Good athletes make good tennis players

Iam constantly reminded that many young adults who once played tennis are doing well in other sports.

These young adults were often children I worked with on a tennis court, either as junior interclub players or junior Manawatu¯ representatives.

That many of these former tennis players have gone on to do well in their chosen sport proves to me that exceptional athletes often make good tennis players. Having been a professional coach for many years, it comes as no surprise.

Tennis transcends and encompasses many physical and mental requirements of other elite-level disciplines. Many of my top students over the years have been New Zealand hockey players, representative rugby players, national-level swimmers, triathletes, dancers and gymnasts.

The overwhelming crossover has been hockey players. It makes a lot of sense.

Hockey is a sport where movement, balance and striking or controlling a ball with a piece of equipment securely fastened in your hands is crucial for success. Many similar attributes required in tennis are needed in hockey. These are often the skills most obvious when comparing elite-level tennis players against the rest.

Another crossover sport is football. Early in my tennis coaching career I was fortunate enough to spend a day with former Argentinian Davis Cup tennis coach, Fernando Segal, who explained to a group of us how much he believed good footballing nations would often be considered strong tennis playing nations as well.

The point Segal made is how essential it is to be able to move well in a sport such as tennis, where getting into position to strike a ball is higher on the priority list than how you strike the ball in the first place.

I have often said to my students over the years: ‘‘You may have the most incredible forehand ground stroke in the world, but that means very little if you cannot get to the ball properly to use it.’’

Good footballers are normally pretty good on their feet, and one of my most promising junior students from a decade ago proved that.

Now my colleague in the real estate office, Gorgi van Lienen was a promising junior tennis student of mine and could have gone on to achieve impressive results on the tennis scene.

Her possible scholarship to the United States for tennis would eventually become a scholarship for football, as she decided to pursue her football career at the tender age of 13.

Many tennis coaches may have been disappointed by this decision, however, I was thrilled van Lienen had committed herself to a sport she was passionate about and that her decision led to success.

It is early days still for van Lienen and, in recent discussions, the hope of attaining professional football playing status is still within reach, and an ultimate goal for her.

Not surprisingly there are other examples of dual athletes at the top level of tennis. One of the most incredible stories in this regard is that of Wimbledon champion and world No 1 women’s tennis player Ashleigh Barty, who in 2014 took a break from tennis and played professional cricket instead.

Barty played for the Brisbane Heat in the Australian Women’s Big Bash League and then at the age of 19 was made the coach of Australia’s under-15 women’s cricket team.