Emira Stafford .....

[willshot]

I've been watching this girls videos and found that she is going to be an amazing player down the road. I don't think she's played any tournys yet but hope to see her results in the future.


Here's one of her videos. There are plenty more of you search.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AswCuYZv8uU

[g.hull]

i personally cant tell just from videos. good looking strokes but who knows what will happen with another person on the court...

[southerncross]

Originally Posted by willshot

I've been watching this girls videos and found that she is going to be an amazing player down the road. I don't think she's played any tournys yet but hope to see her results in the future.


Here's one of her videos. There are plenty more of you search.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AswCuYZv8uU

I've been following Emira on Youtube for a year or two, and am mystified as to why she's not played matches, yet. Surely the desire to play tennis is about the game itself. Otherwise it's a sad mix of parental ambitions, fear of the real risk of failure (where all the real learning is done on the court) and the inevitable result she ends up a mechanical player without a mental game. You can be sure Federer, Murray and Nadal played tournaments first, and endured a regimental coaching regime later, to better their game. I would place every cent I had on Emira not making it while she's kept in her barn hitting balls like a back-firing ball machine. She obviously has great talent, but so do thousands of other juniors who never 'make it', because their mental game was stunted by over-protective and/or over-ambitious parents avoiding matches they never wanted their 'puppets' to play.

[ofcr17601]

As others on this site have pointed out before, there are hundreds of these you tube phenoms ' the next Venus and Serena, the next female Federer and on and on. Give me a break, until they experience match competition and all that goes with it, the emotional roller coaster. Facing opponents with a refuse to lose attitude, raw talent and addressing different shots that a coach feeding standard balls in a (at least) controlled environment can't duplicate.

I don't care how astute the guy sounds on the video with all his tennis philosophy, everybody gives the same advice to their kid in one way or the other, its what they have on the inside that counts.

[Soianka]

Originally Posted by southerncross

I've been following Emira on Youtube for a year or two, and am mystified as to why she's not played matches, yet. Surely the desire to play tennis is about the game itself. Otherwise it's a sad mix of parental ambitions, fear of the real risk of failure (where all the real learning is done on the court) and the inevitable result she ends up a mechanical player without a mental game. You can be sure Federer, Murray and Nadal played tournaments first, and endured a regimental coaching regime later, to better their game. I would place every cent I had on Emira not making it while she's kept in her barn hitting balls like a back-firing ball machine. She obviously has great talent, but so do thousands of other juniors who never 'make it', because their mental game was stunted by over-protective and/or over-ambitious parents avoiding matches they never wanted their 'puppets' to play.

I think holding off on competition a little longer than most juniors might be a good thing.

I think many juniors get burned out before reaching anywhere near their maximum potential in the overplaying of pressure tournaments at a young age.

Who is to say this girl is not playing competitive matches that her coach sets up?

Anyway, her follow through looks weird to me....but I'm just a tennis mom, not a coach.

[willshot]

Originally Posted by southerncross

I've been following Emira on Youtube for a year or two, and am mystified as to why she's not played matches, yet. Surely the desire to play tennis is about the game itself. Otherwise it's a sad mix of parental ambitions, fear of the real risk of failure (where all the real learning is done on the court) and the inevitable result she ends up a mechanical player without a mental game. You can be sure Federer, Murray and Nadal played tournaments first, and endured a regimental coaching regime later, to better their game. I would place every cent I had on Emira not making it while she's kept in her barn hitting balls like a back-firing ball machine. She obviously has great talent, but so do thousands of other juniors who never 'make it', because their mental game was stunted by over-protective and/or over-ambitious parents avoiding matches they never wanted their 'puppets' to play.

Who ever said anything about "making" it. Define "making it"??

Regardless of tournys results, she's got some skills.

[willshot]

Originally Posted by ofcr17601

As others on this site have pointed out before, there are hundreds of these you tube phenoms ' the next Venus and Serena, the next female Federer and on and on. Give me a break, until they experience match competition and all that goes with it, the emotional roller coaster. Facing opponents with a refuse to lose attitude, raw talent and addressing different shots that a coach feeding standard balls in a (at least) controlled environment can't duplicate.

I don't care how astute the guy sounds on the video with all his tennis philosophy, everybody gives the same advice to their kid in one way or the other, its what they have on the inside that counts.

lol Easy tiger... She's only 12 so I think she has some time left in her. Also I read that she does play practice matches with local college girls. I know its not the same but atleast its not 100 percent fed balls like you claim. Everyone seems to know everything but we see nothing.

