost on the rankings list. His 600 plus doubles ranking will probably stay the same. For the record Kudla scraped into the second round by a score line of 3-6, 7-6, 7-6 against a guy by the name of Mischa Zverev of Germany who is currently ranked 164 in singles. I suppose we could say the same thing about Zverev as we have about Kudla in regards to a close match and a score line which suggests it could have gone either way.
Look at how many games Zverev won ( 18 ) and look at how many Kudla won ( 17 ) and you tell me whether or not it seems totally unfair that a player goes out of a tennis tournament as the 'loser' sometimes. Tennis, tough sport to make a living out of. A sport of small margins and a sport of close line calls that may turn a match result if a linesman gets it wrong and Hawkeye is not at that particular smaller event.
Hats off to the Pros who make a living from a sport that requires some to hire a psychologist as well as a coach just to help them think better.......
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