Wanted Crazy Tennis Parents!

[TennisCoachFLA]

well I'll agree with 2 out of 3""obsessed dad AND supernatural work ethic.""
it's all about hard work.. my dear .. Tiger has said that he didn't miss a day of practice until he was 20 something.. even in rain he was out there... how many of those Tiger clones are willing to put that kind of sacrifice.. It has to really burn inside the heart and gut to do it..
IMO,, two WORDS that killed more want-a-be than anything.. TALENT.. and EXPECTATIONS... when players hear and start to believe how much TALENT they have ect.,ect.. they're finished, if they don't work hard.. when players feel the pressures of EXPECTATIONS put upon them.. they are doomed if they don't keep working harder to fill those expectations ...

I agree, labeled as talented has killed many a player by making them lazy.

I am talking only about the Tiger example though. There are other kids putting in the work but not one is close to Tigers level. In Florida we have had golf prodigy after golf prodigy. I know some of these kids have worked every day for years and years. Just like many, many Indiana school boys, with super work ethic, have practiced just as hard as Larry Bird did. There are no harder and more dedicated workers and basketball players than Indiana school boys. A few have had some college success....but not one top NBA player.

In 25 years not one of these hard workers has approached Larry Bird's level. Not one golf kid has approached Tiger. Thats pretty much all the evidence we have to prove this point one way or another. Common sense and our own observations tell us that others have worked just as hard without the results.

Like I said....it has to be hard work AND special talent that almost no one else has. No other explanation adds up.

 

[SoCal10s]

I agree, labeled as talented has killed many a player by making them lazy.

I am talking only about the Tiger example though. There are other kids putting in the work but not one is close to Tigers level. In Florida we have had golf prodigy after golf prodigy. I know some of these kids have worked every day for years and years. Just like many, many Indiana school boys, with super work ethic, have practiced just as hard as Larry Bird did. There are no harder and more dedicated workers and basketball players than Indiana school boys. A few have had some college success....but not one top NBA player.

In 25 years not one of these hard workers has approached Larry Bird's level. Not one golf kid has approached Tiger. Thats pretty much all the evidence we have to prove this point one way or another. Common sense and our own observations tell us that others have worked just as hard without the results.

Like I said....it has to be hard work AND special talent that almost no one else has. No other explanation adds up.

let me say your example of Larry Bird and Tiger are proving my point.. Larry Bird is not a talented gifted athlete compared to all those NBA players,he is a winner because he uses his head better, at the right times,than the others.. same as Tiger.. he is not the longest hitting,nor the most accurate ,or the best putter but the sum of all the above and his intuitiveness give him those added edge over others.. if you really know golf,you'll know what I'm talking about.. he's a golf genius,because he has studied the game from all facets ... I've been up close,and inside the ropes with Tiger on a few occasions in a golf tournament,and I can tell you,this guy wins with his brain and knowledge... I doubt very much if all those FL golf wannabes ever put in the amount of studies that Tiger did and still does about the game of golf.. that's not including those hours of hitting the ball and learning how to hit a better ball,which everyone else does... same with Jack N.. I remember he once said on an interview after sinking a putt,in skins game,he said"" I remembered I had this similar putt 3 years ago and I read it the wrong way and I missed it"" -- here's a guy who plays countless amount of golf, almost everyday and over how many different golf courses,how can he remember something like that 3 years past? it just takes a kind of genius,not everyone has.. Tiger is the same way.. it's their great desires to do the stuff they love, so the learning to them is more clear to them than others..

 

[Rory G]

I agree, labeled as talented has killed many a player by making them lazy.

I am talking only about the Tiger example though. There are other kids putting in the work but not one is close to Tigers level. In Florida we have had golf prodigy after golf prodigy. I know some of these kids have worked every day for years and years. Just like many, many Indiana school boys, with super work ethic, have practiced just as hard as Larry Bird did. There are no harder and more dedicated workers and basketball players than Indiana school boys. A few have had some college success....but not one top NBA player.

