‘Black hole’ of Junior Development; downplaying physical factor
View(s):The ITF junior events, now on in Colombo, should reveal Sri Lankan status in tennis development. The ITF events are for world junior ranking. As far as I know, we do not have any juniors in recognisable Top 50 of the world.
Maybe our geographic position and Asiatic physical build need dedicated design as such revision in junior development. Right now, we do not have it. [A player and family being happy winning in amidst weaker bunch of local players is our goal] Now and in the immediate past, this inadequate development has been the black hole that sucked our talent out of possible sports career.
Alternate development road
Any local player present or past will admit that they would have done better if they had their physical attributes better developed to support their playing skills. In a match when two players are equal game wise, physical attribute will decide the winner. In tennis, matches won or lost mostly with micro advantages in physical attributes of players. With this fact, our development need revision to address physical side of the player in equal vein to that of skills or more than the skill level. [Physical attributes is the inherent weakness of Asiatic region]
Comprehensive profile of player development is never addressed in Sri Lanka. With ITF, influenced countries are more interested in numbers than standard of play. More junior players stop, give up competition tennis or place their development in lower gears because of their inadequacy in physical factors. Without these, player injure quickly. In tennis, even a junior match, can last over 90 minutes, especially in national, international and junior ITF events. Add on stress to this the heat, cold and external factors. Are we stressing too much of technical skill development or down playing physical development? The answer is yes.
Cheating was at physical level
Even in cheating, I mean is ‘doping’ and this disallowed in any form, was to enhance physical attributes. Used to outlast opponents and not outplay. With every level of tiredness, players lose significant skill execution ability, affecting the tactical efficiency. [In all probability, inception of doping was to enhance strength, stamina, speed and so on. WADA can test juniors also now. If they detect any wrong, they can reach up to the family in their charge sheet]
Athletic base
Emphasis on this could be the way out. Good many athletic disciplines support tennis. Strength stamina and speed are three certainties. Gym has good effects but not in giving speed and endurance. What more from my experience only a limited exposure is good in gyms. A tennis player cannot get heavy. Gym work gives weight, makes players slow. [It’s a catch 22 situation]
The ideal grouping for excellence
Good group of three is the ideal for junior development squads. Often what I see here is the ‘development pool’ arrangement, sometimes even 20. This is a tennis club approach. All these means coaches assessing and rearranging squads for development demands a critical revision. This is supposedly a well-guarded secret in academies in Europe and USA. Australia had it for a long period and that stream has been broken. A new stream seem to appear.
Coco Gauff – global professionalism
From the global scene, Canada came up with string of men and women players. They walked away with Grand Slam titles while in the teens. Carlos Alcaraz won grand Slam in his teens.
Now we have to ask how much time is there for a junior to develop to be a player. Top end player at 17 to 19 means serious development road from 12 onwards. Players in Sri Lanka and in Asian countries, no one would choose tennis first at 12.
WTA and ATP ranking in the past 10 years had teenage players appeared and disappeared but not without making a mark, they were Grand Slam winners. Coco Gauff of USA stands out to be the perfect girl in sports career path. She is a tall girl although looks short on the court. She did not vanish and still going strong. Many women and men stay afloat reaching third and subsequent rounds of events to collect enough money for the future. Many South Americans do this with great success.
Role model study
Their role models of competent players are worthy study. After all no one should be a loser selecting tennis or other sport as a career. Tennis, being an individual sport, demands disciplined life style, year in and year out in the most flamboyant phase of our life. Suppression of freedom in these years can cause personality issues.
Many studies have revealed fuelled by enthusiasm hyper development activities burn the players. They arrive for a match burnt. One good coach from Sweden who coached Bjorn Borg said, how fresh a player is at the beginning of the match matters than how hard the player trained. Another known coach, said be selective, that is the road to learn effectively: worthy junior development philosophy.
–George Paldano, European and Asian competition player; Coach German Tennis Federation; National coach Brunei and Sri Lanka; Davis Cup, Federation Cup coach, coached ATP, WTA and ITF ranked players in Europe and Asia; WhatsApp +94775448880–