I’m down in Florida for a family reunion and got lucky to stumbled across a couple of good junior players at the Bayfront Park courts in Longboat Key. Two Austrian boys, Niko and Yannick, coached by Wolfgang. Yannick is 11 and playing in the Orange Bowl under 12s next week. I’m surprised that he can hit equal with me, very steady from the baseline and can play an all court game. He is deadly with the forehand on the run, his two-handed backhand is solid but his slice needs work. He can volley too and I get stunned a few times with his quickness at net and ability to make volley winners. He’s confident and serious but has a friendly demeanor though the language barrier prevents us from communicating.
I suggest to Wolfgang that he should have Yannick practice serve and volley, not so much to become a serve and volleyer but more to add another skill to his overall arsenal. I think it adds confidence to a young player’s game to know that he can serve and volley and it feels great when you can do it. It feels fantastic to uncork a passing shot winner but to serve and volley and win the point in two touches is the ultimate feeling in tennis. All young players should work on serve and volley in drills once a week. It will add versatility to a player’s hands and make them more comfortable attacking the net when it’s time.
Lefty Niko is smaller and has a game that resembles a young Rafa. But he doesn’t quite bend and get behind all the balls well enough yet. In other words his footwork and footspeed need to sharpen and become stronger, but he’s young and small yet. But he has a nice foundation. About an our into our hit, Belgium’s Fed Cup player Tamaryn Hendler enters the courts with her father, coaches Ellis Ferreira and John Eagleton. The latter two have an academy a mile up the road at Cedars but it has no hard courts and Hendler needs to work on hard courts. Ferreira won two slam titles in doubles, and you can tell in five seconds he was an elite professional player. His lefty forehand, the way he flows into it on the run and puts his body weight behind the shot looks like instructional video, it’s something you never see on a public court.
They start off by feeding slow balls from a step away and Hendler bashes winners cross court. She is top 200 in the world and her power looks Sharapova-esque. I can overhear Ferreira talking about how we love to play tennis and when on the court in match situations, we love it, we love being there, seemingly trying to condition her mentally to embrace the battle. I also hear he quizzes Hendler on what Nadal’s strength is – his physicality I think he says.
Wolfgang has me and Yannick doing a drill where we trade backhands and when he goes up the line to my forehand, then we play the point out. Then we do a drill where he attacks my backhand – I can only hit backhands anywhere on the court but he can hit any shot – all to my backhand. When he comes to the net I can then hit any shot and we play the point out. Again he stuns me many times with some nifty volleys.
The kids both work very hard on court, they are very good students and never complain. After a break they go to the Cedars location of the Academy and hit again at 3 on clay with Wolfgang’s daughter Lena who is going to be seeded in the Orange Bowl 14s. Last year Lena lost in the second round to the eventual winner, Brooke Austin, I think her name was.
I stop by the complex to get my racquets strung and meet a coach there named Robby Samul who is from Argentina and is friends with the great Vilas. He shares some great Vilas stories about his early rugby training – hence his powerful untennis-like physique and other insights. He also tells me about a quote in the media before the Davis Cup final of Gaudio saying Boca Juniors has a better chance of winning than Argentina in Spain, which was controversial because of it’s negativity. I think to myself that Gaudio’s comments illustrate that the Argentine team is just not as united as Spain, but then again, maybe it was simply impossible for Argentina to upset Spain and Rafa in Seville. But then again, If Delpo somehow beats Ferrer in five on Friday, it would have come down to Nalbandian or Monaco vs. Ferrer.
Samul also has some Rios stories from his days at Bollettieri and it’s just a great time meeting and talking. He also sets me up with a local player who is a perfect foil for me because he’s 4.5-5.0 and a tennis addict. So stay tuned for details about that match…
No tags
Dan Markowitz · December 10, 2011 at 12:41 pm
Scoop,
You dog. You’re down there hitting and socializing in warm Florida and I’m about to start my day in chilly New York (probably in the 30’s right now this morning), going outside to teach a 90-minute lesson with a 14-year-old who’s hands freeze in 50-degree weather and then conduct a 3.5 hour posture clinic at my Bikram Yoga studio.
On Thursday, I got to go under the knife again. You remember when I tore my right rotator cuff and we played lefty tennis. Well, now my left one is torn, along with my labrum, as the result of a surfing accident. The board flew up in the air when a big wave hit it last month when I was surfing in Rhode Island and whacked me in the shoulder. At least, it’s my left arm.
You going to be in Delray? Roddick and Fish will as well as Bryan Bros? Enjoy the sun, my friend.
Scoop Malinowski · December 10, 2011 at 9:15 pm
Wow, talk about tough luck, at least it wasn’t your right shoulder. Hope you at least caught some good waves. Newport actually has waves? Mostly likely will be in Delray, probably Isner, Blake, Q-Ball, DY, Harrison too.
Harold · December 11, 2011 at 2:10 am
Sorry to hear about your upcoming surgery Dan, get well soon.
I’m in Miami until Wed(got here last Monday) and have been hitting with an old friend at one of the Trump buildings in Sunny Isle. Court is carpet with sand. Good bounce, takes spin, and easy on the body
Dan Markowitz · December 11, 2011 at 11:47 am
Thanks, Harold. It’s a bummer. Hard to sleep at night with the pain which feels like my arm might break off at times. Solace will be I’ll be able to hit with left arm in sling, but have to be careful as can’t move so well that way.
