Why is Britain so bad at Tennis?
- Thread starter Hyde
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WYK
Hall of Fame
Funny you should say it, the UK have a boatload of US fast food shops now, and loads of copies or US-like places.
The fattening!
WYK
Hall of Fame
Are the breakfast pastries and breakfast rolls commonly eaten in the UK.for breakfast? I haven't been to England since 2017, but I never saw them.
Americans are also big on French toast (with syrup) for breakfast.
When I was on a forestry crew in the UK, some of the lads would eat that kinda stuff every day. But we burned a boatload of calories in a day.
I ate like a pig and lost weight. I am talking all the KFC we could eat and I lost weight.
If you aren't working such a job, a daily indulgence of breakfast rolls, full breakfasts, pasties, sausage rolls, etc will exit you out of this existence early.
I was being conservative when I quoted 300mg of cholesterol earlier. Most breakfast rolls or full British(or Irish) breakfasts are closer to 500mg.
Want two eggs? Make that 700mg cholesterol.
And we haven't even touched on porkie pies or kebabs or deep fried Snickers bars.
WYK
Hall of Fame
Now now - they did inject loads of genes into your people, willingly or otherwise, (just like here in Ireland).
WYK
Hall of Fame
It was a joke
But I think Ireland was more of a fling with our Norwegian brothers?
Nearly all of our ancient eastern forts are Scandinavian in origin. Some of our language have Scandi origins, and even our place names.
Dublin is Viking named.
michael valek
Hall of Fame
Yes Vikings yes etc etc but greggs sausage and bean melt is an abomination.
Martin J
Hall of Fame
To be honest, it's not that bad, lol
MichaelNadal
Bionic Poster
Yes it is lol
MichaelNadal
Bionic Poster
McGradey
Hall of Fame
You haven’t had it
michael valek
Hall of Fame
Answer: because of Greggs.
Mainad
Bionic Poster
Maybe the question should be turned on its head? I always wonder why small countries with little or no tennis tradition like Switzerland or Sweden suddenly produce a succession of multiple Grand Slam champions???
Last edited:
Sudacafan
Bionic Poster
That is so unfair.
Even more when you look at countries with failed hyperinflation economies like Argentina who have produced several top ten players and won 3 football World Cups.
Elite Tennis Barcelona
Rookie
What an interesting topic!! why the UK is so bad at tennis? why the one of the richest federations in the world not developing more top 100?
I have given many courses in the UK for the BTCA, I have spoken to many coaches, and many British players come to my academy. From my point of view, there are many factors why they don't have good players.
1- the teaching focuses too much on technique and not enough on the game.
2- they learn and practice in ideal situations, the player does not learn to adapt to the variables. The average British player collapses when circumstances are adverse or changing. When my players play against a British player, the strategy is to hit long, soft, and high, because it is very difficult for them to hit above shoulder level and it is very difficult for them to generate acceleration and that is because they were developed with balls that only teach them to hit at hip height.
3- they professionalize the kids too early. I have received in my academy children of 10 or 12 years old who are completely burnt out mentally.
4- parents get too involved (although this happens all over the world) I remember a case of a girl who came, and at the end of the campus I gave her mother my feedback... incredibly she was offended because I told her that her daughter needed to work on her coordination.
5- the competition system generates a lot of pressure on children and parents.
6- a few years ago I had a meeting with the LTA coach development people and I suggested the idea of focusing player development more on the game and less on technique. My words were: "It should be how you learn to play football in Brazil or Argentina, where nobody teaches and everybody learns".
She was a bit offended and her response was: we British are neither Brazilian nor Argentinian. I just wanted to compare 2 different views.
When a British player comes to my academy, he/she comes with a lot of technical information but with little or no tactical structure and that is because the system is mostly focused on technical development in ideal situations disconnected from the tactical necessity of the game.
I have given many courses in the UK for the BTCA, I have spoken to many coaches, and many British players come to my academy. From my point of view, there are many factors why they don't have good players.
1- the teaching focuses too much on technique and not enough on the game.
2- they learn and practice in ideal situations, the player does not learn to adapt to the variables. The average British player collapses when circumstances are adverse or changing. When my players play against a British player, the strategy is to hit long, soft, and high, because it is very difficult for them to hit above shoulder level and it is very difficult for them to generate acceleration and that is because they were developed with balls that only teach them to hit at hip height.
3- they professionalize the kids too early. I have received in my academy children of 10 or 12 years old who are completely burnt out mentally.
