This past Tuesday, many of the American tennis writers were lamenting that all of the American men in the main draw of the French Open men's singles were eliminated in the first round. There was an abundance of journalists trying to find some saving grace and many attempts to create some silver lining for what is clearly a very dark cloud. My colleague, Bud Collins, even wrote that Andy Roddick's loss might have been a positive. I love you, Bud, but please!
Lets face it. The American men are mediocre at best. Yes, I said it. Mediocre. All the Americans being out on day one has nothing to do with the red clay. It has nothing to do with Americans not playing enough on clay. A lot of people want to blame it on that. I overheard some prominent professional coaches heralding the move of the USTA training center to Evert Academy because of the additional clay court resources and how that is the answer. Sorry, but more clay courts aren't going to make better individual players. More experience on clay may give the U.S. a second-rounder next time, but that won't put the U.S. over the edge.
None of the U.S. men have complete games. Period. None of the US men have learned how to fight through and stay close and then change their games to take advantage of other players' weaknesses or styles. James Blake has probably the most complete game among the U.S. men, but he has no idea, at least in this writer's opinion, how to use the tools he has effectively. Brad Gilbert would have been a top-three player and won a couple of grand slams if his brain had been hitched to ability like Blake's. Apparently, none of the U.S. players have even bothered to read Brad's book, either. Shame. Oh, and didn't John McEnroe serve-and-volley his way to the French Open final?
If you want to know what is wrong with American men's tennis, and American professional tennis in general, look no further then the Evert Academy. Not Chrissie Evert or her facility in particular, but the thought process that says you must have a Bollettieri-style academy to produce a champion. Nothing is further from the truth, and the USTA and USPTA have succumbed to this incorrect thought process.
The great Russian players all have one thing in common. None of them were developed at a tennis academy. The tennis club where the current crop of Russians came from only had one indoor court. The best professionals, and I mean the true champions (think Lindsay Davenport, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, and even Anastasia Myskina during her French Open winning year) have only achieved true greatness when they left the academy atmosphere and the Nick Bollettieri mindset. If America wants great tennis players, then it's time to get back to the basics.
I do not know Robert Lansdorp well, but have had my share of conversations and e-mails with him over the years. Just about every true champion in the past decade or so has passed through his place after leaving the academy playground. Everyone of those players made a great leap in the rankings right after. Why? Well, it's because he stresses fundamentals, teaches players how to refine and use their strengths to the max, and he also helps them become better thinkers on the court.
Robert Lansdorp is a champion maker. He doesn't have an academy. He isn't a cattle herder in the tennis world. He probably would be the richest coach alive if he had an academy like Bollettieri, but he doesn't. He said it best a year ago in a letter to another tennis publication, "Find someone who knows how to identify talent at a young age and who has shown that he/she knows how to develop and I mean develop youngsters. I don't have time now to discuss academies' involvement, but it is probably a conflict of interest, especially where IMG gets involved. Stop throwing your millions in a wishing well and do something about it."
I couldn't agree more. Want to teach every player how to hit strokes the same basic way? Send them to Nick's place. Want to subscribe to the notion that more court time always equals better players? Send them to Evert's place. Want mediocre American tennis? Just keep sending American kids to tennis academies. Want to make a champion? Want to create a perennial line of champions? Find the best individual coaches, find ways to pay them well enough that they can dedicate themselves to coaching, and then give them one or two players to bring along under their wing.
Roger Federer has the most complete game in tennis today. He wins consistently on all surfaces. Yes, he is a great individual talent. Interestingly, he does not spend time hanging out at a tennis academy trying to get better. When he needs help, he hires a great coach or player and they work it out one on one. Championship level tennis has always been that way.
So, to my journalistic friends, and my colleagues at the USTA and USPTA, please stop trying to blame the poor showing of the Americans on the beautiful red clay of Roland Garros on the lack of clay court time and experience. Please stop trying to paint a rosier picture of American tennis than exists. The American men were all gone because none of them has a game good enough nor the innate ability to counter any other player's game. They are all one way streets. They are all products of the academy mindset.
I'll also give a little credit where credit is due. Nick Bollettieri was a leader in his day with his academy concept. That was 20 years ago. Now everyone is a follower. Is there anything done today the same way it was two decades ago that is still relevant in our lives or society? Do we still play pong on our black and white tube TVs? Leaders are winners. Winners are innovative. Academy tennis is a relic. Do the math.
June 6, 2007
katja:
No offense, but there are so many inaccuracies in your opinion piece that it’s patently obvious you don’t really follow tennis or know much about it. For instance, your comment that None of the Russian players were developed at a tennis academy? Hello? Sharapova and Vaidasova just to name two big name Russians.
Also, none of the current crop of US men’s players were trained and developed at academies, so putting the blame on Chris Evert or Bolleteri is kind of bogus. Do your homework.
