I believe that Brett and Peter had devised a playing schedule before they even left Perth to head to London for the purchase of the travelling vehicle. I had no real plan, story of my life, but I was aware that a travelling player could gain a calendar of events from most tournaments, there were no shortage. The idea of talking to foreign players and asking their advice on what events to play was the most appealing way to me of tackling the circuit.
It was such a shame that the Combi Wagon blew up not far out of London as the comfort factor would have been far greater than what was in store for particularly myself in the days and weeks to follow. 'Le Car' was a car for sure but only just, it was tiny and we struggled to fit all of our bags into it plus ourselves, at times it was almost claustrophobic yet it was a way to travel. It was also with two fellow Australians who spoke English, a huge factor whilst in a foreign country.
I remember while we were at Saumur trying to organize something and trying to explain what it was that we were after was a real drama. The language barrier even at our first tournament was evident and our lack of ability to speak French was a problem. It was simply a case of asking around until we found a player or official who knew English, a process of elimination so to speak.
I am still uncertain as to why Brett and Peter found a tournament over three hours away for our next event but they apparently did their homework and I obviously had not so I simply went with it. The trip in Le Car was a 'bonding' trip where we got to know each other as best we could. Being three years older than Brett and Pete was not really an issue at the beginning however I will always stick with my theory that they didn't show me enough respect. Placing the old bloke in the back of a very small vehicle over the course of a long road trip through Europe definitely had lack of respect written all over it.
From memory we didn't have any arguments on the way to the small town of Bruges in the South West of France less than 15 minutes from Bordeaux. The arguments were to start later when the sense of humour was lost for numerous reasons that will be explained later in this book. The population of Bruges back in 1991 was around ten thousand but just like Saumur the scenery in France no matter how big the town was invigorating. There was something appealing about playing tennis in France that can only be justified by being there and experiencing the culture of it all.
BRUGES RESULTS>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>TO FOLLOW ONCE BRETT SENDS ME INFO>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Monday, 6 July 2015
Saturday, 4 July 2015
'GETTING STARTED CHAPTER 6
The idea behind the European tour of 1991 was to witness and play the game at the highest possible level that I could. If that meant getting a series of beatings then I was prepared for that, I was chasing an experience that I would never forget. I had finished training at the Coops tennis facility in Brisbane, Queensland as an 18 year old and had joined the work force, albeit in stages.
I did some coaching assistant work plus some odd jobs to help pay the bills but during those years I never gave up on the idea of one day having a look at tennis in Europe. Some of the guys I trained with regularly in Brisbane namely Peter Trammachi and Andrew Kratzmann were forging out careers in the game overseas. My standard was well up with both of those players so I gave myself a silly chance of perhaps making some sort of an impression on the clay in Europe.
My nickname at Coops was 'Mats' as I copied my hero's style.
I didn't really own a weapon apart from a reasonable forehand so I simply looped the ball in play with as much spin as I could generate. It worked at a junior level so I thought that perhaps it could find me some wins in Europe.
It was just by coincidence that I heard about the travel plans of both Brett Patten and Peter Gerrans who were planning a trip around the same time that I was looking at going. The European Money Tournament Circuit was well known by the guys who trained at Coops so I had heard numerous reports about it, they all seemed to be positive.
I got in touch with both Brett and Pete and I organised a training session with Brett before we left and I spoke to Peter on a few occasions to sort out some travel ideas. The whole plan of travelling to Europe to play tournament tennis was so outrageously appealing that I put all of my eggs into one basket and quit my job. I was hooked on the idea and did plenty of training for around three or four months before we left.
I was a tennis mad 21 year old who simply had to see for himself what the whole European scene was all about, if nothing else but to say that I had finally done it.
Initially I flew direct to Germany to inquire about Team Tennis that some other Australians had played regularly and then I flew to Paris to meet Brett and Pete to play our first tournament together.
The Team Tennis idea in Germany was one that I didn't receive many answers on as the player who's name I was given who organised it just so happened to be on vacation at the time. Germany could wait a bit longer, I was off to Paris to catch up with my touring party....
I did some coaching assistant work plus some odd jobs to help pay the bills but during those years I never gave up on the idea of one day having a look at tennis in Europe. Some of the guys I trained with regularly in Brisbane namely Peter Trammachi and Andrew Kratzmann were forging out careers in the game overseas. My standard was well up with both of those players so I gave myself a silly chance of perhaps making some sort of an impression on the clay in Europe.
My nickname at Coops was 'Mats' as I copied my hero's style.
I didn't really own a weapon apart from a reasonable forehand so I simply looped the ball in play with as much spin as I could generate. It worked at a junior level so I thought that perhaps it could find me some wins in Europe.