[tennis-silver]

Originally Posted by Soianka

I think holding off on competition a little longer than most juniors might be a good thing.

I think many juniors get burned out before reaching anywhere near their maximum potential in the overplaying of pressure tournaments at a young age.

Who is to say this girl is not playing competitive matches that her coach sets up?

Anyway, her follow through looks weird to me....but I'm just a tennis mom, not a coach.

Her strokes look too mechanical. Reminds me of something TCFL said one time, something like - just let the younger kids play and have fun and they will naturally develop good strokes and footwork and then add in proper instruction to work out the flaws. She just seems too stiff and programmed.

[TennisCoachFLA]

Originally Posted by tennis-silver

Her strokes look too mechanical. Reminds me of something TCFL said one time, something like - just let the younger kids play and have fun and they will naturally develop good strokes and footwork and then add in proper instruction to work out the flaws. She just seems too stiff and programmed.

This is a great example of that stiffness that kids can fall into. But to be fair, we can't judge Emira from this one video as she may just be working on her form.This little girl has been coached very well to do everything correctly on the forehand. No doubt she has great basic form. Now I will post a video that tenniscrazed has posted before. A girl about the same age.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arKBi...eature=related

Getting Emira from what she is doing in her video to being fluid and moving and being intense enough to compete with girls like Shiskina is the big step. By the way Shiskina has improved her backhand a ton now and seems to have gotten past that push she had in this video.

I would love to see a video of Emira in a movement drill to see how she translates her basic form into a situation more like real tennis. If she is a great mover then she can work past the stiffness and become a very nice player.

[Devilito]

Originally Posted by TennisCoachFLA

This is a great example of that stiffness that kids can fall into. But to be fair, we can't judge Emira from this one video as she may just be working on her form.This little girl has been coached very well to do everything correctly on the forehand. No doubt she has great basic form. Now I will post a video that tenniscrazed has posted before. A girl about the same age.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arKBi...eature=related

Getting Emira from what she is doing in her video to being fluid and moving

Patella bands on a girl at 12... ouch. Retirement by 18?

[ofcr17601]

Hi I don't want to get into a back and forth dialogue with you, that's why I prefer to sit back and read all these post and not reply to them. But I guess I kinda got fed up with all the next Serena and Venuses out there and I apologize. I'm not a expert on junior tennis not even close. But it seems as though accomplished junior tennis girls, Brook Austin, Mayo Hibi, Carolyn Xie, Gabrielle Andrews, and Christina Makarova don't see the need to post themselves on you tube and claim they will be the next female Roger Federer. I don't think there is any thing wrong with it. I really cant criticize a parent or coach for doing what he or She thinks is best for their kids. We all agree she has a lot of time as well as the aforementioned girls, but don't you think a fair asessment would be if she had some results in junior competition?

[willshot]

Originally Posted by ofcr17601

Hi I don't want to get into a back and forth dialogue with you, that's why I prefer to sit back and read all these post and not reply to them. But I guess I kinda got fed up with all the next Serena and Venuses out there and I apologize. I'm not a expert on junior tennis not even close. But it seems as though accomplished junior tennis girls, Brook Austin, Mayo Hibi, Carolyn Xie, Gabrielle Andrews, and Christina Makarova don't see the need to post themselves on you tube and claim they will be the next female Roger Federer. I don't think there is any thing wrong with it. I really cant criticize a parent or coach for doing what he or She thinks is best for their kids. We all agree she has a lot of time as well as the aforementioned girls, but don't you think a fair asessment would be if she had some results in junior competition?

Again, who said anything about Serena or Venus? Also have you even seen Serena or Venus when they were 12??? Not even close to the same player they turned out to be.

[ofcr17601]

Hi TennisCoach I respect your opinion and advise on junior tennis. But don't you think at some point in all this character counts. Maria Shiskina shakes her fist and and shouts at her opponents nearly after every point. She questions obvious line calls made by her opponents and gets involved in verbal arguments with referees. One reviewer posted here we go again another obnoxious tennis kid. This type of behavior his taught by Coaches, Parents and institutions. I observed her Mother and Coach enthusiastically encouraging this type of behavior. May be I'm going overboard , but I think every thing is relative as in life. Sports don't make character, they reveal it. To be honest I don't respect the Coaches, parents and institutions( Nick Bolleterri) that teach this type of behavior.

