mermicide t1_iz3uiak wrote on December 6, 2022 at 6:58 AM

Reply to comment by Frosty-Shower-7601 in Tennis icon Bollettieri, coach for 10 No. 1s, dies. by PrincessBananas85

What the hell are you talking about - this man was so widely respected in the tennis community for his coaching especially.

userwithusername t1_iz4l7yh wrote on December 6, 2022 at 1:02 PM

He went against the grain and preached working on strengths instead of weaknesses, which I always found so interesting. Got a good forehand? Run around the backhand. Got a good good serve? Spend more time on practicing the serve.

Former-Ad-9223 t1_iz6kn49 wrote on December 6, 2022 at 9:12 PM

Seriously? So many upvotes, but what Frosty-Shower said is basically correct.

mermicide t1_iz6v8e9 wrote on December 6, 2022 at 10:23 PM

Cuz he was wrong… this man charged $2k an hr for lessons that people happily paid. My wife is a former WTA player, the consensus among professional tennis players is that he was the best and is well respected.

Frosty-Shower-7601 t1_iz4pg9c wrote on December 6, 2022 at 1:41 PM

Hmmmm, where are you getting that? He was at the very least "controversial" as a coach. He self-admittedly knows very little about tennis. He was mostly about branding the academy. He did something no one else did. I'll give him that. Great tennis coach? I don't think so.

[deleted] t1_iz5n4ip wrote on December 6, 2022 at 5:40 PM

[deleted]

Former-Ad-9223 t1_iz6kw1k wrote on December 6, 2022 at 9:14 PM

It is a well known fact (if you follow tennis) that Bolletieri didn't know much about tennis. The downvotes tell me that most people are at most casual tennis fans

Frosty-Shower-7601 t1_iz6nwzn wrote on December 6, 2022 at 9:34 PM

Agreed. His name is associated with a lot of great players. Not really the same as being a great coach. He had an innovative idea, and had a mass pool of talent. He gets some credit, but he's not Paula Anacone, Brad Gilbert, Darren Cahill, or a host of other coaches.