#1 Junior Taylor Townsend "Benched" by the USTA

[superfittennis]

I am recently hearing several conflicting stories about this Taylor Townsend situation. If the USTA initially told her that she should skip the girls 18’s national championships and just focus on fitness, they were certainly doing the right thing. Since Taylor is the number one-ranked Junior in the world and has already won a Junior grand slam there is absolutely no reason to play nationals. That is especially the case when one's fitness is lacking. She was given an opportunity to not play tournaments for eight weeks and instead focus on improving her court speed and overall fitness. That eight weeks of time should have been a gift to her and should have been utilized correctly. That timeframe was long enough to prepare her for the US open juniors and the woman's tournament. Unfortunately, those eight weeks were not used appropriately. I cannot say whether that was Taylor Townsend’s fault for lack of motivation or the USTA's fault for providing her with inadequate physical conditioning and nutritional guidance but one thing is for certain….. SOMEONE IS TO BLAME!

[tball2day]

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[tennis5]

Originally Posted by superfittennis

I am recently hearing several conflicting stories about this Taylor Townsend situation. If the USTA initially told her that she should skip the girls 18’s national championships and just focus on fitness, they were certainly doing the right thing. Since Taylor is the number one-ranked Junior in the world and has already won a Junior grand slam there is absolutely no reason to play nationals. That is especially the case when one's fitness is lacking. She was given an opportunity to not play tournaments for eight weeks and instead focus on improving her court speed and overall fitness. That eight weeks of time should have been a gift to her and should have been utilized correctly. That timeframe was long enough to prepare her for the US open juniors and the woman's tournament. Unfortunately, those eight weeks were not used appropriately. I cannot say whether that was Taylor Townsend’s fault for lack of motivation or the USTA's fault for providing her with inadequate physical conditioning and nutritional guidance but one thing is for certain….. SOMEONE IS TO BLAME!

No reason to play nationals?
That national tournament happened to be her entry way into the US Open if she won....

They also cut her tennis time down to 45 minutes 3 times a week.

Happy to say that this is one time the power of the press worked.

Maybe, there is a lesson to be learned here.

[t135]

Originally Posted by tball2day

These 8 weeks could have easily started after USO.

The USTA may be right about her fitness level but I totally agree with the above statement.

[superfittennis]

Taylor Townsend is an awesome player and no one is going to dispute that. Based on her lack of fitness, I simply do not think that winning the 18's Supernationals and getting that US Open main draw wildcard was a sure thing. That tournament was stacked with some players who could have upset her including Crawford (just win US Open Juniors) and Victoria Duval who beat her 6-1 6-2 on July 31st in a pro tournament. 18's Super Hard Court Nationals was the following week!

Her timing is not off? She won the US Open Junior doubles, didn't she?

Taylor basically had from July 8-September 9 to improve her fitness. I think that everyone is confusing fitness with fatness when that is not necessarily the case. The fact of the matter is that her movement is quite poor and must improve before she can win matches at the high levels of the pro tour.

If she could move, then they would just take her out of juniors and give her a complete pro schedule. Again......It is someone's fault, but I do not know who. Her's or the USTA's???

Please comment if you have actually seen her move..................

[10ismom]

Originally Posted by superfittennis

Taylor Townsend is an awesome player and no one is going to dispute that. Based on her lack of fitness, I simply do not think that winning the 18's Supernationals and getting that US Open main draw wildcard was a sure thing. That tournament was stacked with some players who could have upset her including Crawford (just win US Open Juniors) and Victoria Duval who beat her 6-1 6-2 on July 31st in a pro tournament. 18's Super Hard Court Nationals was the following week!

Her timing is not off? She won the US Open Junior doubles, didn't she?

Taylor basically had from July 8-September 9 to improve her fitness. I think that everyone is confusing fitness with fatness when that is not necessarily the case. The fact of the matter is that her movement is quite poor and must improve before she can win matches at the high levels of the pro tour.

If she could move, then they would just take her out of juniors and give her a complete pro schedule. Again......It is someone's fault, but I do not know who. Her's or the USTA's???

Please comment if you have actually seen her move..................

I only saw her movement from a video clip before so I cannot comment on her movement and fitness level around the US open. My initial speculation (that I posted in this thread) was like what you said....USTA perhaps wanted her to be fit for the pro level.
I don't know if her loss to Victoria Duval hurt the USTAPD's (and Taylor's) confidence in her game and fitness level or they just benched her for another reason.

What I (and probably many of us) have observed in juniors and adult players.....good tennis players with limited footwork and fitness often do well in doubles than singles. Not saying it applied to Taylor but her recent results seemed to show that trend.

