The current ATP event in Washington saw some rather interesting statistics from two matches in particular over the last 24 hours, both involving huge servers.
Ivo Karlovic of Croatia in fact won five points less than Jack Sock but still won the match in two tie breakers, as Karlovic usually does. Sock had just four break points for the match and could not win any of them. When you look at it realistically, a match with the big man from Croatia hinges on a small opportunity and a break point can usually be pencilled in as a set point and I suppose it's what frustrates his opponents so much.
It's why the return is such a necessity to master and none do it better than Roger as his ability to blunt even the World's biggest servers with that magnificent chipped backhand sees him get over the line more often than not. A two handed backhand is the shot of most Pros' however the smarter ones learn how to hit the one handed return also. Variety in tennis is everything.
The other match between Johnson and Isner was one that saw 12 set points in total go begging for Isner who must be starting to question his ability to return serve when it's most needed. Five set points went begging in the first set and seven in the second set as Johnson served his way out of trouble.
As good as the American's serve is however it was pure poetry watching Federer dismantle it at Wimbledon this year as he owns no fear of the big servers, his tactic on the return is so technically brilliant yet simple if you look at it in slow motion.
For the record the two tie breakers in the Johnson / Isner match were 9-7 and 17-15 and in the other match Karlovic took them 7-4 and 8-6 which says something of the Croatian's ability to return a slightly 'slower' delivery.
Tough way to make a dollar in tennis, playing twelve games against a big server before really even seeing a slight glimmer of an opportunity to break.
Mentally taxing as well as physically, silly game........
Friday, 22 July 2016
Thursday, 30 June 2016
'LESS THAN PERFECT'
In 1991 Brad Gilbert beat his future 'student' Andre Agassi 6-1, 6-2 at the Semi Final stage of the San Jose tournament in San Francisco, absolutely belted him , a tennis lesson in any man's language. Two years later Andre asked Gilbert to be his Coach , the rest is history as Andre won six of his eight Grand Slam Titles under the guidance of a man who knew the intricacies of the game of tennis.
Brad Gilbert was far from perfect technically with his own game, but a brilliant mind, Agassi was a technical genius, but lacked brains, their partnership was always going to be a winner . If you know anything about tennis in the 80's and 90's you would then have an idea on the way Gilbert played , if you don't then here's the best way to describe him , he was a 'pest'.
Gilbert hit the ball so unlike any other players , almost in the Mats Wilander clay court style , slow and annoying but he did it on hard courts as well as carpet , he made the opposition make their own pace , he gave them none. Most players rely on the ball coming over the net at a reasonable pace to give them some rhythm and to almost be a spring board .
If a ball is coming slow then a player has to swing through harder to force the pace , slow balls are a lot harder to deal with than harder hit balls .
Brad Gilbert had a tactical mind that Andre Agassi desperately needed as he was fast becoming a 'wasted talent' with losses to guys who he should have beaten easily with his game that was in a word 'exhilarating' , he just needed a brain.
Tennis has seen some contrasting styles over the years ; The Borg - Mcenroe rivalry was chalk and cheese as far as their playing styles were concerned as were the Agassi - Sampras matches but they all had a mental battle to them as well. Brad Gilbert felt that because Andre was aiming for perfection on each shot and more or less going for winners at inopportune moments that all he had to do was 'reprogram' his way of thinking that would make his opponents play more balls .
Of course in Andre's case most of his shots were so good that this was eventually the way that he ended up being the World's best, he simply stopped trying to be perfect on each ball, he made his opponents play more.
Tennis is like that , I wrote an article that was published in the ATPCA's monthly journal that more or less stated the Gilbert way of playing , but i put my own twist on it . I felt that the game now days is too predictable and needs a different approach to throw the opponent's rhythm out, Brad Gilbert made 40 Tournament finals with this way of playing and won 20 of them .
Kids could take a leaf out of his book by looking up his style and implementing some different tactics that can work in their favour , an unpredictable game plan.
Tennis is a thinking man's game , simply just playing to the current style of sitting on the baseline won't guarantee you a win , these players are a dime a dozen , think outside the square........
