Why is the standard of British tennis so poor?

Question

what should we do to encourage more juniors to take up tennis

Answer 1

its also more of a geographical issue...britain is not exactly an ideal place to train for tennis on a full time all year round basis...if you notice many top players are based in warmer climes like florida or california..and since this takes a lot of resources the pool available for a talent search is extremely limited...so given these limitations british tennis has not done too bad with the current crop consisting of henman and murray

Answer 2

There is a lack of cheap facilities for most sports in the UK with perhaps the exception of football. There are two tennis clubs where I live and both cost nearly £10/hour to hire a court. Not that much but if you are 14 and wanting to be a pro tennis player you will be looking to put in a good 8-16 hours a week at least. That all adds up.

I think the schools could do more to promote sports after school and at week ends. Every High School has a PE department which will be equiped for pretty much anything. Why not utilise these more? Also, the schools and the proffesional sports organisations should work more closely together to develop talent There are probably lots of exceptional youngsters who never get noticed.

The Aussies seem to have the right idea and thy excel at pretty much every sport nowadays.

Answer 3

Actually it is not that poor. Take for an example Tim Henman whilst he has never won a Wimbledon title if you look back at the rest of his achievements he has done very well. It is a shame that his achievements are not recognised by the British public

Tennis was once perceived as a sport for the upper classes, this is not the case now. It needs for someone like Tim to encourage youngersters into the game and to stick with it.

We need to teach our up and coming tennis players to have more staying power and termination. And of course the right sort weather does help. Look how Andy Murray's game has improved since he moved abroad to train.

As far as encouraging our juniors to take up tennis part of the problem is funding and the lack of government interest in sports in general in this country is appalling. But they expect great things from our sports men and women when it's competition time.

My son has just competed as an amateur in the Austrian Ironman 2006 competition and he says that the UK is the only country that does not get the kind of support that other Amateur competitors get from their countries.

Answer 4

It is a combination of many things. Tennis has a sort of stuffy elitist reputation the world over, but especially in Britain. Clubs with all-white dress codes and wine and cheese nights may be fine for retired upper-crust individuals, but will do little to attract younger players, who want a more relaxed fun atmosphere. The climate is also a problem. Summer is short and rain is often a problem, but indoor courts are few and far between, and outlandishly expensive to boot. In order to improve the standard of play, it has to be made easier to play. The coaching is sub-standard too. British players are taught the basics but little more. Most British pros end up being quite good all-round, but having no real weapons. In the US, for example, the coaching is built more around a player's strengths. If a player has a huge serve and forehand, but little variety, their coaching is based around enhancing those strengths, not just trying to even everything out. If Britain is to, once again, join the ranks of tennis' elite efforts must be made to address these problems.

Answer 5

I really would agree with most things people have said in these answers but my own personal view is that lack of indoor courts as such are not a problem but the amount of all weather astro-turf courts is too much! The advantage of clubs to install these courts is play all year round with low maintainance but these courts are not what up and coming players should be using! Grass courts are good if the maintaince of standars is kept but some good hard or even clay courts would benefit juniors to suceed at top level. Tim Henman grew up playing on grass and Andy Murray on Clay.

Answer 6

Hopefully with Roger Draper in charge of the LTA things should turn around for British Tennis and alot more players get the required funding they need to progress.

Answer 7

Sveral reasons: 1. It is still an 'elitist sport'. Most tennis players still come from more privileged backgrounds .2. This country deliberately discourages competition in sport..we are so pc! that I read that they did not like winners because the kids who lose were upset, that someone with a 'natural talent' beat them (you even see it on tv, when 'wannabe pop singers' get rejected, because it is obvious to all (apart from them and their families) that they can't hold a note!. 3. No hunger, no fight (see 1&2).

Answer 8

The structure of British tennis needs to be looked at. The kids needs to get interested and take away themselves from computers and get practicing.

Answer 9

It would help if it wasn't still seen by the 'yoof' as being a posh kids' sport, and therefore not cool.

The weather is not helpful, of course, but look around - there are loads of tennis courts in this country.... with nobody on them!

Answer 10

Lack of proper training infrastructure, poor funding and coaching talent is being lured to high paying job abroad in places like australia and USA. Plus i don't think ypung kids have the same hunger to succeed as the Russians, english kids lack the commitment they need to be great.