Hot of the Press

An early start this morning watching the South Canterbury Closed Mens Open Champs played at 7 am between Tyler Begg and Ryan Ammar.Above Pic is Ryan ( left) and Tyler(right).Tyler had too much experience and class to defeat Ammar 6-1 6-0.Yesterday Gabrielle Grady defeated Annabel Ellis 9-2 to wrap up the womens title.I will be attending prize giving tonight at the South Canterbury Finance Tennis Center Which brings to the end a very busy Summer season.

On the Ice- Young Canadian excels on New Zealand Coaching and Tennis Scene

Tyler Begg - On the Ice from steve Dries on Vimeo.

I have titled this post On the Ice and only Tyler Begg will really get the meaning of the title so with that said I have to say that Tyler who has been under my wing with the local coaching scene for Tennis South Canterbury has done himself proud over the past 6 months excelling on the court with players from Mini Tennis to Nationally ranked players, handling all different age groups ,class size and ability.It does not seem that long ago that Tyler arrived from Calgary Canada and will wing his way home this Wednesday.I bet during that time he has learned a lot about the local tennis scene and about New Zealander's themselves.I have been impressed on his ability to Analise the game and transgress the strategy and technique that is needed to improve the players game and outlook with a reason how and why.With two days to go all that had anything to do with Tyler will be sad to see him go.I have also been able to work with Tyler in a capacity as a coach and also coach and player relationship hopefully I have helped in that area and more importantly given him a positive outlook to develop his game and also his coaching experience.What a wonderful opportunity tennis creates and Tyler has reaped the reward of being committed to this sport and I am sure he will take back to Calgary lots of story's and memories of his time here.Tyler you have done yourself proud and have been a great ambassador of Canada and your family.From all of us here in South Canterbury we wish you the best for the future,Its been great working with you as a fellow coach and as a tennis player/coach and as a friend, stay focused set goals ,be committed and most importantly STAY OFF THE ICE!

Mixed Mayhem

Spent a bleak afternoon at the tennis center watching some finals of the South Canterbury closed senior champs.Above pics left to right show Gabrielle Grady serving and partner Tyler Begg-net on their way to a 9-0 victory over the young combination of Sam Lane and Annabel Ellis.In the lady's doubles final Mother and daughter combination Rachel Ellis and Annabel Ellis went down to Gabrielle Grady and Geraldine Prisk 6-3 6-1.Both Grady and Prisk have made successful comebacks after injury's sidelining them for most of the year.Tomorrow the trials and tribulations of the junior closed champs will be held.Over the years I have become accustomed watching the juniors compete and their parents on the sideline battling with expectations.Sometimes its the junior player thinking they have to do well because they are expected too and on the other hand the parents expectations can be somewhat higher than what in reality will transgress during the days play.It wont be a day with out the odd tear and the drop of head as some junior players give way to the pressure of one on one competition.Some juniors wont even make the event tomorrow as the fear of competing is far too great,having too grind out and concentrate for a whole day is often beyond some juniors.Tennis matches and how you deal with them is a little like life itself, put things in the too hard basket and you will find that that will happen in everyday life situations that will confront you and you will take the easiest option most times outside the sporting arena.Drop your head and give the game away to your opponent without a fight and in doing so one wonders how that player will handle far more "life situations" outside the tennis arena in future years.Tennis matches are a continual learning process accept you will win some and lose some, but take what you can from a win and more importantly a loss.

A day In Ash Vegas

I was in Ashburton on Sunday with our South Canterbury Rep team playing Mid Canterbury.Above is a collage of pics thanks to Willy for the photo's missing just one team member Sam Lane ,You won too quickly Sam!And same with you Geraldine.

Nadal back with a bang - And new Shorts!

Rafa Nadal is back in tournament mode and has reached the Semi's of Indian Wells. I have a poll running ,let me know what you think of his new shorts.

Thanks readers!

I have not done a shout out for a while but this month I have had visitors from far and wide , nationally and of course closer to home.Some of the International visitors to my blog this month have been from Ireland,UK,Croatia,Romania,Thailand,India ,Pakistan,
Spain,Argentina,Ecuador,Australia,USA,Canada,Mexico,Egypt.Thanks for dropping by and make sure you keep updated to the news and views and opinions.

Cheap Tennis Coaching- Cheap Coaches

People amaze me in thinking they can literally "pull the wool over one eyes" and think nothing of it.I support a credible coaching organization that can deliver quality courses heading towards a Tennis Coaches qualification in that being a qualified Tennis Coach. It took me over three years to get full accreditation starting with an apprenticeship under a Master Coach and three Levels each with an exam,plus the cost to do this was well over $50.00 ,we had to do a playing test also,now 27 years later,coaching all over the world ,ATP,ITF and National Champions being moulded from my coaching, constantly updating through special seminars and literature I came across an interesting article on a Local website announcing their tennis club had 4 new qualified coaches.Well sorry any organization that allows people that have done a $50 community coaching course for two hours under a white badge tennis referee and then calls themselves qualified tennis coaches lacks credibility and this needs to be addressed.Since TNZ have implemented the new changes for Tennis Coaches there are indeed a number of High Profile Tennis Coaches not on their list , what is happening the top tennis coaches are saying why bother!How many certified coaches are not bothering?Letting people call themselves qualified tennis coaches is not on, i would suggest some of these so called coaches start with a few lessons themselves ...from a real experienced qualified tennis coach!

