article on Grace Min in today's NY Times

[SoCal10s]

Originally Posted by Number1Coach

As part of the team I did not get excited , I made sure that round penny in the box was thrown proptly in the trash , I thought it was and underachievemnet.

come on man he got beat by a better player ,no ? he did good.. maybe if he was on the other side of the draw,he would have gotten the silver ball..

[Number1Coach]

Originally Posted by SoCal10s

come on man he got beat by a better player ,no ? he did good.. maybe if he was on the other side of the draw,he would have gotten the silver ball..

The other player was solid I won't take anything from him he played better that day ,,we arfe quite sure next time the result will be diffderent.

As for Grace if anyoned knows her tell her there are those who would love to see her succeed and would love to study film with her to get her to understand what her game can be.

She's a great kid and deserves it .

[HIGH-TECH TENNIS]

I'm definitely not an expert but I completely agree with these points:

- Yes, Grace was already a dynamite player in Atlanta - Coach Greg is one of the most underrated coaches around (I still say she'd be an excellent college tennis player and a champion person but hope she will pass on extreme pressure of going pro).
- Sometimes sending the player away for extended periods is just the wrong thing to do. I recall a discussion with a father who said he would never even consider it because his family was very close and they belonged together.

So I guess to each his own...Still hoping Grace returns (Taylor Townsend too, for that matter) but will support whatever choices they make for sure. Having known them for 6+ years, we know they are such sweet girls!

[Number1Coach]

Originally Posted by HIGH-TECH TENNIS

I'm definitely not an expert but I completely agree with these points:

- Yes, Grace was already a dynamite player in Atlanta - Coach Greg is one of the most underrated coaches around (I still say she'd be an excellent college tennis player and a champion person but hope she will pass on extreme pressure of going pro).
- Sometimes sending the player away for extended periods is just the wrong thing to do. I recall a discussion with a father who said he would never even consider it because his family was very close and they belonged together.

So I guess to each his own...Still hoping Grace returns (Taylor Townsend too, for that matter) but will support whatever choices they make for sure. Having known them for 6+ years, we know they are such sweet girls!

She won the USOpen jr. She needs to sit down with some who can point out the player she needs to be and work at it and know she can get it done .

I am sick of all our talented kids being told college is the best thing cause a lot of coaches today haved bought its next to impossible .

[Dadof10s]

Originally Posted by Number1Coach

She won the USOpen jr. She needs to sit down with some who can point out the player she needs to be and work at it and know she can get it done .

I am sick of all our talented kids being told college is the best thing cause a lot of coaches today haved bought its next to impossible .

Lots of coaches have bought into it being next to impossible because it is next to impossible. The log jam of amazing players around the world who may be good enough to be ranked 200 to 1500 is large and every year the names in that ranking group change as some give up or get injured or get old. But we know that the only players who can make enough money to survive must get into the top 50 or so, and the only players many Americans will remember must be top 10 players. So thats why most coaches steer kids to college, the odds of them making a good living are decent if they go to a good college but very tiny if they try to play professional tennis. By the way it is good you think your student will beat the player who beat him if they play again but I am sure the players he beat also think they will beat him next time. Jared might be thinking he should beat him 0 and 0 next time they play, boys that age all have egos and that is a good thing!

[donnymac10s]

Originally Posted by Number1Coach

I am sick of all our talented kids being told college is the best thing cause a lot of coaches today haved bought its next to impossible .

So true. How are we going to get people in the top-10 in the world if we're too cowardly to push players into the top-300; top-200; top-150; top-100; and top-50. When US dominated the top ranks, we had players all over the rankings. We simply need more players gunning for the pros. THAT's where the USTA needs to help. Hand out grants to players reaching certain rankings. The "carrot" approach. More people would bust their butt - in Jrs. or college - knowing that they could have some support if they reached certain levels.

[Dadof10s]

Originally Posted by donnymac10s

So true. How are we going to get people in the top-10 in the world if we're too cowardly to push players into the top-300; top-200; top-150; top-100; and top-50. When US dominated the top ranks, we had players all over the rankings. We simply need more players gunning for the pros. THAT's where the USTA needs to help. Hand out grants to players reaching certain rankings. The "carrot" approach. More people would bust their butt - in Jrs. or college - knowing that they could have some support if they reached certain levels.

When the USA dominated tennis it was not the same playing field as it is today. I was a huge tennis fan as a child and remember all the great USA players but I can not remember Mac or Agassi playing a lot of Serbian players and I do not remember Capriati fighting round after round against 6'2" russian tennis babes! The USTA does throw lots and lots of wildcards around and tries to get kids into junior grand slams and all that. Look through the top 1500 and you see a good number of USA players. The reason they are not in the top 50 is that they are not good enough as players. Telling even more USA kids to forget college and try for professional may get us some more people ranked 300 or 600 but not likely to change the top 50 because anyone that good would blow away the college kids and try the pros anyway. I just do not agree that our college tennis teams are filled with players who would be winning championships in the pros had they not gone to college because if they are that good the professional ranks sponsors will find them some how. Just think how much money Nike would make from a USA player winning big tournaments, they are not going to let them play college tennis if they have that level of potential.

