I thought this post was worth another run as it is in line with my recent post titled 'Conditions'.
I wrote this a few years back, it's typical of most tennis players ,no matter what level. We all have a 'phobia' in tennis.......
( please excuse the layout of this post, I would like to think that I have improved since 2014 .)
'MAKE IT YOUR BEST'
Only a tennis player's head prevents them from making their worst shot their best , given of course that they are physically capable. How many tennis players actually cringe when a ball goes to their non preferred side which invariably makes them put back into play a shot that lacks substance ? I can lay claim to this 'phobia'.
I am unsure when things started to go wrong on my backhand side however i found that when i was doing a lot of coaching it was easier to simply slice or push the ball back to my students , as opposed to hitting through with the double hander. I also admired the way my hero Mats Wilander from Sweden nullified the heavy topspin hitting from Ivan Lendl in the 1988 US Open final by simply slicing his own backhand , keeping it low out of Lendl's hitting zone. The tactic worked however it took Mats nearly 5 hours to do it , he rarely hit his two hander which in it's day was one of the best backhands i have ever seen.
When i was a kid my two handed backhand was my best shot , i preferred it to my forehand so taking the mind back to where i used to hit it so well took me back down memory lane, an educational process.I have been tired of opponents picking on my backhand over the past few years so i decided to do what every keen tennis player does to refine a shot , wheel out the ball machine.....
I spent hours on this device just recently to see where i could make some changes , i also set up a video on a tripod and analysed it in detail , i threw my racket on a few occasions also ,( i don't think anyone was watching) , i was determined to get it right .I went to a little tournament just recently and tried a few things , my backhand on this particular day was remarkably better than my strength , the forehand , the mindset was different , i welcomed each shot to my backhand instead of cringing, all in the mind i told myself. Leading up to this tournament i played club tennis and played each set on the backhand side , sometimes even starting with a backhand grip , just hoping that it would come to that side , i was reprogramming myself to accept , not reject.
We can all fix our weaknesses , only the head will prevent us from doing it , we are usually physically capable of change , unfortunately too many times we talk ourselves out of positive play and revert to a negative mindset . At 45 i believe i am heading to a point with my game that i should have reached many years ago but my mind was not in the right place , keeping fit is the key, a challenge when you are into your 40's but a rewarding one . The backhand is on the way up , now for the serve.......
FOOTNOTE****** The serve still resembles a frog in a blender though I don't miss many first serves, too old to hit it hard.........
In 2009 I watched a remarkable display of concentration by Rafael Nadal as he took apart Andy Murray in the final of Indian Wells, 6-1, 6-2.
The reason why it left a mark on my memory was because the conditions were in a word, atrocious.
Wind, but it wasn't just wind, it was a howling gale, conditions better suited to sail boarding than tennis however it was almost a treat to see a player block out those conditions and simply make some adjustments.
Only a smart tennis player can do that, many put all the toys back in the toy box and go home early.
I once heard a commentator describe a comment from a player after a match on a windy day and I thought that it was either arrogance or proof that wind does not really bother a player who can adapt to anything the weather Gods dish up.
'How did you handle the wind' ?
What wind ?
I thought that was a pretty damn good answer.
So how do you block out shitty conditions when you play tennis ? Well I suppose it's all in how you perceive them. Here's a funny one for you.
Around three years ago I caught up with an ex pro tennis player by the name of Neil Borwick. Now anyone who played tennis in Australia in the late 80's and early 90's would know who Neil is. In my eyes he was and still is a legend as I looked up to him when he trained and played in Queensland at the same tennis facility as I did, Coops, in Brisbane.
Neil could do anything with a tennis ball and in 1993 he took on the great Boris Becker at the Australian Indoor Championships in the first round. By that year Becker had already won six Grand Slam singles titles and three World Tour Finals. Neil won that match in 3 sets. Neil was ranked 104.
In 1993 Borwick also played Pete Sampras in the first round at Wimbledon, the year Sampras won the title, one of his seven titles. Neil took the first in a tie break then pushed Pistol Pete all the way in the next three before eventually going down 6-7, 6-3, 7-6, 6-3.
Did I mention Neil was ranked 104 ?
In 1993 at the US Open Neil took on Ivan Lendl, first round. ( Neil had some horror draws ).
Neil lead Lendl 4-6, 6-4, 3-1 before Lendl retired injured. Either way you look at it, if you are playing an average player you would battle through a bit of pain, Neil Borwick was no average player despite a ranking outside the top 100 in singles.
Lendl knew he could not get past Borwick unless 100 per cent fit, he retired instead.
Borwick also reached World number 60 in doubles in 1992.
Sorry I get side tracked at times.
