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NICK'S CORNER
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| Nadal's message: "I
am the best!"
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Rafael Nadal may
not have actually said these exact
words, but his on-court performance at the French
Open and his epic win over Federer in the finals of Wimbledon certainly
communicated this message. Nadal made Federer actually look human in
Paris, but I'm sure Roger doesn't feel that bad because on
clay Nadal can pretty much make everyone appear mortal! It's
hard to say if Nadal is
the best clay-courter ever, but one
thing is for certain, he is definitely one of best
clay players the tennis world has seen in a very long
time.
Right after Nadal won the
French Open, he did something he has never
done before; he won a grass-court title. Playing
at the famous London/Queen's Club
tournament (a.k.a. "Wimbledon"), Nadal beat
Kei Nishikori, Ivo Karlovic, Andy
Roddick, and Novak Djokovic in successive
rounds to capture his fifth title
of 2008. After Wimbledon, he had a
56-7 record on the year and had a 24-match
winning streak. Needless to say, he is playing
the best tennis of his young
career.
While Nadal has never been
ranked #1 in the world, he has also never been closer
to that coveted spot then he is
right now. One has to feel a little
sympathy for Nadal, as he has consistently played at an amazingly high level and has
never been able to crack that top spot. I guess
that gives us one more reason to think about just
how good Federer really is.
Food for thought...what if there were
no Roger Federer? Would we then consider Nadal
as one of the best players in the history of
the game? Just think, Nadal has been to
the finals of Wimbledon the last three years; he is
unbeatable on clay; and his hard court game
is getting better and better every year. It is
impossible to answer this question with any real
certainty, but just thinking about what could have
been and what still might be for Nadal
makes my head spin!
The biggest question mark
surrounding Nadal will be, can he
stay healthy? His style of play and
his "go for every point" competitiveness can be tough on a body.
Last year his
knees started to show some wear, probably
due to the significant number of matches that he
played in a short amount of time. I
also think that by the end of the year
Nadal was just generally tired and didn't appear to be his
normal self. The tennis season is a long and very
physically-demanding one. Players today must work hard to protect and nurture their bodies. It will
be interesting to see which tournaments he chooses to
play throughout the rest of 2008. If
I was working with him, I would suggest that he trim
down his schedule a bit so that he can
stay in tip-top shape, and hopefully lengthen his career.
One thing is for certain, no matter where he plays
or what surface it is on, as long as he stays
injury-free, Nadal will remain a threat to all!
Note: Players in bold are
either currently training with Nick, or have
trained with him in the past.
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MEMBER OF THE MONTH
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| Player Bio
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| Name:
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Sophia Pelaez
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| Age:
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10
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| Country:
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United
States
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| Favorite Surface:
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Hard
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| Favors:
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Left-handed
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| Game Style:
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Baseliner
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| Age Started Playing:
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3 years old
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| If I could work with
Nick I would like to... work on
serve and
strategies for left-handed players like me!
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Nick's Thoughts:
"Sophia, I'm glad
to see you are passionate about improving your game! I love
working with Lefties (in fact, I married one!)
because they are able to challenge their opponents in unique
ways!
It
is important to first understand the advantages
a Lefty has over a Righty. According
to scientists, Lefties are thought to
process information using "visual simultaneous"
in which several pieces of information can
be processed at the same
time. Righties, on the other hand,
(no pun intended) process information in a
more "linear sequential" way, which basically
means we Righties need to complete one task
before we can start on the next. Lefties,
however, are capable and are comfortable
with switching back and forth
between tasks. The result is that
Lefties tend to be better
at "multi-tasking" than Righties (a
point of which my wife quite
frequently reminds
me).
An
additional positive side
effect of Lefties' unique ability to
multi-task is the resulting increase in creative
thinking. Righties process
information using "analysis", i.e. solving
a problem by breaking it
down into pieces and then
analyzing each piece one at a time. By
contrast, Lefties process information using
"synthesis", which is the method of solving a
problem by looking at the whole and looking
for similar patterns to help them come up
with a solution.
What
this means is that a Lefty typically has an
advantage on the tennis court (and in many
other sports) in using their unique
processing talents to analyze their
opponents play and to see the current game as
a whole instead of its individual pieces. Lefties use this information
to, in essence, "create" their next shot and can more
easily anticipate their opponents return.
Another advantage on Lefties is their
rarity. Sources vary, but it appears
only about 13% to 18% of the population is
left-handed. That means Righties
generally do not get the same amount
of court time practicing
against Lefties. For
example, a Lefty's slice serve will break
to a right-handed player's backhand. There is
nothing special about this, except that Righties
don't see this spin everyday. Therefore, this
serve becomes difficult to return and
becomes an effective weapon for a left-handed server. Many of
the top left-handed players in the world use the
serve to get themselves out of sticky situations and
to win big
points.