Brad Gilbert was far from perfect technically with his own game, but a brilliant mind, Agassi was a technical genius, but lacked brains, their partnership was always going to be a winner . If you know anything about tennis in the 80's and 90's you would then have an idea on the way Gilbert played , if you don't then here's the best way to describe him , he was a 'pest'.
Gilbert hit the ball so unlike any other players , almost in the Mats Wilander clay court style , slow and annoying but he did it on hard courts as well as carpet , he made the opposition make their own pace , he gave them none. Most players rely on the ball coming over the net at a reasonable pace to give them some rhythm and to almost be a spring board .
If a ball is coming slow then a player has to swing through harder to force the pace , slow balls are a lot harder to deal with than harder hit balls .
Brad Gilbert had a tactical mind that Andre Agassi desperately needed as he was fast becoming a 'wasted talent' with losses to guys who he should have beaten easily with his game that was in a word 'exhilarating' , he just needed a brain.
Tennis has seen some contrasting styles over the years ; The Borg - Mcenroe rivalry was chalk and cheese as far as their playing styles were concerned as were the Agassi - Sampras matches but they all had a mental battle to them as well. Brad Gilbert felt that because Andre was aiming for perfection on each shot and more or less going for winners at inopportune moments that all he had to do was 'reprogram' his way of thinking that would make his opponents play more balls .
Of course in Andre's case most of his shots were so good that this was eventually the way that he ended up being the World's best, he simply stopped trying to be perfect on each ball, he made his opponents play more.
Tennis is like that , I wrote an article that was published in the ATPCA's monthly journal that more or less stated the Gilbert way of playing , but i put my own twist on it . I felt that the game now days is too predictable and needs a different approach to throw the opponent's rhythm out, Brad Gilbert made 40 Tournament finals with this way of playing and won 20 of them .
Kids could take a leaf out of his book by looking up his style and implementing some different tactics that can work in their favour , an unpredictable game plan.
Tennis is a thinking man's game , simply just playing to the current style of sitting on the baseline won't guarantee you a win , these players are a dime a dozen , think outside the square........
Saturday, 28 May 2016
'SOMETHING SPECIAL'
In 1984 at the French Open in Paris there was a gentleman by the name of Hans Gildemeister from Chile who owned a rather interesting style of playing, he hit with two hands off both sides. Hans went into Roland Garos un seeded in '84 as his ranking had dipped quite dramatically from his career high of 12 in 1980. He in fact sat outside the top 100 for his shot at the title in Paris in '84.
Gildemeister was not just a singles player however as he reached World number 5 in doubles in 1987, the year he actually retired. He won 23 doubles titles in his career, 17 of those were with 1990 French Open Mens Singles Champion Andres Gomez of Ecuador. Hans was a remarkably talented tennis player as he had to be to survive in the Borg era of the 70's and early 80's.
He in fact played Borg in the quarter finals at Roland Garos in 1979 losing in straight sets though the final set was 7-5. Anyone who knows tennis will realise that if you managed to get to five games all against Borg on clay you were a gifted tennis player, to say the least. So back to the draw of 1984 and Gildemeister started his campaign with a straight sets win over the '79 finalist Victor Pecci and then won even more convincingly against Brad Gilbert in round two.
In the third round Hans was drawn to meet Swedish Davis Cup hero Henrik Sundstrom, the number 9 seed, a tough assignment on clay as the Swede was known for the brutal amount of spin he put on the ball. On clay that is tough to deal with. It is unclear just how Gildemeister actually did it as footage of this match is not available yet he lead Sundstrom by a score that would have any tennis die hard searching for the video for tactical ideas.
It is set in concrete that Hans Gildemeister of Chile lead Henrik Sundstrom of Sweden in the 1984 French Open, round three by the score of 6-2, 6-0, 5-1, 30-0. He then lost. Yep he LOST from there. How did that happen ??! It is uncertain what on earth went on in that match from that point that seemingly had the Chilean cruising to an easy straight sets upset victory against one of the fancies for the title in '84.
At 5-1 up in the third set Hans Gildemeister was receiving Sundstrom's serve and won the first two points then after that his whole game fell apart. There were no fewer than 12 unforced errors in a row from Gildemeister from that point on which later Sundstrom would in fact describe as a 'choke'. Not quite sure about the etiquette of players back then however can you imagine that being said now days of an opponent ? Would go down about as well as a fish milkshake.....