Playing/teaching yesterday outdoors in New York, 43 degrees, I felt alright, but my lesson, a 14-year-old was freezing. His hands turned red and I had to tell him about fifty times to take his hands out of his pockets. Still, pretty good when you can play tennis outdoors on December 10th in New York.
I taught a lesson on a private court in Connecticut a couple of weeks ago on an artificial grass court which I liked very much. I mean I wasn’t cracking the ball on it, but the bounce was nice and readable most of the time. It was much easier on the body. Playing on a hard court, outdoors in the winter, is no picnic.
Scoop Malinowski · December 11, 2011 at 3:24 pm
Dan this will sound nuts but Renaldo Snipes the former heavyweight title challenger, who is a homeopathic semi expert says to wrap a brown paper bag doused in Apple Cider Vinegar around your injured shoulder, there are healing properties in this. He has told me several natural home remedies and they have worked. My shoulder is much better this winter than last winter after slight tearing something in there. I used the ACV wraps and it definitely helped. ACV has many beneficial qualities, also says to drink it mixed with water (2 spoons or so) and for skin for sunburn. Good luck with it. PS Maybe time to hang up that surf board. Rough sport.
Dan Markowitz · December 11, 2011 at 5:52 pm
I actually do drink every morning ACV with some lemon and luke warm water. I’ll try the ACV wraps. Thanks for mentioning to me again because I remember we talked about this a while back.
I don’t know about getting surgery, but these orthopedic doctors tell me that the only way to strengthen shoulder is to get the tear repaired. It’s called a full tear and not a partial one, but it’s less than a half a centimeter wide. When I tore the right rotator cuff, I had a 4 cm tear.
My shoulder, even after the surgery, has never felt as strong. I used to be able to do 15 pull up’s, now I’m lucky to do 4. I’m not much of a surfer. I was ok in the morning when the waves were mellow, but when we went back in the afternoon, the ocean got rough up in Naragansett, and these waves were way too big for me to control my board.
Scoop Malinowski · December 12, 2011 at 2:02 pm
It seems to work. My shoulder was bad off and on for eight months after the initial injury. It’s much better now, no surgery, but there is a loss of range of motion and certain shots it still hurts. But it’s worth a shot to try the ACV wraps for a few days weeks, might have to wrap it in plastic too and sleep in it, Dr. Snipes recommended that. Sharapova had some shoulder issues and I heard her say that she does not have the same range of motion now, and she is still in her mid 20s when the body is much younger and better able to heal. Hope it helps and you make a full recovery…Surfing is a sport that seems cooler to watch than actually do, recently saw D-town and Z boys the skateboarding/surfing documentary, what a great movie how surfing inspired that whole skateboarding craze in the 1970’s because those kids got so good, so smooth and talented, kind of like how Federer plays tennis, those kids skated like live art. And skateboarding spread all over the country, remember it was kind of popular in NJ one of the kids in our nhood was all into that with his boards and wheels and trucks and subscribing to skateboarder magazine.
Dan Markowitz · December 12, 2011 at 11:41 pm
Great movie, Scoop. I tried the ACV wrap today and it fell pretty good afterward.
Great ESPN doc on the other night called “The Marinovich Project.” All about how Marv Marinovich micro-parented his son, Todd, to become the greatest quarterback ever. And it almost succeeded except, probably due to the immense pressure put on him at a very young age, Todd took to marijuana (pretty funny scene where he’s playing high school basketball and as he took foul shots, the home crowd students’ chanted, “Marijuana-vich.”), then cocaine and finally heroin. Wiped out his football career, but he actually is a brilliant visual artist now (http://toddmarinovich.com/).
Scoop Malinowski · December 13, 2011 at 12:54 am
Keep massaging it into the shoulder too, twice a day, the smell actually goes away, it’s not that bad. Gotta see that on Marinovich, that’s hilarious scene out of the basketball game, straight out of Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times At Ridgemont High. Father probably put a bit too much pressure on him, good to see he found his calling anyway. That is some really fine work by Todd Marinovich, he is definitely very talented.
jeanius · December 13, 2011 at 3:51 pm
Speaking of Longboat Key, there is a terrific public tennis center there, the Longboat Key Public Tennis Center, which I discovered on my last trip to Sarasota in April. I wish I had known about it long before then (found it in the Yellow Pages!). It looks like an upscale club and has 10 clay courts. You don’t have to be a member and court time is cheap-$12 for an hour and a half. They also have a ball machine. There are also seasonal memberships, so snowbirds don’t have to pay for months when they aren’t there. I am usually in Siesta Key for about 10 days at a time, so this is perfect for me. The people at the desk even found players for me. Scoop, are you familiar with this place?
Scoop Malinowski · December 13, 2011 at 4:47 pm
Hi jean; That’s a a really nice facility, they just rebuilt the clubhouse. I pass by there on bike or car but haven’t played there in about five years. Mostly play at Payne Park in the main part of Sarasota, and at different spots in Bradenton, Holmes Beach, Lakewood Ranch and of course those Bayfront Park courts about a mile north of the Longboat tennis center you mention.
Scoop Malinowski · December 20, 2011 at 1:22 am
Update: Yannick DiGiacomo lost first round in the boys 12s at Orange Bowl and Wolfgang’s daughter Lena lost in the second round of the girls 14s.