Six Million Dollar Players
The future is coming watch out!
A short say on what is happening to today's juniors.

We can build them, we have the technology, the knowledge, the know how, we have the capability to make the best, the strongest, the fastest, etc. Yes, almost just like the "Six million dollar man" (a television series in the 70's where a test pilot crashes and loses his right arm, both legs and an eye and is rebuilt using space age mechanical parts costing six million dollars of the government's money). Today, coaches can help develop a player to be the absolute best they can be without using drugs or any illegal devices.

Generally speaking, as little as 10 years ago juniors all over the world still had one-dimensional game-styles. For the past 10 years I have been taking junior players to Florida each year to compete in a series of tournaments which lead up to the world international tournament called the Orange Bowl. Each year I would bring back videotape of players from various countries to show the players who couldn't go on the tournament trip.

Each year my players would compete in these tournaments. Each and every year it was pretty easy to tell which country the other players came from just by looking at their game style. Americans mostly were the big banging aggressive hard court baseliner types, Spaniards were mostly the long lasting tactically outlasting baseliners, the French were mostly controlling baseliners, the British were mostly serve and volley types, etc. Of course in each country there would be other types of player game-styles. It was kind of funny for me to see the same kind of players continually representing their country. As an aside, it was also very interesting to see over the years how someone like Anna Kournikova grew and developed her game-styles. It was really very interesting to see how a player who had flaws in their game one year could come back to play the next year with new and improved strokes or tactics.

Today, well today there is a new breed of player, one that is stronger, faster, more tennis intelligent and possessing a complete arsenal of weapons. Juniors are learning skills that were sacra-religious to teach years ago. Coaches from most countries are now teaching the skills necessary to build juniors into players who have a diverse game style with the potential of becoming world-class players. It is more difficult to determine today which players represent which countries. Many coaches are now learning to train using a more tactical approach, rather than developing only perfect looking strokes.

So you might ask "is my local tennis pro teaching me what I need to be able to make it to the pros? Is my coach teaching me what it takes to maximize my potential?" In many cases the professionals are doing their best to continue to improve their coaching skills. I have seen and met hundreds of coaches at tennis conferences and workshops all over the world. The problems occur if a coach starts to believe that they already know all there is to know about developing a players skills. A pattern that I continually see in many clubs and academies is that the head professional is set in his or her ways. Now is this a bad thing? In some ways there is nothing really wrong with this if they are coaching a senior who has no aspirations of ever competing at a national or international level.

But if they are coaching a junior or competitive adult whose goal is to be very competitive at a very high level of play then there is a definite problem. In many cases the professional has been around the business for a while and he or she has earned the position of "head coach" or top coach of the club. As a direct result the other professionals in the club are often asked to teach the same as this pro so that there is conformity in teaching. If one of the other professionals does not agree to teach along the same guidelines then this "rogue" pro is soon dismissed.

If you are lucky then the head pro of the club is open to ideas and new ways of teaching. If the other professionals bring in new ideas to the head coach, it is decided as a group whether or not this new information is to be used. If you are unlucky and it seems that all the pros teach the same (old school) way of coaching then you might try:

a) To ask for private lessons from several pros on the same topic. By doing this you can see the way each pro analyzes and explains skills, etc. Usually if you are involved in a group clinic with many coaches then all pros are asked by the head coach to teach the same way.

b) Talk to the coaches and ask if they have attended any good coaching conferences lately.

Furthermore, it is essential for the coach to communicate with the player as to where they are headed. By doing this the coach may buffer any hardships that the junior or student may soon discover. It is also very important for the coach to communicate with the parent the goals and vision he or she sees. With many new skills to be learned it is often a good idea to sit down with the player and their parent to go over action plans of development. This provides the player and parent with a clear picture as to where they are all headed.

Today upcoming stars like Marat Safin can do it all. They came up as juniors doing it all and now as pros--well, the results speak for themselves. With the coming of the new year there is a new horizon, a new wave of players, a new wave of coaches--watch out tennis world!

Happy holidays,

Reg

This column is copyright 2000 by Reggie Vasquez Jr., all rights reserved.

Reggie Vasquez Jr. is one of Canada's leading tennis coaches for juniors. He is actively involved with Tennis Canada's grassroots player development. A frequent and enthusiastic speaker at tennis conferences, he is certified by the U.S.P.T.A., Tennis Canada and the U.S.P.T.R.. For almost 7 years he was a head coach for the Canadian Davis cup Captain's Academy at the Canada's National Tennis Center. He has been a Tennis Canada - National Youth Tennis Center Leader for over 8 years and is presently a head coach of an Elite Tennis Academy. He has experience working with juniors from the absolute beginner to the international caliber tennis player. Reggie is also a published author on junior tennis. His personal web site has additional information on his book, the Tennis for Kids. The Tennis for Kids can be ordered directly at a discount using this link to the Amazon.com online bookstore.

Questions and comments about these columns can be directed to Reggie by electronic mail at reggie@tennisserver.com.