Welby trained balance first and then put a racquet in their hand
I read with great interest Jim McLennan's excellent Newsletter article "All About the Russians - Meaning it's all About Footwork." Although the always perceptive Mr. McLennan makes a number of terrific points, I must admit one passage in the article particularly caught my eye. In discussing the early training of the Russian girls, Jim writes that "When they first start, before tennis they work on balance and ballet, similar to the efforts years ago by the renowned Welby Van Horn at the Caribe Hilton in Puerto Rico . Welby trained balance first and then put a racquet in their hand."
For those of you who are not familiar with Welby, he was that rarest of breeds: a great player (he ranked in the world's top ten as both an amateur and professional) who then became a great coach for beginners. In 1951 he went to Puerto Rico to start teaching at the Caribe Hilton Swim and Tennis Club. Starting with 8-10 year old kids who had never played tennis before, Welby developed what can only be described as a deluge of highly accomplished players. By 1972, seven separate Welby students had won U.S. national age division championships. A total of at least 23 of his students achieved top 50 U.S. national junior rankings. In one year alone (1975), three of Welby's former students achieved NCAA (Division I) All-American status. Another of Welby's students, Charlie Pasarell, was NCAA singles and doubles champion in 1966, became the number one ranked U.S. men's amateur in the United States in 1967, and went on to an accomplished pro career in which he represented the United States in Davis Cup for five years. Welby also taught the fundamentals of the game to Victor Amaya who eventually achieved a world men's singles ranking of number 14 and won the French Open men's doubles championship in 1980 (a time that many more of the top players played doubles than today). He did all of this without recruiting a single player - he just worked with the children of club members. Furthermore, for most of that time the club had only four courts and the kids had to share court time with not only adult members but also hotel guests. Welby's players had all-court games and smooth clean strokes. Arthur Ashe, in his book “ Off the Court ”, wrote: “f I had to sent my kid to somebody to learn from scratch, I would send him or her to Welby Van Horn. He has the best track record.”
Welby had (and has) a very definite system of teaching. It is founded on the belief that there are four fundamentals to the game and that they should be taught in a particular order. The four elements, in order, are:1) balance, 2) grips, 3) strokes and 4) strategy. The reason for this order is best explained by taking the four elements in reverse order. Strategy is useful only if you can control the ball. You control the ball through proper strokes, so eliminate strategy as the first element to learn. Proper strokes are dependent upon correct grips, so eliminate strokes as the first fundamental. But proper strokes are also based on good balance ( i.e. , you can not control the racquet if you do not have control of your body through proper balance), and as good balance can be learned and practiced without a racquet, balance becomes the first fundamental to learn