When serving, I
would recommend that you hit with more spin,
using predominately slices and kick serves. Use
the flat serve sparingly, and only to keep the
opponent guessing. The reason for this is that a
flat serve is the same whether it comes from a
right-handed player or a left-handed player.
Slice and kick serves are much harder for a
Righty to handle, so use them whenever possible.
On
the women's tour, the current highest ranked
Lefty is Swiss veteran, Patty
Schnyder. She doesn't have the biggest of
serves, but it is very effective.
Patty's ability to place her serve all
around the box keeps her opponents off
guard. If you get a chance, make sure
you watch her serve because she can
give you a great example of an excellent
left-handed player!"
Sophia, consider
being born a Lefty a blessing! Use all of your natural, left-handed abilities to
your advantage both on the court and
off!
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TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
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Newport
(ATP)
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7/7-7/13
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Stanford (WTA)
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7/14-7/20
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Indianapolis(ATP)
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7/14-7/20
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Toronto (ATP)*
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7/21-7/27
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Montreal (WTA)*
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7/28-8/3
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Cincinnati (ATP)*
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7/28-8/3
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*Masters Series/ Tier
I
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NICK'S TRIVIA
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Who Am I?
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I used to
walk around
the NBTA with my tongue hanging out!
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I consider clay my arch-enemy.
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I used to serve-and-volley all the time.
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I had a
great rivalry with another male player who
trained at the NBTA.
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Nick changed my two-handed
backhand to a one-handed backhand when I was 14 years old.
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I really
enjoyed playing on grass. Wimbledon
rules!
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Look
for the answer in the next "Courtside with Nicky B"
***************************
Last
Month's Answer:
Maria Sharapova
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MONTHLY RANKINGS
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ATP:
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1.
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Roger Federer (SUI)
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2.
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Rafael Nadal (ESP)
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3.
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Novak Djokovic (SRB)
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4.
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Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)
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5.
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David Ferrer (ESP)
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WTA:
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1.
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Ana Ivanovic
(SRB)
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2.
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Jelena
Jankovic (SRB)
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3.
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Maria
Sharapova (RUS)
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4.
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Svetlana
Kuznetsova (RUS)
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5.
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Serena Williams
(USA)
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ITF Jr. Boys:
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1.
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Tsung-Hua
Yang (TPE)
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2.
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Bernard
Tomic (AUS)
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3.
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Ricardas Berankis
(LTU)
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ITF Jr. Girls:
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1.
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Arantxa Rus (NED)
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2.
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Simona Halep (ROU)
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3.
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Melanie Oudin (USA)
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As
of July 17th, 2008
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"ASK NICK" QUESTION OF THE MONTH
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Featured
Question:
I am 12 years old,
small for my age, and can hit the ball well. I
have
trouble handling the power of bigger
and stronger boys my age. What is the best
way for me to match their
power?
-Ronnie
(Juno,
Alaska)
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Nick's
Answer:
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Ronnie, I am happy to hear
that you are not losing heart or shying away
from playing boys that are bigger and stronger than you.
This is a great challenge to overcome. I am
not what you would call a large man myself, but
I make up for it by accepting all challenges, both
on the court and off, with a "bring it
on" attitude.
I
do however feel like you may be on the wrong
track with your strategy. In order to be
competitive and win against power players, you
do not necessarily have to ?match their
power". You must use your own strengths to
neutralize your opponent's power. What do
I mean by that? Many smaller players (like
Jimmy Arias, Olivier Rochus, Fabrice
Santoro, and Jessie Levine
) may not have the physical power
of the bigger guys, but usually they can run
faster, keep more balls in play and have more stamina
and agility than their larger opponents. You
must learn to use these attributes to combat
power.
You can keep your opponent
off balance by using high, deep, heavy balls.
Don't allow power players the opportunity to hit
their big strokes. From back that far
behind the baseline it is difficult to attack
with power, and those that try will normally end
up making a ton of errors. You can also bring
them to the net with some drop shots and short
slices, turning the match into more of a test of
finesse than power. Remember, power
players need a solid foundation in order to hit
their big strokes. So, to diffuse their
main weapon, keep power players moving and off
balance.
When dealing with these types of
players, think outside the box, and use your own
strengths to find a way to win. Trying to play
power with a power player only plays to their
strengths, and keeps them in their comfort zone.
Thanks for the question and best of
luck!
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