Donald Young - Former Tennis Prodigy Young Is Getting Old

[Dilettante]

I think training a future successful pro is slighty different to training successful kid/junior level players.

You can teach a kid how to win versus other kids, but many of those techniques won't apply at pro level. Maybe they need to teach kid techniques that are harder/slower to learn and that provide less kids level success, BUT better preparation for the future.

It happens in many sports: some people train kids for beating other kids. Some other train kids to win in the future no matter if they don't win as much as kids.

I mean: today, having been a junior #1 is totally useless to Donald Young. Beating all the kids doesn't mean you'll beat the pros, because it doesn't take the same.

 

[SoCal10s]

Wholeheartedly agree. The best player that the USTA can claim has been Tood Martin. Examples of Americans who succeeded despite the USTA ignoring them during their youth:

1. Pete Sampras -- the best example -- the USTA thought he was garbage until he won the 1990 US Open -- that was part of the reason he was so reluctant to play in Davis Cup during much of his prime
2. Venus and Serena -- parents chose not to play them in juniors (smart move, b/c playing against each other was more competition anyway) and have a semblance of a normal life
3. Michael Chang
4. Andre Agassi

thanks for sharing: now to think of it Todd Martin plays like a USTA player haha, and USTA still haven't learned jack crap from all this? they are still giving a lot of attention to kids who IMO will have no chance in the pros..at least Todd Martin is a tall 6'4+ some of those kids they're training now are never going to reach 5'11".. and most with no real weapons ...

 

[iscottius]

thanks for sharing: now to think of it Todd Martin plays like a USTA player haha, and USTA still haven't learned jack crap from all this? they are still giving a lot of attention to kids who IMO will have no chance in the pros..at least Todd Martin is a tall 6'4+ some of those kids they're training now are never going to reach 5'11".. and most with no real weapons ...

there is too much emphasis on height. donald young is almost 6 feet tall, he serves over 120 mph. DY and Agassi are the same height, he did pretty well huh. Young has weapons, have you guys ever seen him play?

he can hit big groundies on both sides and serves at least tour average mph, and his movement and athletecism are his biggest weapons. He needs his game to mature, I also think he plays too defensive because of his speed.

it has been stated in this thread a lot, he needs coaching and some strength training. he is still a very good prospect.

 

[goober]

There has been too much pressure put on him. Look at what happened to Michelle Wie or even Ty Tryon....two of the most talented golf prodigys other than Tiger Woods. The hype got to them and they lost confidence competing against players 10 times better than them at too early of an age. Thats what happened to D. Young. He could have been the next federer, maybe.

Donald Young comparisons to Michelle Wie are not valid

Wie accomplishments:

1. Her current world ranking= 21 playing part time and going to school full time at Stanford. Easily will be top 5 when she graduates and goes at golf full time. Young has cracked the top 100 and slipped back down.

2. MVP of the 2009 Solheim Cup. Was top American golfer and went undefeated against Europe's top golfers. Closest thing in tennis would be if Young were Davis Cup hero in the Davis Cup finals.

3. Six top 5 finishes in majors (equivalent of tennis slams). Best DY finish =3rd round and that was after a 2nd round walkover.

She may never compete successfully against men, but right now she is one of the top female golfers in the US. Remember she is only 19 years old. Tiger did not win a PGA title until he was 20. I am not saying she is going to be better. But she is far from burned out or a bust. Not even close.

 

[BoomerangX]

Years ago he defeated Sam Querry in a big tournament (I forget which). Now Querry is in the top 25 and Young.. where?

I thought he would be able to break through by now but I see no chance of that anymore.

 

[ubermeyer]

If DY is very very lucky, he can be a journeyman at best. There's nothing special about his game.

what the heck is a journeyman? don't use that stupid word.

 

[goober]

what the heck is a journeyman? don't use that stupid word.

Definition:

1. somebody with ordinary competence: a competent and reliable but unexceptional performer or exponent of something

Why is it a stupid word? It is a word in the English language and commonly used in this context.

 

[ubermeyer]

Why is it a stupid word? It is a word in the English language and commonly used in this context.

are you saying that being ranked in the top 100 is unexceptional and ordinary? Heck, I would say being ranked anywhere in the top 2000 for a woman or man is talented.

 

[Cindysphinx]

are you saying that being ranked in the top 100 is unexceptional and ordinary? Heck, I would say being ranked anywhere in the top 2000 for a woman or man is talented.

Journeyman = "any experienced, competent but routine worker or performer"

Being a journeyman does not mean you have no talent. It just means you are not at the top.

 

[goober]

are you saying that being ranked in the top 100 is unexceptional and ordinary? Heck, I would say being ranked anywhere in the top 2000 for a woman or man is talented.

No it means you don't understand the meaning of the word and how it is used in this context. Journeyman is commonly used in reference to tennis pros that are ranked in the 100-300s that play on the tour but never win at the top levels. This is the accepted definition among tennis commentators, pros and fans. Obviously in absolute sense anybody that is on the ATP tour is talented in tennis, but that has no relevance to use of the word. If you don't understand this, lashing out and calling something stupid only shows your ignorance.

 

[raiden031]

Years ago he defeated Sam Querry in a big tournament (I forget which). Now Querry is in the top 25 and Young.. where?

I thought he would be able to break through by now but I see no chance of that anymore.

You're probably thinking of Kalamazoo in 2005. They had a program on TTC about that event which I watched recently. Its amazing how things turned out for Querrey verse Young.

http://ustaboys.com/draws.html?c=draws&m=show&tyear=2005&eventtype=2&drawtype=0&round=4&match=0