Transition Balls are They Really The Cat's Pyjamas?

The eye asked Clem Apted The Piako Tennis Coach about what he thought of transition balls... here's what he said...For some time now I have been using Transition Balls in my Coaching Programme and I find them invaluable especially for beginners. Naturally a ball bouncing lower suits a child who is naturally lower! Just get on your hands and knees and hit a few yellow  balls and you will see what I mean. It’s difficult for kids to hit a ball around their shoulders. Naturally for the more advanced kids the sooner they start hitting the yellow balls the better, another point is it’s difficult to hit hard heavy balls with little Racquets. I realise that Coaches have to fork out a lot of money to purchase the different grades of balls when yellow balls are generally much cheaper or even free!. Coaches these days are expected to spend a lot of money on balls, mini nets and kids Racquets, on top of traveling etc. I can appreciate why many Coaches don’t bother joining NZ  Tennis, together with the cost of a first aid certificate and then equipment it’s a big outlay before they even start.  Getting away from Transition Balls , it would be great to hear what other Coaches think about what is happening with Tennis in NZ, how things could be improved, should we have an Association of Coaches independent of NZ Tennis to protect our lively hood?. Coaches are very vulnerable, you could loose your coaching position in an instant , and the Contract with the Club or employer means absolutely nothing.  If only NZ Tennis valued the contribution of Coaches in NZ. I have been critical of NZ Tennis and have offered some suggestions of how they could improve the relationship between Coaches and them, but it seems any criticism levelled at them, has resulted in me being ‘blacklisted’.   I have read Steve Dries Blog and have seen negative criticism of Steve Johns CEO of NZ Tennis, perhaps Johns and people that  make anonymous comments could be more public, the more dialogue the better for our sport, Regards Clem Apted. The Photo, is Clem’s cat who is a big fan of Prince balls!

Nadal is ready to Defend French Open - Smacks Federer once Again

Nadal although seeded 4th for the upcoming French Open is again the favorite after beating Rodger Federer yesterday in Rome. The above picture says it all with Nadal increasing his Head to Head to around 21- 10.

Rafa- I dont like it when someone checks my balls!

Rafa interviewed today in Rome after beating Gulbis in 3 sets: "Gulbis is an amazing player but he needs to calm down because he asking the umpire to come down to check my balls too many times, and I don't like it when somebody checks my balls....

Its not just the Parents ---Crazy Crazy Crazy

I have sympathy however for Victor ...

There're Creepy and there Spooky- Tomics father in Jail for assault on hitting partner!

There're Creepy and there kookey
Mysterious and Spookey

JOHN Tomic is likely to face court in Madrid today after allegedly assaulting French player Thomas Drouet (pictured with Tomic above middle)as reports emerge the infamous coach might also have attacked his son Bernard in Monte Carlo last week.

John Tomic is said to have been held in custody after his arrest at a Madrid hotel for allegedly attacking Drouet, who is employed by the Tomics as Bernard's regular practice partner.
The shocking news comes after a Monte Carlo news outlet claimed John Tomic had struck Bernard during a public practice session in Monaco last Tuesday.


Drouet and John Tomic are alleged to have clashed in the street outside the hotel.Drouet was knocked out and left with a broken nose, fractured vertebrae and stitches after the alleged attack which was witnessed by leading players, including Alexandr Dolgopolov and Janko Tipsarevic.


Drouet was said to be bleeding from the nose, lips and face. An unnamed witness said police and an ambulance were called.
European media reported said a man - believed to be John Tomic - was arrested at the hotel and had blood on his face when taken into custody.
It is understood he spent a number of hours in custody before being released yesterday evening (local time).
Bernard Tomic subsequently lost to Czech veteran Radek Stepanek 6-3 6-2 in the first round of the Madrid Masters.
Ok its time to go John ....Goodbye you are the weakest link. I first came across Tomic's father at the Australian 14s Winter Nationals in Brisbane which my niece was playing.I was watching Tomic then 14 playing another boy , there was one supporter clapping loudly each time Tomic's opponent won a point..I said to some one is that the boys father they said no its TOMICS! My niece made the final as did Tomic of that event. Hopefully the ATP will take action ...Tomic Snr must go ..somethings up as the Bernards clay court season has been ordinary so far.

