Great to be able to write my first ever blog for the new TTH website. Lots going on in the tennis world at the moment with the Oz open just finished last week. Another great effort from Andy Murray in reaching his 3rd straight Grand Slam final!
As Andy said there are so many positives to take from the tournament and it would appear that Lendl wants him to focus on the development of his game which he will need to do in order to beat Djokovic!
The key points for me in the final were in the 2nd set at 1-0 up and 40-0 on the Novak serve he had a great chance to consolidate the momentum and then maybe grab a 2 set lead? The scheduling may have had an impact in that Novak had a day longer to rest but Murray should perhaps have beaten Roger in 3 or 4 max sets which would have helped! I also find it hard to understand the shoe problem at this level of “detailed” preparation? If the shoes don’t fit right get new ones? Or is that too simplistic?
Overall Andy was/is brilliant and the main problem all the players have is Djokovic who has such incredible mental resilience and always seems to find a way to win. Tennis results are almost always determined by mental abilities when all other aspects are remotely similar in my opinion. There is not a player alive who won’t have lost a match that they feel they should have won except maybe Jimmy Connors? The Djokovic v Wawrinka match was a classic example of Novak’s ability to win when he really shouldn’t have! Poor Stan – I felt so sorry for him after such a wonderful performance both physically and mentally!
It does look like we can expect quite a few more finals between Andy and Novak so lots to look forward to.
In the ladies event Laura Robsons win over Kivitova has really put her on the tennis map. She strikes the ball so well and has a great serve but I feel that her movement still needs to be improved which would help her defensive game in particular. This area of improvement could take her to the top 10 in my opinion.
The Azarenka fiasco against Sloane Stephens was a great shame for the young American who may have gone on to win this match had it not been for the terrible refereeing in allowing a 10 minute break for what would appear to have been a player suffering from nerves! I only hope the WTA can learn from this and tighten up on the rules.
Anyway, back in the real world of club tennis coaching here in Glasgow I've just had a fantastic week of coaching with incredibly dry (yes dry!) weather in the sunny west of Scotland. One young 8 year old I coach already has a Federer forehand, a Murray backhand and a Stepanek volley. Perhaps a bit of an exaggeration but not much. The impact Andy Murray has made in Scotland is quite incredible with so many kids now believing they can be famous tennis players. Not only kids but we now have so many adults returning to the game which has helped double our number of adult coaching groups with a waiting list! And all outdoors!
However as much as I enjoy my coaching with some great talented kids and loads of super keen adults I would be lying if I said that I wasn't looking forward to my next trip to Italy even if it won't be until May. The interest we have had for all of our locations since the start of the year has been amazing and Laura and I are really looking forward to our first special hosted week in Trapani (Sicily) from 18-25 May.
Laura and I would like to thank all those people who took the time to write so many favourable testimonials for the new site. You can be assured that we will be working extremely hard in 2013 to maintain the standards we have set since our beginning in 1994.
And finally back to our new website which I have to thank Gene and Richard from Neo Marketing in Glasgow. Also a huge thanks to Laura who has helped put it all together but who better considering she has extensive knowledge of every location.
Tennis Coaching Tip - Momentum
I always say to my pupils that you can learn so much from watching tennis on telly, so what did I learn from watching the men’s final that can be applied to all levels?
The importance of momentum and being able to continue to keep your opponent under. As I mentioned earlier when Murray had the chance to break serve at the start of the second set and lost that game Djokovic said after that this was the turning point for him as it was a huge change of momentum.
So..... When you are leading and feel you have the match under control get rid of those thoughts and keep doing the things you have been doing to get into that position. And if you are unlucky enough to be playing a resilient player like Novak you may need to become even more aggressive or they will and come back to beat you. Waiting and hoping for the win is not enough against good players!
The key points for me in the final were in the 2nd set at 1-0 up and 40-0 on the Novak serve he had a great chance to consolidate the momentum and then maybe grab a 2 set lead? The scheduling may have had an impact in that Novak had a day longer to rest but Murray should perhaps have beaten Roger in 3 or 4 max sets which would have helped! I also find it hard to understand the shoe problem at this level of “detailed” preparation? If the shoes don’t fit right get new ones? Or is that too simplistic?
Overall Andy was/is brilliant and the main problem all the players have is Djokovic who has such incredible mental resilience and always seems to find a way to win. Tennis results are almost always determined by mental abilities when all other aspects are remotely similar in my opinion. There is not a player alive who won’t have lost a match that they feel they should have won except maybe Jimmy Connors? The Djokovic v Wawrinka match was a classic example of Novak’s ability to win when he really shouldn’t have! Poor Stan – I felt so sorry for him after such a wonderful performance both physically and mentally!
It does look like we can expect quite a few more finals between Andy and Novak so lots to look forward to.
In the ladies event Laura Robsons win over Kivitova has really put her on the tennis map. She strikes the ball so well and has a great serve but I feel that her movement still needs to be improved which would help her defensive game in particular. This area of improvement could take her to the top 10 in my opinion.
The Azarenka fiasco against Sloane Stephens was a great shame for the young American who may have gone on to win this match had it not been for the terrible refereeing in allowing a 10 minute break for what would appear to have been a player suffering from nerves! I only hope the WTA can learn from this and tighten up on the rules.
Anyway, back in the real world of club tennis coaching here in Glasgow I've just had a fantastic week of coaching with incredibly dry (yes dry!) weather in the sunny west of Scotland. One young 8 year old I coach already has a Federer forehand, a Murray backhand and a Stepanek volley. Perhaps a bit of an exaggeration but not much. The impact Andy Murray has made in Scotland is quite incredible with so many kids now believing they can be famous tennis players. Not only kids but we now have so many adults returning to the game which has helped double our number of adult coaching groups with a waiting list! And all outdoors!
However as much as I enjoy my coaching with some great talented kids and loads of super keen adults I would be lying if I said that I wasn't looking forward to my next trip to Italy even if it won't be until May. The interest we have had for all of our locations since the start of the year has been amazing and Laura and I are really looking forward to our first special hosted week in Trapani (Sicily) from 18-25 May.
Laura and I would like to thank all those people who took the time to write so many favourable testimonials for the new site. You can be assured that we will be working extremely hard in 2013 to maintain the standards we have set since our beginning in 1994.
And finally back to our new website which I have to thank Gene and Richard from Neo Marketing in Glasgow. Also a huge thanks to Laura who has helped put it all together but who better considering she has extensive knowledge of every location.
Tennis Coaching Tip - Momentum
I always say to my pupils that you can learn so much from watching tennis on telly, so what did I learn from watching the men’s final that can be applied to all levels?
The importance of momentum and being able to continue to keep your opponent under. As I mentioned earlier when Murray had the chance to break serve at the start of the second set and lost that game Djokovic said after that this was the turning point for him as it was a huge change of momentum.
So..... When you are leading and feel you have the match under control get rid of those thoughts and keep doing the things you have been doing to get into that position. And if you are unlucky enough to be playing a resilient player like Novak you may need to become even more aggressive or they will and come back to beat you. Waiting and hoping for the win is not enough against good players!
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