Are The Indian Coaches Committed to producing Tennis Champions?

[amr090]

eastind, i'm assuming you've gone through this experience with your kids?

[eastind]

Unfortunately, Yes.
After 5 years with that coach I had to change the coaching centre. Nowadays the coach is more interested in making money than giving quality coaching to the kids.
Most of them are also misleading the parents about the ability of the kids.
When my kid was 7 years old I have seen unbeatable children in the Under 10, 12 who are not in the picture right now. These kids used to travel a lot forgoing their education and when they could not win in the higher age category are in a mess because their self esteem is dented by losing to smaller children and they are now not able to cope with the educational stress too. Now they are without an education and have given up tennis.
It is better to be truthful even if it is painful to the parents. it will avoid heartburn and ill feeling.
the parents also need not put undue pressure on the kids to perform and if they do not take out their frustration on the kids.
I was witness to a father who tried to stab his own daughter in Bangalore Under 14 asian Ranking last year because she lost. The undue pressure that the parents put on their kids make the kid want to cheat about line calls etc

[v george]

Eastind, I can really understand what you are saying. It is a universal phenomenon. Ninety-nine percent of so called coaches are hackers. They are not
capable of producing world class tennis players!

As a tennis parent you have to educate yourself how not to be fooled in this complex world of tennis coaching. You are responsible for molding and guiding you children. Read anything that you can on this subject from respectable coaches like Vic Braden and Robert Landsdorp.

Tennis also follows the Laws of Nature ... the survival of the fittest. 

[eastind]

Another thing which makes limited sense to me is the foreign coaching stint given by TNTA to the so called promising players. 5 players were selected in 2005,2006 to receive tennis caoching at Bolliteri academy in US. Of the 5 Madura Ranganathan, Navaneetha Kannan, Jacob Tariq, Sriram Balaji and Mohammed Fariz who is still playing competitive tennis now. I think that four of them have dropped out and only Sriram Balaji is still playing.
It does not make common sense to take children who are 17 and spend money on them for foreign training stints. It would make more sense if players in their 13, 14, 15 are given these oportunities.
What is the criteria for selection?
By the time they are 16-17 they should have made a mark in the Junior ITF.

[10nis_ace]

I don't think this situation is much different from the coaching that goes at the junior level in the US. There is a reason why most and by most I mean almost 90% of the highly successful players (by that I mean players in top 300 or the top college players) have parents who -
1. have been successful in the sport themselves OR
2. have coached the game at, at least rec level OR
3. KNOW and UNDERSTAND the technical and strategic components of the game.

The pricing structure and the attitude at the tennis clubs and academies over the United States is such that they don't impart any instructions at a vanilla 'group tennis lesson' program (which goes at about $15/hr, a few hours a week). The coaches expect that much money simply for his time spent on tossing the balls at kids, doing mechanical drills WITHOUT giving them any meaningful instructions. The reason being, they have the next tier of pricing in place called private or semi-private lessons, which goes at about $30 to $60/hr depending upon the size of this semi-private or private class. The whole set-up is nothing but a fleece job by the coaches. The main objective of the coaches at the tennis clubs is of a revenue generation than imparting REAL tennis education to the kids. Without an educated and involved parent who can TEACH the game to their children and are able to resolve any issues that their child comes across in his game, it's hard for the kids to be successful at the higher level unless the parents are willing and able to spend exorbitant amount of money.

My suggestion to the parents of the young kids who are just starting out (6-8 year old) and want to see their children become successful is simply this -

1. Do not simply rely on the coach to impart all the techniques of the game to your kid.

2. Learn and play the game and try to get to at least 3.5-4.0 level yourself thereby you will get acquainted with the intricacies of the game.

3. Get yourself acquainted with the modern stroke techniques from myriad resources available on TV shows and on the internet and get in a position to impart them to your children yourself.

4. Spend and drill at least a few hours a weeks with your child on the court. This way you will understand your child's game up close and personal and will be in a good position to contribute to make his progress through the levels at a rate commensute with his talent without taking the fun out of the game for him/her.

[eastind]

Could anyone recommend good academies in USA, florida who can make a difference to a talented tennis kid who is about 14 years old.
He is in his last year of 14 and is ranked 30 in the U 14 and 70 in the U 16. He has not played a lot of tournaments but under a good and dedicated coach I think that he can move up his game.
What would it cost aproximately per year.
If anyone could suggest it would be helpful.

[v george]

Excellent suggestions, 10nis_ace.

[gbelday]

Thanks for this thread guys.  I agree with most of what 10nis_ace is saying - I would imagine that any "interested" parent would be doing those things.  You simply cannot rely on the coaches or the so called "experts" - not just in tennis but in any other field.  Interview as many coaches as possible and try to get a feel to see if they are genuine.  You can eliminate about 80% of them after that first meeting.  I have a feeling I'll be posting more in this thread!!