For history's sake the final score in that particular match was 2-6, 0-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 to Sundstrom and he would go on to win his next match in straight sets before the great Jimmy Connors found a way to hit through the topspin with his flatter style of play and beat him in straight sets.
I would give anything to watch what transpired from the 5-1, 30-0 moment in this match as it may in fact be the all time greatest comeback and 'choke' in the history of tennis.
There have in fact been more high profile matches such as the Davis Cup final of 1996 where Boetsch defeated Kulti after trailing 6-7, 0-40 in the final set in the fifth and deciding match but that particular match was tight throughout. The Gildemeister/ Sundstrom match was ridiculously one sided for the first three sets yet it went the way of the player who needed an alarm clock inside his head to wake him up before posting an outrageous comeback victory.
Sometimes in tennis a player can almost pace himself to a win even when victory it seems is not even on his agenda but we as spectators are non the wiser as to what is going on in their thought process. Did Faldo's win against Norman at the Masters in Augusta in 1996 have the same type of feel to it do you think ? After all the scoring was similar if you compare them.
Norman lead by six shots going into the final round yet shot a 78 whereas Faldo shot 67, there's an eleven shot discrepancy not unlike the twelve shot 'discrepancy' from the Gildemeister/ Sundstrom match.
The match in Paris in '84 will without a doubt go down as one of the all time greatest tennis comebacks from a seemingly impossible position yet the match was not a high profile one that people still talk about as they do the Norman/ Faldo result. Coming back from those types of losses is however where the mind comes into play.
Can you imagine the devastation ? It would be a tough thing to recover from.
For history's sake again, Gildemeister recovered, he won another nine doubles tournaments. Norman won three more including a million bucks in one particular event which required a birdie on the final hole for victory. The Swede Niclas Kulti went on to win the pivotal doubles with Bjorkman in the Davis Cup finals of '97 and '98 which set Sweden up for their two titles of those years.
A tough thing is professional sport. We as spectators simply look at it and offer our thoughts, "he choked, he's got no heart" or "he's in the zone, he's a freak show".
A professional sportsman is a genius whether he wins a match or loses because he owns a mind to compete against the World's best and that requires something special.......
Gildemeister was not just a singles player however as he reached World number 5 in doubles in 1987, the year he actually retired. He won 23 doubles titles in his career, 17 of those were with 1990 French Open Mens Singles Champion Andres Gomez of Ecuador. Hans was a remarkably talented tennis player as he had to be to survive in the Borg era of the 70's and early 80's.
He in fact played Borg in the quarter finals at Roland Garos in 1979 losing in straight sets though the final set was 7-5. Anyone who knows tennis will realise that if you managed to get to five games all against Borg on clay you were a gifted tennis player, to say the least. So back to the draw of 1984 and Gildemeister started his campaign with a straight sets win over the '79 finalist Victor Pecci and then won even more convincingly against Brad Gilbert in round two.
In the third round Hans was drawn to meet Swedish Davis Cup hero Henrik Sundstrom, the number 9 seed, a tough assignment on clay as the Swede was known for the brutal amount of spin he put on the ball. On clay that is tough to deal with. It is unclear just how Gildemeister actually did it as footage of this match is not available yet he lead Sundstrom by a score that would have any tennis die hard searching for the video for tactical ideas.
It is set in concrete that Hans Gildemeister of Chile lead Henrik Sundstrom of Sweden in the 1984 French Open, round three by the score of 6-2, 6-0, 5-1, 30-0. He then lost. Yep he LOST from there. How did that happen ??! It is uncertain what on earth went on in that match from that point that seemingly had the Chilean cruising to an easy straight sets upset victory against one of the fancies for the title in '84.
At 5-1 up in the third set Hans Gildemeister was receiving Sundstrom's serve and won the first two points then after that his whole game fell apart. There were no fewer than 12 unforced errors in a row from Gildemeister from that point on which later Sundstrom would in fact describe as a 'choke'. Not quite sure about the etiquette of players back then however can you imagine that being said now days of an opponent ? Would go down about as well as a fish milkshake.....
