Teach Discipline on the Tennis Court
Teach Discipline on the Tennis Court by Robert Lansdorp
Making of a champion: Of course it is a lot more complicated than I can explain in this short peace, but maybe soon if I get a book out, I can explain everything in more detail. Let’s get to the basics here. Make sure, and I say make sure that you do not listen to all these coaches who want your tennis kid to hit a lot of topspin, and I mean a lot.
Don’t send your kid to a tennis academy, unless you want more match play and even in most Academies it is a waste of time and money, lots of money. Lot of Academies will charge you about $100,000 a year. If you hope to get your kid a scholarship by sending him or her to an Academy, save your money and pay for the education. Besides that, if your kid is talented and just wants to go to college a very good local pro can do it, and you have $300,000 to $400,000 left in the bank. BUT more important, make sure that if you want your kid to become a great pro, HAVE THEM HIT THE BALL HARD FROM DAY ONE. And I am not talking about FLAT all the time. Most balls should have some topspin on the ball but hit hard with some spin. The two-handed backhands are usually flatter. Girls should definitely hit the ball flatter than boys, because of the strength.
Make the kids hit the ball HARDER and LOWER over the net. If your kid is talented and has GREAT timing, they are able to do it. If they can’t they probably never will. But I am interested in making Champions and not College tennis players. I developed at least 20 tennis players in the top 50 in the world. 9 players in the top 10, 4 no 1′s and about 27 Grand Slams not including about 8 Grand Slams in doubles, and had 100′s of kids with college athletic scholarships to major college’s, so I do develop lots of college players!!!
Most coaches in this country, including the USTA, and tennis academies believes in this high topspin nonsense. And they wonder why we don’t have any great players any more. If I was in the business of pleasing parents or ran an Academy to make the kids more consistent by hitting the ball higher, like 5 to 6 feet with lots of topspin I might do the same, but I won’t. Parents will be pleased, because the kid is more consistent, instead of teaching consistency with discipline. It’s like pushing kids through school, instead of making it hard with discipline.
Almost all the top female players hit the ball extremely hard. Very hard, almost all of them. So why would you teach the kids this HIGH over the net with lots of TOPSPIN. The females might have some topspin, but not extreme. Maria Sharapova won the French Open twice, NOT because she is a clay court player, far from it. But she hits the daylights out of the ball and is consistent, since she has been doing it since 10 years old, without lots of topspin, DAH. Clay gives her a little more time to be able to set up. The men hit more spin, BUT still hit the hell out of the ball. It takes a machine to determine the amount of spin on the ball that Roger Federer hits. SOOOO … have your kids hit the ball HARD from day one. Get rid of this high topspin. My way you could have a harder time in the 12′s . But if your kid is talented, he or she will win the 12 ‘s and has a chance to become NO 1 in the world. There are some crazy coaches who put a rope 6 feet ABOVE the net to teach the kid to hit high over the net. Take the kid somewhere else, if you want a champion.
Hey Jose (Jose Higueras) how come Spain has no great females. The one newcomer, forgot her name, Muguzuma (Gabrine Muguruza) maybe, hits the ball very hard and fairly flat. Why not teach that to American tennis kids. This Country won’t have any no 1′s unless you make a change. Do away with this miniature tennis. A waste, just a money maker for some people, but won’t make champions and start hitting the ball real hard and consistent. Teach discipline on the tennis court.
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Why teach new players only one way that’s the way everyone else is teaching.
Why not have a new player hit all ways flat with topspin flat without topspin high with topspin lobs spin of all types. That is the way to go.
Having power and hitting hard is a great idea and basically the template of the current crop of American players who play ATP. All of them who hit very hard, Jack Sock, and the 6 others who are in the top 100. Of the top 10, Berdych hits the ball extremely hard. But the top players have a mix of both and a good balance of spin and hitting the ball hard. The top 3 play mostly spin and consistently so. The one Spanish player who breaks the Spanish mold, is Muguruza who plays anti Spanish style tennis. She does look very promising, but she plays the American style of playing tennis. Over the past decade, on the mens side, Spain has dominated the top spots and they play spin, and today have more players in top 100 than any other country. As Far as the women are concerned, the top play hard. There is very little to disagree that playing hard is a good strategy, but it is one dimensional in today’s tennis as is playing only spin. It is a matter of mastering both, the surface, the rivals. One great example of this is Kei Nishikori.