In 25 years not one of these hard workers has approached Larry Bird's level. Not one golf kid has approached Tiger. Thats pretty much all the evidence we have to prove this point one way or another. Common sense and our own observations tell us that others have worked just as hard without the results.

Like I said....it has to be hard work AND special talent that almost no one else has. No other explanation adds up.

This is all very true; good post. Although some would wish it were not - many great athletes were born with the inherent physical and mental qualities that made it soooo much easier to excel at what they do. Your point is well taken. There have been thousands of kids in golf & tennis (and all sports) that have "put in the time" and been coached since they were in the crib by obsessed parents yet there has not been another Tiger Woods and Indiana has not produced any more Larry Birds. It has been said that Bird had a unique mental quality of seeing a play develop way before-hand and planning the play 3-4 passes "ahead". You can't teach that - although many try to.

IMO you can force a child at age 4 or 5 to give up everything, plan their "future" and obsess with training in a particular sport...........BUT the success of that sad venture is anything but guaranteed due to natural abilities that the child might never exhibit.

 

[goober]

Its not relevant!!! He keeps saying that our best athletes are in other sports and when one of those other sports (BASKETBALL)shows up to the grand stage the Olympics with our best so-called athletes and we lose to countries that are not focused on those sports,"hello"

What happened is your argument dies right at the Olympics with Basketball!!

These other counties schooled our very best or as Tennisflorida would say the inner-city athlete got spanked by counties that are not as in to basketball as us.

You should probably not comment on something you obviously know nothing about.

Do you disagree that the US best athletes are not going into tennis? Is that even debatable?

What does Olympic basketball in 2004 have to do with anything that this thread is about? Basketball is a very popular sport worldwide, probably second most popular sort behind soccer. The only lesson learned in 2004 is that the US no longer can just show up with a team of 2nd tier NBA allstar players (the 2004 was not even close to sending the best players), with no practice, no exposure to international rules and expect to win like they did previously. They changed their approach and easily won the gold medal in 2008. But what does this have to do with anything in regards to this thread? Whether or not the US is winning the gold medal in basketball does not change the fact the best athletes in the US are in football, basketball and baseball.

 

[goober]

I agree, labeled as talented has killed many a player by making them lazy.

I am talking only about the Tiger example though. There are other kids putting in the work but not one is close to Tigers level. In Florida we have had golf prodigy after golf prodigy. I know some of these kids have worked every day for years and years. Just like many, many Indiana school boys, with super work ethic, have practiced just as hard as Larry Bird did. There are no harder and more dedicated workers and basketball players than Indiana school boys. A few have had some college success....but not one top NBA player.
.

Not that I disagree with your overall point but, there have been some great NBA players that have come out of the state of Indiana besides Larry Bird.

George McGinnis- 6 time all star, one year co MVP with Dr. J

Brad Miller- 2 time all star

Shawn Kemp- 6 time all star

Glenn Robinson- 2 time all star, All rookie team.

I would consider these guys were top level NBA players at one point.

Then there are a ton of Indiana players that were starters on their teams or played significant roles on their team, but they are obviously too many to mention.

 

[TennisCoachFLA]

let me say your example of Larry Bird and Tiger are proving my point.. Larry Bird is not a talented gifted athlete compared to all those NBA players,he is a winner because he uses his head better, at the right times,than the others.. same as Tiger.. he is not the longest hitting,nor the most accurate ,or the best putter but the sum of all the above and his intuitiveness give him those added edge over others.. if you really know golf,you'll know what I'm talking about.. he's a golf genius,because he has studied the game from all facets ... I've been up close,and inside the ropes with Tiger on a few occasions in a golf tournament,and I can tell you,this guy wins with his brain and knowledge... I doubt very much if all those FL golf wannabes ever put in the amount of studies that Tiger did and still does about the game of golf.. that's not including those hours of hitting the ball and learning how to hit a better ball,which everyone else does... same with Jack N.. I remember he once said on an interview after sinking a putt,in skins game,he said"" I remembered I had this similar putt 3 years ago and I read it the wrong way and I missed it"" -- here's a guy who plays countless amount of golf, almost everyday and over how many different golf courses,how can he remember something like that 3 years past? it just takes a kind of genius,not everyone has.. Tiger is the same way.. it's their great desires to do the stuff they love, so the learning to them is more clear to them than others..

