World beaters and ‘support team’
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At present there are two hot Tennis topics in news. Sharapova’s return and Djokovic’s split up from his team. In my opinion Djokovic would have achieved what he did in the past even without his ‘team’. He was talented and hard working player who played extremely well using his weaponry very effectively. Nothing else is the truth.
Now Djokovic is not playing well at all. No team can resurrect him. This also is the truth. So him discarding the team is the natural progression. In an individual sport the impact of a support team may be good for logistics and for ‘Maha Raja’ style body care. To face the challenge on the court these are of no use. Outside help is not permitted in a Tennis match anyway. That makes the ‘support team’ a mere cheering squad and a very expensive baggage to carry.
The professional ladderÂ
Professional circuit is tough in Tennis especially after passing the top 400 mark in both gender. From there the ability to take extreme physical strain and mental stress is necessary to go up. Life becomes a single minded pursuit of having to live every moment for Tennis. Such a dedicated life is not for everyone. This is the reason behind ‘drop out’ syndrome.
In reality, the difference between the top hundred and 400 is minimal. Even so, only one in few hundred make it. What about the new names, and talents of whom much is heard and written in the media? Not much has come out them. Then ‘how’ does Talent ID works in Tennis or better said or asked is it a working guide line?
Talent IDÂ
Here mostly we go by the news item. One may well ask what else is there. In reality the tough top end of ranking in any geographic location or global ranking is not for every one. This hard truth, it is a very hard pill to swallow by coaches in development spectrum, players and sadly by parents. Sports talent in reality is not rare but ‘dedicated and hard working talent’ is rarer that Kohinoor-Diamond. In the life a coach, she or he may only have access at the most to about three or four hardworking talent. If those opportunities are missed, they will never appear again. So small is the quota available to the coach and nations. Now how to spot a rough diamond that could be another Kohinoor-Diamond?
Models of Hopman, Tiriac, Bolliteri and BerglinÂ
Djokovic parted from his team to run solo
In the post war history these men have produced exceptional players. Australia’s Davis Cup player Harry Hopman had a good run of making players and it ended in the sixties in Australia. Laver, Rosewall, Hoad, Emerson, Newcombe and Roche were his boys. After that he worked in USA and Europe. Nothing came out from those. His quota was over.
Modeling on Hopman’s success Romanian Davis Cup player Ion Tiriac picked up Argentinian Guillermo Vilas and his countryman Ille Nastase, Germany’s Boris Becker and good few others and made them to be world beaters. Tiriac, himself a top 20 player is the first man to create the model of fostering player and coach together as a standard form of development. He is the first Team maker in Tennis. Tiriac himself played the role of ‘player managing entrepreneur’ with great success. Now a billionaire on his own rights and owns many prestigious ATP events globally.
This was followed by the Swedes. It began with Bjorn Borg. Swedish Davis Cup Player Berglin coached Borg to play Tennis differently. Borg’s Tennis is a break away from the rigid Victorian technique is paramount approach. Berglin went into ‘Bio-mechanics’ oriented stroke making. Borg was a great success. Humble Berglin admits that Borg made him and he did not make Borg. Double handed backhand appeared first in the 1930’s and in the sixties. South African Clifford Drysdale took the racket off the well built Indian Premjit Lal with his double handed backhand in Wimbledon. Borg’s ground stroke dominated game made the press to comment tartly ‘street sweeper in Wimbledon’. Two years later the whole world was sweeping the streets following Borg.
The next man to make a mark was USA’s former paratrooper Nick Bolliteri’s. It is Bolliteri who ended the Tennis drought of USA and made it a Tennis land again. Some of the biggest names in Tennis were his boys and girls. Maria Sharapova is one of his find from the Soviet Russia. Bolliteri’s player development had an unique blend which only he could control. He also made Florida the home of big Tennis.
Support team idea Â
Player management outfits are trying hard to make their existence felt and useful. Use of full fledged support team is such an effort. It is already showing diminishing return and could come to an end soon. When the match begins a player is permitted only to have himself on court. Then the only certainty to win are their personality, talent, competitiveness, physical and mental toughness and perseverance. Judging by the results a team is nothing but a band wagon depleting player’s energy and their money.
-George Paldano, Former int. player; Accredited Coach of Germany; National, Davis-Cup, Federation Cup captain/coach– geodano2015@gmail.com -Â