How serious are we ??

[ga tennis]

Originally Posted by coaching32yrs

Coach #1. You are a smart tennis guy. This is oversimplifying things but juniors is about defense, pros about offense. But you have to when and where to play offense. Stay in charge but find a trusted consultant. Your player needs to learn the pro style and dominate with his serve and forehand.

Great advice coaching32yrs.

[coaching32yrs]

Saw Nadal final agnst Zeballos today. One of best finals I've seen in along time. Zeballos played out of his mind to pull it out. What does this have to do w/junior tennis? Zeb is #73 in the world and his level and shot making were incredibly high today. Young Americans who want to turn pro--- The bar is high- you have a lot of work to do.

[Number1Coach]

Originally Posted by BMC9670

Wasn't me. I'm waaay outside of any knoweldge of USTA HP... just to clarify.

Ok thats cool but a while back one of the posters put up a list of about 30 guys that has been part of the Fl. HP program dating back like 10 yrs. it was amazing how many top notch players have been through and nothing has come of it , I hate to say this if you gave me that list of guys to work with and the resorces I would have produced at least 3 to 4 top 20 players how could you not .

[TCF]

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[BMC9670]

Originally Posted by Number1Coach

Ok thats cool but a while back one of the posters put up a list of about 30 guys that has been part of the Fl. HP program dating back like 10 yrs. it was amazing how many top notch players have been through and nothing has come of it , I hate to say this if you gave me that list of guys to work with and the resorces I would have produced at least 3 to 4 top 20 players how could you not .

Maybe, but it's not only about what players you would have and what you would do with them... you also have to factor in what the rest of the world is putting up and what they are doing as well. You are putting in the long hard miles, for sure... but so are many others around the globe and there are only so many spots at the top.

[TCF]

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[Tennishacker]

Originally Posted by TCF

Sort of a silly premise and the worst post of the thread. The discussion is NOT who can produce the best junior player. Should I count all the work I did back in the day with Sekou Bangoura Jr. who reached higher level than DB did?

And your entire post misses the point by a mile. No one says a word that BB could not produce a top junior like many others have done through the years.

The DISCUSSION is about the MONEY MAKING PROS.....producing a money making pro.

BB has done it the same # of times as any of us, ZERO!! Get it?

Having another bad day?

[Hops]

Originally Posted by andfor

What's apparent is that the trends that used to point to predicting who has prospects even 5 years ago is outdated. I'd like to see the data trends in avg. age,

here you go; graphs going back 20+ years

http://tennis28.com/rankings/group_r..._youngest.html

your perception is correct; big spike in the avg tour age the past 5-6 years.

[coaching32yrs]

Originally Posted by Number1Coach

Ok thats cool but a while back one of the posters put up a list of about 30 guys that has been part of the Fl. HP program dating back like 10 yrs. it was amazing how many top notch players have been through and nothing has come of it , I hate to say this if you gave me that list of guys to work with and the resorces I would have produced at least 3 to 4 top 20 players how could you not .

I agree. USTA has failed at high performance. We like to think tennis is magic, somehow different than any other sport or organization on earth. It is not. Organizations fail because of poor leadership and poor management.
Enough said.

[TCF]

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[TCF]

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[NLBwell]

Originally Posted by NLBwell

What do you consider a precocious age? What do you consider "straight to the pros?"

Bumping myself here to again ask TCF the question in response to his earlier statement. I'm not really clear exactly what his definitions are?
If DB (or anyone else) won the Junior AO at 18 yrs old 2 years from now, would that be precocious or would it have to be at 16 or 15?
Would the kid have to be playing the pros at 13 or 15 like Graf or Nadal?
How long/how many years of playing futures and challengers would be straight to the pros? Would it have to be like McEnroe who was playing both the juniors and the main event at the majors?

[Number1Coach]

Originally Posted by NLBwell

Bumping myself here to again ask TCF the question in response to his earlier statement. I'm not really clear exactly what his definitions are?
If DB (or anyone else) won the Junior AO at 18 yrs old 2 years from now, would that be precocious or would it have to be at 16 or 15?
Would the kid have to be playing the pros at 13 or 15 like Graf or Nadal?
How long/how many years of playing futures and challengers would be straight to the pros? Would it have to be like McEnroe who was playing both the juniors and the main event at the majors?

The bar would be moved up like when DB made the quarterfinals this year , he will reposition himself like he has every time the bar has been exceeded . djoke was and ok jr and look what he has done , no GS titles no La petite , OB ext but his career has been decent, going pro and the route TCF speaks of is and old road these days with where the game has gone physically .

Until you can coach a player to at least one match win what you say carries very little weight .

[RingerOG]

I certainly hope N1C and his son do not spend more than two years playing futures in the hopes of "making it". You need to be solidly entrenched in the Challenger level by then. That is why I suggested in my initial post to play 10-15 futures up until the time to go to college. I would hope they would not turn down a full scholarship to UCLA, USC, Virginia, etc. to be ranked 1000 ATP after a year and a half of playing futures.

[tball2day]

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[chalkflewup]

Originally Posted by tball2day

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[TCF]

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[TCF]

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[arche3]

Originally Posted by TCF

BB, this post says it all. The discussion is specifically about producing a money making player. None of us have done so. So until one of us does so, none of us has any credibility.

If you want to start a thread instructing others on how to develop a top USTA junior, certainly then you would be in your wheel house. But the difference in producing a USTA player and a money making pro is night and day. Hundreds and hundreds of US parents and coaches have done what you have over the years, almost none have produced money making pros though.

My kid won a match last week. I think I am qualified to be a pro coach now.

[Chemist]

If I were #1, I would take the advice from Coach32years and hire a professional coach, who has the experience of transforming top juniors to successful touring pros. USTA may even pay for it.