It was just by coincidence that I heard about the travel plans of both Brett Patten and Peter Gerrans who were planning a trip around the same time that I was looking at going. The European Money Tournament Circuit was well known by the guys who trained at Coops so I had heard numerous reports about it, they all seemed to be positive.
I got in touch with both Brett and Pete and I organised a training session with Brett before we left and I spoke to Peter on a few occasions to sort out some travel ideas. The whole plan of travelling to Europe to play tournament tennis was so outrageously appealing that I put all of my eggs into one basket and quit my job. I was hooked on the idea and did plenty of training for around three or four months before we left.
I was a tennis mad 21 year old who simply had to see for himself what the whole European scene was all about, if nothing else but to say that I had finally done it.
Initially I flew direct to Germany to inquire about Team Tennis that some other Australians had played regularly and then I flew to Paris to meet Brett and Pete to play our first tournament together.
The Team Tennis idea in Germany was one that I didn't receive many answers on as the player who's name I was given who organised it just so happened to be on vacation at the time. Germany could wait a bit longer, I was off to Paris to catch up with my touring party....
TWO MATES CHAPTER 3
I felt it necessary to write a brief chapter on both of my touring buddies of 1991, Brett Patten and Peter Gerrans, both of Perth Western Australia. Technically though Brett was originally a country boy like myself, he was born and raised in Geraldton, north of Perth before he did his schooling in Perth.
I did not really know these two guys very well before our European tour as they were not in my age group in Perth State championships that we all played in the early 80's. I did know who they were however as they were highly ranked for their age groups and I saw them play many times.
Brett's family were mad keen tennis players, his brother Darren played on the professional circuit and he even took a set off 'Bobo' Zivojinovic at the Sydney Indoors one year. 'Big D' could play the game. Their father Don was a champion also and he partnered Darren for a World Championship Father/Son title, all in the genes.
Peter was coached by his father Ross, a coach of many years in Perth and who used to conduct coaching clinics in my home town of Albany when I was a teenager. Both Brett and Pete were destined to become good tennis players with the amount of tennis opportunities that they had in front of them when they were kids.
Personally I learned to hit on a brick wall at my parents house, something that I will touch on later in the book but first things first. I hope both Brett and Peter appreciate my 'kind' words towards them not only in their initial profiles but also throughout the book. I believe it all to be correct....
I did not really know these two guys very well before our European tour as they were not in my age group in Perth State championships that we all played in the early 80's. I did know who they were however as they were highly ranked for their age groups and I saw them play many times.
Brett's family were mad keen tennis players, his brother Darren played on the professional circuit and he even took a set off 'Bobo' Zivojinovic at the Sydney Indoors one year. 'Big D' could play the game. Their father Don was a champion also and he partnered Darren for a World Championship Father/Son title, all in the genes.
Peter was coached by his father Ross, a coach of many years in Perth and who used to conduct coaching clinics in my home town of Albany when I was a teenager. Both Brett and Pete were destined to become good tennis players with the amount of tennis opportunities that they had in front of them when they were kids.
Personally I learned to hit on a brick wall at my parents house, something that I will touch on later in the book but first things first. I hope both Brett and Peter appreciate my 'kind' words towards them not only in their initial profiles but also throughout the book. I believe it all to be correct....
'THE BLOG' CHAPTER 2
My tennis site or 'Blog' as it commonly referred is something that I put together a few years back as tennis ideas and thoughts are constantly going around in my head. I thought it would be great to one day look back on it all and try to make some sense of it. The blog initially started with a few chapters here and there which was followed by sometimes a chapter a day. Some months I would write over 30 chapters.
The idea behind it all I suppose was to help with my 'tin of worms' that needed an outlet however my obsession to write landed me in hot water on several occasions. I became rather vocal in my criticism of the way in which the sport was being not only coached but portrayed.
That's not to say that my views were perfect, we are all entitled to our opinions but my trip to Europe in 1991 gave me a view on tennis that I wish everyone could have. With so many reality television programmes these days I considered the tour a version of reality sport. It did not give a false view on a sport that many would see, it gave a brutally realistic version that I would recommend any tennis parent or budding young player to experience.
The blog has served a huge purpose for me in that it helped me interact with other tennis converts from not only this country but in other countries who managed to find my site on the net. Some offered me support whereas others sent me anonymous 'encouragement' of other sorts. All part of the fun I told myself of owning an opinion associated with an egotistical individual sport.
My site has had around 400 chapters written on it though I have removed some that I woke up the next morning after a couple of beers and thought 'Nah we had better leave that one off Thommo'.