[JoelDali]

I think Taylor and PMac should do a Funny or Die type video where Taylor foot faults and PMac calls it, and Taylor threatens PMac with something like, "I'm gonna shove this ball down your throat..."

Then they laugh it off and go to McDonalds and have a nice lunch together. That would really be genius.

[Tcbtennis]

Originally Posted by superfittennis

Taylor Townsend is an awesome player and no one is going to dispute that. Based on her lack of fitness, I simply do not think that winning the 18's Supernationals and getting that US Open main draw wildcard was a sure thing. That tournament was stacked with some players who could have upset her including Crawford (just win US Open Juniors) and Victoria Duval who beat her 6-1 6-2 on July 31st in a pro tournament. 18's Super Hard Court Nationals was the following week!

Her timing is not off? She won the US Open Junior doubles, didn't she?

Taylor basically had from July 8-September 9 to improve her fitness. I think that everyone is confusing fitness with fatness when that is not necessarily the case. The fact of the matter is that her movement is quite poor and must improve before she can win matches at the high levels of the pro tour.

If she could move, then they would just take her out of juniors and give her a complete pro schedule. Again......It is someone's fault, but I do not know who. Her's or the USTA's???

Please comment if you have actually seen her move..................

You seem well meaning but you have a lot of misinformation. First of all, of course it isn't a sure thing that Taylor would have won the National in order to receive the wild card into the main draw. But I can tell you that the odds are better when you are actually allowed to enter the tournament. And just because a player beat you one week means absolutely nothing. Anyone who has competed in tennis knows this. You learn from the first match and make adjustments. Maybe they work or maybe they don't. But you do not make predictions based on one match.

Lastly, at age 15, Taylor is not allowed to play a complete pro schedule. If I remember correctly, she must be 16 or 17 years old before she can compete fully in the women's tour. Since she just turned 15 she has time to work on her fitness. As someone posted earlier, after the US Open would be a perfect time to do this.

[superfittennis]

Originally Posted by Tcbtennis

You seem well meaning but you have a lot of misinformation. First of all, of course it isn't a sure thing that Taylor would have won the National in order to receive the wild card into the main draw. But I can tell you that the odds are better when you are actually allowed to enter the tournament. And just because a player beat you one week means absolutely nothing. Anyone who has competed in tennis knows this. You learn from the first match and make adjustments. Maybe they work or maybe they don't. But you do not make predictions based on one match.

Lastly, at age 15, Taylor is not allowed to play a complete pro schedule. If I remember correctly, she must be 16 or 17 years old before she can compete fully in the women's tour. Since she just turned 15 she has time to work on her fitness. As someone posted earlier, after the US Open would be a perfect time to do this.

I am not making predictions based on one match and perhaps Taylor Townsend (#1 ITF Junior) in the world would have won that national tournament easily. (Who cares?) If the USTA thought that she was in shape and could compete in the main draw they could have given her a wildcard. She is 16 years old and may play in (12) tournaments and can receive (4) wildcards at any pro level event. If she was in good condition and could move faster than a snail, then allowing her to play (12) professional events, all (4) grand slams, perhaps a couple of other grade A junior events, and just focus on game improvement and more fitness may have been the best thing to do. What do you think?

[TennisCJC]

Personally, I think her support should be based on results instead of appearance or fitness level. If she is fit enough to win in the juniors she is fit enough to compete.

But, I don't have a problem with her coaches telling her quite frankly that your fitness is hindering you just like a bad stroke would hinder you and we are going to work hard to improve it.

They are trying to transition her from promising junior to world class athlete and she is not going to make the transition carry a lot of extra weight. It hurts but it is the truth. This is not little league - they are talking about the big league USO.

[JoelDali]

Deleted.

10 Pmacs.

[WARPWOODIE]

Taylor was knocked out of the recently concluded Eddie Herr in the round of 16. I wonder if the "benching" issue did something to her psyche?

[tball2day]

Or simply the other girl played better that day, which is what the write up seems to say. Taylor is not invincible, no player is.

[andfor]

I hope the question was sarcastic.

Maybe her opponent was in better shape.

[Tennishacker]

Is she still with USTA HP?

[JoelDali]

Was Brad B. there?

LeeD --- Any comments?

[10ismom]

"@zootennis: MT @dkaplanSBJ Lagardere has signed Taylor Townsend, 16, #1 ranked She'lll go pro in 2013, playing limited sked due to WTA age limits"

According to Zootennis' twitter, Taylor just turned pro.....

[NLBwell]

Maybe that will motivate her to get in great shape. We'll see how she does on the tour.

Good Luck to her!

[tball2day]

................................

[Rob_C]

Just looked at the Orange Bowl draw and Taylor apparently needed a WC to get in, despite still being the #1 seed. Does that mean that the USTA again didnt nominate her for entry??