Laura Robson

LordBrownof · Futures level

Laura Robson

indiana · Tennis legend

Been discussed fairly briefly at the end of her last tournament thread :

http://britishtennis.activeboard.com/t43327959/week-24-wta-international-unicef-open-s-hertogenbosch-220000/?page=2&sort=oldestFirst

Clearly much of the reasons for her non advancement in terms of rankings and really good results this year have been because of clear physical problems that have been known about and apparently other issues related to her latest growth as well.

I don't know how things worked ar the academy she was at other than what I read in that thread though the academy certainly has some good players there and seems to have a good reputation. I trust that it isn't some kneejerk reaction to her frustrations this year.

But she did progress well previously with Bok, and I think it is quite possible that she could really benefit from a good dedicated coach working pretty exclusively with her, and as folk have said probably be quite a few candidates. Just getting one that fits for her, the right chemistry.

-- Edited by indiana on Wednesday 15th of June 2011 03:24:51 PM

LordBrownof · Futures level

So neither Heather, Laura or Andy have a coach. EEK!

PaulM · Tennis legend

Few take Patrick seriously anymore as a coach, however the academy facilities are superb. Every player he has gone near in the past 5yrs has gone backwards and sacked him

indiana · Tennis legend

I know some on here would argue re the merits of having a coach, although to me that must hugely vary with the individuals involved and particularly the character of the player.

For younger players, still very much developing their game, such as Heather and more particularly Laura, I do think it is generally really important and that a really good match up could be extremely beneficial.

Maza1987 · Challenger level

ROBSON DEFENDS MOURATOGLOU SPLIT
http://www.sportinglife.com/tennis/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=tennis/11/06/15/TENNIS_Robson_Nightlead.html&BID=553

Not much really, just some pr speak.

-- Edited by Maza1987 on Wednesday 15th of June 2011 07:20:47 PM

philwrig · Hall of fame

PaulM wrote:
Few take Patrick seriously anymore as a coach, however the academy facilities are superb. Every player he has gone near in the past 5yrs has gone backwards and sacked him

I've heard that alot, but didn't he take Pav( Russian girl ) from a top junior into the top 30 senior rankings and Rezai from a top 50 player into the top 20 and also helped Baghdatis successfully in the early stages of his senior career, so he has had some successes. I agree some failures as well.

Maza1987 · Challenger level

and will somebody please tell me how post a hyperlink? lol

tony_orient · ATP qualifying

I didn't realise Laura has been having injury issues related to a growth spurt as well as the more well documented injury problems she has suffered. In the light of the various injury problems her results this year have been quite understandable as it is hard for her to produce consistent performances on court without regular practice.

I hope Laura's decision isn't a knee jerk reaction to recent defeats, and she doesn't seem like the sort of person to make rash decisions but the relationship between coach and player is a very personal one so if she doesn't feel comfortable it is correct to change, even after only a short time.

I still wouldn't be surprised if she causes an upset at Wimbledon though (or is that just being too optimistic).

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

Maza1987 wrote:
and will somebody please tell me how post a hyperlink? lol

The button for it is is the icons above, but is greyed out in Firefox - I don't know about IE. It looks like a figure 8 on its side.

Otherwise the instruction gets difficult as typing out what you need to do turns the words inbetween into a link that goes nowhere! I'll try this: put the first of these in front of the link, and the second one behind:

{url}

{/url}

- but use the square brackets [ and ] not the ones I have used. If I use the correct square brackets the words just disappear smile

PaulM · Tennis legend

Pav sacked him in Sep 09 as she felt she wasn't improving, she's never looked back since.

He's also been sacked by Baggy and De Brito for the same reason.

He lives by the rule that power will beat finesse, has outdated ideas and techniques, and creates carbon copy players with no plan B.

He was the worst choice for Laura. He doesn't work on weaknesses he just wants player to be bigger and hit the ball harder. He won't have done the least bit work on her movement which Bok was trying to improve as a priority.

I didn't read one post on any forum saying it was a good appointment, and have yet to read one saying she's made a mistake sacking him. The general reaction is 'thank god for that!'

-- Edited by PaulM on Wednesday 15th of June 2011 07:16:43 PM

philwrig · Hall of fame

I thought initially he had success with Pav and Rezai has only gone backwards since the split with PM at the end of last year.

philwrig · Hall of fame

tony_orient wrote:
I didn't realise Laura has been having injury issues related to a growth spurt as well as the more well documented injury problems she has suffered. In the light of the various injury problems her results this year have been quite understandable as it is hard for her to produce consistent performances on court without regular practice.

I hope Laura's decision isn't a knee jerk reaction to recent defeats, and she doesn't seem like the sort of person to make rash decisions but the relationship between coach and player is a very personal one so if she doesn't feel comfortable it is correct to change, even after only a short time.

I still wouldn't be surprised if she causes an upset at Wimbledon though (or is that just being too optimistic).

There is no doubt that Laura is capable of an upset, as she showed glimpses of her best form in Notts, and potentially with the shackles off as a result of exiting a negative situation who knows.

PaulM · Tennis legend

philwrig wrote:
I thought initially he had success with Pav and Rezai has only gone backwards since the split with PM at the end of last year.

The key word their is "initially". Pav was successful to start with because, like de Brito, she just blew everyone off court. But as she started to climb, her game was found wanting. She was completely one dimensional and had nothing to go to when it didn't work.

She sacked him, got a new coach, and by the end of the year was making waves with a more rounded, complete game. The Pav we have today is nothing like the Pav Mouratoglou was creating from 07 through to summer 09.

Rezai and de Brito were made and broken by what Mouratoglou believes is the ideal player. Both are where they are now because of what he made them. They have nothing else to offer other than to smack the ball as hard as they can, because that is all he ever teaches.

Whether or not they can find new coaches who can instill good technique, finesse and a more rounded game like Pav did, only time will tell. But if you want to know why Rezai and de Brito broke through for about 6months and then began fading away, it lies with the method, technique and ideas of one man.

philwrig · Hall of fame

I see that Laura has pulled out of the Maureen Connolly Challenge Trophy being held at Eastbourne, Dani Borthwick takes her place. Judy Murray spotted her practising with Sven Groneveld at Wimby earlier today so she is probably going to continue to work with him in the limited time left in the lead up to Wimby.