All the same, just writing it helped relieve some tension associated with the game. I am still passionate about tennis after 33 years of playing and 27 years of coaching it both full time and part time.
The chapters you will read in this book are both from my memories of Europe and chapters I had already written on my blog. It's a mixture I felt necessary to have that give the book a sense of both originality and past thoughts that I have acquired since 1991.
The idea behind it all I suppose was to help with my 'tin of worms' that needed an outlet however my obsession to write landed me in hot water on several occasions. I became rather vocal in my criticism of the way in which the sport was being not only coached but portrayed.
That's not to say that my views were perfect, we are all entitled to our opinions but my trip to Europe in 1991 gave me a view on tennis that I wish everyone could have. With so many reality television programmes these days I considered the tour a version of reality sport. It did not give a false view on a sport that many would see, it gave a brutally realistic version that I would recommend any tennis parent or budding young player to experience.
The blog has served a huge purpose for me in that it helped me interact with other tennis converts from not only this country but in other countries who managed to find my site on the net. Some offered me support whereas others sent me anonymous 'encouragement' of other sorts. All part of the fun I told myself of owning an opinion associated with an egotistical individual sport.
My site has had around 400 chapters written on it though I have removed some that I woke up the next morning after a couple of beers and thought 'Nah we had better leave that one off Thommo'.
All the same, just writing it helped relieve some tension associated with the game. I am still passionate about tennis after 33 years of playing and 27 years of coaching it both full time and part time.
The chapters you will read in this book are both from my memories of Europe and chapters I had already written on my blog. It's a mixture I felt necessary to have that give the book a sense of both originality and past thoughts that I have acquired since 1991.
Friday, 3 July 2015
PETE CHAPTER 5
I first saw Peter Gerrans play when he was a kid at the Albany Open Junior championships way back in the early 80's. Pete was an old school type of player who owned a stylish game, great technique on all of his shots, especially his serve and forehand.
If I was to describe Pete in a word it would possibly be the same word I used to describe Patsy, 'confident'. Pete was a top ranked junior in Western Australia throughout his teenage years which obviously stemmed from his ability to make every shot look effortless.
Pete never looked rushed when he hit a tennis ball, that's a sign of both confidence in one's own ability plus a reflection of who you are as a player.
Along with Brett I didn't really know Pete before the European trip, not well anyhow, I had simply just seen him play and I was impressed with him. Pete also had a great temperament on court that would not see him become flustered easily, a sign of a good player.
The very first training session I had in Europe was with Pete and I believe that he may have let me win the practice set we played just to give me some confidence. Around three weeks later I was fortunate enough to play doubles with Pete and we won a tournament not far from Paris in a town called Gareoult. This was to be my only tournament win in Europe and I treasure it to this day.
Pete was brilliant in that match as he was a class above any other player on court that day and he got us over the line. To say that I won a tournament in Europe was something that not all tennis players can say and I will be forever grateful to Pete for his excellence that day.
As with Brett I had some choice words with Pete on that trip and I will never forget opening the car door on Pete's head after a truck stop sleep over one night when we misjudged the travel schedule. Pete had been sleeping next to the car in a sleeping bag and I didn't realize it when I opened the door for an early morning toilet stop. I think he has forgiven me now but it took a few days for him to get over it in Europe.
The friendship I formed with Pete was one that we have kept for the past 25 years even though we don't see much of one another now days due to the distance in which we live from each other. When ever I hear a song by Australian music legend Darryl Braithwaite it will always remind me of Pete who sung that song over and over again as he listened to it through his headphones over the course of the trip. He even played it between the change of ends in some of his matches !
Pete had a unique way about him both in tennis and in life. Nice fellow is Peter Gerrans....
If I was to describe Pete in a word it would possibly be the same word I used to describe Patsy, 'confident'. Pete was a top ranked junior in Western Australia throughout his teenage years which obviously stemmed from his ability to make every shot look effortless.
Pete never looked rushed when he hit a tennis ball, that's a sign of both confidence in one's own ability plus a reflection of who you are as a player.
Along with Brett I didn't really know Pete before the European trip, not well anyhow, I had simply just seen him play and I was impressed with him. Pete also had a great temperament on court that would not see him become flustered easily, a sign of a good player.
The very first training session I had in Europe was with Pete and I believe that he may have let me win the practice set we played just to give me some confidence. Around three weeks later I was fortunate enough to play doubles with Pete and we won a tournament not far from Paris in a town called Gareoult. This was to be my only tournament win in Europe and I treasure it to this day.
Pete was brilliant in that match as he was a class above any other player on court that day and he got us over the line. To say that I won a tournament in Europe was something that not all tennis players can say and I will be forever grateful to Pete for his excellence that day.
