2013 BNP Paribas Open...Indian Wells, CA

[don_budge]

One American left...

Only John Isner remains among the entries of American men in the 2014 BNP Paribus Open.

[stroke]

But more importantly you should have really enjoyed the Stepanek match...and it is a mistake to label Radek Stepanek "old school" or "traditional" in any sense that is to be interpreted as condescending. You see...the label that I put on Radek Stapanek is "one cagey tennis player" much as in the mold of for instance...Brad Gilbert. And then I ask you the same boring question I have been asking on the forum and to my students the last year or so. What is power? To which I answer...control is power. Control the ball with fundamentally sound technique in order to tactically control your opponent. To accomplish this...you must be under control of yourself. Physically, emotionally and spiritually.

It isn't important if it is an ATP #1 or an ATP #2 or an ATP #3. It isn't important if it is none of the above. None other than Rick Macci himself stated so in the forehand video posted by hockeycoach. He maintains that the ATP forehand is the best way to stroke the forehand and I don't doubt there is merit in what he says. But I think there is definitely room in the game for variance or the more popular politically correct term these days is diversity. I hate that term by the way...the way that it is bandied about in social scientist circles but the true definition to this phrase is acceptable when considering different styles of tennis that are potentially successful.

So you are right in acknowledging due respect for the game of Radek Stepanek as he is some years Fafa's senior but he made a nice game go of it last night. I was watching in the middle of the night here in Sweden as my most faithful companion little buddy Frankie...the aging American born Chocolate Labrador Retriever woke me up so that he could go out and look for his little fox buddy at around 3:45 this morning. I stepped into my Johnny Depp "The Secret Window" office out here in the Swedish countryside and wilderness and tuned in on the match between Fafa and Radek Stepanek on my trusty or not so trusty iMac computer. Depending upon who you ask in NSA circles these days. I suspect that even if it is trusty...it may not be secure.

It was a cagey affair but the outcome was pretty well in hand unless Fafa was in a more generous mood than normal. He doesn't give much away normally. Not that he was last night either. Radek simply plays the hand the best way that he knows how into Fafa's hand and he nearly played all of his cards right. There are better athletes, stronger and faster athletes and probably even more intelligent athletes than Radek but this guy is a pretty well rounded tennis player. That being said he has his limitations...but all in all he does what a tennis player should do. He utilizes all that he is blessed with and he capitalizes on the less imaginative tactics of his opponents. Unfortunately he is not the completely dominant physical specimen that it takes to accomplish the ultimate...that is winning the last point against the #1 seed in the tournament.

But all tennis coaches should take notice of phenomena of this nature and realize that there is much more to coaching this game than teaching a specific forehand technique or a tennis game that is less than complete and coach it to be as fundamentally sound as possible. It should also be as flexible as possible tactically speaking. Unfortunately...it is no fault of any of the "modern coaches" the sport has been led down a less than optimal path for whatever reason and most of the accepted coaching principles are mythical and made up by the current and recent regime that is in "control" of the sport of tennis. It is some sort of Mafia...it's organized. I think that it is criminal in a sense. But these are modern days...you have to go along to get along. Afterall...you are either with us or against us. Some big idiot said that not so long ago.

A very interesting match where an obviously outgunned opponent manages to make a rather interesting game of it. Jerzy "Joe" Janowicz needs to be educated in this regard and I believe that much of the carbon copyness of the current crop of players has to do with the engineering...such as court surface, equipment, brainwashing etc...

db, I did enjoy the match, a lot. I in no way am condescending concerning Radek, in fact that interpretation of him and his form did not even occur to me. I think he is a great athlete with the best hands and feel out there among singles players. To me, he had Rafa out of his game for the entire match, which is so hard to do and a huge credit to Radek.

[don_budge]

Experts? Who is an Expert?

Don Budge, why do the experts hate the one handed backhand so much?

This is such a good fundamental question. The answer is very simple...the supposed experts are not really the real experts. They are a product of some pretty rigid conditioning and have been led to believe certain myths without any substantial proof based on their limited experience in the game, in sports and in life.

A real expert is few and far between these days. In order to be an expert you must consider yourself to be a student of the game. A hard core student of the game.

You ask anyone...who is an expert? More than likely they will tell you that they are one. Ask me if I am an expert...I'll tell you in a long and round about way...I may or not be. It depends on who you ask. The only thing that I do here on the forum is state my case as clearly as I possibly can. Read it and weep...I encourage the readership.