June 6, 2007
Tom Kosinski:
Interesting comment Katja. Sharapova and Vaidasova were “developed” in their native countries first. Sharapova moved to Nick’s place when she was young, but she was already way ahead when she got there. And she only hit it big when she went to Lansdorp to hone her game.
The academy mindset is more then just going to an academy. One of the largest selling books for tennis professionals and coaches is “Nick Bollettieri’s Classic Tennis Handbook.” If you read it you will see the academy philosophy brilliantly placed on paper pages.
Why are there no players with continental or eastern grips anymore? Why don’t most younger players have an American Twist serve? Name any current player who still serves and volleys or who can play the net well (Federer doesn’t count for this discussion.)
Most tennis clubs have tried to emulate Bollettieri’s success. AKA Academy Tennis Mindset. There are coaches who actually try to teach how to hit an open stance forehand! Anyone who has played high level tennis knows that it comes naturally when you learn to hit a classic stroke first. As you get older and better you naturally open up depending on the shot. Its not a shot itself.
Take a good look at the American players backgrounds. Most of them were shipped to larger academies at a young age. Heck, Andy Roddick did most of his training at his brother’s place, The John Roddick Academy.
To my knowledge there still isn’t a tennis academy in Moscow, or Russia.
Either way, thanks for your comment and reading my column. Nice to hear someone else’s perspective to keep mine sharp.
June 6, 2007
Grace:
Ok, your entire column can be factually debunked. Andy Roddick has done well on every other surface but clay. He won the US Open, made the final of Wimbledon twice and semis of Aussie Open twice. Clay is not an excuse, but it is the reason why his results are not great at the French. It’s just facts dude. The academy mindset has nothing to do with it. American tennis players have a more agressive game that translates to fast surfaces. Yes, they could be more patient and wait for shots, but clay is more about the movement than anything else and if you’re not used to moving on it then you’re not going to go far. Facts man.
June 7, 2007
Nancy J:
Excuse me, but isn’t “tennis club” just another name for academy? Even if they only DO have one court?! And even if the locale is Russia! I’ve read that some of the Russian tennis clubs are every bit as regimented as NB’s.
Also, don’t a lot of kids from Russia and the rest of Europe also train at NB’s AND the Sanchez Academy in Spain (I’m sure I read that Kutzetnova and Sanches Vicario amongst many others trained there)?
Many tennis champions spent some time at an academy as well as with an individual coaches, so who knows who deserves the real credit behind Seles, or Serena and Venus Williams, Agassi, Sampras, etc. How about John McEnroe and the others who attended Harry Hopman in New York?
Even Chris Evert came from an academy type developement atmosphere (albeit the po man’s academy) via her dad’s being head pro at Holiday Park in Ft Lauderdale Florida, and all the kids showing up to play all day and get coaching from Jimmy Evert. Harold Solomon, Brian Gottfried, Chrissie, Jeanne Evert, many successful juniors, and others trained with Mr Evert (didn’t Roscoe train with Chrissie’s uncle Jerry?). Even a young Jennifer Capriati worked with Mr Jimmy Evert at Holiday Park (before going to NB’s).
Even the city pro in Houston who trained Zina Garrison and Lori McNeil seemed more like the po man’s academy experience than individual coaching. Again, I define that as I defined the Jimmy Evert Holiday Park “academy” atmosphere — hanging around all day with the best players continuing to hit and play each other under the guidance of a pro.
If you’re defining “Tennis Academy” as being an overpriced place where only the creme de la creme (or RICH) kids go and they no longer are educated and are given no chance to develop as individals and allowed to develop a style fitting their personalities and they all hit hard serves and hard groundies and have no idea what a volley is — then perhaps you are talking NB.
Evert claims they’re not going to be that kind of academy. Although, I would have felt better about Evert Academy had it set up shop at Holiday Park, didn’t have the name IMG on it, and charged the reasonable fees for instruction that her dad Jimmy charged ALL of his career (even the every day person could afford a lesson from Mr Evert, although it was probably nearly impossible to get a booking due to shere numbers of people wanting one)..
I do agree that having individual coaching is the ultimate (I think of Gloria Connors amongst others - before she moved Jimmy to playing with Pancho Segura at BH Tennis Club — and wasn’t that kind of an “academy” atmosphere too?).
The academies could work — but NOT if they’re stamping out clones. And only if the academies are not only in Bradenton or Boca Raton, but also in places like Carson (where the USTA also has a training facility), and making it affordable for talented but poor American kids to attend — if only for short periods of time.
The academies have to find a way to let the kids find their own game, while still developing the fundamentals, and encouraging the kids to not wilt under competition. But most importantly, allowing the kids to be educated, and to develop as people who are capable of thinking!
Also, when and if its time for a talented young player to switch to a Robert Landsdorf or a Brad Gilbert private coaching situation, the academy should be the first to advise their students to make the jump!
June 8, 2007
Nancy J:
The latest Tennis Magazine says that the USTA is now sending the top boys to “Marine Boot Camp!” I kid you not. Page 16 of Tennis Mag July 2007.
