©Colette Lewis 2009--
I had the pleasure of speaking with famed coach Robert Lansdorp today from his Southern California home, and although his phone call caught me a bit by surprise (hence the paraphrasing), I thoroughly enjoyed picking his brain on the subject of player development. I will do a great disservice to his knowledge and his opinions to summarize them so casually, but I am going to try to get at the heart of some the views he shared with me. Those who know him, whether personally or by reputation (he's coached Maria Sharapova, Lindsay Davenport, Tracy Austin, Pete Sampras and many, many others) knows that he speaks his mind, on and off the court, leading to some expletives (BS in its full form being a frequent one) here and there for effect.
Lansdorp is now on an USTA coaches advisory board, although he said he is still waiting to actually do something, and he joked that he really couldn't criticize them anymore given that relationship--and then went on to do just that. Near the end of our talk, however, he mentioned his hope that Patrick McEnroe was capable of steering player development in the right direction, although he added he would be more confident of that were McEnroe not also doing TV and Davis Cup.
He was skeptical of the "get the best athlete" approach that now seems to be the rage, and then offered this anecdote.
There were a group of athletic girls who gathered for a drill, and one was the fastest girl in the school--a track star. In a drill of running to the baseline and touching the net when the word "go" was given, she won. But the girl who finished second in that race finished ahead of the track star when it came to chasing down a drop shot he hit.
Lansdorp attributed that to eye-foot coordination, which he feels is much more important than hand-eye, and suggested it may account for the European domination of the game now. Other qualities he looks for in assessing a prospect (and although he will go as young as four, he seems to prefer the 8 to 10 age group):
--Parental involvement. A parent dedicated to doing what it takes to get the child to the lessons, the tournaments, the practice matches.
--Ball striking (my phrase, not his). He looks for a cleanly struck ball, with depth, and--this seems counter-intuitive to me--no unforced errors. They are a waste of my time, he said.
--Willingness to be coached. Lansdorp is famous for throwing players off his courts if they do not show the ability to concentrate, absorb his teachings and try their best to implement his suggestions.
--Independent thinking. If a player can't offer his own feedback on the reasons for his errors or his winners, Lansdorp questions whether he can process information appropriately for high-level tennis. I suspect that mumbling "I don't know" when asked why you hit a drop shot will get you thrown off the court in a hurry.
--Love of the game. Although Lansdorp scoffed at this when I phrased it that way, he did say later that a player really needs to enjoy just hitting the ball, wants to hit the ball again and again.
--Competitiveness. Wanting to play matches and caring about winning them. He went on to deride the USTA's decision some years ago, since abandoned, to shield 12-and-unders from the pressure of competing.
The only young player he mentioned today by name was Kazakhstan's Mariya Shishkina, the 10-year-old I wrote about at last year's Eddie Herr, citing her unusually consistent depth. He mentioned a four-year-old that he threw off the court, calling him talented but spoiled--a "mini-McEnroe" I think was his phrase--and suggested that he come back in ten years. He talked about a girl from Texas with "a golden arm," and about an 11-year-old who was oblivious to the skill and the desire of all the other boys his age around the world.
Lansdorp is not sold on academies, although he does concede their value as far as practice and competition, and had kind words for the atmosphere and opportunities at Bollettieri's. He was very critical of all the "academies" that start as a coach and one or two good players and then suddenly have 30 juniors of varying levels doing nothing but drilling. Lansdorp believes one-on-one coaching is the foundation of development but although it may be tempting to reduce development principles, like I just have, into bite-size morsels, it's ultimately misleading.
"It's not that simple," he said. "It's complicated."
I had the pleasure of speaking with famed coach Robert Lansdorp today from his Southern California home, and although his phone call caught me a bit by surprise (hence the paraphrasing), I thoroughly enjoyed picking his brain on the subject of player development. I will do a great disservice to his knowledge and his opinions to summarize them so casually, but I am going to try to get at the heart of some the views he shared with me. Those who know him, whether personally or by reputation (he's coached Maria Sharapova, Lindsay Davenport, Tracy Austin, Pete Sampras and many, many others) knows that he speaks his mind, on and off the court, leading to some expletives (BS in its full form being a frequent one) here and there for effect.
Lansdorp is now on an USTA coaches advisory board, although he said he is still waiting to actually do something, and he joked that he really couldn't criticize them anymore given that relationship--and then went on to do just that. Near the end of our talk, however, he mentioned his hope that Patrick McEnroe was capable of steering player development in the right direction, although he added he would be more confident of that were McEnroe not also doing TV and Davis Cup.
He was skeptical of the "get the best athlete" approach that now seems to be the rage, and then offered this anecdote.
There were a group of athletic girls who gathered for a drill, and one was the fastest girl in the school--a track star. In a drill of running to the baseline and touching the net when the word "go" was given, she won. But the girl who finished second in that race finished ahead of the track star when it came to chasing down a drop shot he hit.
Lansdorp attributed that to eye-foot coordination, which he feels is much more important than hand-eye, and suggested it may account for the European domination of the game now. Other qualities he looks for in assessing a prospect (and although he will go as young as four, he seems to prefer the 8 to 10 age group):
--Parental involvement. A parent dedicated to doing what it takes to get the child to the lessons, the tournaments, the practice matches.
--Ball striking (my phrase, not his). He looks for a cleanly struck ball, with depth, and--this seems counter-intuitive to me--no unforced errors. They are a waste of my time, he said.
--Willingness to be coached. Lansdorp is famous for throwing players off his courts if they do not show the ability to concentrate, absorb his teachings and try their best to implement his suggestions.
--Independent thinking. If a player can't offer his own feedback on the reasons for his errors or his winners, Lansdorp questions whether he can process information appropriately for high-level tennis. I suspect that mumbling "I don't know" when asked why you hit a drop shot will get you thrown off the court in a hurry.
--Love of the game. Although Lansdorp scoffed at this when I phrased it that way, he did say later that a player really needs to enjoy just hitting the ball, wants to hit the ball again and again.
--Competitiveness. Wanting to play matches and caring about winning them. He went on to deride the USTA's decision some years ago, since abandoned, to shield 12-and-unders from the pressure of competing.
The only young player he mentioned today by name was Kazakhstan's Mariya Shishkina, the 10-year-old I wrote about at last year's Eddie Herr, citing her unusually consistent depth. He mentioned a four-year-old that he threw off the court, calling him talented but spoiled--a "mini-McEnroe" I think was his phrase--and suggested that he come back in ten years. He talked about a girl from Texas with "a golden arm," and about an 11-year-old who was oblivious to the skill and the desire of all the other boys his age around the world.
Lansdorp is not sold on academies, although he does concede their value as far as practice and competition, and had kind words for the atmosphere and opportunities at Bollettieri's. He was very critical of all the "academies" that start as a coach and one or two good players and then suddenly have 30 juniors of varying levels doing nothing but drilling. Lansdorp believes one-on-one coaching is the foundation of development but although it may be tempting to reduce development principles, like I just have, into bite-size morsels, it's ultimately misleading.
"It's not that simple," he said. "It's complicated."
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