If somebody walks away with something that I said and puts it in their pocket for future use some day in their teaching of the game...that is what makes me an expert. Because someone ridicules me or writes me off as obsolete in no way changes my perspective about tennis. I am truly a student of the game. That is all that I know. I read everything...and I NEVER respond with "I agree" or "I disagree". I might ask questions...I am a skeptic at heart.

For example...in one thread in the past year or so we were discussing the possible resurgence of the one handed backhand and I was an exponent of the resurgence...another poster made it clear that he believed that it wasn't going to happen. To which I responded...nothing. This is not an argument. It is an exchange of ideas and information. The one hand backhand is most viable even in today's present engineered form of tennis. It is discourage mainly because of the new "fad" of introducing children so young to the sport that they find it hard to manage the racquet with one hand. But the fact of the matter is that it isn't a one hand backhand at all and the "off" hand has a big role in managing the head of the racquet right up until impact with the ball.

Experts are one thing. Afterall...aren't the members of Congress and members of the House of Representatives supposed to be experts in leadership and making sound decisions? Isn't the POTUS supposed to be a competent fellow as well and not just some idiotic caricature of some doltering idiot like the original Mr. Incompetent. Why have we had a string of these knuckleheads in the Oval Office? Because someone deemed them to be an expert? Who deemed them so? Johnny Public? See what I am getting at? It isn't so hard to decieve the masses afterall. We are living in the times where the biggest and most dangerous weapon of all is the feared Weapon of Mass Deception.

[don_budge]

Back at you...stroke. Please observe the following one and all...

Current

DB should have really enjoyed the Stepanek match. I think it is more than a label Kyle. Radek def is no type 3 fh. His hands and volley skills may be the best out there among current players. When players get in the drop shot/cat and mouse game with him, they are in his world. I have said it before, but he reminds me of McEnroe with those hands and touch.

But more importantly you should have really enjoyed the Stepanek match...and it is a mistake to label Radek Stepanek "old school" or "traditional" in any sense that is to be interpreted as condescending. You see...the label that I put on Radek Stapanek is "one cagey tennis player" much as in the mold of for instance...Brad Gilbert. And then I ask you the same boring question I have been asking on the forum and to my students the last year or so. What is power? To which I answer...control is power. Control the ball with fundamentally sound technique in order to tactically control your opponent. To accomplish this...you must be under control of yourself. Physically, emotionally and spiritually.

It isn't important if it is an ATP #1 or an ATP #2 or an ATP #3. It isn't important if it is none of the above. None other than Rick Macci himself stated so in the forehand video posted by hockeycoach. He maintains that the ATP forehand is the best way to stroke the forehand and I don't doubt there is merit in what he says. But I think there is definitely room in the game for variance or the more popular politically correct term these days is diversity. I hate that term by the way...the way that it is bandied about in social scientist circles but the true definition to this phrase is acceptable when considering different styles of tennis that are potentially successful.

So you are right in acknowledging due respect for the game of Radek Stepanek as he is some years Fafa's senior but he made a nice game go of it last night. I was watching in the middle of the night here in Sweden as my most faithful companion little buddy Frankie...the aging American born Chocolate Labrador Retriever woke me up so that he could go out and look for his little fox buddy at around 3:45 this morning. I stepped into my Johnny Depp "The Secret Window" office out here in the Swedish countryside and wilderness and tuned in on the match between Fafa and Radek Stepanek on my trusty or not so trusty iMac computer. Depending upon who you ask in NSA circles these days. I suspect that even if it is trusty...it may not be secure.

It was a cagey affair but the outcome was pretty well in hand unless Fafa was in a more generous mood than normal. He doesn't give much away normally. Not that he was last night either. Radek simply plays the hand the best way that he knows how into Fafa's hand and he nearly played all of his cards right. There are better athletes, stronger and faster athletes and probably even more intelligent athletes than Radek but this guy is a pretty well rounded tennis player. That being said he has his limitations...but all in all he does what a tennis player should do. He utilizes all that he is blessed with and he capitalizes on the less imaginative tactics of his opponents. Unfortunately he is not the completely dominant physical specimen that it takes to accomplish the ultimate...that is winning the last point against the #1 seed in the tournament.

But all tennis coaches should take notice of phenomena of this nature and realize that there is much more to coaching this game than teaching a specific forehand technique or a tennis game that is less than complete and coach it to be as fundamentally sound as possible. It should also be as flexible as possible tactically speaking. Unfortunately...it is no fault of any of the "modern coaches" the sport has been led down a less than optimal path for whatever reason and most of the accepted coaching principles are mythical and made up by the current and recent regime that is in "control" of the sport of tennis. It is some sort of Mafia...it's organized. I think that it is criminal in a sense. But these are modern days...you have to go along to get along. Afterall...you are either with us or against us. Some big idiot said that not so long ago.