[donnymac10s]

Originally Posted by Dadof10s

When the USA dominated tennis it was not the same playing field as it is today. I was a huge tennis fan as a child and remember all the great USA players but I can not remember Mac or Agassi playing a lot of Serbian players and I do not remember Capriati fighting round after round against 6'2" russian tennis babes! The USTA does throw lots and lots of wildcards around and tries to get kids into junior grand slams and all that. Look through the top 1500 and you see a good number of USA players. The reason they are not in the top 50 is that they are not good enough as players. Telling even more USA kids to forget college and try for professional may get us some more people ranked 300 or 600 but not likely to change the top 50 because anyone that good would blow away the college kids and try the pros anyway. I just do not agree that our college tennis teams are filled with players who would be winning championships in the pros had they not gone to college because if they are that good the professional ranks sponsors will find them some how. Just think how much money Nike would make from a USA player winning big tournaments, they are not going to let them play college tennis if they have that level of potential.

There are a great deal of players (college or jrs) who simply do not try to their maximum potential bc it's pointless given the amount of money required to travel the globe. And, yes, players do get better as they face better competition. It will not happen overnight we need to push more people in the lower ranks, medium ranks, and higher ranks. We can't just bank on the one Roddick making it through every couple of years...we simply need more player who push each other. This is exactly the goal outlined by the Swedish Tennis federation president. They are going through the same thing. They want more players who challenge each other and their levels will rise.

[donnymac10s]

Originally Posted by Dadof10s

When the USA dominated tennis it was not the same playing field as it is today. I was a huge tennis fan as a child and remember all the great USA players but I can not remember Mac or Agassi playing a lot of Serbian players and I do not remember Capriati fighting round after round against 6'2" russian tennis babes! The USTA does throw lots and lots of wildcards around and tries to get kids into junior grand slams and all that. Look through the top 1500 and you see a good number of USA players. The reason they are not in the top 50 is that they are not good enough as players. Telling even more USA kids to forget college and try for professional may get us some more people ranked 300 or 600 but not likely to change the top 50 because anyone that good would blow away the college kids and try the pros anyway. I just do not agree that our college tennis teams are filled with players who would be winning championships in the pros had they not gone to college because if they are that good the professional ranks sponsors will find them some how. Just think how much money Nike would make from a USA player winning big tournaments, they are not going to let them play college tennis if they have that level of potential.

There are a great deal of players (college or jrs) who simply do not try to their maximum potential bc it's pointless given the amount of money required to travel the globe. And, yes, players do get better as they face better competition. It will not happen overnight but we need to push more people in the lower ranks, medium ranks, and higher ranks. We can't just bank on the one Roddick making it through every couple of years...we simply need more player who challenge each other and provide better competition. This is exactly the goal outlined by the Swedish Tennis federation president. They are going through the same thing. They are taking the approach that for the next Borg/Wilander/Edberg to come through, they need more players in the top 500, 300, 100, etc. Eventually, a group of players will come along who will be good enough to break through. I don't like the defeatist attitude espoused by the USTA or a great deal of coaches at all.

[Dadof10s]

Originally Posted by donnymac10s

There are a great deal of players (college or jrs) who simply do not try to their maximum potential bc it's pointless given the amount of money required to travel the globe. And, yes, players do get better as they face better competition. It will not happen overnight but we need to push more people in the lower ranks, medium ranks, and higher ranks. We can't just bank on the one Roddick making it through every couple of years...we simply need more player who challenge each other and provide better competition. This is exactly the goal outlined by the Swedish Tennis federation president. They are going through the same thing. They are taking the approach that for the next Borg/Wilander/Edberg to come through, they need more players in the top 500, 300, 100, etc. Eventually, a group of players will come along who will be good enough to break through. I don't like the defeatist attitude espoused by the USTA or a great deal of coaches at all.