For history's sake the final score in that particular match was 2-6, 0-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 to Sundstrom and he would go on to win his next match in straight sets before the great Jimmy Connors found a way to hit through the topspin with his flatter style of play and beat him in straight sets.
I would give anything to watch what transpired from the 5-1, 30-0 moment in this match as it may in fact be the all time greatest comeback and 'choke' in the history of tennis.
There have in fact been more high profile matches such as the Davis Cup final of 1996 where Boetsch defeated Kulti after trailing 6-7, 0-40 in the final set in the fifth and deciding match but that particular match was tight throughout. The Gildemeister/ Sundstrom match was ridiculously one sided for the first three sets yet it went the way of the player who needed an alarm clock inside his head to wake him up before posting an outrageous comeback victory.
Sometimes in tennis a player can almost pace himself to a win even when victory it seems is not even on his agenda but we as spectators are non the wiser as to what is going on in their thought process. Did Faldo's win against Norman at the Masters in Augusta in 1996 have the same type of feel to it do you think ? After all the scoring was similar if you compare them.
Norman lead by six shots going into the final round yet shot a 78 whereas Faldo shot 67, there's an eleven shot discrepancy not unlike the twelve shot 'discrepancy' from the Gildemeister/ Sundstrom match.
The match in Paris in '84 will without a doubt go down as one of the all time greatest tennis comebacks from a seemingly impossible position yet the match was not a high profile one that people still talk about as they do the Norman/ Faldo result. Coming back from those types of losses is however where the mind comes into play.
Can you imagine the devastation ? It would be a tough thing to recover from.
For history's sake again, Gildemeister recovered, he won another nine doubles tournaments. Norman won three more including a million bucks in one particular event which required a birdie on the final hole for victory. The Swede Niclas Kulti went on to win the pivotal doubles with Bjorkman in the Davis Cup finals of '97 and '98 which set Sweden up for their two titles of those years.
A tough thing is professional sport. We as spectators simply look at it and offer our thoughts, "he choked, he's got no heart" or "he's in the zone, he's a freak show".
A professional sportsman is a genius whether he wins a match or loses because he owns a mind to compete against the World's best and that requires something special.......
Friday, 13 May 2016
'TED ADAMS' ( BIG TED )
The following is a chapter I wrote just recently about an old mate of mine, Ted Adams. Sorry Ted I put it to a draft copy when I was tidying up this site just recently. It's now top of the page again out of respect for the man who won me a local doubles title through an act of sheer brilliance. Enjoy Big fella....
'OK, I read your blog and you are still managing to piss people off.
You were obnoxious as a 15 year old and, while I will concede you have mellowed a little with age, you still come across obnoxious and a little truculent as an adult (I use the term 'adult' loosely!)
You wouldn't play 'Pennants' for Lawley Park when you were a kid and it appears you still 'dont play well with others' now.
You broke rackets (Emrik Blitz's) like they cost you nothing! Sometimes I know they did?
You would ride your bike everywhere and sometimes you had a fat passenger on the back.
You loved to eat snickers bars but never put on weight.
You were the only serious tennis player in the Southern Hemisphere that still wore Dunlop 'Volleys'.
You went to Queensland with Kieron and when you guys came back he still couldn't take me.
And in all the years we would hit together I never did beat you.
Remember me!'
That was an email I just received from 'Big Ted', a mate of mine from way back in the 80's. I used to ride about 7 kms to Ted's house, he then sat on my seat while I dinked him down to the Lawley Park Tennis Club. The hardest part of our training session was in fact taking Ted on my bike as the big fella was just that, a big fella even in High School but boy he could serve.
It's funny but Ted and I trained a lot, as we also did with our other buddy Kieron ( as Ted mentioned ) yet we only played a couple of tournaments together as juniors. I recall Ted and I losing to two South Australian kids in the semis of the 18's Boys Doubles at the Albany Open Junior Tournament one year but we made 'em earn it.
Ted and I didn't really have any success on court together until we were around 30 years of age when we put in a late entry for the Albany Open Championship just for a bit of a laugh. In our second last match we faced match point against Max Loveridge and John Quinn and Ted did the most ridiculous thing, yet it worked a treat.