As with Brett I had some choice words with Pete on that trip and I will never forget opening the car door on Pete's head after a truck stop sleep over one night when we misjudged the travel schedule. Pete had been sleeping next to the car in a sleeping bag and I didn't realize it when I opened the door for an early morning toilet stop. I think he has forgiven me now but it took a few days for him to get over it in Europe.
The friendship I formed with Pete was one that we have kept for the past 25 years even though we don't see much of one another now days due to the distance in which we live from each other. When ever I hear a song by Australian music legend Darryl Braithwaite it will always remind me of Pete who sung that song over and over again as he listened to it through his headphones over the course of the trip. He even played it between the change of ends in some of his matches !
Pete had a unique way about him both in tennis and in life. Nice fellow is Peter Gerrans....
The argumentative bastard
Thursday, 30 April 2015
One day I
will write that book, the one where I will probably upset a few more than I
already have but the one that will tell all as to who I am and why I am so
argumentative. It will quite possibly be called the above headline.
I posted those clips of me hitting just recently as I want my kids to know that even though I was slowing down I was still focused on the one thing that has kept me both amused and frustrated for as long as I can remember. So at age 46 if my kids are anything like me (God forbid ) I hope that they will still pursue something that they perhaps felt a comfort with when they were young as I did with tennis.
If ever I get hit by a bus or get taken out by a hit man for upsetting the wrong person on this site then I would hope that someone lets the young Thompson kids know that their old man had a site that really was quite unique, if not totally absurd.
When I write on this site I don't tell too many people but if I put something down that I see some sort of 'genius' in then I may send the chapter on email through to some people who I regard as friends, I don't have many though......
Nature of the game I call it, the nature of the beast, the game which turns 'ordinary' people into complete nutcases as they chase personal glory in a game that can only be described as 'egotistical'.
Why else would you see someone like Novak Djokovic tearing his shirt off after a Grand Slam victory and yelling like a possessed beast at the crowd who paid good money to see two testosterone fuelled gladiators belt a small ball into submission ? It's all about ego and self indulgence.
Looking back on my rather colourful journey through tennis from a kid of 13 to a rather argumentative bastard of 46 I wonder at times if I could have done much different. I don't ponder too much because I was simply no where near good enough to make money from the sport and I apologize all these years later to my folks for putting them through the whole silly personal quest.
Yet when you think about it, that's what parents do, they support even the strangest ideas of their kids' because they want their children to learn from the experience, to better themselves and to pass down both their successes and failures in life to their own kids.
I refused to learn at school, I have often said that when asked 'When did you leave school'? I replied "Usually at lunch time to go and play tennis", because that's what I did. I used to call into the Burger Spot, grab a two litre bottle of coke and make my way to the tennis club where I convinced another mate to train with me. Our attendance records weren't actually that bad as our names were only ever marked off early in the day, you see we 'did the sums'. The problem was though at exams time, that's when we were found out, it had to catch up with us in the end.
I wonder how I would take the news if I found out that one of my three kids were skipping school to pursue a personal dream, maybe I would be ok with it, after all it's a learning process. We can't all be scholars and we can't all be sports stars so we should just try to be ourselves, the inbetweeners, the rest of the population who dare to dream.
I had two chances of becoming a tennis professional, none and bugger all because I lacked talent and I was chasing a needle in a haystack, a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow but boy I had fun chasing it. I met some great people , I met some knob heads, I saw Monte Carlo and Paris and I learned to tell French women that they were beautiful after a pint or two of the local beer served at places I only ever dreamed of as a kid.
I reckon a book titled the above could just be an absolute flop in a book store but a real hit for my kids as they may just understand one day why I wrote 380 chapters on a site from the spur of the moment and some days after a few ales. In fact I seemed to write more on this site after a few beers, it got all of my silly ideas out of my head and onto a site which one day may earn my kids two dollars each for having an argumentative Father.
No matter what happens I am happy with what has transpired because it's been a hell of a good time, at times frustrating yet educational all the same. I am 46, I am on the You Tube hitting a reasonable tennis ball at an age where many of my old school mates are too over weight to walk down to the local sporting club and roll the arm over.
I am an argumentative bastard but I can still win my local championship and I can still beat kids half my age. Egotistical ? You betcha............
I posted those clips of me hitting just recently as I want my kids to know that even though I was slowing down I was still focused on the one thing that has kept me both amused and frustrated for as long as I can remember. So at age 46 if my kids are anything like me (God forbid ) I hope that they will still pursue something that they perhaps felt a comfort with when they were young as I did with tennis.