Read Full article HERE

Update Tennis in turmoil --- Yep New Zealand

With interest I listened to Radio Sport with Brendon Telfer discussing the move by Norrie to Great Britain with Lee Radovanovich . I have included the link for you guys to listen to.

http://content.radionetwork.co.nz/weekondemand/radiosport/21115.mp3

Radovanovich made some good points. The chat starts around 6.32 into the time slot posted.A great point was made during the discussion ,which I have advocated on this blog that juniors can get higher rankings that sometimes are inflated depending on where they have picked up points.He says that Norrie has played twice as many tournaments than most juniors inside the top 10 and a lot of points have been accumulated in the Asia Pacific region....He said this was ideal for gaining a USA college scholarship that most New Zealand junior tennis players aspire too. He also was critical of the current standard of Junior tennis in this country and went on to say that New Zealand had missed the boat about 10 years ago.He did say that Norrie had made the right call.Alan Chester from the Seed Foundation approached the Norrie family offering whatever they wanted funding wise for Cameron, they declined. Radovanovich said even if New Zealand Tennis had the money they do not know how to use it! Telfer then asked Radonanovich had New Zealand Tennis learned anything from this...he said no ...they have not learned anything in the past 15 years.He went on to say that the best place for promising juniors was not New Zealand!

Yep sadly it makes sense to me!

Another Defection Hits New Zealand Tennis Hard

New Zealand's leading junior tennis player, ranked No 10 in the world, has defected to Great Britain due to lack of funding.Auckland's Cameron Norrie is considered our best tennis prospect in years, but the 17-year-old played his first tournament as a Brit in Scotland last week.Norrie qualifies for Britain through a parent being born in the UK, and follows Sacha Jones, who defected to Australia last year.Tennis NZ says the switch of allegiances again highlights the lack of development funding for top players, with CEO Steve Johns saying he will again raise the issue with Sport New Zealand. Norrie went to the UK six weeks ago to trial with Britain's Lawn Tennis Association.

This is a slap in the face for tennis in this country on top of Sasha Jones and the Rubin Statham Debacle with their top ranked player making himself unavailable for Davis Cup over issues with TNZ. Norrie has had some support from TNZ to deny that is wrong, but the grass is greener on the other side of the world and British Tennis is cash ladened. In saying that they have not had much success outside Henman and now Andy Murray in mens Tennis.In fact Tim Henman just recently labeled British Men's tennis as embarrassing .Goodluck Cameron I hope you have researched all the components of tennis in GB after all we all know Murray went off shore to Spain at a very early age.

So the signal is loud and clear junior tennis players from New Zealand ,check your heritage there is hope , or like Jones did migrate to Australia , although she hasnt actually set the world on fire since her move. Their coaches (Great Britain)deemed (Norrie) good enough to be part of their development programme and he has automatically become the UK's top-ranked junior. That sort of sounds funny ,Norrie learning all his tennis locally now is the top ranked junior player for Great Britain!Dont worry juniors Mr Steve Johns  is on to !be it a defeatist statement that will not inspire local juniors "Johns said New Zealand couldn't compete with Britain's funding."As it was when Sacha left us, these guys are out there wanting to make a career in tennis, and there is no way we're ever going to be able to match the resources of a Grand Slam nation," he said." Well Mr Johns if you want some homework why not look up the budget of other Tennis Nations who have top 20 ranked players.They dont spend half on what Great Britain has spent over the last 20 years and some dont have a budget equal to New Zealand!.So you really need to know that money helps but its not always the key ingrediant at the end of the day.