A touch of Wimbledon- A Day on the Grass OAMARU

Last Sunday I travelled with eighteen South Cantebury Juniors to Oamaru to play North Otago on their grass courts.Juniors hardly ever experience this surface now and certainly it was a great day out for our juniors.South Canterbury juniors one the Match play convincingly and a different style of shot selection was sometimes the order of the day as the true bounce of a hard court gave way to irregular and low bouncing balls of the grass court.Above is a shot highlights package of the day.

The State Of the Game ----New Zealand Tennis

Well the big news this week was the resignation of Tennis New Zealand CEO Steve Walker.Did it come as a surprise NO! You would of had to of have you head in the sand if you did not see this coming after Walkers family moved back to Australia in January with Walker commuting back across the ditch from Aussie!So the questions must be asked did Walkers rein advance tennis in this country or not, well maybe these questions will soon be answered ,I had one anonymous comment in the past few days of "rats deserting a sinking ship".So it was with interest i read this press release a glowing report and in Mr Walkers words "We've made some great progress in the areas of game development, coaching and peak performance.He also goes on to say ""I would like to think that, beyond my tenure, the sport is now constitutionally, strategically and operationally aligned. Really Mr Walker ? Have you not been updated with the Southern region problems? The article reads like a Tennis New Zealand roadshow stravaganza it points out 1.A new plan for coach education, offering courses and professional development opportunities for aspiring and current coaches at all levels, was introduced, along with a coach registration and certification programme that should improve coaching across New Zealand...hasn't quite met with great support Mr Walker....check the numbers of registered coaches! And didn't the Guy in charge of coaching development also resign his position ,Pete McGraw? No 2 is a real biggie! * The establishment of a development network of 14 people now 'armed' with a set of "tools" and programmes to work with clubs and coaches with which to grow the game.So who are these 14 and are they funded by TNZ to grow the game.....which I have to say needs a lot of water at the moment.No3 Enhancements and improvements to domestic competition opportunities such as Grasshopper Tournaments to Junior Masters and the Money Tournaments around New Zealand.Yep no money to host Futures ,Introduce a ranking system that is only used in New Zealand and don't get me started on Top Dog that has so many inconsistency's juniors don't play in some cases to protect their very valuable Top Dog Ranking. And of course local juniors have risen in ITF rankings by playing themselves in Holiday resorts such as Fiji and New Caledonia!And finally this "Walker has the full support of the TNZ board which acknowledged his contribution to the game in New Zealand" Really??? One board member and a reasonably high profile board member does not hold this view by reports this week. Watch this space , there will be more State of the Game reality checks coming soon . There are some still with their head in the sand lets hope for tennis sake they can surface soon.Read the article here

The State Of Play- Four Corners Report on Aussie Tennis Turmoil

Last Night On ABC TV in Australia was a special report on Tennis Australia and it did not paint a rosy picture.I'm not sure how long the this page stays up but I have provided the link to watch this report online.It has some very interesting interviews and revelations, from a stuttering Todd Woodbridge head of men's tennis in Australia failing to remember the names of the elite 6 boys in the Australian institute of sports program.The link is HERE Its called state of play and also provides extended interviews with Craig Tiley, Lleyton Hewitt and Todd Woodbridge.

Full Circle

Senior Quads have come again I wish I could report my great form for last weekend but alas it was fairly average just playing two doubles, blink and your 25, blink again and your fifty one............enough said.South Canterbury finished a very close second to Southern Lakes winning more rubbers overall for the weekend but losing by a set on a count back on head to head against them.Some old warriors came out to bat for South Canterbury and veterans Rachel Ellis and Lisa Grady made appearances in the Line up as well as Kirsty Grady who hasn't picked up a racket for a couple of years and promising junior Annabel Ellis.Leading the women's was Gabrielle Grady who went through the weekend undefeated.In fact the Ladies team won 6-0 against Lakes 4-2 against Otago and 6-0 against Southland.Tyler Begg led the mens team dropping only one singles in a close match to Top 50 ITF ranked junior Ben McLachlan.Ryan Ammar and Peter Murray both played well and was supported by Guy Slater who finished on a high teaming with Tyler to defeat Southland top doubles combo Van Rooyan and Cuthill.Overall it was a great Team Effort with an outstanding effort from the Ladies.

I have titled this post full circle and its an appropriate title for what I am about to comment on.Tyler Begg around December started to work harder on his game and I have helped him in this aspect, providing technical and motivational support.His commitment to this has been great and its no wonder his game has gone ahead in leaps and bounds.In December he lost to Oliver Cuthill in a close match but straight sets, this weekend he beat Oliver 6-3 6-2 completely out playing Cuthill in all area's from game plan to technical aspects.Its no secret I put a lot of time in developing Cuthills game also.So this match for me was a match of interest, the first and foremost was to see how Tyler had Developed from December and also to see where Oliver is and the result proved what I had already assumed.Tyler's form had the passion and work ethics that is required to play at a high level....and from the other perspective disappointing to watch a player you have worked with for a considerable amount of time going backwards.I have always said matches are an indication to where you are with your game, its no wonder some players do a lot of hitting rather than matches because in hitting you can be oblivious to your true form.My advice to Juniors and players get a lot of Match play under your belt .ITS IMPORTANT!