If ever I get hit by a bus or get taken out by a hit man for upsetting the wrong person on this site then I would hope that someone lets the young Thompson kids know that their old man had a site that really was quite unique, if not totally absurd.
When I write on this site I don't tell too many people but if I put something down that I see some sort of 'genius' in then I may send the chapter on email through to some people who I regard as friends, I don't have many though......
Nature of the game I call it, the nature of the beast, the game which turns 'ordinary' people into complete nutcases as they chase personal glory in a game that can only be described as 'egotistical'.
Why else would you see someone like Novak Djokovic tearing his shirt off after a Grand Slam victory and yelling like a possessed beast at the crowd who paid good money to see two testosterone fuelled gladiators belt a small ball into submission ? It's all about ego and self indulgence.
Looking back on my rather colourful journey through tennis from a kid of 13 to a rather argumentative bastard of 46 I wonder at times if I could have done much different. I don't ponder too much because I was simply no where near good enough to make money from the sport and I apologize all these years later to my folks for putting them through the whole silly personal quest.
Yet when you think about it, that's what parents do, they support even the strangest ideas of their kids' because they want their children to learn from the experience, to better themselves and to pass down both their successes and failures in life to their own kids.
I refused to learn at school, I have often said that when asked 'When did you leave school'? I replied "Usually at lunch time to go and play tennis", because that's what I did. I used to call into the Burger Spot, grab a two litre bottle of coke and make my way to the tennis club where I convinced another mate to train with me. Our attendance records weren't actually that bad as our names were only ever marked off early in the day, you see we 'did the sums'. The problem was though at exams time, that's when we were found out, it had to catch up with us in the end.
I wonder how I would take the news if I found out that one of my three kids were skipping school to pursue a personal dream, maybe I would be ok with it, after all it's a learning process. We can't all be scholars and we can't all be sports stars so we should just try to be ourselves, the inbetweeners, the rest of the population who dare to dream.
I had two chances of becoming a tennis professional, none and bugger all because I lacked talent and I was chasing a needle in a haystack, a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow but boy I had fun chasing it. I met some great people , I met some knob heads, I saw Monte Carlo and Paris and I learned to tell French women that they were beautiful after a pint or two of the local beer served at places I only ever dreamed of as a kid.
I reckon a book titled the above could just be an absolute flop in a book store but a real hit for my kids as they may just understand one day why I wrote 380 chapters on a site from the spur of the moment and some days after a few ales. In fact I seemed to write more on this site after a few beers, it got all of my silly ideas out of my head and onto a site which one day may earn my kids two dollars each for having an argumentative Father.
No matter what happens I am happy with what has transpired because it's been a hell of a good time, at times frustrating yet educational all the same. I am 46, I am on the You Tube hitting a reasonable tennis ball at an age where many of my old school mates are too over weight to walk down to the local sporting club and roll the arm over.
I am an argumentative bastard but I can still win my local championship and I can still beat kids half my age. Egotistical ? You betcha............
NO EXPECTATION ( THE MIND )
Thursday, 22 May 2014
'NO EXPECTATION, NO FEAR'
Remember that game of golf you played when you shot one of the best rounds of your life ? Was it after a break of a few weeks, even months ? Why did you play so well? No expectation , no fear. Make sense?
My dad was the best golfer in town for years, he won the local championship when i was 9, he regularly could go round in par , even under, he once hit 32 on the back 9 at Albany, possibly still a record. We played in Perth at the Wembley Golf Club one year, 9 holes , I simply was happy to get within 9 shots, I was going to call it a 'moral victory' if i did. The par was 35, a shorter 9 holes , the greatest round of golf I have ever played . Usually i would shoot a bogey a hole or perhaps 5 over was my best, but this particular day something happened with my golf that i have never revisited.
We both shot 35, I expected that from Dad because he was a brilliant golfer, but me , well I can't explain it. I am not sure whether it was no fear and no expectation or simply that I was after some respect. So what's the point?
If you play a game of tennis with no expectations then what have you got to lose? It's amazing how many players go to water when they look at the draw and see a number that is next to their name that is a number that apparently gives them a chance to win the tournament. If a player is seeded, there is expectation , not just from the player , but from friends, family, players and the tournament committee , there is pressure.
What happens though in a round robin event where seeds are not as intimidating as if you draw one in a knockout comp and a player adopts a mind set of 'no expectation, no fear'?
Well that's easy to answer, that's when a player will play his best , they will play with flair and perhaps even reckless abandon because that's how they can actually play when they practice. I have not only played my best golf when i wasn't placing any expectations on myself but I have played my best tennis after a long lay off .