This is sure to strengthen the boys physically and give them an experience in strick discipline, but how does ripping apart an M16 prepare one to rip a backhand passing shot on clay? Maybe there is a parallel that I miss.
May 14, 2010
janet:
To: Tom Kosinski
I read your article and your reasons explained to why you think Robert Lansdorp has it right and Nick Bollettieri being outdated, and good method of the past.
Respectfully I don’t think you have done your homework looking at all aspect carefully and your judgements it the article are misguiding.
I will start by giving you factual information that you did not know or consider.
Russian players: Many of the Russian tennis players did use Academies to help reach their goal.
Maria Sharapova- Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy
Tatiana Golovin- (half-French) Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy
Daniela Hantuchokova- (not russian, but easter European) Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy
Anna Kournikova- Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy and Macci Tennis Academy,
Alisa Kleybanova- Rick Macci Tennis Academy, Abdollahi Tennis Academy (small Academy in CA), and much later Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy
Svetlana Kuznetsova- Sanchez Tennis Academy
Vera Zvonareva- Sanchez Tennis Academy, Weil Tennis Academy, ITA Tennis Academy, and Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy
Elena Bovina- Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy,
Victoriea Azarenka & Olga Govortsova- Vavasori Tennis Academy (ITA), etc…
Viktoriya Kutuzova- Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, Evert Tennis Academy, ITA Tennis Academy
Yulia Vaukenlo- Macci Tennis Academy, Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy
Max Mierny- (Belarus) Nick Bollettieri
and the list can go on…….
More factual information for you:
- All these players from top to bottom and others that I did no mention have one thing in common. They all have their parent acting or have acted as the main coach most of their career.
- They did not go these Academies and possibly other great Academies to get mixed with a group of players to drill 6-1 ratios, play king of the court games all day, and hit serves with 5 other kids on one side.
- They went to Academies and trained one-one with coach and hitting partners at the same time, used a court to train with their parent, outside coach, or the top coaches from that academy, and used the academy for matches, gym, and most importantly in a tennis world environment
- To this day you will see the best player like Jelena Jankovic or even Maria Sharapova when in Florida playing king of the court games on the main show court at Bollettieris with 10 people on court. Tommy Haas also takes part. They don’t do it all day, but they do it once a week or two when they are there
- Academies provide camps for kids who want to have fun and hit bunch of balls, competitive program;which is for players who are ranked in juniors nationally or something and they play half the time live ball no drilling and half the other time drilling. In the afternoon they do match play. All academies are different, but the main ones that I’ve been to, do this. Good program, but not for bringing out the best of player. If they want to be in a professional program to do their best to bring out thebest, then you need make a program that is best suitable for that player. Coaches like Nick Bollettieri can mentor you or guide to waht you need, how much, etc.. You can also use any other coach or tennis person you feel comfortable with.
- Robert Lansdorp….: Mr.Lansdorp is among the most memorable characters in tennis. He is tall, hansom, with full of white hair. He is not the friendliest, but at times he is the sweetest. He is what you call a women on her you know what, with the way he changes is mood second by second. He has helped develop many top players in the world. Lets explain correctly. He has “helped” the person who decides how much they see Robert, the trainer, the yoga person, the pilates person, the serving coach, along with what they will work on, and when and what they are going to the academy for and what is to be accomplished… That is the main person who is the general. That would be most of the time MOMMY or DADDY.
- My experience w/Robert: Robert has changed his coaching quite a bit to more spin style these days from what I’ve heard. But he use to make certain that the player hits the ball flat, hard, and continues. He is not afraid to tell any parent, including Yuri Sharapova to “shut up” and he is also good as apologizing. He is one of the best coaches to force and push the player to hit hard over and over again. In our experience, great tune up guy. He is one of the best.
- Nick Bollettieri- Nick has created a more competitive tennis culture world wide. People who are from Eastern Europe say that before coming to his academy they would only dream about such place and how it would look like, and be like. They would go around the world seeing places that seem to bring what bollettieri is to be and had been from start.
Academies: There are thousands or hundreds of academies in the world. There are 10 times less if we are lucky of good coaches and good mentor to help you. Academies can be misleading because they are in business, so you need to arrive there with good knowledge of the sport and how the game operates as parent and as a young 10 year old player and older. Coaches is much easier. You go on the court for couple to four hours and you will see if you have improved and if you are happy with hi or her work with your child. Easier to judge, can’t say same about academies
- In conclusion- In regards to your article story title and American Tennis future or mens American tennis future…. USTA is once again doing things wrong. They are now based in Everts tennis academy with Chrissie evert brother Jon or John Evert is the main guy in charge. They are trying to some how all use each other to bring him up to be a great coach so they can build there business, and USTA trying to tell some of thier worst critics, hey look, we are listening to you…we are now in a Academy… hehehe he Very funny of USTA.
- Go to Serbia, Spain, and Poland… check out where they train, how they train, and what is their objectives for training that way..
Thank you for your article, and I hoep you will take some of this information to help you for future articles.