Every coach I have ever met has thought they could coach and make the best players in the world and they all claim to have great students who will win big so most are not defeatists. The USTA is not defeatist if anything they are crazy because they spend so much money every year for decades to make the next Sampras. They have a bunch of young players they want to be top players and give them everything from coaching to equipment to wild cards, so how is that defeatist? We live in a free market world and if Nike or Prince thought a kid had talent to be a top professional player they would grab them. But the guys that run sports companies know the odds are very small of a USA child beating all the odds and being #1 and lets face it the average American consumer and casual sports fan will only care if a USA player is great and playing for championships like Rafa does. The sponsors are not defeatist but they are realistic. Maybe some day a USA Federer or Sampras will come along but it will be because they are very very special and not because we send all our college kids out into the land of tennis minor league professional tournaments. The life past the rankings of 150 is horrible with cheap hotels and far away tournaments and would more likely break a player than make him into a top 10 guy. That future USA Federer will likely be scary good when he is a teenager and the hype will make B. Tomic's hype look like small potatoes because the next great USA player will make lots of people a lot of $$$. A USA Rafa would be stuffed full of wildcards and never even give college tennis a smell.

[chalkflewup]

Originally Posted by SoCal10s

USTA did not make this girl good.. she was already a proven winner before she went to USTA.. they just gave her some freebies but not all freebies are a good thing... I haven't seen any of those "USTA elite "" make any sizable dent in their tennis future.. Jack Sock was not an USTA kid.. I thought E.King may have gone far but nothing yet..

Predictable response.

[chalkflewup]

Originally Posted by HIGH-TECH TENNIS

I'm definitely not an expert but I completely agree with these points:

- Yes, Grace was already a dynamite player in Atlanta - Coach Greg is one of the most underrated coaches around (I still say she'd be an excellent college tennis player and a champion person but hope she will pass on extreme pressure of going pro).
- Sometimes sending the player away for extended periods is just the wrong thing to do. I recall a discussion with a father who said he would never even consider it because his family was very close and they belonged together.

So I guess to each his own...Still hoping Grace returns (Taylor Townsend too, for that matter) but will support whatever choices they make for sure. Having known them for 6+ years, we know they are such sweet girls!

Taylor Townsend has blossomed under Rinaldi's guidance.

[Soianka]

Originally Posted by Dadof10s

When the USA dominated tennis it was not the same playing field as it is today. I was a huge tennis fan as a child and remember all the great USA players but I can not remember Mac or Agassi playing a lot of Serbian players and I do not remember Capriati fighting round after round against 6'2" russian tennis babes! The USTA does throw lots and lots of wildcards around and tries to get kids into junior grand slams and all that. Look through the top 1500 and you see a good number of USA players. The reason they are not in the top 50 is that they are not good enough as players. Telling even more USA kids to forget college and try for professional may get us some more people ranked 300 or 600 but not likely to change the top 50 because anyone that good would blow away the college kids and try the pros anyway. I just do not agree that our college tennis teams are filled with players who would be winning championships in the pros had they not gone to college because if they are that good the professional ranks sponsors will find them some how. Just think how much money Nike would make from a USA player winning big tournaments, they are not going to let them play college tennis if they have that level of potential.

This is all true, but our best players at their best would still be able to compete with the best of the world's players.

I am 100% sure that Capriati in her best form would be a top 5 player in today's climate against those russian "tennis babes" and everybody else.

The reason I am so sure is that Serena in her top form is still very dominant and there wasn't that much between Serena and Capriati when Capriati was playing well.

[Soianka]

Originally Posted by donnymac10s

There are a great deal of players (college or jrs) who simply do not try to their maximum potential bc it's pointless given the amount of money required to travel the globe. And, yes, players do get better as they face better competition. It will not happen overnight we need to push more people in the lower ranks, medium ranks, and higher ranks. We can't just bank on the one Roddick making it through every couple of years...we simply need more player who push each other. This is exactly the goal outlined by the Swedish Tennis federation president. They are going through the same thing. They want more players who challenge each other and their levels will rise.

I agree. I think that college can be a stepping stone to trying a pro career, but I definitely do not think that these top players should give up on their dream (because it's "too hard" ) without really trying.

[Soianka]

Originally Posted by chalkflewup

Predictable response.

Even if predictable. It's just true.

Time will tell how much better Grace is able to get under the USTA's guidance, but there is no denying that Grace was a great player long before she starting training under the USTA full time.

[Soianka]

Originally Posted by Dadof10s

Every coach I have ever met has thought they could coach and make the best players in the world and they all claim to have great students who will win big so most are not defeatists. The USTA is not defeatist if anything they are crazy because they spend so much money every year for decades to make the next Sampras. They have a bunch of young players they want to be top players and give them everything from coaching to equipment to wild cards, so how is that defeatist? We live in a free market world and if Nike or Prince thought a kid had talent to be a top professional player they would grab them. But the guys that run sports companies know the odds are very small of a USA child beating all the odds and being #1 and lets face it the average American consumer and casual sports fan will only care if a USA player is great and playing for championships like Rafa does. The sponsors are not defeatist but they are realistic. Maybe some day a USA Federer or Sampras will come along but it will be because they are very very special and not because we send all our college kids out into the land of tennis minor league professional tournaments. The life past the rankings of 150 is horrible with cheap hotels and far away tournaments and would more likely break a player than make him into a top 10 guy. That future USA Federer will likely be scary good when he is a teenager and the hype will make B. Tomic's hype look like small potatoes because the next great USA player will make lots of people a lot of $$$. A USA Rafa would be stuffed full of wildcards and never even give college tennis a smell.