So what is it with tennis, golf and a body and mind that is as loose as a bloke that has been to a pub and has had 4 pints of the finest ale?
Whether you have either not played for a while or are playing the number one seed in the first round , ask yourself "where is the pressure"? If you don't place any on yourself then surely you can swing as free as that bloke who just drank 4 pints. In fact , have you ever played tennis after a few ales? No fear whatsoever......
At 2 sets to love and 4 all 40 love on his own serve in the 2004 French Open final Guillermo Coria had already written his speech in his head, the rest is history. His opponent Gaston Gaudio had about as much to lose as a broke gambler at a casino, why not roll the dice?
The best golf game you will ever play is the one where you just go for broke and hit it like you simply don't care what your score is going to be. The guy trying to protect his handicap is the guy you will beat easily.
The best game of tennis you have played or perhaps will play in the future is the one where you will just turn up , keep swinging and most importantly not be thinking about the winner's speech at the end. This game isn't that hard really, our minds are the problem , not our shots.......
My dad was the best golfer in town for years, he won the local championship when i was 9, he regularly could go round in par , even under, he once hit 32 on the back 9 at Albany, possibly still a record. We played in Perth at the Wembley Golf Club one year, 9 holes , I simply was happy to get within 9 shots, I was going to call it a 'moral victory' if i did. The par was 35, a shorter 9 holes , the greatest round of golf I have ever played . Usually i would shoot a bogey a hole or perhaps 5 over was my best, but this particular day something happened with my golf that i have never revisited.
We both shot 35, I expected that from Dad because he was a brilliant golfer, but me , well I can't explain it. I am not sure whether it was no fear and no expectation or simply that I was after some respect. So what's the point?
If you play a game of tennis with no expectations then what have you got to lose? It's amazing how many players go to water when they look at the draw and see a number that is next to their name that is a number that apparently gives them a chance to win the tournament. If a player is seeded, there is expectation , not just from the player , but from friends, family, players and the tournament committee , there is pressure.
What happens though in a round robin event where seeds are not as intimidating as if you draw one in a knockout comp and a player adopts a mind set of 'no expectation, no fear'?
Well that's easy to answer, that's when a player will play his best , they will play with flair and perhaps even reckless abandon because that's how they can actually play when they practice. I have not only played my best golf when i wasn't placing any expectations on myself but I have played my best tennis after a long lay off .
So what is it with tennis, golf and a body and mind that is as loose as a bloke that has been to a pub and has had 4 pints of the finest ale?
Whether you have either not played for a while or are playing the number one seed in the first round , ask yourself "where is the pressure"? If you don't place any on yourself then surely you can swing as free as that bloke who just drank 4 pints. In fact , have you ever played tennis after a few ales? No fear whatsoever......
At 2 sets to love and 4 all 40 love on his own serve in the 2004 French Open final Guillermo Coria had already written his speech in his head, the rest is history. His opponent Gaston Gaudio had about as much to lose as a broke gambler at a casino, why not roll the dice?
The best golf game you will ever play is the one where you just go for broke and hit it like you simply don't care what your score is going to be. The guy trying to protect his handicap is the guy you will beat easily.
The best game of tennis you have played or perhaps will play in the future is the one where you will just turn up , keep swinging and most importantly not be thinking about the winner's speech at the end. This game isn't that hard really, our minds are the problem , not our shots.......
ANALYSE IT ( THE MIND )
Wednesday, 25 June 2014
Ever watched
a game of tennis and thought to yourself "geez these guys are good" ?
I have done since I was a kid but now days when I watch tennis I look at it a
lot differently, quite simply I analyse it. I don't enjoy the game as much i
used to because I find it very 'ho hum', it's all pretty much the same, but
there are always some good matches in a Slam.
Grass court tennis is rather tactical as opposed to say the French Open which does of course require tactics but it needs a mind to stay out there for as long as the legs will hold up, a slower match. Grass court tennis is quick and the points are over a lot sooner, volleys don't have to be perfect as they do on clay or hard courts, short volleys are sometimes more effective. Trying to hit a winner off a dying short volley can be hard work.
Dustin Brown played this tactic to perfection against Lleyton Hewitt at last year's Wimbledon, the Australian couldn't find an answer to it.
Have you noticed how much a player will actually attack the strength of an opponent ? Watch two big forehands from two right handers and how often they in fact go back to each other rather than try to change the direction. Why is this ? It's not an ego thing. It's because they are playing safe tennis . Changing the direction on a ball is risky from the back of the court so cross court tennis is always the safest option. Tennis professionals will try to get a short reply from the forehand so as to attack the backhand side. How many times do you see a pro come to the net on an approach to their opponent's forehand side ? Not too many smart players would even consider it.
