Interesting Links

[giancarlo]

Are you good enough to be a Tennis Line Judge?

courtesy of the WSJ, try it:

http://graphics.wsj.com/are-you-good...e-french-open/

[klacr]

Serving, Ace and Height comparisons of ATP Tour Stars. Great infographics.

http://www.brandonmuth.com/aces/



Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[giancarlo]

On Second Serve, Federer Attacks | A.K.A SABR

Another nice piece by the NY Times:

http://nyti.ms/1M95Vgp

[giancarlo]

NY Times: What It’s Like to Face a 150 M.P.H. Tennis Serve

Nice interactive piece by the NY Times:

http://<br /> http://www.nytimes.co...erve.html?_r=0

[stotty]

You also wrote this…:

It's the game I am putting in the dock...the rules. We are all in the witness box watching this and jumping up and down with a rule book that is being clearly abused. The game is in question here. If the game is being run by the players, we're in trouble.

The game is too slow. It's not good for the spectators. That's the bottom line.

…which sort of surprises me. :

I stand by this. I quite like Nadal in a sense...in the sense of the puzzle his game represents to his opponents...or did. Djokovic's game has now become the latest puzzle to be unravelled. This kind of thing that has always intrigued me, in any era, not just this one: How to beat the seemingly unbeatable.

[don_budge]

The Skunk...

Well what a fiasco. The one man who has the gumption to bring Nadal to book gets handcuffed and his career stunted. I was writing about all this stuff last week. It's the BIG clock or nothing for me.

You also wrote this…

I have nothing against Nadal.

…which sort of surprises me.

[stotty]

Nadal bans ATP Chair umpire Carlos Bernardes from all future matches.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ten...rule-book.html

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Well what a fiasco. The one man who has the gumption to bring Nadal to book gets handcuffed and his career stunted. I was writing about all this stuff last week. It's the BIG clock or nothing for me.

[klacr]

Nadal bans ATP Chair umpire Carlos Bernardes from all future matches.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ten...rule-book.html

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[klacr]

Thanks stotty. Not as in touch with happenings across the pond. Great insight.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stotty]

Stotty,

What's your take on this situation. Yay or Nay?

LTA Funding Adjustment Ruffling some feathers
http://www.sportinglife.com/tennis/n...ving-the-sport

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

The LTA have always been overly generous with funding. They are a rich organisation and can afford to be. They have paid ridiculous fees to overseas coaches in the hope they might produce world-class players we haven't been able to. Of course, they couldn't deliver either.

Should we fund players? Yes, of course. It's about getting 20 players in the top 200...10 players in the top 100...and 2 players in the top 20. Only the exceptional will progress from there to win slams. Murray is exceptional.

The LTA funded a player of mine aged 13 to the tune of 50 thousand pounds a year some fifteen years ago. I passed him on to their high performance centre. I knew he wouldn't make it because deep down he didn't want it enough. The LTA never asked for my opinion and I never offered it. Sure enough, the kid walked from the game aged 16 and never played again. He was decent and had wins over both Murray brothers (same era) but tennis isn't for everyone even though an individual may be very talented.

Bob Brett wants to sink money into coach education, saying coaches have been neglected....a round-a-about of saying the standard of coaching needs dragging up. Good plan.

But, yes, keep funding players is got to be the way to go. And broaden the game, the player base. What else is an organisation supposed to spend its money on?

At the end of the day it pretty much all comes down to the player. You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Murray and Henman came through in spite of the system rather than because of it. They are both special, special is what it takes. You have to be special.

The coach cited in the article (Dave Sammel) is great at producing good journeymen. He will be great at producing grand slam champions too if that sort of material were to come his way. Like I said, things mostly lie with the player.

[klacr]

Stotty,

What's your take on this situation. Yay or Nay?

LTA Funding Adjustment Ruffling some feathers
http://www.sportinglife.com/tennis/n...ving-the-sport

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[klacr]

Nice story on tennis coach Bob Brett. LTA Performance Director invites some tennis journalists for a 4 hour training course.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ten...l-painful.html

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[giancarlo]

Nice article on #Federer

http://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/sporting/roger-federer-tc-oct-14#slide-1

[jeffreycounts]

Hello from NYC--

If you haven't already seen this sweet interactive piece from the NY Times, please take a look.

All the best,
gc

http://nyti.ms/1AIEyRs

That was stunning! Storytelling, interactivity, and technical insight all in one beautifully laid out page. Thanks for posting GC!

[giancarlo]

The One-Handed Backhand Has All but Disappeared

Hello from NYC--

If you haven't already seen this sweet interactive piece from the NY Times, please take a look.

All the best,
gc

http://nyti.ms/1AIEyRs