A very interesting match where an obviously outgunned opponent manages to make a rather interesting game of it. Jerzy "Joe" Janowicz needs to be educated in this regard and I believe that much of the carbon copyness of the current crop of players has to do with the engineering...such as court surface, equipment, brainwashing etc...

[hockeyscout]

Don Budge, why do the experts hate the one handed backhand so much?

Okay, fine, return to serve, whatever, just use a two-hander for return to serve or something to mix it up?

I admit, you gotta have a ton of patience, and you can't focus to much on the result, however, in the long run I would think teaching the one handed backhand at a young age would pay off with a more all court game and better agility.

Also, I think for the bigger kids with the longer arms the one handed backhand is the way to go, especially if you envision foot speed being an issue.

I think with the increased speed of the game, you'll need it to chase down more balls. A one handed backhand I think will be a must, along with slice backhands. It's so overlooked now.

I just can't see the advantage of a two handed backhand in building a young players game from scratch. You sure learn more versatility by using it, and it's a better athletic pathways in terms of variety and skill set. What I do with the young one is she'll go to the two-hander when she gets tired with the one-hander. The big issue she has is figuring out her grips, and how to control the racket, however, in time she'll sort that out as she studies it a lot, and I'm thinking in time she'll sort out what is comfortable. I like your vision actually of an all-around game, and what's interesting here is a lot of you are really preaching down the direction that I am going of "anti-technique" in some ways. You did make a nice suggestion of playing with two backhands, and experimenting with that (Bartoli), however, the young one just started hitting left handed, so that's cool.

The only regret I have is not playing Monday as a leftie, and Tuesday as a righty in the early stage of development, as I think I would have had a better balanced athlete, and a better player.

[stroke]

Current

Nadal pulled a Houdini last night and escaped a tricky opponent in Stepanek. Radek Stepanek won the first set comfortably and after that it was a dog fight. nadal was down 0-40 on his serve in the 3rd set and managed to squeak it out 7-5.

Funny how Stepanek seems to be labeled "traditional" and "old school" and his strokes labeled "linear" yet his game seemed to hold up quite well against the uber "modern" Rafael Nadal. Love seeing the contrast in styles in this match. I miss those days. Wish it happened more often.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

DB should have really enjoyed the Stepanek match. I think it is more than a label Kyle. Radek def is no type 3 fh. His hands and volley skills may be the best out there among current players. When players get in the drop shot/cat and mouse game with him, they are in his world. I have said it before, but he reminds me of McEnroe with those hands and touch.

[klacr]

Nadal pulled a Houdini last night and escaped a tricky opponent in Stepanek. Radek Stepanek won the first set comfortably and after that it was a dog fight. nadal was down 0-40 on his serve in the 3rd set and managed to squeak it out 7-5.

Funny how Stepanek seems to be labeled "traditional" and "old school" and his strokes labeled "linear" yet his game seemed to hold up quite well against the uber "modern" Rafael Nadal. Love seeing the contrast in styles in this match. I miss those days. Wish it happened more often.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

Nadal and Janowicz, one hand backhands and blue eyed blondes...

Just keep posting. It's fun! Posting for the bloody fun of it!

I saw bits and pieces of two matches last night and very early in the morning as Frankie the American born Chocolate Labrador Retriever woke me when nature called and lo and behold it was Radek Stepanek up in the first set against my most unfavorite tennis champion ever...Fafa Nadal. He is the most arrogant and comical I have ever seen. More proof that the professional game has drifted in the direction of Big Time Wrestling. If I had a bit more time I would like to give a bit more analysis here but let me just say the Radek Stepanek is now primarily a doubles player but all of the fundamentals of tennis are still in his system. He almost took "Hulk" Nadal down for the count...which would have been a blessing as far as I am concerned.

Meanwhile...Jerzy "Joe" Janowicz melted down and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. The announcers seemed to be so perplexed as to what is limiting the kid from Ludz...but I have laid it out before and I stick with my breakdown. The two hander will always limit his development. It was a mistake in the first place to hang on to it this far and because it is all about money and immediate results because this is the "now" generation...it will never happen that he will evolve in the manner that the game was truly intended to be played. He lost to a left-handed Columbian...ouch!

