Champion Qualities in Young Players: Part One By Gilad Bloom n the 25 years I have been a tennis coach, I have encountered the eternal question from every parent, “Well, what does his/her potential look like to you?" In most cases, of course, it’s impossible to know. The kids usually come to me at an early age and every child has a different pace of development. There are those who reach a reasonable technical level in a short time, and there are those who take some time to master the fundamentals. There is also a growth rate that varies, motivation levels that go up and down and lots of other factors. I learned a long time ago that the main thing you need as a junior coach is patience. But from time-to-time a child comes to me and from the first moment you can see that they have “it”. An athlete of the type that is the dream of every sports coach, and they come with natural gifts that make top athletes. When players like this come to me, my main job as a coach
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is to make sure that they are not injured and that they come to practice with a smile so that they do not lose the pleasure and retire early. So what are these qualities that every coach is looking for? What makes a young player "special" and stand out above the majority? When I was growing up in the 1970s the coaches of that time would talk about the good players in terms of the 'killer instinct'”. Later when I was growing up, I heard the term “invisible talent”, What makes these players special is a set of qualities that separate the average person from the pack, and allow them to become a top athlete. After all these years of teaching, I’ve learned to recognize such traits in children. In most cases these qualities are the basis for success in all areas of life and, in some cases, negative personality traits can help a career. Not every player has all the features, there are several ways to succeed, but those who have most of the qualities that I will detail have great chances of succeeding in sports and probably in life as well. I have outlined eight of these qualities, and in
New York Tennis Magazine • September/October 2020 • NYTennisMag.com
Part One of this article, I will discuss four of them: Competitiveness It’s not a coincidence that this trait is at the top of the list. Competitiveness is the fuel of every athlete. The natural desire to show everyone that you are better and the sense of satisfaction is addictive. A second after a victory you are already hungry for another one and because of this intoxicating feeling you will get up every morning and train to achieve it. Some are driven by their hate of losing, which is the other side of the same coin. Today's generation is pretty apathetic. A large portion of my students take losses easily. The truth is that this drives me crazy since I was one of those competitive “animals” myself. As a coach, I’m always searching for those obsessively competitive kids who will not give up the win even if they were playing their grandmother. I like to train these kids the most. I have a story about that: Once in a veteran tournament in Croatia I played a friendly doubles match with John McEnroe, against a 17-year-old girl and an older sponsor of the tournament. It
