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By John Kaponi Editor-in-Chief London Daily News
On the day that "Team GB" faces the mighty Turks in a Davis Cup tie in Eastbourne, it is time we laid bare some of the truths behind the failures of British tennis. The editor-in-chief of The London Daily News argues that there is no tennis culture in the UK, and little prospect of one ever emerging, when during Wimbledon fortnight he was evicted from public tennis courts for coaching his 4 year old daughter. As many of the readers of The London Daily News know I am a supporter of tennis in the UK and have been coaching my daughter and her friends for several years at our local tennis club. In the cold and wet weather of January you can normally find me practicing with my daughter any of my other young players in the slim hope that one day they all push on and become strong tennis players nationally or beyond. Its a labour of love and I am deeply committed to the sport, but the truth of the massive problems facing British tennis should be laid bare.
Firstly the constant circling on the LTA each time we flop at Wimbledon is not in my opinion fair. Ultimately the LTA has the responsibility to carry the can when things go wrong, but who is on the tennis court playing matches? The LTA or the tennis player? No, the problem is not here. There is no tennis culture in the UK, and it does not look like there ever will be. Only last week my daughter and I were evicted from public tennis courts, by the "management" because I was considered to be coaching, and this was not allowed. The "manager" in his own words said: "I have five coaches here, you look a bit a good and may have people asking you to coach them and I don't want that". Surely if you are not able to practice with you children on public tennis courts, then where exactly are families from less advantaged backgrounds supposed to go and play tennis? The tennis courts in question recently received a grant from the Tennis Foundation to the tune of £300,000 so that they would "promote grass roots tennis". The tennis courts in question which have received public money stand idle on most days, with negligible use, when you would have thought during and after Wimbledon people would be queuing up to use them.
So without a tennis culture to sustain the interest in tennis in the winter months, and stupid policies that deter people using public tennis courts, you have already a mountain of problems in place.
The other huge problem in the UK is this attitude that children should be "good at everything" at the expense of specialising at a sport early on. When you have sports scientists telling you that for an athlete of any sport to achieve the highest echelons in a sport at least 10,000 hours of practice must have been invested, that tells you how hard a task you face. There are not enough parents out there prepared or able to go on a tennis court and practice 3-4 times a week with their children. Even at "developed" tennis clubs in London the level of tennis at the critical stages of tennis ie 8-10 years still needs a lot more work, but the LTA here seem to be investing a lot more time and resources into improving this. The Spanish and Russians promote more emphasis on racket control and swing movements at an early age, whilst the UK model seems to be a lot more on developing the mini-tennis game which helps young children rally easier and get to grips with the fundamentals of tennis using soft balls and smaller rackets.
Ahead of the "crunch" David cup tie between Team GB and Turkey, if there is a shock victory for the British, this should not be greeted by any celebration or fanfare, but a calm assessment of why tennis in this country has so under achieved, consistently.
As for my little tennis players, we are growing in numbers, and some of them are off to be coached in Florida next year, and we hope to see some great things from them. If you are truly committed to tennis, no obstacle is too great, no official will stand in your way to achieve your goal, and I can honestly say I love every minute I am on a tennis court especially when either my daughter or her friends hit a ferocious forehand or volley at me! Richard Williams the father of Venus and Serena spoke to my daughter and I this year at Wimbledon and gave some wise advice, "you want to know how to make a champion, its all about hard work, it’s that simple!"
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