Maybe more later...I am going to the club to teach my forty year old training mate the one hand backhand. He is going to switch from the two hander. Not that I had anything to do with it...but it is perfect timing with all of the discussion about one handed backhands on the forum as of late. I boned up on the Oscar Wegner One Hand Backhand from Scratch thread and I will proceed from there. I have no doubts in my mind on how to proceed...I know his game so well. But that doesn't matter either...I can shape 'em in any size, age, sex or color. Although I find that blue-eyed blondes in their mid-thirties seem to be the most receptive. At least that has been my experience of late here in the land of the Swedish Goddesses. Estonian too!

[hockeyscout]

Sister?

How about giving up your wife?

Ah, sorry, she's perfect! Mine, mine and mine. On my first date with her I decided, all mine. She blond, tall, slim, hunts, fishes, plays sports and has attitude! She's got a sister though who's not married.

[hockeyscout]

I know what you meant...

Nothing if futile without a plan my little beavers!

The first key here is you need to understand the theory of Somotypes. The Russian's basically stole this ideal from a Canadian hockey coach Lloyd Percival in the 1950's, and Lloyd stole it from some dude in the 1940's!

Canadians thought Lloyd was crazy when he said Gordie Howe was better than Rocket Richard. Anyways, the Russian's stole all of his training principals (and creativily made them better). The big theory in Canadian hockey at the time was we had was kind of along the lines of "it's like trying to lift a heavier weight than a person who is stronger than you ... never going to happen." Well, we learned better.

In terms of lifting, it's not hard to get someone lifting weight by teaching the correct stances, pull through techniques, wrist engagement, belly button breathing techniques and Descent - Accent mechanics. Trust me, a guy who is stronger than you, won't be stronger than you for long if you work with a strength coach who knows what he's doing. It's the same principals in tennis,

Arnold is stronger than Roger, but Roger hits the ball harder because he's mastered many basic scientific principals.

However, what I never see in weight lifting is coaches who are concerned about identifying body type, meal plans, diet and blood types! In fact, that is their first question. I haven't had a tennis coach talk to me about it as the # 1 priority of the day, which it is.

(a) Perfect technique and (b) understanding body type and (c) understanding blood types, you're improvement in strength and nuerology will be off the charts.

Now, obviously people like Novak, Nadal and Murray have been pioneers in this field, and their doing a bit more than you see (CVAC pod, Biofeedback devices, blood monitoring, some pretty sophisticated enzymes, and AvaCore)! Yet, what they are doing today athletes in other Olympic sports were doing 10-15 years ago, and it's kind of funny people think all of that stuff is "new age of something."

However, it's important to get a few basics, so I will start with the body type and blood, two key basic element.

It's really all about understanding what you are dealing with, endomorphic, ectomorphic or mesomorphic. Anyways, yes, you can take each body type and mold it appropriately (which is what the Russian's did). Next, you need to understand proper nutrition, and feed each group differently, for example I could get an ectomorph unbelievably stronger in a shorter period of time by increasing certain types fat in the diet. They need it! Good fats, as well. A mesomorph I'd train heavy, and get mass and definition, and watch them like hawk at the meal table as their nutorious for bad habits. Mesomorph's are very tricky, however, if you find one they are golden children! The Endomorph I'd make small meals the rule, space out snacks, do whatever I could to speed up their metabolism, carb up in the mornings, do minimal weight training, lots of isolation and just go to town on the water. I'd feed this one more like a mexican - russian.

The Russian's in the 60's - 70's understood these factors, and they're hockey programs reflected it.

Next, if you want to be stronger than the next guy, it's super important to know what types of food fit your body type and what foods fit your blood type! A type O don't do to well with wheat! A type O will be strong in aerobic running if the diets managed. If that diets off, and if the trainer doesn't know how to work with that kids body type, well, all bets are off, and the kid will be laxidasical. Likely that kid'll be written off! Type A blood, god, this one is a killer, you got to be so careful with this one because if they aren't on a perfectly manager vegatarian diet I'd say all bets are off. This group you need to coach like your the Karate Kids coach or a YOGA guru. Type B's are the greatest, put em on some digestive enzymes to enhandce their greatness and they'll survive through WW3, Chernobyl and whatever else you put them through! Then their's the AB, which in my opinion hasn't been figured out just yet. Their's a lot of science here to learn, however, Olympian's today are realizing this is where losses - wins happen, in the blood, and in the pee. The Australians Federations new set up is years ahead of it's time, I think are testing, testing and testing all day, and getting it right down to the mark, and god, who wants to know what the Chinese are doing as I think their completely and absolutely nuts, and off their rockers.

However, I'm not sure one will have much success as a coach with an athlete who's not being looked after correctly "the other 23 hours of the day" you don't have them. You can't beat diet. Results simply won't come. All the fancy strokes, best coaching in the world, and Rick Maccism's won't help you much unless "You've got the food house in order", and especially, the athletic GAIT set up right.