[willshot]

Originally Posted by tennis-silver

Her strokes look too mechanical. Reminds me of something TCFL said one time, something like - just let the younger kids play and have fun and they will naturally develop good strokes and footwork and then add in proper instruction to work out the flaws. She just seems too stiff and programmed.

James Blake has a super stiff looking forehand. But a good one. Not everyone hits like Roger Federer btw.

[jmdlaw]

Originally Posted by TennisCoachFLA

This is a great example of that stiffness that kids can fall into. But to be fair, we can't judge Emira from this one video as she may just be working on her form.This little girl has been coached very well to do everything correctly on the forehand. No doubt she has great basic form. Now I will post a video that tenniscrazed has posted before. A girl about the same age.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arKBi...eature=related

Getting Emira from what she is doing in her video to being fluid and moving and being intense enough to compete with girls like Shiskina is the big step. By the way Shiskina has improved her backhand a ton now and seems to have gotten past that push she had in this video.

I would love to see a video of Emira in a movement drill to see how she translates her basic form into a situation more like real tennis. If she is a great mover then she can work past the stiffness and become a very nice player.

We can post many videos of young players and say this one does this good and this one does that good. Shishkina is no doubt a great player but Emira looks to be more of a natural athlete etc etc etc . Also - I saw the Shishkina girl while visiting IMG twice and although she is a good player - too much defense for my liking. Also really no pace on the ball. Tornado Black hits with much more pace than Shishkina. But again - they are young and more likely that none of them make it to the next level. This Shishkina girl may also have head problems later. According to many of the coaches I spoke to there, she has a reputation for cheating and is very full of herself. The mother is a nut bag - I watched her many times screaming at her while she was on the court. Who knows right?

[BSPE84]

Originally Posted by willshot

Also I believe the title of the video came from her having a 1handed backhand.

There's this girl about the same age who won a 16's designated tournament in SoCal last month. Her name is Carolyn Xie and she plays a 1H BH. Yet I can't say I've ever seen her name and Fed's mentioned in the same sentence...

[willshot]

Originally Posted by BSPE84

There's this girl about the same age who won a 16's designated tournament in SoCal last month. Her name is Carolyn Xie and she plays a 1H BH. Yet I can't say I've ever seen her name and Fed's mentioned in the same sentence...

I didn't title the video. I just viewed it.

[TennisCoachFLA]

The comparison I should have made is what the video content is. One girl is hitting fed balls and another reacting to shots made by a skilled junior opponent.

We need to see Emira playing points to judge her current tennis abilities.

[klu375]

I was tempted to mention Caroline Xie but others have already jumped in.
The Emira's video is titled "The best forehand in women's game". But you know what - Caroline Xie has a better forehand. But she also has a better backhand drive and slice. And she has great transition game and net game. And she is a great defender and counter-puncher. And she can pull opponents to the net and eat them alive there. And she has a decent first serve and very very good kick second serve. And I saw her match when she did exactly 2 unforced errors playing attacking tennis. But wait, there is more. She has a very high tennis IQ. During warm-up against unknown opponent she conducts real research and comes up with a game plan. So she may play totally different against opponent A and opponent B. She is 13. On the negative side she sometimes may be frustrated and lose her cool.
So there is a little bit of competition for the "next woman Federer" title or rather next Henin title. I doubt that Emira can do half of what Caroline can do on the court.

[ofcr17601]

Originally Posted by klu375

I was tempted to mention Caroline Xie but others have already jumped in.
The Emira's video is titled "The best forehand in women's game". But you know what - Caroline Xie has a better forehand. But she also has a better backhand drive and slice. And she has great transition game and net game. And she is a great defender and counter-puncher. And she can pull opponents to the net and eat them alive there. And she has a decent first serve and very very good kick second serve. And I saw her match when she did exactly 2 unforced errors playing attacking tennis. But wait, there is more. She has a very high tennis IQ. During warm-up against unknown opponent she conducts real research and comes up with a game plan. So she may play totally different against opponent A and opponent B. She is 13. On the negative side she sometimes may be frustrated and lose her cool.
So there is a little bit of competition for the "next woman Federer" title or rather next Henin title. I doubt that Emira can do half of what Caroline can do on the court.

Does anyone know how old Gabrielle Andrews and Mayo Hibi are ?