Number1Coach
Banned
What do you guys think of this kid Thanasi from Australia ? 16 years old taking it to Steve Johnson our NCAA champion , I am not surprised but would like to hear some of the posters on here .
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?p=7106660
There is a thread in General Pro Player Discussion about Thanasi Kokkinakis.
What do you guys think of this kid Thanasi from Australia ? 16 years old taking it to Steve Johnson our NCAA champion , I am not surprised but would like to hear some of the posters on here .
thanx didnt know but since hes a junior we could use one here too yeah??
Martennis....its tennis and its one loss. Who knows the circumstances, the kid could have gotten some lucky net cords on key points, Johnson could have been injured, looked past a 16 year old. Maybe if they played 10 times, Johnson would win the next 9.
Or perhaps the kid is just super talented and is the next big thing. Who knows. Tennis history is full of 1 match anomalies so we have no idea what this means.
are you guys saying S. Johnson lost ? ... I checked the results and SJ won that match .. what are talking about?
Thanasi has 13 Futures main draw wins and 14 main draw doubles wins. That does not include the wins in the qualifying to get to the main draw. Impressive for a 16 year old. No young American I can think of with that kind of resume. Posters on here need to look into this kid.
My bad on jumping to the conclusion that SJ lost in the match. I just read some of the post and assumed.
Anyway, Australia needs a good up and comer. I just hope that he doesn't have the baggage like Bernard Tomic. Anyone know his disposition/character? I did get to see the exhibition doubles match on the Tennis Channel where he partnered with Venus Williams...seems like a good kid
Martennis....its tennis and its one loss. Who knows the circumstances, the kid could have gotten some lucky net cords on key points, Johnson could have been injured, looked past a 16 year old. Maybe if they played 10 times, Johnson would win the next 9.
Or perhaps the kid is just super talented and is the next big thing. Who knows. Tennis history is full of 1 match anomalies so we have no idea what this means.
This is why I love this board! So the OP started out I suppose to take a shot at college tennis....and instead brought to our attention a super talented 16 year old who causes tennis people to describe as "outlandish talents". A kid with a growing body of impressive work as coaching32years showed.
Then another poster worked his 10 year old student to the bone because of this 'loss' and how it reflected on American tennis.
Then it turns out the lowly American tennis player actually beat the 16 year old superkid. And the fact a 16 year old can show such promise reinforces my long held belief that in most cases the talents jump out by age 16 or so....the exact opposite of what the OP thinks.
Classic junior forum entertainment!
The kid is where he is because of a combination of reasons, including the very important one, his talent level.
His coach has been a 'dictator' to numerous players through the years, how many will reach the same level as this one?
Odds are this kid would have reached tennis heights even if his family was average and not 'good', whether he went to an academy, and whether he played a more traditional route of tournaments. Talent is talent. More than one road that this kid, and other talented kids, can take to do well in tennis.
...I was hard on my charge this weekend after a loss. Not my normal M.O. He's 10.
He hit all his performance goals. The character of his tennis was better. I could actually see that he improved over the holidays, but I semi berated him because despite all of this it was time for him to hear that I expected a win, not just improvement. I regretted it later that evening, but this morning I don't. This Johnson loss has informed me greatly.
Contrary the difference with Thanasi and the USA is that his Fed knew he wanted to go pro and no one pushed college , I have spent time with his family and his coach who came to visit me last year before he was to get married .
See they have helped Thanasi tremendously as to where our program says you need to dominate each age group win every Jr event possible , Thanasi didnt go down that road and was encouraged to play up even though he didnt prove himself as a Jr . Le Petite , OB, Eddie Herr, ect . They get it .
Please stop taking tiny parts of posts out of context. Anyone can go back and read the post.
I obviously was saying it was only one match and I do not know the circumstances.
Coach: I agree with you 100%. USTA high performance has been based on results in the 12's and 14's which makes no sense. Their application itself required a high ranking and a finals or win at Super Nationals. The result is we have a lot of undersized, defensive ball loopers we are financing at Boca and Carson who have no shot at the pros.
We have been around high performance and they wont even place my player on the court with all the upcoming future players yet we go to IMG and he is splitting sets with Quigley and losing a tight set to Harrison and yet at High performance he ends up on court with 16 yr olds "96's" cause thats his age group and he is one of the top 18 yr olds ,,,
We need some serous changes in our thinking if the USA is gonna stand a chance .
Wow. USTA HP is worse than even I thought. Your player is a quarterfinalist in the OB 18's!! Sounds like a Rick Macci trick. He wouldn't let my 12 yr old play his top 13 yr old. Rick is a smart businessman- can't have a 12 yr old training 6 hours a week beat his top 13 yr old- who is paying thousands a year for full time training. Maybe USTA didn't want your player to embarass them by beating up on their 18 yr olds. Who knows.
Wow. USTA HP is worse than even I thought. Your player is a quarterfinalist in the OB 18's!! Sounds like a Rick Macci trick. He wouldn't let my 12 yr old play his top 13 yr old. Rick is a smart businessman- can't have a 12 yr old training 6 hours a week beat his top 13 yr old- who is paying thousands a year for full time training. Maybe USTA didn't want your player to embarass them by beating up on their 18 yr olds. Who knows.
This is the 4th regime and the 14th year of USTA HP. Just imagine the total cost vs the results. Mind boggling.
so are you saying that USTA is still paying for JS ? even when he is already a ''pro''?it is sad , Is saw JS before he headed down under and was nursing a injured ankle during practise and my wife asked what is he doing on court , he couldn't move , it was hurting and then I see he retired yesterday most likely injured but should have never spent the money on him traveling down there, once again a waiste and how many like that ?
it is sad , Is saw JS before he headed down under and was nursing a injured ankle during practise and my wife asked what is he doing on court , he couldn't move , it was hurting and then I see he retired yesterday most likely injured but should have never spent the money on him traveling down there, once again a waiste and how many like that ?
JS was not part of PD, he lived at home in Kansas and trained with a private his whole junior career. He has of course received some assistance both before an after turning pro, as has Deit, but he is not a good example of USTA HP wasting money, in fact he is the poster child for why USTA HP PD is an unecessary waste, he's arguably the best American prospect(aside from DB of course ) and PD had almost nothing to do with it.
true that ...I like to see what kind of degrees and jobs these kids get after their college tennis career is over... I'm betting teaching tennis somewhere...
great system ...
Craigslist, $35 an hour all day in OC . German, Polish, Brazilian, Russian, Ukrainian, you name it!
Mar sorry about the wording but I would encourage you stay tough on your player and if he loses playing his best and its a serious fight in the match pat him on the back but if he loses because he is not giving it his all , bad attitude , no attempt to make adjustments , going for broke , THEN Punishment is a must , Walking Stairs at a stadium NO running them ! , sit ups till the stomach is burning or tears come forward , figure out a punishment that will build him at the same time break the bad habits .