Just so I understand what you are saying.

Are you saying that you could take any baby boy and if his dad and later himself did everything exactly the same as Tiger....and his love for the game was the same as Tiger's....and he studied golf as much as Tiger has, than he could be just as good as Tiger?

Tiger has the muscle fibers to lift weight and bench press 300 lbs. So if another boy grows to 5'5" and can't gain any weight past 130 lbs.....he still could work hard and study golf and develop intuition and be just as good as Tiger? Any golfer who develope the same level of golf genious as Tiger, could be as good, even if he was 6'8" or 5'4'?

Are you also saying that every single person is born with identical physical potential in sports...and the only difference is the great players just work and study the game harder? And that elite athletes have no genetic physical advantages, they just develop their mental powers better??

If that is your theory, I must say I have never heard that theory before.

 

[BradBaughman]

Just so I understand what you are saying.

Are you saying that you could take any baby boy and if his dad and later himself did everything exactly the same as Tiger....and his love for the game was the same as Tiger's....and he studied golf as much as Tiger has, than he could be just as good as Tiger?

Tiger has the muscle fibers to lift weight and bench press 300 lbs. So if another boy grows to 5'5" and can't gain any weight past 130 lbs.....he still could work hard and study golf and develop intuition and be just as good as Tiger? Any golfer who develope the same level of golf genious as Tiger, could be as good, even if he was 6'8" or 5'4'?

Are you also saying that every single person is born with identical physical potential in sports...and the only difference is the great players just work and study the game harder? And that elite athletes have no genetic physical advantages, they just develop their mental powers better??

If that is your theory, I must say I have never heard that theory before.

Can anyone beat Nadal on clay??

 

[TennisCoachFLA]

Not that I disagree with your overall point but, there have been some great NBA players that have come out of the state of Indiana besides Larry Bird.

George McGinnis- 6 time all star, one year co MVP with Dr. J

Brad Miller- 2 time all star

Shawn Kemp- 6 time all star

Glenn Robinson- 2 time all star, All rookie team.

I would consider these guys were top level NBA players at one point.

Then there are a ton of Indiana players that were starters on their teams or played significant roles on their team, but they are obviously too many to mention.

Good point, I should have phased it better, Indiana has put out many pros.

But my point with Bird is that he has to have some genetic advantage. Obviously not jumping high, etc.

But maybe his eyesight is superior...Ted Williams had scary great eyesight. Maybe Bird's eyes focusing ability was better. Something.

I find it hard to believe that each baby could be Larry Bird if their mental abilities and obsession with basketball were developed the same as Bird's were. There has to be a genetic physical advantage that the hard work just magnifies enormously.

 

[TennisCoachFLA]

Can anyone beat Nadal on clay??

Apparently only lower ranked Swedish guys.....when Nadal's tendinitis flares up!

 

[SoCal10s]

Just so I understand what you are saying.

Are you saying that you could take any baby boy and if his dad and later himself did everything exactly the same as Tiger....and his love for the game was the same as Tiger's....and he studied golf as much as Tiger has, than he could be just as good as Tiger?

Tiger has the muscle fibers to lift weight and bench press 300 lbs. So if another boy grows to 5'5" and can't gain any weight past 130 lbs.....he still could work hard and study golf and develop intuition and be just as good as Tiger? Any golfer who develope the same level of golf genious as Tiger, could be as good, even if he was 6'8" or 5'4'?

Are you also saying that every single person is born with identical physical potential in sports...and the only difference is the great players just work and study the game harder? And that elite athletes have no genetic physical advantages, they just develop their mental powers better??

If that is your theory, I must say I have never heard that theory before.

let's just say,even Einstein would not be Einstein,if he wasn't born Einstein.. I'm pretty sure even with all the hard work,Larry Bird put into his basketball ,he would not have been the great Larry Bird if he wasn't over 6ft tall.. so if you really want to argue just to argue,I'll let you win the argument ..

