Why Do the Best Tennis Players Hire Former Tennis Stars as Coaches?
Why Do the Best Tennis Players Hire Former Tennis Stars as Coaches?
Robert Lansdorp wrote an interesting post “Baby sitting jobs?” about a cooperation among former and present famous tennis players. Let’s read and discuss it.
Lets take a look at the new glorified BABY sitting jobs. Oh, so sorry new coaching jobs. Murray said that “Coaches don’t have that much influence, it is the players who hit the ball”. And he is right. Lendl did help him by being physically better. But Murray has back problems and maybe Lendl overdid it. I don’t know for sure. We have to see how well Murray’s back will hold up ??
So, lets go with Maria Sharapova and Sven Groeneveld. Has to be great, after all he is Dutch. Just kidding, not all Dutch are great. Maria probably likes his accent. We have to wait and see. If he can straighten out her mind, and give her more power, more than Wosniacki, it could last more than one year. Maria is not easy to work with. Just ask Connors. He is still trying to get over it.
Next… Bruegera and Gasquet. This could work. Gasquet has to be mentally tougher and Bruegera could help him with that part. BUT I don’t think it will help Gasquet’s ranking..
Chang and Nishikori, could work but I don’t think so. They almost play the same and Nishikori needs more power. The game has changed, since Chang played. Chang was a clay court player, who grew up on hard court. We will wait and see, it could work.
Next…. Annacone and Sloan Stephens. NEXT. Annacone is just a very nice fella. Too nice, Stevens needs a good kick in the butt, and start playing up to her potential. She is too damn lazy, and Annacone is not going to change that. Paul is in a tough spot. He always worked with people, guys, who were already multiple Grand Slam winners. Now he has to show that he can get a female, who is a potential Grand Slam winner to become one. Lot of pressure Paul. Let’s see how you are going to do this. Good Luck.
NEXT… Becker and Djokovic??? No idea what happened there. Becker was a PURE serve and volley player. Never ever won any kind of clay court tournament. Never. Does Djokovic want to learn how to serve and volley at this stage of his career? Don’t think so. Maybe come in more. His old coach probably tried that for many years, and Djokovic said ” The hell with that ”
And now we come to the strangest Duo. Edberg and Federer ????? Another pure serve and volley. Edberg was better on clay then Becker.. Don’t know what Federer is looking for. No IDEA. Maybe he also wants to come in more, like the old days. A little late for that Buddy. This will probably be Federer’s last year. You have two kids, man. You are a great guy, a great, great player, now be a great Dad, before they grow up. All these guy’s were GREAT players, and great individuals. I wish them all the best in 2014 and hope it works out great, especially for Edberg.
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I guess when you reached almost all your goals and when you are one of the best ever ( speaking about the men) we need more of a friend that have been there before than a coach….the top players have a big Ego that doesn’t allow a good coach only to make any changes to their game….and that’s why I love Nadal’s philosophy about his coaching… He stuck to his coach ( coach that never play professional but is a good coach)since he was a kid, never changed, never left home, never thought was the coach’s fault, never look around to go practice with the better pros around, and basically used a few other people as consultants… What I simply tell all my players and parents, all you need is a court, couple of balls, a coach that cares and want to go to distance with you … Tennis is not a complicate sport than most people think.
But honestly, the top men is just looking for a new buddy to hang out and exchange experiences…. The women in the other hand, with all do respect, can’t make any change, they still will be slow, hit straight cross court and down the lines until the other player misses. Maybe we coaches can create women players that will play more like the men in the next years….
A lot of respect for Mr. Landsdorp but the writing tone is a little too high. The same can be written in a more human way.
I find it an incredibly grandiose and frankly irritating article. The assumption that a fellow tennis star can offer nothing beyond their own playing style as a coach is ludicrous. It’s very clear, even to any untrained eye that Edberg has had a tremendous impact on Roger Federer’s game in all areas of the court (net positioning and backhand spring to mind). Going on rumours and hearsay Andy Murray failed to be influenced by most people trying to help him and he clearly likes and respects Llendl.. which is an asset in many areas of life let alone on court. I’ve certainly heard of Landsdorp in the coaching world and find his over zealous opinions of other peoples coaching abilities to be totally lacking in decency and understanding… smacks of unfulfilled personal dreams and playing abilities jealousy.
Sorry for the late comment. Had computer failure and lost touch for about a week. Well, let’s get into it. First, I like to comment that a great player may not be a great coach, but a great coach don’t need to be a great player. A great coach needs to be methodlical and analytical with a great mindset for the game. These great players that are hiring the former great players as coaches are not looking for change. They are actually looking for mental assurance and comfort that these former players can give them because these former players have been there and done it just like they have. The players are looking for support and not coaching. That is where the mistakes are and these newly hired coaches cannot help the players with their game.