I visited Robert Lansdorp at his home club in the distant past several times when I worked in USA promotions with Prince Tennis Company in the 1980’s. He obviously is an expert teacher of tennis in all categories but forget the spin discussion for a moment. The emotional/mental focus and discipline Robert “gave” the players he has coached over the last few decades was the most important factor of all in my estimation. If you have the spiritual/emotional/mental part figured out, there are lots of ways to play this interesting game of tennis/life.
You just started a firestorm .
Well said Mr Lansdorp. There is a definite difference between the women’s and men’s game. However, focusing on the men, I’ve always thought that when Agassi, Courier, and Chang were at the top it was the best thing and the worst thing to happen to American tennis. Kids gravitated to the rock star power and flashy strokes of Agassi. Unfortunately an Agassi only comes about every 15-20 years and not necessarily American. As far as Sampras was concerned, his tremendously powerful serves made his matches unwatchable at times because of the inability of opponents to return them so they slowed down the surface and the balls which then put us on even ground with the clay-courters which immediately favored the baseliners. Watch how seasoned, patient, and poised the players brought up on clay are compared to most of the Americans. Hitting harder and going for your shots is a given, but players should also play more on clay to develop their games.
I want to spur you on to write a book. I have written two now, and am coaching someone to write theirs, while in the middle of my third book.
what you wrote here is awesome.
You could always just go to Robert and for a few hundred bucks an hour you could have him personally tell your kids to hit hard.
and isn’t that what every kid that takes up tennis tries to do on their own with a coach telling them? So you likely don’t even have to bother paying Robert the big dollars.
I do totally agree with Robert on teaching players to be able to hit hard at a young age. I have had this discussion on this site and on other discussions on LinkedIn. I’m basically trying to communicate facts and knowledge to those who may be able to use my instructions. What I have incorporated in my program are basic physics and mathematic calculations to emphasize the effectiveness of my coaching style and tactics. However, instead of discussions, there are a couple of coaches out there who would critcize and ripped into something they have no clue of. The physics and mathematics that I incorporated into my program is very basic high school material. Yet, these particular coaches do not even have the understanding of this basic knowledge. So, in the future I hope what I share can be helpful to other players and parents. I am open to all discussions, but for those that do not even have basic high school knowledge, I would appreciate that you withhold your comments to yourself.. Thanks to all other coaches that participate in these conversations and provides excellent information to everyone.
Well, on a different note. Like I have said that I agree with Robert on teaching our young players to hit hard from the beginning. Hard can be effective and would work on many occasions. However, I find one ingredient that is even more effective. It is ” SPEED “. ” SPEED ” is the devastator. Now, if you look at it in this perspective ” POWER ” is force and force can be nuetralize. But if you look at ” SPEED “; speed is velocity and the ball can travel at a rate of speed faster then any human can run. So, you do play alot flatter, but the key is faster. Well, everyone has the arguement of , how come Spain has so many top players and they play with heavy top spin. But, if you look carefully, there are no pros out there that trains hard and fast. The closes that comes to it are Djokic and Waranka and look what warinka did to Nadal. If you incorporate speed into Warinka’s game, you will have one amazing player.
Yes, Lets look at how Stan W has done vs Rafa….1-12, with the only win coming when Rafa was badly injured and too much of a gentleman to just default, leaving fans with no match.
Now, let me give a little insight and detail of my program. Hitting hard is also effective. Look at the example of Serena. She can really dominate with her power when she steps on the court. When you hit with speed, first must come the fitness and conditioning. It will require movement, body positioning and setup. That’s why the training of quickness, agility, and stamina are crucial. This will help in getting your feet and legs positioned at close stance or at least more of a nuetral stance. It is best not hitting at open stance because in that body position it restricts your hip from rotating around that is where your injury will occur. I’m not saying you don’t hit open stance, but sometimes you just have to do your best to get the ball back. The close or nuetral stance will form a solid base under your feet to be able to receive the ball and to help the player drive the ball through when they are hitting. The close stance will give your body more flexibility and mobility, unlike the open stance you are lock into that position. Like I said, this is simple high school physics. Then by using a more close stance tactic you can allow your body weigh, a better hip rotation into the ball, and allowing your arm to float faster forward with more extention to drive the ball through. Like I’ve always tell my players, hitting the ball all starts with the feet. If your base is solid you will connect with the ball more effectively. This is just some of the things in my analysis. You may agree or disagree, but please keep rude comments to yourself.. Thanks.