Some call it the 'one , two punch ' where you attack the strength with the equivalent of a boxer's jab then follow it up with a 'hay maker' into the backhand side. I don't believe the tactical side has ever been taught as much as the technical side, it's lacking in the game, it's lack of thought.
How often does a sliced backhand get returned with another slice ? Why is this ? Again it's the safest option as a low slice to the backhand is easier to slice back rather than trying to get down underneath it to hit a topspin shot. A sliced ball is also tough to change direction on so a backhand slice cross court will almost always be returned with another backhand slice, cross court. These guys play the percentages. So what happens when a right hander plays a lefty ? Look at Fed vs Rafa . Roger always struggles to deal with the high spin to his backhand from Nadal's forehand , it's where most points are won by the Spaniard. Rafa hits cross court almost all the time against Roger from his forehand and unless Roger is hitting his backhand at 100 per cent he will lose .
Same theory, cross court tennis, it's playing the percentages, tennis down the line is risky as you have to change the dynamics of the ball from a cross court ball. When you first learned to play the game what were you taught ? Hit it out in front, early, that's cross court tennis. Here's a fact you may not know.
From the corner of the baseline to the opposite corner down the line is 4 foot shorter than if you hit the ball to the opposite corner cross court, 4 foot is a lot in tennis.
There's a lot to the game of tennis,being a great ball striker is not enough, you need to know how to play , there's a difference, some realize this , some don't. That's why being a pro tennis player is almost like being an A Grade Student, you need to know your angles......
Grass court tennis is rather tactical as opposed to say the French Open which does of course require tactics but it needs a mind to stay out there for as long as the legs will hold up, a slower match. Grass court tennis is quick and the points are over a lot sooner, volleys don't have to be perfect as they do on clay or hard courts, short volleys are sometimes more effective. Trying to hit a winner off a dying short volley can be hard work.
Dustin Brown played this tactic to perfection against Lleyton Hewitt at last year's Wimbledon, the Australian couldn't find an answer to it.
Have you noticed how much a player will actually attack the strength of an opponent ? Watch two big forehands from two right handers and how often they in fact go back to each other rather than try to change the direction. Why is this ? It's not an ego thing. It's because they are playing safe tennis . Changing the direction on a ball is risky from the back of the court so cross court tennis is always the safest option. Tennis professionals will try to get a short reply from the forehand so as to attack the backhand side. How many times do you see a pro come to the net on an approach to their opponent's forehand side ? Not too many smart players would even consider it.
Some call it the 'one , two punch ' where you attack the strength with the equivalent of a boxer's jab then follow it up with a 'hay maker' into the backhand side. I don't believe the tactical side has ever been taught as much as the technical side, it's lacking in the game, it's lack of thought.
How often does a sliced backhand get returned with another slice ? Why is this ? Again it's the safest option as a low slice to the backhand is easier to slice back rather than trying to get down underneath it to hit a topspin shot. A sliced ball is also tough to change direction on so a backhand slice cross court will almost always be returned with another backhand slice, cross court. These guys play the percentages. So what happens when a right hander plays a lefty ? Look at Fed vs Rafa . Roger always struggles to deal with the high spin to his backhand from Nadal's forehand , it's where most points are won by the Spaniard. Rafa hits cross court almost all the time against Roger from his forehand and unless Roger is hitting his backhand at 100 per cent he will lose .
Same theory, cross court tennis, it's playing the percentages, tennis down the line is risky as you have to change the dynamics of the ball from a cross court ball. When you first learned to play the game what were you taught ? Hit it out in front, early, that's cross court tennis. Here's a fact you may not know.
From the corner of the baseline to the opposite corner down the line is 4 foot shorter than if you hit the ball to the opposite corner cross court, 4 foot is a lot in tennis.
There's a lot to the game of tennis,being a great ball striker is not enough, you need to know how to play , there's a difference, some realize this , some don't. That's why being a pro tennis player is almost like being an A Grade Student, you need to know your angles......
Saturday, 16 August 2014
In 1995 at
The US Open Men's Final between Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras a ten shot
exchange was timed at 10.5 seconds. Shall we put this into perspective ? That
sort of hitting is basically 'ping pong' or table tennis hitting yet these two
made it look easy. The entire rally lasted 20 shots but the 10 shots that were
timed at that mentioned speed were possibly some of the hardest hitting you
will ever witness.
So why doesn't this sort of hitting happen more regularly ? It does, in junior tennis, not in the big league. The best players in the World are the best because they know their limitations, most kids do not own that sort of thinking. So what about the rally between the two Americans in 1995 ?