I know from watching Norrie over the past few years ,in fact I coached a junior that beat him in the National 12s final in Christchurch that he has the grit and will to win. His results since supports that.Norrie has been New Zealand's highest ranked junior since Marina Erakovic reached No 5 in 2005. The next best male Kiwi junior is Kyle Butters, ranked 209.  It really boils down to toughness and what you are prepared to do to go to the next level.Norrie has obviously made his choice ,what he has to do for the next level.Here in New Zealand he should of been picked for the next Davis Cup tie , sadly that wont be happening.I dont see him playing for GB either in the next couple of years.No doubt Norrie will focus on the remaining Junior Grandslams pointless really in the scheme of things. His success in the futures recently is promising be it they were in Great Britain ...oh dear a thought just ran through my mind the first tournament in GB Norrie reached the Quarter finals after coming through qualifying the tournament winner was 16 year old Borna Coric ( Croatia) who is the 4th best Junior in the world.Norrie....has had a win against him in the Junior ITFs in Manila recently. Coric beat the Brits in their backyard my thoughts are Timmy Henman Hill maybe right!This week Norrie was beaten in the qualifying by guess who Coric ...in three. Ok to cut a long story short the guys playing these events are from high 300s to 1000s plus.! As I write a Belgium ranked 478 takes on a Brit ranked  619 ( 24 years old) in the final of this weeks Great Britain challenger.Coric was beaten in the quarters by Aussie Jason Kubler 61 62 ranked 398 and 19 years of age.

Great Britain has not had a great track record especially in the Admin department , I guess probably a little more success than TNZ.Johns said High Performance Sport NZ's funding policy was limited to athletes capable of podium finishes at Olympics or world championships.

"We're clearly not there yet," he said. "But who's to say Cameron wouldn't have been a future Olympics medallist for New Zealand."

A spokesperson for HPSNZ said: "Athletes and coaches do move around the world. We benefit when overseas athletes choose to live in New Zealand."Cameron has identified an opportunity for him and we wish him well in chasing his dream. THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT HPSNZ .Unfortunately as many will talk about  the short comings of tennis in this country but few lack the WILSON balls to publically come out and criticize..I mean just attend a tournament here there is nothing positive said about TNZ. Norrie maybe had to do what he had to do......Time will tell if its the right choice..tennis has to change in the country  .One of the brain waves from TNZ was to move offices and rub shoulders with the elite of sport...Money could of been better spent on the Juniors maybe.Norries move did not happen overnight! did we have our Head in the sand once more? Must be a running joke out at the Millenium centers water coolers....if your looking to make it in tennis check your ancestory!

Would love to hear some comments on your thoughts of Norries defection and what it means for aspiring juniors here in NZ

National Juniors Teams Event a Positive

The Last few days I spent in Wellington with the Southern 14s Girls team at the National Event.I am not sure that the powers that be understand how important events such as these are for junior tennis players from the region.I know that this event for most Southern Juniors is a reason why they put that extra into the tennis ,following tournaments and having extra coaching and training.Its a great chance for regions to measure their region against others.The Southern Region does not get the exposure on a regular basis and this event is a highlight for juniors making the teams.We managed to pip Canterbury to finish fith and having three matches be decided by countback after rubbers were tied was a great effort for our team.

I hope that TNZ can put more into the regions financially for this event as the spinoff is invaluable in keeping players playing the game and to give other juniors something to aspire to.

Locally its been a good week with the 16 National girls team qualifying for Worlds.Cameron Norrie reached the quarter finals  of a futures in Engand.Lets hope that he plays a few more senior events rather than lingering in the ITF junior events for too long.The eye does have to report a couple of high ranking juniors being caught out after sneaking out of their rooms whilst on tour.If its good enough for Pat Rafter to drop his players from Davis Cup because of behavior then TNZ needs to keep a firm grip.

I also urge more fundings to the coach of top juniors allowing them to map out a plan and be able to travel with their players to major tour events. Farming them off to salary coaches is a disaster, give the individual coach access to funding.Where to get this funding....get rid of the babysitting coaches .

We need to stop nursing our up and coming juniors and getting them to play tougher events , I mean the top end junior ITFs and a few future events.

Last week 18 year old Aussie Nick Kyrgios took out the China futures event.He is the worlds leading junior boy but those events are well behind him.

The measure for New Zealand juniors are the Aussies start beating them in their backyard thats a start .

Missing in Action- New Zealand Under 14 Junior Teams at Asia Zone Playoffs for World Champs!