[eastind]

Interviewing coaches before deciding on a academy is a good idea but all the coaches promise the earth but when it is time to deliver nothing happens.
To overcome this lack of results the coaches actively encourage players to age cheat. for Andra players as a rule you can add 3+ years to their actual age.
I can safely say that if you take any age category there will be more than 80% of age cheaters.
That is the main reason that Indian players do well in the U 12, U 14,U 16 levels but do not deliver in the Junior and senior ITF level.
The coaches also teach a basic defensive game which is good enough to win the lower age category but when it is time to play the ITF's then this game may not be suitable.
In India everyone goes by results and not on performance at the Junior level which is quite disturbing.

[amr090]

EastInd, being a decent tennis player, I would advise you to look at several factors before you decide on a serious investment on your child.

1.)  Does he have the size, speed, and athleticism (or will he as he grows) to compete on a world stage.  What is his predicted height, how atheltic is he compared to other kids his age?


2.)  In terms of skill level currently, what does his game look like?  How quickly has he responded to good coaching thus far?  What does his overall potential seem like?


Some of these may be tough to ascertain, if you don't know much about tennis, but these are questions I would try to get answers too before I made an expensive investment in training abroad.  The productive span of a tennis player is very short, (essentially from 18-30, maybe higher for doubles)  therefore since he is already 14, you would need to assess where is game is currently, and what you think 4 years of good training would do to his game.


I think the main thing you need to see is his level of athleticism, and size, as well as his ability thus far to learn things quickly, and work ethic.  If these are all there (at high levels) there is a decent chance he may be sucessful.  As you probably know you are shaping your child's life and unless you seriously feel he can succeed on the world level, I think it would be an unwise decision to have him focus on tennis as a career professionally. 

Just my thoughts.

[eastind]

Thanks amr090
My son has just started to grow from last year and he is about 5' 6" now and we are hoping that he will be more than 6' tall by the time he finishes growing. Now he is just about or just a shade shorter then the so called same age category children.
As regards to attitude he is an aggressive player and goes for his shots no matter what the score is. the short comings in his game that we see are his lack of game plan and of analysing his game and his opponents, what shot to play at what time etc these things have to be taught by a coach during practice and thats what his previous coach never did. It is quite frustrating for a parent when he sees his son neglected by the coach when they have put a lot of effort and money in this.
Now for the past one month we have a fitness coach to give him individual fitness lessons 5 days a week and a personal coach on a one to one basis for 3 days a week and the rest of the time he just plays some box balls in another academy. Now we can see a definite improvement in his game especially his serve.
Basically we are from a small town in tamil Nadu and on the advice of his previous coach he has shifted with his mother to Chennai when he was eight years old. He started tennis when he was 51/2 years old and he had to be begged back home after practice, even though the practice that he had for the first 1 1/2 years was just hitting against the wall. There was just 1 court and about 30 kids there and only the bigger children were allowed on the court.
It was due to his interest in the game that we decided to take the plunge and see what best we could do for him. The rest is in his fate.
 

[amr090]

Hey eastind,

I know a couple pros training in Florida, let me see if I can find out what general costs are for full time training at a place like Bolletieris or elsewhere.  I'm pretty sure a full-time residential program is pretty pricey, but I do know some of these academies do offer scholarships when they see talent.  A couple of years ago the Bosse foundation, offered a several year $100,000 sponsorship of Rupesh Roy full with acoomodations and training and coaching.  There are options out there for kids that are talented, it takes some luck and time to find.

I do think there are good coaches in India that can at least develop children at younger ages.  For example, I've heard good thing about the Vijay Amritraj tennis academy.


http://www.indianetzone.com/1/tennis_ac ... aments.htm

One place you may want to check out in Chennai, is TTT (Triangular Tennis Trust), I asked and a friend in india with good knowledge recommended this place.


 

[x_y_Z_a]

eastind

Please try Ilyas Husain or Rishi Sridhar in Chennai for serious coaching. As far as you learning and teaching your kid, it is not practical. But it is better to keep one abreast of the developments in the game thru internet.

As far as judging the kids potential is concerned, if the kid is good enough he should be able to beat most of the kids in the higher age group. That is, he should reach semis or quarters in the higher age group and of course win most of the tournaments in his own age group.

All the best for your son to do well.

[v george]

Eastend, my advice is to stay in Tamil Nadu and get the coaching from some of the respectable coaches there. Set up goals for short term, mid term and long term. Mid term may be getting a decent national ranking and long term a decent ITF junior ranking and a scholarship to one of the US colleges and then take his tennis from there. I think it is an achievable goal for your son provided he does not mess up his studies. This is what kids around the world are doing whether it is in Venezuela, Costa Rica, Italy or Germany.

Academy is a four letter word among 'enlightened' tennis parents around here in Florida.