Join Us On A Trip To John Mcenroe's World Famous New York Tennis Academy
We were lucky enough to spend a day on Randall’s Island just next door to vibrant Manhattan, New York. It’s here that John McEnroe, one of the living legends of the game, established his successful tennis academy back in 2010. 13 years later the place is buzzing with young hopefuls who want to take the world by storm. What else did we learn there at the feet of the master?
How Do You Coach One Of The Most Challenging Sports On The Planet? We Asked A Tennis Icon.
We visited the John McEnroe Tennis Academy in New York to watch the master pass on his wisdom to young hopefuls who dream of setting the tennis world on fire. But, considering that the game is easy to play badly and extremely challenging to play well, how do you teach it?
John is without question, a tennis phenomenon, one of the greatest players the world has ever seen. He held the number 1 world ranking in singles between 1980 and 85 for no less than 170 weeks. He won 17 Grand Slams, 7 in singles (4 US Open tiles and 3 Wimbledon titles) and is also probably the greatest doubles player ever, with 9 Grand Slam doubles titles to his name and 1 in mixed doubles (French Open). He is the greatest Davis Cup player in history. Add to that a string of Emmys for his tennis commentary and we can safely conclude if anyone is qualified to teach, he is.
ESPN did a famous piece of research not so long ago. They looked at 60 different sports and graded them in terms of difficulty to master and play well. How did tennis do? It came in at number 6. Considering that matches can last up to 6 hours in the blistering sun and, as a player, you are out there completely on your own trying to master complex, high-speed, hand-eye coordination and innumerable techniques – 6th most difficult sounds about right. Does that mean teaching tennis is even more challenging?
The Academy teaches a philosophy that emphasises short intense periods of tennis training mixed with lots of time to pursue other sports and activities including strength training and flexibility.
It’s one thing for the average interested fan to pick up a racquet and work towards achieving the odd rally in a game. But it’s a totally different thing to take young hopefuls and prepare them for a life at the top of a difficult and demanding sport. John is convinced that focusing solely on tennis creates a robotic and mono dimensional player. Opportunities to develop in other ways, particularly playing other sports, helps to shape a more rounded and ultimately resourceful player.
One of John’s greatest achievements is to enable kids from poorer backgrounds to gain scholarships to at the Academy. He’s always been passionate that the game should not be excluded from children on financial grounds.
So, John goes from strength to strength, a worthy ambassador of a great game. He’s happy to commit his fierce passion for tennis to the search and mentoring of the next US tennis icon who is probably already training hard on a nearby court. If anyone can find that next star, Coach McEnroe can.
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