Crazy coaching advice from New Zealand Tennis Federation

[tennis1967]

Tennis New Zealand conducted a tour to the I.T.F. B2 tournament in Fiji last year.
The 19 players who went on this tour all received a 'tournament manual' of about 50 pages (written by the tour leader and national director of coaching - Pete McCraw.)
The manual includes such pearls of wisdom as:

"Watch matches from the end of the court, not the side, to avoid eye strain"

"Can of balls - Do not open with your hands! Get someone else to open or stand on can. Protect your fingers."

"Line calls - Call the lines tight and as you see them. You can bet your opponent will be doing the same!"

"Buddy system - Say hello to your roommate. You are responsible for their behaviour as well this week. If they make poor decisions and get sent home - you will go with them."

One of the girls was put on the plane and sent home early. Was her 'crime'
(a) vandalism?
(b) theft?
(c) drug use?
(d) watching TV in a team-mates room?

If you chose (d) then congratulations, you're correct, and might I suggest you send your resume to Tennis New Zealand.
You're obviously well qualified to be a tour leader!!

[10isDad]

Nothing wrong w/ the advice. Calling lines tight doesn't imply cheating, at least not to me.

As for the last item, I suppose the question that immediately pop into my mind were there 'rules' specified regarding this? After that, just as a hypothetical question, I would ask about the gender of the teammate? Perhaps there is a rule about mixed genders being alone together?

[floridakeys]

Tennis New Zealand conducted a tour to the I.T.F. B2 tournament in Fiji last year.
The 19 players who went on this tour all received a 'tournament manual' of about 50 pages (written by the tour leader and national director of coaching - Pete McCraw.)
The manual includes such pearls of wisdom as:

"Watch matches from the end of the court, not the side, to avoid eye strain"

"Can of balls - Do not open with your hands! Get someone else to open or stand on can. Protect your fingers."

"Line calls - Call the lines tight and as you see them. You can bet your opponent will be doing the same!"

"Buddy system - Say hello to your roommate. You are responsible for their behaviour as well this week. If they make poor decisions and get sent home - you will go with them."

One of the girls was put on the plane and sent home early. Was her 'crime'
(a) vandalism?
(b) theft?
(c) drug use?
(d) watching TV in a team-mates room?

If you chose (d) then congratulations, you're correct, and might I suggest you send your resume to Tennis New Zealand.
You're obviously well qualified to be a tour leader!!

This is a joke, right? If this is real, and is at all reflective of the intelligence levels of key personnel within Tennis New Zealand, I guess we know why the country isn't producing players.

[LeeD]

The reason NZ doesn't produce tons of players is because it's the size of California with maybe 1/12 the population to choose from.
Couple that with the fact Kiwiland has tons of alternative outdoor sports, is very spread out population wise, and has few tennis courts, and you don't get the interest in tennis as some other nations with like population.
The rules are fine. Those kids are PREVILEGED to get to go touring. Some rules have to be applied for afterhour behavior, or kids will be kids.

[floridakeys]

The reason NZ doesn't produce tons of players is because it's the size of California with maybe 1/12 the population to choose from.
Couple that with the fact Kiwiland has tons of alternative outdoor sports, is very spread out population wise, and has few tennis courts, and you don't get the interest in tennis as some other nations with like population.
The rules are fine. Those kids are PREVILEGED to get to go touring. Some rules have to be applied for afterhour behavior, or kids will be kids.

I agree that the small population in New Zealand creates an inevitably smaller pool of tennis players, and that they may not have as may courts as other countries. However Switzerland and Serbia have similar demographics, and have been able to produce several top touring pros.

When a country has it's top ATP player listed at #413 in the world, it would be time to seriously question the philosophies of the national federation in place.

I know that Marina Erakovic is ranked in the top 100 for WTA, but it is my understanding that she had little to no involvement with New Zealand tennis as a youngster.

[JohnYandell]

Uh, was tennis1967's kid kicked out of their program?

I know Peter quite well and he is one of the best minds we have now in coaching. I once saw a kid with blood spurting out of his thumb from one of those cans. But the question you might ask is how is he training the kids on the court? He did a great job at Bollettieri's and I'm sure it's the same or better now.

[BradBaughman]

Tennis New Zealand conducted a tour to the I.T.F. B2 tournament in Fiji last year.
The 19 players who went on this tour all received a 'tournament manual' of about 50 pages (written by the tour leader and national director of coaching - Pete McCraw.)
The manual includes such pearls of wisdom as:

"Watch matches from the end of the court, not the side, to avoid eye strain"

"Can of balls - Do not open with your hands! Get someone else to open or stand on can. Protect your fingers."

"Line calls - Call the lines tight and as you see them. You can bet your opponent will be doing the same!"

"Buddy system - Say hello to your roommate. You are responsible for their behaviour as well this week. If they make poor decisions and get sent home - you will go with them."

One of the girls was put on the plane and sent home early. Was her 'crime'
(a) vandalism?
(b) theft?
(c) drug use?
(d) watching TV in a team-mates room?

If you chose (d) then congratulations, you're correct, and might I suggest you send your resume to Tennis New Zealand.
You're obviously well qualified to be a tour leader!!

was the rule about tv in place and if so? "we dont know" then what a great leader to follow through with his word something our American kids could use a heavy dose of , having something enforced what a reality check!

[halalula1234]

the tv thing is just silly