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Look at the rest of the British players
Either
(1) on a comfortable diets of funding and wild cards to allow them to go out in the second round every year
like Ward, Baker and all the girls that have been imported from Laos, ukraine, Australia etc
(2) Don't even have compete in the singles, completely wave the white flag and jump down to the 'third division' level of the doubles, your Marrays and your Jamies etc
Instead all the ire gets thrown at the one guy who puts in the work, that has the shots, that lives and breathes and always demands more from himself
Odd...
Either
(1) on a comfortable diets of funding and wild cards to allow them to go out in the second round every year
like Ward, Baker and all the girls that have been imported from Laos, ukraine, Australia etc
(2) Don't even have compete in the singles, completely wave the white flag and jump down to the 'third division' level of the doubles, your Marrays and your Jamies etc
Instead all the ire gets thrown at the one guy who puts in the work, that has the shots, that lives and breathes and always demands more from himself
Odd...
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English tennis is. Gravy train for upper class twats to twaddle along until mummy and daddy trust fund expires
According to an interview, which I think may have been on Talk Sport, the LTA is awash with money. If they want to succeed, try setting up even just basic lessons to all and sundry and work out which may have potential from there. In fact, I'm tempted to set up my own academy if the LTA has that much money. Doubt they'll even notice me like.
It's just hard to believe they can't drum up at least one chinless wonder from the home counties who's even mildly competitive, even to Jeremy Bates / Chris bailey levels
or produce a single female player that can hold a racket the right way round, without having to hook them in from Guernsey or some other such p1sh
A bit of creativity and lateral thinking wouldn't go amiss, to maybe get the kids inspired and excited by what is an incredibly lucrative and thrilling sport
or produce a single female player that can hold a racket the right way round, without having to hook them in from Guernsey or some other such p1sh
A bit of creativity and lateral thinking wouldn't go amiss, to maybe get the kids inspired and excited by what is an incredibly lucrative and thrilling sport
Chris bailey looks like a chinless wonder Tim nice but dim
Murray was on a 'diet of funding' from the LTA until he rejected them having got to where he wanted to get to.
Import some South African's like you do for cricket. Problem solved.
British frustration is not aimed at Murray. Those of us who will not support Murray aren't frustrated by him. Firstly, they are not represented by him if they are English and secondly, even if they are, they find him a poor standard bearer as a petulant unpleasant selfish young man.
We acknowledge that he is good at tennis.
We acknowledge that he is good at tennis.
True fans of the sport shouldn't care what patch of land someone is from, they just want to see great tennis.
Darlo Bantam 09 Jul 12 17:41
According to an interview, which I think may have been on Talk Sport, the LTA is awash with money. If they want to succeed, try setting up even just basic lessons to all and sundry and work out which may have potential from there. In fact, I'm tempted to set up my own academy if the LTA has that much money. Doubt they'll even notice me like.
you're correct, although less correct than you used to be.
i seem to remember that in 2009 the ratio of investment in grass roots and "supporting our talent" was almost at 50:50
it was at about 2:1 in 2011 which is approaching something more sensible.
According to an interview, which I think may have been on Talk Sport, the LTA is awash with money. If they want to succeed, try setting up even just basic lessons to all and sundry and work out which may have potential from there. In fact, I'm tempted to set up my own academy if the LTA has that much money. Doubt they'll even notice me like.
you're correct, although less correct than you used to be.
i seem to remember that in 2009 the ratio of investment in grass roots and "supporting our talent" was almost at 50:50
it was at about 2:1 in 2011 which is approaching something more sensible.
grass roots is largely pointless until they sort the club situation out
generally speaking 'club culture' is awful in the uk, from social to performance, to coaching, to court surfaces, to members, to cost, to competition etc.
what's the point in throwing money at initiatives like 'tennis for free', a scheme i have first hand coaching experience in. kids turn up from all walks of life, play for free on parks, get involved. great, brilliant etc blah blah blah.
then what happens next?
either they are not directed towards a club which is the next logical step and so drop out/fizzle out of the game or just lose interest. the minority join a club and from my experience it was very few. the majority of that minority who do the latter are then put off by the 'club culture' that has existed for decades. if you want to know what i mean by club culture read an excellent but lengthy thesis by robert lake (2010).
these clubs are elitist, expensive, coaching is often poor, cliquey, and court surfaces are poor for junior development. so most drop out at this stage. hence the numbers we had on some grass roots initiative are largely irrelevant anyway. (of course not all clubs are like that).
it's the most frustrating aspect of the 'british tennis debate'. when i hear a muppet like pat cash bring out the cliche in an annoyed tone of voice, 'well why dont they invest more in grass-roots' i just get annoyed because it's a really clueless and thoughtless statement.
the clubs have to be disbanded, as petchey has suggested. otherwise in the long-term nothing will change. it's one of the fundamental differences between germany, france, spain and us.
and you can't point all the blame at the LTA considering a lot of these clubs are voluntary run so they can do what the hell they like.
generally speaking 'club culture' is awful in the uk, from social to performance, to coaching, to court surfaces, to members, to cost, to competition etc.
what's the point in throwing money at initiatives like 'tennis for free', a scheme i have first hand coaching experience in. kids turn up from all walks of life, play for free on parks, get involved. great, brilliant etc blah blah blah.
then what happens next?
either they are not directed towards a club which is the next logical step and so drop out/fizzle out of the game or just lose interest. the minority join a club and from my experience it was very few. the majority of that minority who do the latter are then put off by the 'club culture' that has existed for decades. if you want to know what i mean by club culture read an excellent but lengthy thesis by robert lake (2010).
these clubs are elitist, expensive, coaching is often poor, cliquey, and court surfaces are poor for junior development. so most drop out at this stage. hence the numbers we had on some grass roots initiative are largely irrelevant anyway. (of course not all clubs are like that).
it's the most frustrating aspect of the 'british tennis debate'. when i hear a muppet like pat cash bring out the cliche in an annoyed tone of voice, 'well why dont they invest more in grass-roots' i just get annoyed because it's a really clueless and thoughtless statement.
the clubs have to be disbanded, as petchey has suggested. otherwise in the long-term nothing will change. it's one of the fundamental differences between germany, france, spain and us.
and you can't point all the blame at the LTA considering a lot of these clubs are voluntary run so they can do what the hell they like.
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