 

[BradBaughman]

let's just say,even Einstein would not be Einstein,if he wasn't born Einstein.. I'm pretty sure even with all the hard work,Larry Bird put into his basketball ,he would not have been the great Larry Bird if he wasn't over 6ft tall.. so if you really want to argue just to argue,I'll let you win the argument ..

He says our best athletes are from the inner-city "aka" black athlete , they play basketball .football ,baseball , would love to see the "Fridge" play tennis or lets say Jason Smith coming out of college or how about the " Shaq"how are these for athletes transferring over to tennis ,how about Barry Bonds would he make a great tennis player??

He brings up basketball and Kobe, LeBron but when i bring up our Dream team getting their butts handed to them at the Olympics 04 by counties that basketball is not even their main sport and as one thread said:

""And the other countries are definitely becoming more "in" to basketball during recent years. The leagues over there are becoming huge."" .

He has and excuse for why a bunch of less athletic guys beat our superior ones at a sport they don't focus on i guess theres a reveres here imagine these guys getting serious about basketball !!!

 

[Mulligan]

He says our best athletes are from the inner-city "aka" black athlete , they play basketball .football ,baseball , would love to see the "Fridge" play tennis or lets say Jason Smith coming out of college or how about the " Shaq"how are these for athletes transferring over to tennis ,how about Barry Bonds would he make a great tennis player??

He brings up basketball and Kobe, LeBron but when i bring up our Dream team getting their butts handed to them at the Olympics 04 by counties that basketball is not even their main sport and as one thread said:

""And the other countries are definitely becoming more "in" to basketball during recent years. The leagues over there are becoming huge."" .

He has and excuse for why a bunch of less athletic guys beat our superior ones at a sport they don't focus on i guess theres a reveres here imagine these guys getting serious about basketball !!!

What thread are you reading, lol?? You're completely disconnected to the point that virtually everyone is making in this thread- the other posters' examples have no relevance (much to your dismay?) to "black v white" issues; rather they are pointing to "great athletes v not so great athletes". The fact whether you want to believe it or not is that the best athletes in this country are not choosing tennis. Be it inner-city kids or suburban Indiana kids. Team sports...especially with regard to the lame 2004 Olympic example....are completely irrelevent. Man, I have been reading this thread and another one and can't believe that you are still trying to make your argument.

 

[Craig Carter]

This is all very true; good post. Although some would wish it were not - many great athletes were born with the inherent physical and mental qualities that made it soooo much easier to excel at what they do. Your point is well taken. There have been thousands of kids in golf & tennis (and all sports) that have "put in the time" and been coached since they were in the crib by obsessed parents yet there has not been another Tiger Woods and Indiana has not produced any more Larry Birds. It has been said that Bird had a unique mental quality of seeing a play develop way before-hand and planning the play 3-4 passes "ahead". You can't teach that - although many try to.

IMO you can force a child at age 4 or 5 to give up everything, plan their "future" and obsess with training in a particular sport...........BUT the success of that sad venture is anything but guaranteed due to natural abilities that the child might never exhibit.

I'm with you on this one. This has nothing to do with race or with Olympic basketball (of all things.:shock...it's about how do we get the best athletes interested in playing tennis in the USA. If we believe that some crop of 6 year old kids are going to be "magically transformed" in to tennis stars by a combination of focus, discipline, and coaching then we will be disappointed to no end. The best athletes need to be interested in the sport or it will always be second rate.

 

[SoCal10s]

He says our best athletes are from the inner-city "aka" black athlete , they play basketball .football ,baseball , would love to see the "Fridge" play tennis or lets say Jason Smith coming out of college or how about the " Shaq"how are these for athletes transferring over to tennis ,how about Barry Bonds would he make a great tennis player??

He brings up basketball and Kobe, LeBron but when i bring up our Dream team getting their butts handed to them at the Olympics 04 by counties that basketball is not even their main sport and as one thread said:

""And the other countries are definitely becoming more "in" to basketball during recent years. The leagues over there are becoming huge."" .