Having a hit with Neil ten years after he retired from the pro tour was one of the most educational days I have ever spent on a tennis court because I learned just as much from
talking to him afterwards as I did hitting with him for a couple of hours.
Check this. I asked him many questions about his life on the tour but this one stood out from the rest.
'What do you think was one of your strengths' ?
I loved playing in the wind.
'Why' ???
Cos everyone else hated it.
Word for word.
Most amazing answer I had ever heard.
So is playing in shitty conditions really a problem or do we simply not practice it enough ? I recall one day when I was 15 or 16 my coach Holmsey picked me up for a practice session and it was blowing a gale.
I said 'You still want to play today Coach' ?
Yep, you have to learn to play in all conditions.
6-1, 6-2, 6-2, Holmsey.
I said afterwards, 'That was a waste of time, too shitty to play tennis'.
Trust me, next time you play in perfect conditions you will appreciate it more.
Smart bloke Holmsey.
Even smarter was Neil Borwick to look at garbage weather days in a positive way on the pro tour against the World's best.
Is it windy or is it simply all in your mind ?
You do the sums..........
Wrote this in 2014, it got 4 views, nothing has changed on this site, not many people read it, just some who wish to sue me for the content, such is life.......
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........
There is no doubt whatsoever that the semi final run by Pablo Carreno Busta at this year's US Open was a once in ten years event as every now and then someone sneaks through the main draw to the pointy end of proceedings.
The reality was this.
The top half of the Mens Singles Draw in New York in 2017 was a tournament within itself, it was good enough to almost be a year end Masters draw, it was simply a case of who ever could win that half was going to walk away with the trophy.
Nadal, Berdych, Monfils, Dimitrov, Del Potro, Federer, Thiem, to name a few. How did that many elite players end up in that half ? Luck of the draw ?
Well as I have already documented, Andy Murray had a big say in it with his rather precious injury that had him waiting until the death knock of the commencement of the final Slam of the year to decide whether or not he would play.
Surely he knew the consequences of his actions or didn't he really care ? Tennis after all is a selfish sport is it not ?
So let's look at Kevin Anderson's draw, the man who was always going to be cannon fodder for the winner of the top half, a player who I would refer to as a ' one break player', ( gain a break, set over ).
Kevin Anderson does not possess the arsenal required on the return of serve to bother the big boys, that's a fact.
First Round- Anderson defeats Aragone, a qualifier ranked 429 in straight.
Round 2 - defeats Gulbis , ranked 52 in straight.
Round 3 - defeats Coric , ranked 56 in straight.
Round of 16 - defeats Lorenzi, ranked 38 in four.
Quarter Finals - defeats Querrey, ranked 17 in four.
Semi Finals - defeats Carreno Busta in four.
Now consider this, apart from Querrey who seems to go deep at Wimbledon with the aid of a massive serve, just as Anderson owns, who of the other players bothers the scoreboard on a regular basis ? I could bore you to tears with some more stats on the guys who Anderson defeated in his run to the semis in New York this year but I won't, it's easy to see that Kevin, along with Pablo received a dream run, but not a reality run.
Federer should have been elevated to the number 2 seeding and it should have been a Federer/ Nadal Mens Singles Final but the inconsiderate selfish Pom Andy Murray put paid to that idea. A shame, it would have been a ripper final and not a foregone conclusion before it even started.
For the record Roger has beaten Kevin Anderson four times from four meetings and has not even been taken to a tie breaker.
For the record Roger has beaten Pablo Carreno Busta once , they have only played once, at the 2013 French Open. The score was 6-2, 6-2, 6-3. Isn't clay Pablo's favourite surface ? Hate to think what Roger would do to him on a hard court.
There's the statistics. You make up your own mind. Anderson was lucky to get to the final, he should send Andy Murray a case of beer for Xmas this year. Carreno Busta was even luckier to make it to the semis as the best of the rest of the dirt ballers who were relying on some luck from the Gods as far as the draw was concerned. He received just that.
Some will say it was great to see a change in the finalists. I disagree.
Masters vs the Apprentices, top half vs the top half. Bottom half was always going to finish second. It's a Slam that got away from the history books, a Slam that could have been a classic.
A Slam that will go down in history as a World Tennis Farce due to someone who had his head so firmly planted up his own bum that he could not see the carnage that he caused through sheer selfishness and self importance.
But isn't that tennis in a nutshell folks ?
You do the sums.........
This year's US Open was one of those tennis tournaments that was possibly one of the most disappointing of the year due in large to one man's selfishness. The rather late decision by Andy Murray to not play was puzzling to say the least as he pulled out of at least two other events just prior to New York.
Anyhow I have covered this story in detail in an earlier post on this site, you may have read it. Personally I believe Andy Murray is a selfish prick, apparently I am not alone.....
Moving on.
