McEnroe visits Missouri Valley Offices
Media Contact: Andrew Robinson Communications Coordinator (913) 322-4827 / 888-368-8612 [email protected] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 8, 2014
McEnroe visits Missouri Valley Offices Overland Park, Kan. – Patrick McEnroe, General Manager of USTA Player Development, stopped by the USTA Missouri Valley office on Wednesday to offer some words of support, encouragement and direction to the section’s top teaching pros and coaches. McEnroe oversees all USTA player development programs including the USTA Training Center Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., the USTA Training Center-West in Carson, Calif., and the USTA’s national coaches and coaching program. Among McEnroe’s focus on Wednesday was discussing how the United States’ top young players at the junior level can compete more often and how the USTA hopes to increase its number of world top-100 players. “I think we’re seeing better signs of technique overall nationally from our better kids,” McEnroe said. “There’s so many factors in our ultimate player development goal, which is top-100 players, whether it’s better technique or the toughness or tangibles, and the global nature of the game has changed everything so much that you have to do everything better.” McEnroe said he and his staff are trying to be as much of a resource as possible for the section staff and coaches in the section. “Just as I think it’s really good for them to hear from us, it’s also really helpful and beneficial to hear from them about what the issues that are ongoing for them and the challenges they face.” Some additional thoughts from McEnroe on the state of tennis included: On the improvement of U.S. tennis: “I think we’re doing really well with our women at the highest level. At the men’s side, we’ve got some work to do to get our numbers up but as far as what I’m seeing in the pipeline, yes. We’re still a few years away from the major impact in that area. When you look at the overall numbers in our women and girls, it’s very good, and again I don’t think it’s going to be any one country that is dominating tennis at this point but certainly we look at countries like France and Spain on the men’s side, and try to glean from what they’ve done while also realizing that we’ve done pretty well, too, over the years.” “For us, it’s that effort between us at the USTA and these developmental coaches. I think this has opened a lot of doors to communicate and work better together. The reality I think we all
see is it is hard to make it and therefore we need to pool our talent and coaches, and resources at national and sectionally in a more systematic way. We can understand there’s a lot of ways to skin a cat in order to become a great tennis player but if we can work together more and have a little more of a system while allowing for the individuality of coaches then that’s our best recipe for success.” On Lincoln, Neb. native and top-100 men’s player Jack Sock: “He’s obviously one of our great prospects. And he’s more than a prospect, he’s a top-100 player. He’s right at the top, so now for him, it’s just a question of continuing to develop. He has to recognize his strengths, which are obvious. He has some great acceleration on the forehand, he has a very good serve. He’s a good athlete and now it’s just improving his strengths and defending his weaknesses better. I think he’s on a good trajectory. He’s learning that it becomes all about the details when it gets to that level. There are certain things you can get away with as a junior because he was that much better, but now when you get to playing on the world level, you’ve got to do everything really well.” With Stanislas Wawrinka winning the Australian Open, is this the year that the big four of Roger “Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray begin to crack? “I would guess that you’re going to see one of those big guys holding up the trophy at the end, but that being said, clearly the door has been cracked open a little bit and I think mentally more than anything for the other players, that is a big deal. It’s hard to imagine especially with the way Djokovic has played this year that he’s not going to win of these, obviously his wrist is a bit of an issue at the moment. Federer has had an amazing year, Nadal I expect will start to come around. Those are still the huge favorites but for Stan to win one certainly sends a message to the rest of the guys.” ### The USTA Missouri Valley is a not-for-profit organization covering a five-state region of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and parts of Illinois. As one of the 17 sections of the USTA, the USTA Missouri Valley has more than 23,000 individual members and approximately 400 organizational members. The USTA Missouri Valley Section offers recreational and competitive tennis for all ages and abilities. The mission of the USTA is to “Promote and develop the growth of tennis.”
McEnroe visits Missouri Valley Offices Overland Park, Kan. – Patrick McEnroe, General Manager of USTA Player Development, stopped by the USTA Missouri Valley office on Wednesday to offer some words of support, encouragement and direction to the section’s top teaching pros and coaches. McEnroe oversees all USTA player development programs including the USTA Training Center Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., the USTA Training Center-West in Carson, Calif., and the USTA’s national coaches and coaching program. Among McEnroe’s focus on Wednesday was discussing how the United States’ top young players at the junior level can compete more often and how the USTA hopes to increase its number of world top-100 players. “I think we’re seeing better signs of technique overall nationally from our better kids,” McEnroe said. “There’s so many factors in our ultimate player development goal, which is top-100 players, whether it’s better technique or the toughness or tangibles, and the global nature of the game has changed everything so much that you have to do everything better.” McEnroe said he and his staff are trying to be as much of a resource as possible for the section staff and coaches in the section. “Just as I think it’s really good for them to hear from us, it’s also really helpful and beneficial to hear from them about what the issues that are ongoing for them and the challenges they face.” Some additional thoughts from McEnroe on the state of tennis included: On the improvement of U.S. tennis: “I think we’re doing really well with our women at the highest level. At the men’s side, we’ve got some work to do to get our numbers up but as far as what I’m seeing in the pipeline, yes. We’re still a few years away from the major impact in that area. When you look at the overall numbers in our women and girls, it’s very good, and again I don’t think it’s going to be any one country that is dominating tennis at this point but certainly we look at countries like France and Spain on the men’s side, and try to glean from what they’ve done while also realizing that we’ve done pretty well, too, over the years.” “For us, it’s that effort between us at the USTA and these developmental coaches. I think this has opened a lot of doors to communicate and work better together. The reality I think we all
see is it is hard to make it and therefore we need to pool our talent and coaches, and resources at national and sectionally in a more systematic way. We can understand there’s a lot of ways to skin a cat in order to become a great tennis player but if we can work together more and have a little more of a system while allowing for the individuality of coaches then that’s our best recipe for success.” On Lincoln, Neb. native and top-100 men’s player Jack Sock: “He’s obviously one of our great prospects. And he’s more than a prospect, he’s a top-100 player. He’s right at the top, so now for him, it’s just a question of continuing to develop. He has to recognize his strengths, which are obvious. He has some great acceleration on the forehand, he has a very good serve. He’s a good athlete and now it’s just improving his strengths and defending his weaknesses better. I think he’s on a good trajectory. He’s learning that it becomes all about the details when it gets to that level. There are certain things you can get away with as a junior because he was that much better, but now when you get to playing on the world level, you’ve got to do everything really well.” With Stanislas Wawrinka winning the Australian Open, is this the year that the big four of Roger “Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray begin to crack? “I would guess that you’re going to see one of those big guys holding up the trophy at the end, but that being said, clearly the door has been cracked open a little bit and I think mentally more than anything for the other players, that is a big deal. It’s hard to imagine especially with the way Djokovic has played this year that he’s not going to win of these, obviously his wrist is a bit of an issue at the moment. Federer has had an amazing year, Nadal I expect will start to come around. Those are still the huge favorites but for Stan to win one certainly sends a message to the rest of the guys.” ### The USTA Missouri Valley is a not-for-profit organization covering a five-state region of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and parts of Illinois. As one of the 17 sections of the USTA, the USTA Missouri Valley has more than 23,000 individual members and approximately 400 organizational members. The USTA Missouri Valley Section offers recreational and competitive tennis for all ages and abilities. The mission of the USTA is to “Promote and develop the growth of tennis.”