He has and excuse for why a bunch of less athletic guys beat our superior ones at a sport they don't focus on i guess theres a reveres here imagine these guys getting serious about basketball !!!

well maybe he's right,all the physical gifted athletes are the (aka) inner city black guys.. that's is why there are no tennis gifted athletes,well except 1, Donald Young,and look where he is headed..
the problem with tennis is that in this sport you need to be more than a physical gifted athlete.. tennis takes a lot of discipline and learned skills(no one teaches for free) and imagination and problem solving ,ect,ect,not to mention a certain type of physical body that can last 3-5 hours on a hot day in the hot sun without cramping up..

I can't see those NBA guys lasting in the daytime sun for a 5 hours in a 5 setter at almost continuous moving as so many has done.. all these factors are what makes tennis so unique compared to all the other sports...

I mean a marathon runner will run only a few marathons a year,and it lasts only 3 hours + ,but a clay court or hard court tennis grand slam,a player can have a 4+ hour match one day and has to do it again within a day's rest,and sometimes not even a day's rest..(as in the bad scheduling in the Aussie open this year)..

if I was a young gifted athlete and they told me to pick a sport and they tell me how much a baseball player can earn or basketball or golf or soccer(in Europe) and they told me what it takes to get there and the playing venue , there is no way I'm gonna choose tennis... tennis is just too hard to be great in and the rewards are not proportional to the other sports..

 

[WChiang]

well maybe he's right,all the physical gifted athletes are the (aka) inner city black guys.. that's is why there are no tennis gifted athletes,well except 1, Donald Young,and look where he is headed.. ......I can't see those NBA guys lasting in the daytime sun for a 5 hours in a 5 setter at almost continuous moving as so many has done.. all these factors are what makes tennis so unique compared to all the other sports... .......

OK, I can't hold it in anymore. You and BradBaughman are living in a fantasy world. (Let me stop laughing first)... If you don't think that NBA players, hockey players, football players, etc. can "handle" a 5 set tennis match then I need some of that stuff you're smoking. I also love how you are both trying to make it into a "black guy" thing when nobody has made that the point. Yeah, Hines Ward, LT, Tom Brady, or Troy Polamalu would NEVER be able to play a "gruelling" tennis match (those "other sport" seasons are such a breaze, lol) but, hold the phone, the superior athletes such as David Nalbandian, Andy Murray, Djokavich, and Andy Roddick would blow away the fitness levels of the stars in other sports. What a joke.

 

[SoCal10s]

OK, I can't hold it in anymore. You and BradBaughman are living in a fantasy world. (Let me stop laughing first)... If you don't think that NBA players, hockey players, football players, etc. can "handle" a 5 set tennis match then I need some of that stuff you're smoking. I also love how you are both trying to make it into a "black guy" thing when nobody has made that the point. Yeah, Hines Ward, LT, Tom Brady, or Troy Polamalu would NEVER be able to play a "gruelling" tennis match (those "other sport" seasons are such a breaze, lol) but, hold the phone, the superior athletes such as David Nalbandian, Andy Murray, Djokavich, and Andy Roddick would blow away the fitness levels of the stars in other sports. What a joke.

no man,I'm not making into a black thing... I'm sure to say that an NBA athlete who is 6'+ and 225 + lbs. is not going to go too many rounds at a tennis grand slam where he may have to play multiple 4 hours matches in the sun.. maybe a guy like Steve Nash or a point guard like Parker or Chris Paul can do it but too many can last that long carrying their weight and size around on a tennis court..

you get back to me when the next time you've played 4-5 sets in a row of high level tennis,not too many long breaks and then do it again for 2-3 days.. tell me how your body feels after that.. NBA guys do their thing indoors,for what 2+ hours with subs and breaks and time outs with 4 other guys helping on the floor.. think about it...

 

[Tom C]

What do we mean by athlete? Do we mean speed? Strength? Hand-eye coordination? Discipline? Mental toughness? Was Agassi a great athlete? As great as Sampras? Is David Ferrer a great athlete? Simon? What about Tsonga? Is it a combination of things or is it just physical?