What an absolute load of rubbish. I played for a good number of years on the pro tour, and certainly saw my fair share of ‘hard’ hitting.
There were also the Emilio Sanchez, miloslab mecir, Gilles Simon, types who drove you crazy with consistency and feel.
Any time there is a magic, simple formula like ‘Just hit it hard’ I think people should be nervous. Its not quite that simple everyone, and if top 100 was that easy to do, everyone would do it.
Hitting hard is just one form of weapon. Sometimes you can overpower your opponent. Like I’ve said, power can also be nuetralize. However, speed in your technical game will win you matches. Try to consistently out run a 80 to 90 mile/hr tennis ball is physically impossible. But your training must be very discipline to be able to hit that type of speed at your opponent consistently. As for guys that keep getting balls back, even in the pro circuit, they like playing the slow ball. Playing the speed game will be their defeat. As the game gets faster with balls traveling at a higher speed ( different from a power game ), these player have to prepare quicker, therefore their slow game even becomes weaker. Then giving you the opportunity to approach or step in to create a winning shot.
I agree half heartedly with Robert’s view on creating champions, but I wonder if its the words of an old broom. I have worked with many top 100 nationally ranked juniors none the likes of Robert but sometimes I feel coaches views dont evolve. Modern rackets and strings and physicality has changed the game to more than hit the crap out of the ball. RPM has been measured among the big 4 men and there is a strong balance of flat and spin relative to shot selection and rallies. I do agree this high loopy stuff isnt going to make top pros
Making a tennis champion is a very complex process. Technology I agree has changed the game hugely. I grew up on wooden raquets!!!In Spain mostly but Argentina, and Brazil too the men´s game enjoys a lot of success today from the programme that was developed 20 years ago. The irony of this is that it all started in the US. Natural ability,passion, commitment, creativity, strength, fitness, mental fortitude, opportunity, determination, perserverance, good coaching and even luck play a part in the making of a champion.There is no one formula, individuals who succeed in tennis have unique styles and physiques and coaching has to be tailored thoughtfully to each individual. There is a lot of lazy coaching around with a cynical take the money and run attitude. This is never going produce anything other than a fat bank account for the coach and nothing worthwhile for the player or the family who have devoted time,money and energy in a doomed endeavour.
It is true that racquets and equipments have changed the game drastically. The game has become much more physical. Balls are being hit harder and faster. Therefore, the core of the training must change and physical conditioning, agility, and movement should now be in the forefront of the training process in becoming a top player. The human abilities are being challenge as a tennis match goes on and players must be able to physically and mentally endure these challenges. As for the area of hitting balls, we must become more creative and educate ourselves as players and coaches to utilize every fascets of our body to maximize our potential in striking the ball. Every detail, movement, positioning, etc. can have a positive effect in your hitting.
It’s interesting to note that many of these comments fail to acknowledge that Robert did not say to hit only flat, that he did say include some spin. He simply does not believe in teaching loopy, heavy spin balls as a primary training regimen, but to encourage even young juniors to hit hard. I would only add that they also must learn to be balanced hitters, using core and legs for power. I have driven by an academy and seen juniors warming up by hitting off balance, wristy mishit scud missiles, a practice which accomplishes nothing and begs for physical problems later on. Furthermore, Alex’s idea of a priority of training quickness and speed is necessary to deal with the faster pace of the game. Finally, accuracy must be incorporated into training of juniors and, if memory serves, Robert was very demanding of Maria in terms of hitting small target areas repeatedly. Targeting improves the fine tuning of preparation, balance and swing control necessary to be consistent and aggressive at the same time.
Bottom Line: Your resume.
Time for some of the USTA gods to listen. That is all that needs to be said.