ATKINS’S FINAL ADVICE TO N.Z. TENNIS More Coaching—In Smaller Groups

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31006, 11 March 1966, Page 13

ATKINS’S FINAL ADVICE TO N.Z. TENNIS More Coaching—In Smaller Groups

[By Our Tennis Reporter]

The Australian professional tennis coach, L. Atkins, left Christchurch yesterday for his home in Adelaide, after coaching more than 30,000 players in New Zealand in the last five seasons.

Atkins now owns squash courts in Adelaide and he will not be back.

He left with mixed feelings—pleased with some trends, disappointed with others, but grateful to those responsible for his five seasons here and hoping that he had achieved something.

In his years in New Zealand, Atkins has given some sound advice to players and administrators throughout the country, but mainly south of the middle of the North Island. Before he left he was able to give some more.

New Zealand must have more specialised coaching for the better young players, he said.

“For example, I had periods of coaching with Crookenden, once in Adelaide and once in Darwin, but when I came to New Zealand the next time I hardly sighted him. I think I saw him one day. TWOS AND THREES

“An official coach doesn’t get enough time with the good ones—a group of say 24 first and then in smaller groups of twos and threes. So much time is taken up with schools and clubs” He said he even got to the stage where, after perhaps

coaching for eight hours in a day, he liked to spend some time with the better ones in his own time afterwards.

Although in his earlier seasons in New Zealand he had spent too much time with those who could not play, the situation had improved, said Atkins. He found that coaching schools were generally too big, up to 80. COACHING SCHOOL “A coaching school is needed for the South Island with the numbers kept down for a group of good coaches There must be someone to push these kids around, abuse them, whatever you like.” Atkins felt that part of the reason why he had to do so much work with beginners rather than with selected players to bring them up to a high standard was because there were too few players in the Dominion who coached youngsters on a part-time basis on how to start hitting the ball.

All former players should be made aware of their value if they coached part time. They could do the game much good without giving up their occupations. In Australia there were many of them. Atkins had a strong word to say to tennis in the South

Island. It was time there was some getting together over standards: some thought must be given to sending juniors to Australia. In this Southland had taken a lead. If more enterprise was not shown the South Island would be forgotten in national tennis; it virtually was now.

Coaching schools were necessary and they must be run professionally in school holidays with hard practice for perhaps four girls and four boys from each province. There was plenty oi talent in the south but it was not being brought out, he said. Nelson, where there were three boys who were well up to New Zealand standard, was showing a little of what could be done. Atkins said the South needed more than one fulltime professional. When he first went to Dunedin several years ago, he said, he could hardly fill five days for coaching. When he went last season he coached 1000 and this season it had become too big. GERRARD AS COACH He felt that L. A. Gerrard would be a great success as a coach in Christchurch and if he could conduct coaching schools it would be the greatest fillip South Island tennis could have. Atkins is adamant that the better young players who are the best material for a professional coach must be caught young, brought to a certain standard and then taken across the formidable gap to senior level. Providing their strokes were reasonable, what they needed was hard training and match practice. “Hopman does not coach them, he trains them. They have been taught to hit the ball; they need supervised training and advice,” he said.