Let's look at those players who deserve a spot in their World rankings and those who don't. Now I am not about to do a 'Jim Courier' here and totally bag out a player as Jim did at the Aussie Open a couple of years ago with his comments on David Goffin ( Jim believes David owned an inflated ranking due to Davis Cup ranking points ).
Personally I find that interesting as the Belgium number 1 has had several consistent years on the tour and cemented his spot in the top 15 though Jim doesn't agree. All that Mr Courier has to do is read the facts, it's not that difficult though ex pros seem to own some strange ideas that defy logic. Courier is a prime example.
Anyhow back to the statistics on the current crop of World ranked players.
What happened at the 2017 US Open was a disaster of epic proportions though some will say that it was a pleasant change to see someone different in the finals. I disagree. It was a disgrace. It was the Masters ( The top half of the draw ) vs the 'apprentices' ( the bottom half ).
Here's the stats.
Pablo Carreno Busta's hard court form leading up to this years US Open was up and down however Pablo did make it to the last 4 at Indian Wells though his lack of hard court ability was evident as Wawrinka smashed him 6-3, 6-2.
Let's look at Indian Wells 2017.
First round - Pablo received a bye, he then won against a guy ranked 148, he then received a walk over, he then won against a player ranked 106, he then won against another dirt baller, Cuevas, 7-6 in the third.
Stan put him back to where he should be on a hard court, amongst a very large pack who have no idea how to step in and hit it, they simply wait back in the first row of spectators for something to happen.
His final 4 showing at Indian Wells was a farce and luck of the draw.
In Miami on hard court he lost to Delbonis, ranked 57, in the equivalent of the first round as he received a bye first up.
Then here's the silly thing.
The ATP World Tour heads to the clay.
In May, 2017, Pablo Carreno Busta won in Portugal on the clay and in Monte Carlo in April he pushed a rather fragile Novak Djokovic to three sets in the Round of 16.
He made it to the final of the Rio Open and lost in the semis of the Brazil Open, all on clay. It's fair to say, Pablo can play on the dirt.
He played no less than seven clay court tournaments before the hard court season 'recommenced' for reasons only the ATP have an answer for which started in Montreal in early August, 2017.
Hard, clay, hard , clay, interesting way of doing things.
In Canada Anderson beat Busta in the round of 32.
In Cincinnati Ferrer beat him in straight in the round of 16.
In the Winston- Salem Open Benneteau won in three sets in the round of 32.
Then came the 2017 US Open.
Here's a draw to beat all draws.
Pablo Carreno Busta takes on Evan King ranked 308, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6.
Defeats Cameron Norrie ranked 225, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3.
Defeats Nicolas Mahut ranked 115, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.
Defeats Dennis Shapovalov, aged 18 and ranked 69, 7-6, 7-6, 7-6
Defeats Diego Schwartzman, ranked 33, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2
Semi Finals - Kevin Anderson defeats Pablo Carreno Busta in 4 sets.
Let's put all of this into perspective.
If Federer was elevated to the number 2 seeding, which he should have been, Pablo Carreno Busta would not have got anywhere near 720 ATP ranking points and nearly a million bucks in prize money.
The US Open seeding committee need to be sacked for what happened in New York this year and the spectators should receive a refund for the Committee's incompetence.
Andy Murray needs to be told that World Tennis does not revolve around him just because he has won Wimbledon twice and he should also be respectful of other players and the controversy and displacement of the draw that his late decision caused.
I have not even started on Kevin Anderson.......
Watch this space........
Here we are again folks, it's tennis season.
Time to put the ads out there.
Time to tell the public you are 'Gods Gift' to the sport as 'The Zen Master'.
Time to tell people you are so well qualified it hurts to be you.
Time to offer the public a deal that is 'way too good to pass up'.
Time to tell the public 'hurry, limited places available'.
Time you guys got the car sign magnets out and placed them on the side of the vehicle so even when you are buying a big mac through the drive through, the checkout chick can see that you ARE THE ONE.
Time to put the fence signs up behind the courts so even when Bill and Mary (who hardly even play the game), but who hire a court occasionally can glance up at your art work and say 'Geez, this guy must be good'.
Make sure those fence signs have all of your qualifications on it including your years on court, how many 'stars' you have coached and what your motto is; 'With us here at....... you know your game is in safe hands'.
Just a thought you guys, don't forget to enter a tournament or two this season. I know it's a big thing to ask but remember that the kids who apparently look up to you plus the parents who pay big dollars for your 'expertise' would like some sort of assurance that you can actually hit a ball in the heat of the moment and not just at a witches hat in practice.
Don't go missing on tournament day or pull a hammy.
Practice what you preach.
Yep, once again folks, it's that time of year.
It's EGO time.
Tennis season is here.......
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