The Australian 14-and-under junior boys’ team of Alexei Popyrin (NSW), Alex de Minaur (NSW) and Kody Pearson (NSW) have defeated India to finish in first place at the Asia/Oceania World Junior Tennis qualifying event in Malaysia at the weekend.In the play-off for first to eighth position, Australia saw off Korea and Thailand before beating India 2-0, with de Minaur beating India’s Alex Solanki in three sets before Popyrin sealed the win with a three-set defeat of Nitin Kumar Sinha.Australia, India, Japan and Thailand qualified for the World Junior Tennis finals in Prostejov, Czech Republic (5-10 August 2013) after reaching the semifinals of the Asia/Oceania qualifier, and thus finishing as the top four nations in the competition.So great result for Australia and the girls event is now being played as we speak. The question I have why this year have we no New Zealand 14 and under teams in this event. This would be the first time for a number of years New Zealand has not entered. These events are important pathways for National development.

The World Junior Tennis competition was started by the ITF in 1991. In the inaugural year, 12 nations were nominated to take part with Spain boys and Czechoslovakia girls emerging the overall winners.

The format changed in 1992 when regional qualifying events were introduced, a system that is still used today with the top teams reaching the Finals.

The Finals were held in Japan until 1998, but the following year they were moved to the clay court venue of TK Plus Centre in Prostejov, Czech Republic. This venue continues to be used today.

A number of the past participants have gone on to become household names on the ATP and WTA tours. Former winners in the boys' event include Rafael Nadal, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, David Nalbandian and Richard Gasquet, while Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters, Amelie Mauresmo, Daniela Hantuchova and Vera Zvonareva have all appeared in the girls' event.

To my surprise Tennis New Zealand has not sent teams for our Asia Zone qualifications.I feel sorry for all those hard working juniors that would have been selected for their National Team.They and their parents are investing huge amounts of money to their child's career and by not sending a team is a slap in the face to parents and juniors.

If there is a valid reason I would like to know, is it funding? Maybe instead of moving offices TNZ could of invested in the players of the future by staying put at Scarbro,and saving the expense to move . But of course they relocated to the Millennium Institute of Sport to produce top athletes!.One would of thought that while the powers that be congregated around the water coolers at their lush new offices they would make sure events such as these are on the Development Pathway.

There maybe a logical reason why no teams went.....I am one that would like to know the reason!

Below are the final standings ....looking at the countries that participated our juniors needed to be there!

Match overview of 13 April 2013

		Draw	Home	-	Away	Score	Court
		WJT Boys (B14) - BOYS PLAY-OFF 1st-8th	Australia [4]	-	India [2]	2-0	Main Location - 8
		WJT Boys (B14) - BOYS PLAY-OFF 1st-8th	Thailand [3]	-	Japan [1]	1-2	Main Location - 6
		WJT Boys (B14) - BOYS PLAY-OFF 1st-8th	Hong Kong [6]	-	China [5]	1-2	Main Location - 7
		WJT Boys (B14) - BOYS PLAY-OFF 1st-8th	Korea [7]	-	Chinese Taipei [8]	2-0	Main Location - 4
		WJT Boys (B14) - BOYS PLAY-OFF 9th-16th	Vietnam	-	Indonesia	1-2	Main Location - 5
		WJT Boys (B14) - BOYS PLAY-OFF 9th-16th	Uzbekistan	-	Malaysia	2-0	Main Location - 1
		WJT Boys (B14) - BOYS PLAY-OFF 9th-16th	Kazakhstan	-	Singapore	0-2	Main Location - 2
		WJT Boys (B14) - BOYS PLAY-OFF 9th-16th	Philippines	-	Pakistan	2-1	Main Location - 3

Picture of the Week - Trainer eases Djokovics Pain

BLOG CIRCULATION

The traffic on the blog has been for me surprising.It is increasing in readers and visitors world wide.It attracts comments far and wide. Kiwi Great Chris Lewis left this comment on the Tennis Player Pathway Article."Paul McNamee is 100 per cent correct. It should not be the role of a national body to sever successful relationships between private coaches and their students; the proper role of a national body should be to support and nurture those relationships. There is no surer way to minimize a nation’s chances of producing champions than to alienate the entire private coaching community by effectively declaring war on them. Tennis Australia’s divisive and, as Paul points out, fatally flawed approach to junior development does, though, have one redeeming feature; namely, it provides a superb model for guaranteed future success as all one would have to do is implement the exact opposite of every one of its failed and failing policies." 

