Larry Stefanki

[ohplease]

This guy is just doing wonders with Gonzo. Put together with his work with Henman, Rios, Kafelnikov, and JMac and we're looking at a guy that could give Brad Gilbert's reputation (as opposed to Brad Gilbert) a serious run for its money.

His prior charges at least had something to work with between the ears prior to getting with Stefanki. Gonzo made Verdasco look like a card-carrying member of MENSA.

Gonzo still needs to get rid of the ballerina move to recover out of his backhand corner, but he still looks way, WAY better than he used to.

 

[Greg]

Gonzo is like a brand new player.

His backhand is so much more effective, and he appears fitter and his movement has definitely improved.

And I like the fact that he isn't going for mach speed shots at any given time.

 

[The Gorilla]

It's generally accepted he did a bad job with henman.

 

[Greg]

Henman weighs 10 pounds.

What can you do?

 

[alwaysatnet]

His brother Steve,who has a very good reputation working with top rate juniors, lives in my town and I know him socially a bit. He said Nick Bolitieri is a publicity hog and a phoney but I never really discussed other pros with him. He is a very underrated coach though. Definitely.

 

[hoosierbr]

It's generally accepted he did a bad job with henman.

I think it was Stefanki that encouraged Henman to take some pace off of his serve in order to get in a higher % of first serves which seemed like a good idea in theory but was a disaster in practice. Of course it didn't help that Henman had shoulder problems too.

 

[WhiteSox05CA]

I had no idea he was working with Gonzo. Well there you go!

 

[Wondertoy]

Gilbert is hyperbole. He did well with Agassi who was extremely talented, but he never taught Agassi to come in. He did poorly with Roddick, Conners is coaching him much better. Roddicks comes in much better under Conners than Gilbert and has a more well rounded imposing game now.

 

[Steve Huff]

Did you hear Pam Shriver get in her underhanded slap of Gilbert and Bolleteri when she was talking about Stefanki? I couldn't believe she said it. I'm getting to like Pam's comments more and more. She calls a spade a spade.

 

[The Gorilla]

verdasco should seriously think about employing this guy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

he'd be worth every penny!

 

[rommil]

I agree with the OP. I have seen Gonzo play at the Pilot Pen a couple of times and I would end up going somewhere and watching other matches because he was so inconsistent and was just spraying balls everywhere. He tried to crush every single ball. But now it is just a big difference. He's mixing it up a bit and there's more percentage in his shots. Credit to Gonzo as well for making the change.

 

[sypl]

Did you hear Pam Shriver get in her underhanded slap of Gilbert and Bolleteri when she was talking about Stefanki? I couldn't believe she said it. I'm getting to like Pam's comments more and more. She calls a spade a spade.

What exactly did she say?

 

[Grimjack]

Gilbert is hyperbole. He did well with Agassi who was extremely talented, but he never taught Agassi to come in. He did poorly with Roddick, Conners is coaching him much better. Roddicks comes in much better under Conners than Gilbert and has a more well rounded imposing game now.

The one minor chink in this theory being that under Gilbert, Roddick was a grand slam champion, whereas now he's reeling from a semifinal obliteration. You call this "doing poorly" under Gilbert?

The mental game is far more important at the pro level than the physical game, and Gilbert took Roddick as high as it was possible to go with his.

It's no surprise Pam Shriver disagrees. She had a storied career full of GS semifinal losses, and never could get over the hump. Mental toughness was utterly alien to her.

Not that any of that is a negative against Stefanki. But it's typical to see Gilbert's results shrugged off. He doesn't seem to do anything very well EXCEPT get results. But hey, at the top, that's enough.

 

[Shabazza]

Not that any of that is a negative against Stefanki. But it's typical to see Gilbert's results shrugged off. He doesn't seem to do anything very well EXCEPT get results. But hey, at the top, that's enough.

I don't like Gilbert for several reason, but his success speaks for itself. He's doing a pretty good job with Murray atm.

 

[Steve Huff]

She said that Stefanki was her kind of coach. He was excellent in his strategy, yet unassuming. He didn't go around touting how good he was "like some other coaches around now". She kind of went on a little about how "some other" coaches were publicity hounds (not quite those words), whereas Stefanki just did his job, was always supportive, but gave the player the credit.

 

[DTL]

Did you hear Pam Shriver get in her underhanded slap of Gilbert and Bolleteri when she was talking about Stefanki? I couldn't believe she said it. I'm getting to like Pam's comments more and more. She calls a spade a spade.

I think it was Carillo?

 

[VGP]

I think the coach-player relationship comes down to having a personality match.

BG may have a better reputation in the public eye, but I bet that amongst players, Larry Stefanki is a much more sought after coach.

I'd take Larry Stefanki, Tony Pickard, Tony Roche, Paul Annacone, and Peter Lundgren over Brad Gilbert and Nick Bolleteri any day.

 

[Steve Huff]

Was it Carillo? I thought it was Pam at the time. I though Carillo was doing the other match. You could be right though.