I'm not sure why their's not more emphasis in this area from day one.

Now obviously USA Tennis has gone downhill since the days of the "Capriati rule", however, another interesting point to consider may be the diets. I consider myself pretty informed in these areas, and I am sorry to say, the food we're buying in the stores is questionable and it's getting worse and worse by the day. It's tough to teach, when the young one's are not fed correctly, and really, for us coaches that's the next. I cannot tell you how much time my family spends hunting and gathering trying to find the right food! Man, we have to order in food from Germany, and my wife who is just the greatest gal in the world literally goes to the chicken farm 45 minutes down the road in the village, finds the chicken she likes, see's how the animals are looked after and kills it herself.

I believe many, many, many kids have the talent to be great in a lot of fields, however, we must not divorce ourselves from certain "all-around" sports science basics like all-around sports based technique, scientific based brain traing, blood - body type diets, psychology, inspiration, recovery, perfect storms and most important kid centered training.

Hard work, commitment and desire is great, however, Mister Krickstein who Don Budge speaks highly of, had some real substance, and a plan for their kids to succeed in whatever field that kid wants to persue (sports, academics, social) ect. I'm not really sure anyone will get their without some sound all-around understandings. I think as a society we've really lost touch with our hunter - gather routes, and are to rushed for time, and to get everything at it's lowest cost denominator!

You know, I love this site. Its great. John puts in the moving photos to teach a teaching point. Great. However, would it not be great to have a John Yandell type of site that caters to 8-9-10-11-12-13-14 year old kids, or learning applications (how in hell do these federations not have IPhone apps like Angry Birds, Candy Crush which are related to say, hmmm, tennis)!
Macci's video is great, interesting stuff, some great nuggets, but lets face it, it's applicable to us adults. It's coached based. My big thing in development is allowing th kid to take "ownership" of everything they want to do. You guys were talking about how happy you were to watch the whole video, however, shouldn't we ask ourselves, "okay, now how do we get a 6-10 year old" to watch that video, retain, take ownership and go an invent his "new - next" thing? What benefit is this video really to us? Great, it's playing in our head 24-7. It's how we're wired. The question, what is the next to get it in the kids head 24-7 like Angry Birds and Candy Crush? When we do that, then we'll see progress in our students! That's where the magic is at I think! I often wonder why their hasn't been a more intensive study on the success of the Gretzky's, Navratilova's, Graf's, Kricksteins, William's ect, because I really believe those parents were # 1 parents with incredible talents we have yet to truly understand.

[don_budge]

It seems futile...

...it's like trying to lift a heavier weight than a person who is stronger than you...never going to happen.

I know what you meant...

[bottle]

How about giving up your wife?

[hockeyscout]

No offense taken.

It's a little strange because all the TV tennis pundits (Rusedski, Henman, Lloyd) are calling for change but it's falling on deaf ears. Rusedski is adamant the game would be better for speeding up the courts...stating that today's tennis is just churning out the best of a certain type of player, and that lower ranked players aren't giving themselves a chance by sticking to the same old, same old game-style...it's like trying to lift a heavier weight than a person who is stronger than you...never going to happen.

Really? Their are a few young guys on the national team basketball program who are bigger, stronger, faster and heavier than me. Sorry, I can out-lift them all. 20 years training experience, neurology, superior technique, breathing, muscle activation, rhythm and flow are the orders of the game. I often see athletes that looks just great, or can pound superb weight in the room, however, on the athletic front in baseball, hockey or tennis they have no functional athletic strength what-so-ever. A guy like Chris Chelios is one of the strongest hockey player I've ever seen, however, I don't think he can bench press 225 pounds, 10 times (which is a pretty minimal strength level for a pro athlete) these days. So yes, someone who is stronger than you, it ain't to tough to pass them if you've got someone to develop some fundamentals.

[stotty]

His assessment of the sport is just boring. Typical British...no offense meant. Staid...stuck in the mud. How do you get things to go forwards? The last ten years have been so great? Says who?

No offense taken.

It's a little strange because all the TV tennis pundits (Rusedski, Henman, Lloyd) are calling for change but it's falling on deaf ears. Rusedski is adamant the game would be better for speeding up the courts...stating that today's tennis is just churning out the best of a certain type of player, and that lower ranked players aren't giving themselves a chance by sticking to the same old, same old game-style...it's like trying to lift a heavier weight than a person who is stronger than you...never going to happen.

[hockeyscout]

Actually, US Tennis hasn't done so well since that Capriati rule have they? I think their's a direct correlation!