 

[TennisCoachFLA]

OK, I can't hold it in anymore. You and BradBaughman are living in a fantasy world. (Let me stop laughing first)... If you don't think that NBA players, hockey players, football players, etc. can "handle" a 5 set tennis match then I need some of that stuff you're smoking. I also love how you are both trying to make it into a "black guy" thing when nobody has made that the point. Yeah, Hines Ward, LT, Tom Brady, or Troy Polamalu would NEVER be able to play a "gruelling" tennis match (those "other sport" seasons are such a breaze, lol) but, hold the phone, the superior athletes such as David Nalbandian, Andy Murray, Djokavich, and Andy Roddick would blow away the fitness levels of the stars in other sports. What a joke.

I hear you....these discussions usually end in frustration with those 2 posters.

Donald Young is the example he pulls out. Donald is a nice guy, works pretty hard, a good athlete.

But no one will ever confuse his athletic ability for an elite NBA guard or MLB shortstop!!

 

[TennisCoachFLA]

no man,I'm not making into a black thing... I'm sure to say that an NBA athlete who is 6'+ and 225 + lbs. is not going to go too many rounds at a tennis grand slam where he may have to play multiple 4 hours matches in the sun.. maybe a guy like Steve Nash or a point guard like Parker or Chris Paul can do it but too many can last that long carrying their weight and size around on a tennis court..

you get back to me when the next time you've played 4-5 sets in a row of high level tennis,not too many long breaks and then do it again for 2-3 days.. tell me how your body feels after that.. NBA guys do their thing indoors,for what 2+ hours with subs and breaks and time outs with 4 other guys helping on the floor.. think about it...

Come on, that is a silly argument. Obviously an NBA player does not train for tennis situations. Why would they.

But if they choose tennis as kids and went through IMG...their hearts, etc. would be trained for elite tennis, not the NBA. They would do entirely different workouts their entire lives....maybe carry less weight, do different cardio. Obviously not every NBA great athlete could translate to tennis. That is why I limited the pool to point guards, shortstops, etc....guys who have a body type that might translate well.

 

[TennisCoachFLA]

What do we mean by athlete? Do we mean speed? Strength? Hand-eye coordination? Discipline? Mental toughness? Was Agassi a great athlete? As great as Sampras? Is David Ferrer a great athlete? Simon? What about Tsonga? Is it a combination of things or is it just physical?

We are not trying to define each component of an athlete I don't think.

We are merely saying that if tennis was our first sport, and most kids choose tennis before football, basketball and baseball, the pool of potential American elite tennis players would be much, much better.

Out of that vastly deeper pool, a much better chance of a Grand Slam champ emerging.

 

[BradBaughman]

OK, I can't hold it in anymore. You and BradBaughman are living in a fantasy world. (Let me stop laughing first)... If you don't think that NBA players, hockey players, football players, etc. can "handle" a 5 set tennis match then I need some of that stuff you're smoking. I also love how you are both trying to make it into a "black guy" thing when nobody has made that the point. Yeah, Hines Ward, LT, Tom Brady, or Troy Polamalu would NEVER be able to play a "gruelling" tennis match (those "other sport" seasons are such a breaze, lol) but, hold the phone, the superior athletes such as David Nalbandian, Andy Murray, Djokavich, and Andy Roddick would blow away the fitness levels of the stars in other sports. What a joke.

i Dont want it to be a black or white thing either but Tennisflorida always points to the inner-city is the "only place you find gifted athletes" and i highly disagree, there's a history here you may not be aware of ,im sorry for me not stating that ,

but getting on to it what does it take 7 out of 10 times it takes the right recipe of the parents, the right kid and some good coaching , the article states about the parents behind the players have driven them to greatness and i believe that is a lot of what it takes.

But my question to all how many of you have gone to a dictionary and looked up what the definition is for and athlete is ??

 

[BradBaughman]

Come on, that is a silly argument. Obviously an NBA player does not train for tennis situations. Why would they.