4- parents get too involved (although this happens all over the world) I remember a case of a girl who came, and at the end of the campus I gave her mother my feedback... incredibly she was offended because I told her that her daughter needed to work on her coordination.
5- the competition system generates a lot of pressure on children and parents.
6- a few years ago I had a meeting with the LTA coach development people and I suggested the idea of focusing player development more on the game and less on technique. My words were: "It should be how you learn to play football in Brazil or Argentina, where nobody teaches and everybody learns".
She was a bit offended and her response was: we British are neither Brazilian nor Argentinian. I just wanted to compare 2 different views.
When a British player comes to my academy, he/she comes with a lot of technical information but with little or no tactical structure and that is because the system is mostly focused on technical development in ideal situations disconnected from the tactical necessity of the game.
Mainad
Bionic Poster
That teacher you mentioned is obviously part of the problem. You could have pinned her down by asking why Brazilians and Argentinians do so much better than us instead of just pompously dismissing them as "different".
WYK
Hall of Fame
As someone from outside of the UK(and Ireland, really), you learn to either leave it alone, or you jump right into a fight. I have never met anyone in the UK who has welcomed the advice of a 'foreigner'
And here, 'UK' is code for Englishman. Now, the Irish are curious enough of what I have to say on occasion. But in all my years of working in the UK, do they want the opinion of an outsider? Just, no. And I think you know what I am talking about.Of course, that also doesn't work in my home state of Texas, either. They do things their own way and that's how you do it. Your point of view just gets in the way of their mindlessness. People just don't want to hear what they don't want to hear. And if you insist on telling them, you can risk more than just being told off...
Mainad
Bionic Poster
As someone from outside of the UK(and Ireland, really), you learn to either leave it alone, or you jump right into a fight. I have never met anyone in the UK who has welcomed the advice of a 'foreigner'
Of course, that also doesn't work in my home state of Texas, either. They do things their own way and that's how you do it. Your point of view just gets in the way of their mindlessness. People just don't want to hear what they don't want to hear. And if you insist on telling them, you can risk more than just being told off...
Sure I get what you mean but that woman's "British" way is not producing the goods and she needs to come off her high horse and try learning what might improve things. Of course she's far from being the only one but, in the end, despite the OP thinking otherwise, not enough people in the UK care enough about the game to put pressure on the tennis establishment to change their stubborn and insular ways. Even football which is by far the most popular sport in the UK suffers from similar attitudes and hence similar lack of success at international level. Enough people have been complaining about that for years but still nothing much changes. Olympics and Andy Murray aside, I guess we British just don't have enough of a competitive and winning mentality.
Martin J
Hall of Fame
toby55555
Hall of Fame
Maybe meant classical music which would be fair when compared to continental Europe.Funny, because some observers won't even allow us that. I recall 1 commentator at CNN saying that Britain was a country "not noted for its music". I kid you not!
The Blond Blur
G.O.A.T.
My brain keeps wanting to read “Why is Brian so bad at tennis” since I have an uncle named Brian who is in fact bad at tennis.
messiahrobins
Hall of Fame
Britain celebrates being a plucky loser and a naughty celebrity rather than a winner. An island rapidly becoming the third world
Mainad
Bionic Poster
Maybe but music doesn't mean just classical, does it? That commentator is either an idiot or just someone with a beef against the UK.
Elite Tennis Barcelona
Rookie
in my opinion, it is necessary to change totally the point of view about players' development. This includes the coaching system and the tournament system.
Wurm
Professional
On the basis of the experience of UK courts I've had I would be far more inclined to point the finger at the courts they learned to play on... and the conditions being played in.
The majority of courts I've played on in Britain have been low bouncing - indoor carpet, outdoor artificial grass and artificial clay (you can slide and it marks but the bounce is way lower than actual clay). Real clay courts are, as far as I'm aware, few and far between - there's blaes courts in Scotland that have a higher bounce but aren't quite the same and are being phased out in favour of all weather courts. The firiest bounce I've experienced is on tarmac courts but, I assume, the porous surface is really hard wearing on the ball as ime it dies down pretty quickly, though maybe the balls were just low quality.
And that's before factoring in cold and damp weather that kill the responsive of the ball and surface for big chunks of the year (hell sometimes the humidity in summer is like hitting the ball through soup). If you're a keen player you'll play through it but it's an experience that's hard to reconcile until you've gone through it a few times.
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