If the USTA spent a lot of that money on developing poor kids, I bet we would find the next crop of US tennis champions. Those kids are "hungry" and desperate for success.

Right now, we have a system where mostly kids of wealthy parents rise to the top of US rankings because only those families can afford to produce a top junior player.

However, that doesn't mean they have a player with great potential simply because mommy and daddy have deep pockets.

It's a no-brainer.

Also, I wouldn't say life outside the top 150 is horrible. I don't know about the ATP but I know of one WTA player who moved up the rankings steadily and had a great time doing it...traveling the world and competing.

If that is your dream, I don't think that would be a "horrible life."

I think a horrible life would be never really pursuing your life's dream because of fear.

[donnymac10s]

Originally Posted by Dadof10s

Every coach I have ever met...

If the USTA takes all the money out of PD - all the resources being wasted away (http://catennis.squarespace.com/most...velopment.html) - and uses the money to support mid-level pros, more players are going to work hard at U12s, U14s, U16s, U18s and college. This would produce better, tougher players at every level.. Players who know that there could be a future with tennis. Currently, only 00.5796% of the total USTA revenue goes to actual individual player development..drop in a bucket...useless. They could easily give every top 500 player $20K/year; every top 300 player $30K/year. They could couple it with either a repayment plan for participating players (or have the players donate time growing the game in inner-city areas or non-tennis hotspots). Right now, only the truly well-off (or the really, really good) can afford to stay on tour and grind through the mid-levels. Problem is that, given our system, we are not producing really good players and the rich kids have no fight. Think about it...

[Number1Coach]

Originally Posted by donnymac10s

If the USTA takes all the money out of PD - all the resources being wasted away (http://catennis.squarespace.com/most...velopment.html) - and uses the money to support mid-level pros, more players are going to work hard at U12s, U14s, U16s, U18s and college. This would produce better, tougher players at every level.. Players who know that there could be a future with tennis. Currently, only 00.5796% of the total USTA revenue goes to actual individual player development..drop in a bucket...useless. They could easily give every top 500 player $20K/year; every top 300 player $30K/year. They could couple it with either a repayment plan for participating players (or have the players donate time growing the game in inner-city areas or non-tennis hotspots). Right now, only the truly well-off (or the really, really good) can afford to stay on tour and grind through the mid-levels. Problem is that, given our system, we are not producing really good players and the rich kids have no fight. Think about it...

I can sum it up a with a couple of words "desire" and those who "doubt" we don't have parent and coaches to team up with a kid who has desires to be at the top, also anytime someone says this is what I desire to do you have all the experts saying it can't be done .

The problem is , they listen to the people who doubt it can be done rather then the reality it is possible.

[Dadof10s]

Originally Posted by Soianka

This is all true, but our best players at their best would still be able to compete with the best of the world's players.

I am 100% sure that Capriati in her best form would be a top 5 player in today's climate against those russian "tennis babes" and everybody else.

The reason I am so sure is that Serena in her top form is still very dominant and there wasn't that much between Serena and Capriati when Capriati was playing well.

I agree, Jennifer would do very well today. My point is that I do not there are other Capriatis out there who went to college instead of the professionals. If they are that good at that young age they would not ever end up in college.

[Dadof10s]

Originally Posted by Number1Coach

I can sum it up a with a couple of words "desire" and those who "doubt" we don't have parent and coaches to team up with a kid who has desires to be at the top, also anytime someone says this is what I desire to do you have all the experts saying it can't be done .

The problem is , they listen to the people who doubt it can be done rather then the reality it is possible.

I think you are way off base. In our families years in juniors we have known plenty of kids who were only focused on the pros with full family support. They lived and died for tennis and had no doubts at all. A few were interviewed as local prodigies and all said they would be # one in the entire world. They trained as hard as possible and took their tennis as far as they could. This happens all over the USA but at some point they reach their level in tennis. Out of all those USA kids we have some Ryan Harrison and Jack Sock types who get nicely ranked. Some day one of these kids will be the next American wonder player. So please know your student is not the only kid focused on being number one and many USA kids are going for it. Most of them reach a certain level and stop there but they go for it 100 percent. My nephew knows Chi Chi Scholl who never thought of anything but the pros since she was little and she has made it to 164 rank. In 3 years even with that ranking she has made only $46000 which is $15000 per year so of course she is losing lots of money. Lots of USA kids have gone for it over the years and will continue to do it.