New Zealand needs input from former players like Lewis , of course if you have success  as a player and a coach there is always a culture that is very much thriving here on the local scene and that is to get rid of individuals with strong opinions and a history of success.

I enjoy looking at the stats on my blog especially how visitors come to land on the site.It may be a word such as "Middle Finger"or it could be a name like Serena Williams. The search engines then display articles and often listings to The Tigers Eye.

It also shows stats for repeat visitors as well as unique visitors , country and city.

Referee-gifts-davis-cup-tie-to-nz/

http://tribune.com.pk/story/531569/referee-gifts-davis-cup-tie-to-nz/

More news from the Pakistan and New Zealand farce with a reporter stating these remarks

"The reason is very simple, the Australia-New Zealand connection forced the referee to forfeit the tie in New Zealand favour. When this correspondent contacted Pakistan camp in Myanmar to know the actual position, the sources confirmed that it was looking the said official was not hired by the ITF, as he was giving all out support to New Zealand."

"The sources further revealed that the referee didn't bother to take advice from the ground staff, as there was a very minor 1½ inch hole appeared in the surface, which could have been easily be repaired or the referee could have given that particular match to New Zealand and the next matches should have started today, but referee was in a hurry to allocate the tie to Kiwis.The New Zealand team management immediately flew their two players back to New Zealand to kill any chance of the matches to take place again."

"The ITF should have kept in mind the link between the referee and New Zealand before hiring the guy for such a prestigious event."

"The culprit referee should be banned for life for bringing the game into dispute and either the tie should be continue from same position or the tie should be awarded to Pakistan."

READ THIS FULL UNBIASED ARTICLE HERE.( And I used the word unbiased as tongue in cheek)

Davis Cup Debacle New Zealand defeats Pakistan by Default!

The New Zealand Davis Cup team has been controversially awarded a victory against Pakistan in their Asia/Oceania Group II second round contest at the neutral venue, Pun Hlaing Golf and Country Club in Yangon, Myanmar.During the second match on day one, ITF referee Asitha Attygalla, from Sri Lanka, called the contest off and gave the result to New Zealand as a result of the court being unplayable.There was a hole by the baseline which New Zealand team captain Alistair Hunt said was "about an inch deep and half a foot wide".For Hunt and the team the situation is unusual and quite a challenge in the fact they have won a Davis Cup tie 4-1, but have played only one full match.Earlier, Artem Sitak had lost the first singles 7-5 3-6 6-2 7-5 to Aqeel Khan in a contest played in extreme heat. Hunt said Sitak struggled to get his footing right for serving where the hole was on the court.

"It definitely affected Artem. It was just behind the baseline and he had to change his footing for his serving. I've never seen anything like this in 25 years of Davis Cup. It was dangerous and someone was going to hurt themselves. We weren't the ones complaining. It was totally the referee's decision."

As for the Kiwis and their remaining days in Myanmar, Hunt says it's just a case of keeping quiet. "It's been a very average week of Davis Cup, we're just keeping our heads down. It's not entirely great over here."

The second singles had been fairly close between Dan King-Turner and Asiam Qureshi, with the Pakistan player winning the first set 6-3 and then the New Zealander the second 6-3. Qureshi led 3-0 in the third set when the contest was called off.

Eyes correspondent Mr Iquibal Was-it In has sent this report.

