‘Sinner only trained tennis twice a week until he moved with 13 to Piatti’ his coach Hebi Mayr

Rovesciarete

Rovesciarete

Hall of Fame
Social media is of course full of disinformation, more so about the Nr.1 player in the world, so that I just wanted to post some basic sources:

Heribert Mayr torna poi sulla decisione di Jannik di lasciare lo sci per il tennis. “Aveva 12 anni, di scii era campione italiano e si allenava tutti i giorni. A tennis certo era forte, ma per lui quello era ancora un hobby da due volte a settimana“. Sul perché Sinner abbia scelto così, Mayr non ha conferme dirette ma condivide una sua idea: “Nello sci iniziava ad accusare il colpo fisicamente e non vinceva più. E Jannik è uno che ha sempre voluto vincere, non accettava di perdere nemmeno contro di me. Era avanti 5-2 al tie-break e poi lo superavo: non le dico i pianti di rabbia
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Despite that very limited amount of tennis he won a great deal at the national level - while being twice a national ski champion. I think it underscores the value of rare talent, quality coaching and practising multiple sports, best if involving a lot of movement.


So surprising little tennis from 7-8 to 13, as already reported but not quite present. People can have their own opinions but they are not entitled to have their own facts.
 
13 is not too late at all. He was playing 2 times a week till then and was competitive skier.

I think this is the story going forward , very tragic.
 
In reality, Sinner has always stated that he chose tennis for 2 specific reasons;

1) In ski racing you make a mistake and you no longer have a chance to fix it, while in tennis which is a game of errors based on who makes the least mistakes the exact opposite is true.

2) In skiing you don't have instant references during the race, therefore you don't know if you're going faster or slower than your opponents, so you don't always instantly understand what tactic to adopt. In tennis, however, you always have your finger on the pulse of the situation and you can determine your destiny.
 
Winner Sinner said:
In reality, Sinner has always stated that he chose tennis for 2 specific reasons;

1) In ski racing you make a mistake and you no longer have a chance to fix it, while in tennis which is a game of errors based on who makes the least mistakes the exact opposite is true.

2) In skiing you don't have instant references during the race, therefore you don't know if you're going faster or slower than your opponents, so you don't always instantly understand what tactic to adopt. In tennis, however, you always have your finger on the pulse of the situation and you can determine your destiny.
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The first point is definitely correct, and I can understand why athletes might prefer one situation over the other, depending on their personalities.

The second point is attributable to the fact that tennis is a game sport, while skiing is a measurement sport. It's virtually always true that a competitor has more control over the outcome in a game sport than in a measurement sport, since it's almost always possible to influence the opponent's performance directly, as well as to adjust one's own performance. Racing can be a game sport if everyone is out there at the same time and the objective is to be first across the line, regardless of times, but Alpine ski racing is a measurement sport. All you do is say, "Here's hoping for a great run," and then check the clock at the end.
 
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Winner Sinner said:
In reality, Sinner has always stated that he chose tennis for 2 specific reasons;

1) In ski racing you make a mistake and you no longer have a chance to fix it, while in tennis which is a game of errors based on who makes the least mistakes the exact opposite is true.

2) In skiing you don't have instant references during the race, therefore you don't know if you're going faster or slower than your opponents, so you don't always instantly understand what tactic to adopt. In tennis, however, you always have your finger on the pulse of the situation and you can determine your destiny.
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Main reason is that he was scared of descents, and i get It, It can be very dangerous.
 
nolefam_2024 said:
13 is not too late at all. He was playing 2 times a week till then and was competitive skier.

I think this is the story going forward , very tragic.
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Not that I believe any of this for any athlete really when they’re trying to create that hagiography, but 13 in tennis might as well be 100 years old.
 
ghostofMecir said:
Not that I believe any of this for any athlete really when they’re trying to create that hagiography, but 13 in tennis might as well be 100 years old.
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He was playing regularly. It's not like he had racket in his hand at 13 for first time. He is playing since 4/5 years old.

So 13 is not late at all.
 
Guys, I'm reporting the statements on the subject that Sinner released in the usual special that Sky Sport Italia has been doing since 2022, that is, every year towards the end of the season he takes stock of his season through an interview. And in one of these specials he said precisely the reasons why he preferred tennis, reasons which I have already listed before.
 
Winner Sinner said:
Guys, I'm reporting the statements on the subject that Sinner released in the usual special that Sky Sport Italia has been doing since 2022, that is, every year towards the end of the season he takes stock of his season through an interview. And in one of these specials he said precisely the reasons why he preferred tennis, reasons which I have already listed before.
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This is correct but Huebi also mentioned before that as a light small boy he was at a disadvantage in skiing competition. In short, the flatter and more direct the course the more you lose as a lightweight. It is a smalI world out in those valleys and the villages/communities have often local clubs with various sections.

Sinner has so far shown a distinct unwillingness to blame balls, court speeds, referees, ATP calendars, the crowds and so forth which culturally comes across as poor whining just as talking about (big) money makes you look like an ***. So I don’t expect him to talk much about certain specific aspects of why he left skiing.

Tennis is a much safer sport which takes a different sort of guts and for somebody willing to work very hard, learning fast getting chance after chance must be quite thrilling. I personally also enjoy the iterative element of tennis, in skiing the greatest can tasted bitter defeat in a split-second.
 