But if they choose tennis as kids and went through IMG...their hearts, etc. would be trained for elite tennis, not the NBA. They would do entirely different workouts their entire lives....maybe carry less weight, do different cardio. Obviously not every NBA great athlete could translate to tennis. That is why I limited the pool to point guards, shortstops, etc....guys who have a body type that might translate well.

tennis florida i dont think you with all your years of "elite coaching" that you even understand the size of the tennis court calls for a certain size of player to do well, its kinda funny how when you do the tale of the tape, the players or athletes who have done great measure between 6'0- 6'3 and the Ivo's have not, nor have the Rochus's , my expertise would say Kobe who i find a very educated guy and athletic would struggle at 6'8-6'9 what ever he is.

 

[sureshs]

a lot of people on this forum love to talk about "" most gifted young athletes"".. I don't see any.. babies aren't born to be athletes .. if you take Andre's and Steffi's kid and raised them as normal kids never introducing them to tennis,do you think those kids will be ""most gifted young athletes"" .. this article may be right on.. look at Tiger's dad,he's more demanding than a drill sargent and his mom was the tough one in the family... everyone says that Tiger is so gifted,I never bought that.. he was raised and brainwashed ,and disciplined to be Tiger since he was a baby.. it was his crazy dad and mom who gave all that to him.. but off course,he had to finish the job and keep doing what he was raised to do,but he already had the discipline instill in him since very young..

Hard work does not take anyone to the highest levels. Much is made of Agassi's dad or Sharapova's dad being poor immigrants, but Agassi was blessed with exceptional hand-eye coordination, and Sharapova is 6'2" or more. If she was 5'3", no one would be talking about her. Tiger too is exceptional - you can't play at that level without inherent talent. The opposite argument, that gifted children may not make it big, is not relevant. That is pretty obvious, IMO. It is only of interest who makes it, not who doesn't. There are thousands of motivated Mike Agassis and Yuri Sharapovs out there, but their children amount to nothing tenniswise. In fact, I myself know a Yuri from Russia whose daughter Maria plays tennis! It is a combination of nature and nurture, but at the top levels, genetics (nature) wins. It is like tens of thousands of students study physics very very hard, but they will not achieve anything like Einstein did.

 

[TennisCoachFLA]

tennis florida i dont think you with all your years of "elite coaching" that you even understand the size of the tennis court calls for a certain size of player to do well, its kinda funny how when you do the tale of the tape, the players or athletes who have done great measure between 6'0- 6'3 and the Ivo's have not, nor have the Rochus's , my expertise would say Kobe who i find a very educated guy and athletic would struggle at 6'8-6'9 what ever he is.

Brad....you posted a quote from me in your post where I said not every NBA elite athlete would translate to tennis, and I said I was limiting my pool to players with body types like "point guards and MLB shortstops".

Then you tell me I should know that a 6'9" NBA player could not play tennis.

That would be exactly what the quote you posted from me said!!

 

[TennisCoachFLA]

Hard work does not take anyone to the highest levels. Much is made of Agassi's dad or Sharapova's dad being poor immigrants, but Agassi was blessed with exceptional hand-eye coordination, and Sharapova is 6'2" or more. If she was 5'3", no one would be talking about her. Tiger too is exceptional - you can't play at that level without inherent talent. The opposite argument, that gifted children may not make it big, is not relevant. That is pretty obvious, IMO. It is only of interest who makes it, not who doesn't. There are thousands of motivated Mike Agassis and Yuri Sharapovs out there, but their children amount to nothing tenniswise. In fact, I myself know a Yuri from Russia whose daughter Maria plays tennis! It is a combination of nature and nurture, but at the top levels, genetics (nature) wins. It is like tens of thousands of students study physics very very hard, but they will not achieve anything like Einstein did.

Exactly....it is so ridiculous to say it is all hard work, mental work and nothing to do with talent.

The truly great players emerge when one of the .1% of people born with a special particular talent (Tiger) combine with opportunity that lends itself to that talent (Tiger's dad).

Sure there might have been 100 other people born out 1000000 that had Tiger's potential, but never played golf.

But to say Tiger did not start off with something super special is silly.

Like I said, studies showed Ted Williams had ridiculously great vision....vision that hardly anyone has....that physical advantage started him down the road to be Ted Williams. A person with average vision could never have been Ted Williams, no matter how smart or hard working he was.