"Goodness Gracious Mr Eye The news is All Bad for Pakistan.Referee Asthma pulled up stumps when Dan King Turner had his big toe caught in the hole in the baseline.Earlier our hero Aqeel Khan ranked 1500 and who cares  in the world defeated Mr Sitak a full time touring pro.Mr Khan really plays as a hobby and to help Pakistan who has even less funding available than the New Zealanders.The small crowd knew somthing was up when Team New Zealand threw an underarm delivery at the Ref.For me I knew Mr Hunt the NZ Davis Cup Captain was worried he had dropped his mobile phone a number of times during the first match.Mr Marcel Marceau was making a lot of signs with his hands and fingers directed at the Ref Mr Asthma.Thank you Mr Eye for pointing out that I was calling the old CEO of New Zealand tennis Mr Stan Walker and I should try to voice any  protest to the Current CEO Mr Steve Johns as he has had experience in lifesaving be it in the water and he may feel sympathy for Pakistan.As you can imagine Mr Eye Groundsman Was-he-a-dick was devestated he made a statement in Pakastani that I can not repeat in english!Number 1 New Zealand Player who thrashed our players last time did not travel to play Mr Statham is not happy with some New Zealand officials and after today I can understand why.Mr Hunt and his team knew there was only one way out of winning this match and that was to appeal to Mr Asthma who delivered the knockout blow!My friend Mr Alifarku said this was not in the spirit of the game,New Zealand said that the ball was doing different things for their players but he pointed out to the High Performance team that Pakistan players hit the same ball on the same court.Obviously the High Performance team could not comprehend this and looked blank when questioned why this freak of nature was just happening to their players.Mr Eye Pakistan tennis and its supporters are protesting this decision , as they offered to repair the small patch in question .This protest will be heard by the ITF. It is with a sadden Heart I make my last report to you Mr Eye but will keep your readers informed on any news regards to our protest.----Iquibal Was-it In

New Zealand Vs Pakistan : Davis Cup

  

New Zealand won't just have Pakistan to deal with in their Davis Cup tie that starts in Myanmar tonight, they'll also have to deal with an appalling court surface that's far below acceptable quality.

This second round Asia Oceania Group 2 tie was supposed to be held in Pakistan, but because of security concerns the International Tennis Federation gave Pakistan the option of moving the tie to a neutral country or allowing New Zealand to host it.

The Pakistan Tennis Federation wanted to play the tie on grass, believing their players had an advantage, so they settled on taking it to the Pun Hlaing Golf & Country Club in Yangon, a venue that has a few tennis courts to keep its rich members happy.

While it's all well and good for the club's midweek ladies to have a wobble around on a Wednesday afternoon, New Zealand Davis Cup captain Alistair Hunt says it will make it tougher to win a tie that the Kiwis should take comfortably.

I as usual have an on the ground reporter Tennis Correspondent Mr Iquibal Was-it In who sends this from the tie.

"Thank you Mr Eye for giving me the chance to report and I have asked only the people in the know who they think will win the tie. I called the CEO of New Zealand Tennis Mr Stan Walker and he said go fly a kite as he had no time to comment as he was busy with the X factor! He said he knows nothing! Thank you Mr Stan Walker!I tried to get a answer from Mr Hunt the Davis Cup Captain and he was too busy on the mobile phone!!Davis Cup Coach Marcel Marceau gave no speech and just replied with his middle finger.I took it that he thought Pakistan would win 1 match.I dont think so Mr Marcel ,I wanted the Pakistan Opinion so I asked the groundsman Was-he-a-dick and I said NZ said the court was not very good! He said that all players have arms and legs ..its the same bounce for everyone.I wanted to be fair so I arranged for some New Zealand sheep to keep the grass in control.I did not know what this meant but then I saw Marcus Daniel and Dan king Turner practising with Mr Sitak carrying some water for the players.I called out 'how you going boys"where's your number 1 player Mr Statham and they told me to go "ride a bike"it was not bike they really said but I cannot say Mr eye what they truley said but i know one was to ask Mr Stan Walker where Mr Statham was. Mr Aisamul Haq Qureshi said no comment he would let his raquet do the talking.Mr Khan said he is the weakest Pakistani player but would do his best for his country. Well Mr Eye I hope all is well and their are lots of positives happening in your country , I have been impressed with the Cricket Team! ---MR IQUIBAL WAS-IT-IN

Update
Just received a text from  Iquibal " Mr Eye! News and its all bad for New Zealand
A. Khan defeated A.Sitak(nz) 7/5 3/6 6/2 7/5