The rally was actually at set point for Sampras , in the first set, so what did Agassi have to lose ? He basically just said " Ok Pete I am going to keep belting this thing , if you are better at it then you have the set" Unfortunately for Andre that was the case, Sampras was just that , too good, he won the rally, the set , the title match in 4 sets.
I am not knocking kids , it is a game that requires a huge learning curve and one that requires experimentation so trying to out hit an opponent at age 13 or 14 is common. The problem is this; Unless the ball is hit with a huge amount of spin then the hard hitting will account for nothing, a kid will miss more than he or she gets in. Why is this ?
Tennis is taught predominantly the same way , hit hard , reasonably flat and from close to the baseline, all pretty much 'ho hum tennis'. It's all about taking time away from the opponent.
There is a picture of Nadal , a birds eye shot of the great man receiving serve from around 10 foot behind the baseline. So why isn't this position taught more by the modern tennis coach?
This position allows time to think, it gives a player time to swing, it creates a 50/50 play where the serve is not a hit/ miss type of situation. Borg was the master at this and Rafa is the modern day master, they will both go down in history as two of the greatest ever returners the game has ever seen. Agassi was altogether different as sometimes he would be two feet inside the baseline to receive a serve from possibly one of the greatest servers of all time Pete Sampras.
It is not essential to stand up to receive serve now days as there are very few serve volleyer's , so why rush the return ? In doubles sure stand up if the guys are rushing in but in singles why not stay back and give yourself some time ?
As you get older in tennis you will develop better timing, until then give yourself some time to hit each shot, especially the return, it's possibly the most important shot in the game apart from the rally ball. If you get the serve back regularly then you will naturally be able to start a rally , missing returns will put you in trouble right from the outset.
Imagine if a game was started with an underarm serve, each return would come back 99 per cent of the time, so why not treat a serve just like that ? If you get it back then it comes down to who is the better rally ball player, not the best returner.
Give yourself time in tennis, standing up on the base line is an ego thing , not a smart thing, have a look at the Spaniard who 'owns' the French Open and look where he stands, not only to receive but to rally. Take note also of how high he hits his ball over the net, it gives him time to make position.
Tennis doesn't need to follow a trend , it needs to be thought out realistically.......
So why doesn't this sort of hitting happen more regularly ? It does, in junior tennis, not in the big league. The best players in the World are the best because they know their limitations, most kids do not own that sort of thinking. So what about the rally between the two Americans in 1995 ?
The rally was actually at set point for Sampras , in the first set, so what did Agassi have to lose ? He basically just said " Ok Pete I am going to keep belting this thing , if you are better at it then you have the set" Unfortunately for Andre that was the case, Sampras was just that , too good, he won the rally, the set , the title match in 4 sets.
I am not knocking kids , it is a game that requires a huge learning curve and one that requires experimentation so trying to out hit an opponent at age 13 or 14 is common. The problem is this; Unless the ball is hit with a huge amount of spin then the hard hitting will account for nothing, a kid will miss more than he or she gets in. Why is this ?
Tennis is taught predominantly the same way , hit hard , reasonably flat and from close to the baseline, all pretty much 'ho hum tennis'. It's all about taking time away from the opponent.
There is a picture of Nadal , a birds eye shot of the great man receiving serve from around 10 foot behind the baseline. So why isn't this position taught more by the modern tennis coach?
This position allows time to think, it gives a player time to swing, it creates a 50/50 play where the serve is not a hit/ miss type of situation. Borg was the master at this and Rafa is the modern day master, they will both go down in history as two of the greatest ever returners the game has ever seen. Agassi was altogether different as sometimes he would be two feet inside the baseline to receive a serve from possibly one of the greatest servers of all time Pete Sampras.
It is not essential to stand up to receive serve now days as there are very few serve volleyer's , so why rush the return ? In doubles sure stand up if the guys are rushing in but in singles why not stay back and give yourself some time ?
As you get older in tennis you will develop better timing, until then give yourself some time to hit each shot, especially the return, it's possibly the most important shot in the game apart from the rally ball. If you get the serve back regularly then you will naturally be able to start a rally , missing returns will put you in trouble right from the outset.
Imagine if a game was started with an underarm serve, each return would come back 99 per cent of the time, so why not treat a serve just like that ? If you get it back then it comes down to who is the better rally ball player, not the best returner.
Give yourself time in tennis, standing up on the base line is an ego thing , not a smart thing, have a look at the Spaniard who 'owns' the French Open and look where he stands, not only to receive but to rally. Take note also of how high he hits his ball over the net, it gives him time to make position.
Tennis doesn't need to follow a trend , it needs to be thought out realistically.......
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