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Rovesciarete said:
This is correct but Huebi also mentioned before that as a light small boy he was at a disadvantage in skiing competition. In short, the flatter and more direct the course the more you lose as a lightweight. It is a smalI world out in those valleys and the villages/communities have often local clubs with various sections.

Sinner has so far shown a distinct unwillingness to blame balls, court speeds, referees, ATP calendars, the crowds and so forth which culturally comes across as poor whining just as talking about (big) money makes you look like an ***. So I don’t expect him to talk much about certain specific aspects of why he left skiing.

Tennis is a much safer sport which takes a different sort of guts and for somebody willing to work very hard, learning fast getting chance after chance must be quite thrilling. I personally also enjoy the iterative element of tennis, in skiing the greatest can tasted bitter defeat in a split-second.
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But are we sure that Sinner left skiing because when he moved up in category he was no longer able to excel?
I ask since from what I know at 12 he became Italian u12 champion in the giant slalom. Furthermore, I don't know where you found those words from his first coach, in the video you refer to he talks about his skiing past but makes no reference to the fact that he left tennis because he was no longer able to excel in skiing.
 
Winner Sinner said:
But are we sure that Sinner left skiing because when he moved up in category he was no longer able to excel?
I ask since from what I know at 12 he became Italian u12 champion in the giant slalom. Furthermore, I don't know where you found those words from his first coach, in the video you refer to he talks about his skiing past but makes no reference to the fact that he left tennis because he was no longer able to excel in skiing.
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Here an older, German source. That others became bigger faster then fits nicely with his late growth spurt from 16-18.

One must be very careful as skiing coach in those years as basic technical skill gets often dominated by sheer physical progress. In tennis we witness sometimes something similar, with some guys winning a lot as youngsters but getting overtaken later.

Ironically after being likely too Sinner is now a bit on the tall side for certain slope and course properties.
 
Being a national ski champion is impressive, albeit juniors, but by 12 it would be clear he wasn't the right body shape to take the adult level punishment. Skiers are brick-outhouses of people.
 
What drives me slightly spare about the "Sinner only started playing tennis at 13" myth is I bet by the time he hit the tour he'd spent more hours on a tennis court practicing than Andy Murray, who only went off to an academy to play tennis on a daily basis aged 15 (https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis/the-making-of-andy-murray-1883590.html).

However, no-one ever claimed Murray was a late starter because his Mum had him gaining competitive tournament experience from a young age so the wider tennis world knew about him well before he turned pro and that's the thing that was unusual about Sinner. Sinner didn't engage with the junior tour and just went straight in to playing senior events once he was old/good enough, presumably meaning that there was little-to-no word on the grapevine about this talented kid from the northern reaches of Italy. Instead he just suddenly appeared 'fully' formed and I assume it's for this reason that we get the stories of him starting tennis late.

One does not get accepted into the Piatti academy at 13 because they fancy taking up tennis. It's a far more seductive story for a journalist to write an apotheotic tale than deal with the rather more mundane truth.
 
Wurm said:
What drives me slightly spare about the "Sinner only started playing tennis at 13" myth is I bet by the time he hit the tour he'd spent more hours on a tennis court practicing than Andy Murray, who only went off to an academy to play tennis on a daily basis aged 15 (https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis/the-making-of-andy-murray-1883590.html).

However, no-one ever claimed Murray was a late starter because his Mum had him gaining competitive tournament experience from a young age so the wider tennis world knew about him well before he turned pro and that's the thing that was unusual about Sinner. Sinner didn't engage with the junior tour and just went straight in to playing senior events once he was old/good enough, presumably meaning that there was little-to-no word on the grapevine about this talented kid from the northern reaches of Italy. Instead he just suddenly appeared 'fully' formed and I assume it's for this reason that we get the stories of him starting tennis late.

One does not get accepted into the Piatti academy at 13 because they fancy taking up tennis. It's a far more seductive story for a journalist to write an apotheotic tale than deal with the rather more mundane truth.
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As an Italian I can tell you that I heard much more about Nardi and Musetti than about Sinner despite the South Tyrolean being a bigger player than both. Piatti management simply tends to hide young talents from the moment in which, precisely by "corporate" choice, they prefer to have young people do their apprenticeship in the various minor professional circuits rather than in the youth categories.

I recently listened to an interview with Volpini, one of the masters of the Piatti school, and he explained that as soon as they realize that one of their young players can excel in a certain youth category they immediately make him jump up the category to compete with players who at that moment they have a higher level of play. This is their philosophy, to make them improve by accepting defeat without sitting on their laurels.

And this is what happened to the young Sinner where essentially, except for sporadic appearances, he bypassed the junior category to compete at future and subsequently challenger level. For this reason, in the eyes of enthusiasts, before the famous CH of Bergamo won, Nardi and especially Musetti were better known than a Sinner.
 
Perhaps young skiers growing up, have an instinctive tennis advantage, because they were taught
how to transform their friend's old junior sized racquets into perfect snowshoes? Or maybe not.
 
safin2hbh said:
2 times a week is a lot if it's like 6 hours at a time
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A ten year old going to a normal school and to tennis twice a week in the afternoon won't have anything like that. Usually they have one-hour blocks, two are not unrealistic for a great talent. Quality before quantity, a surprising amount of strong tennis players have come from that area of maybe 80000-90000 souls.

Lots of leg work, coordination and concentration in skiing. Less so in football but still great to develop a lot of skills. Social dynamic is very important and it didn't surprise me that he took that Italian Davis Cup team on his shoulder but worked well together with captain.
 
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