I actually said to Ted "Just get it back mate, nothing fancy, make 'em play", so this is what Ted did. He ignored me, took Max's serve half way to the service line, chipped it on his backhand and came to the net where he hit a sublime backhand volley winner in the tram lines past John.
I remember looking at him with a rather wry smile and nodded in appreciation at his rather gutsy move but it was tough to watch. It was all up to Ted whether we won that match or not.
We saved one more match point then I served it out from memory to 15. We won our last match easily to take the title, classic day out at the Emu Point Tennis Club. I believe it was the year 2000.
Absolute legend of local tennis here in Albany was Big Ted and I am grateful for being able to play against guys like him in my junior days. Our practice matches were plentiful and most involved 4 or 5 sets where we put the friendship aside for several hours and did our best to kill each other on court. There were no niceties when Ted and I trained at Lawley Park in the 80's.
Ted won me my first ever Albany Open with a display of guts that I was simply in awe of as most players would tighten up at match point down, not Ted, he only knew one way of playing.
One day Ted when you get back to the land of Oz we will renew our rivalry down at our old tennis club but we may just cut that best of 5 sets down to best of 'one' as the old legs may struggle to do much more.
Legend you are buddy......
'OK, I read your blog and you are still managing to piss people off.
You were obnoxious as a 15 year old and, while I will concede you have mellowed a little with age, you still come across obnoxious and a little truculent as an adult (I use the term 'adult' loosely!)
You wouldn't play 'Pennants' for Lawley Park when you were a kid and it appears you still 'dont play well with others' now.
You broke rackets (Emrik Blitz's) like they cost you nothing! Sometimes I know they did?
You would ride your bike everywhere and sometimes you had a fat passenger on the back.
You loved to eat snickers bars but never put on weight.
You were the only serious tennis player in the Southern Hemisphere that still wore Dunlop 'Volleys'.
You went to Queensland with Kieron and when you guys came back he still couldn't take me.
And in all the years we would hit together I never did beat you.
Remember me!'
That was an email I just received from 'Big Ted', a mate of mine from way back in the 80's. I used to ride about 7 kms to Ted's house, he then sat on my seat while I dinked him down to the Lawley Park Tennis Club. The hardest part of our training session was in fact taking Ted on my bike as the big fella was just that, a big fella even in High School but boy he could serve.
It's funny but Ted and I trained a lot, as we also did with our other buddy Kieron ( as Ted mentioned ) yet we only played a couple of tournaments together as juniors. I recall Ted and I losing to two South Australian kids in the semis of the 18's Boys Doubles at the Albany Open Junior Tournament one year but we made 'em earn it.
Ted and I didn't really have any success on court together until we were around 30 years of age when we put in a late entry for the Albany Open Championship just for a bit of a laugh. In our second last match we faced match point against Max Loveridge and John Quinn and Ted did the most ridiculous thing, yet it worked a treat.
I actually said to Ted "Just get it back mate, nothing fancy, make 'em play", so this is what Ted did. He ignored me, took Max's serve half way to the service line, chipped it on his backhand and came to the net where he hit a sublime backhand volley winner in the tram lines past John.
I remember looking at him with a rather wry smile and nodded in appreciation at his rather gutsy move but it was tough to watch. It was all up to Ted whether we won that match or not.
We saved one more match point then I served it out from memory to 15. We won our last match easily to take the title, classic day out at the Emu Point Tennis Club. I believe it was the year 2000.
Absolute legend of local tennis here in Albany was Big Ted and I am grateful for being able to play against guys like him in my junior days. Our practice matches were plentiful and most involved 4 or 5 sets where we put the friendship aside for several hours and did our best to kill each other on court. There were no niceties when Ted and I trained at Lawley Park in the 80's.
Ted won me my first ever Albany Open with a display of guts that I was simply in awe of as most players would tighten up at match point down, not Ted, he only knew one way of playing.
One day Ted when you get back to the land of Oz we will renew our rivalry down at our old tennis club but we may just cut that best of 5 sets down to best of 'one' as the old legs may struggle to do much more.
Legend you are buddy......
Wednesday, 27 April 2016
'THE C and S DEBACLE' ( Part 5 )
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.......
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.......
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....
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