National Coach Marcel Vos (pictured below) updates us on the New Zealand Junior Holland Tour:
I have spent the last two weeks working with our juniors helping them fit into their new environment here in Amsterdam. It is already obvious that this will be a great learning experience for our juniors during their three month journey.
The experience is providing the players with the opportunity to train and work on their game on the clay before playing in three ITF junior events in July. The overall goal is to develop their game amongst an inspirational environment whilst providing the players with an impression on the necessary work ethic and discipline it takes to be a professional player.
In Holland their is a range of players of all levels from many different countries, our players are in great hands and are getting private lessons on top of their group trainings, the program is very well rounded. The support crew is fantastic with Michiel Schapers (former Pro top 30) Dutch national coach and Davis Cup Captain, Sven Groenevled a world renowned coach and the head of the Adidas player development having worked with many stars. The physical traniners are very experienced and have been busy running tests on the players and creating personalised programs for each individual which will commence next week. They have also been enriched with a 'mental' workshop with Author of the book 'Mindset' Jackie Reardon to work on the mental side of the game which is considered to be highly undertrained. Jackie will be off to South Africa now to work with the Bulls Super Rugby team, so it is great to see that it is not only tennis players she works with! Check out some of her work here www.themindset.eu
I have to give our juniors a lot of credit, taking all the above on board as it takes guts and can be a bit scary looking in the mirror sometimes and having an honest look at yourself. If they can continue to work on these things from now on their improvement will be assured. It will be interesting to see how the players will get through and mature over the next few months and learn from playing on clay courts. It is certainly a great surface to work on all fassets of their game and as 50% of all professional tournaments are played on clay nowadays, it is essential to learn to play on it.
Even though there will be many challenges ahead for them, i can see already lots of changes and improvements in them. It is all up to them now to make the most of this opportunity and we will be following them closely.
My experience in Amsterdam so far has been very eye opening with how hard and intense I have to train here, I think that I have improved significantly on the clay surface and had a lot of help with that from the coaches at the Laurense Tennis Academy.
During the time I have been in Amsterdam I have improved a lot on my game and on the mental side with the help from Jackie Reardon with her book and seminar “Mind-set”
The coaches here are Michiel Schapers a multiple time quarterfinalist in Wimbledon, Martijn Bok, Sven Groeneveld. This is our training schedule – Some mornings we have fitness in the morning from 9-10 then we have 1 hour break then we have a group training from 11-1pm with other people from around the world and most of them are much older which makes it quite challenging for us then we have our lunch which is provided by the academy and have a long rest until 4pm which is when we start our second group training until 6pm. Every second morning I have a private lesson with Michiel from 9-10 or 10-11 depending on who is first with him (me or William) these lessons have been very intense and great, he has helped me a lot with my feel for the clay and how I should play on it after my lesson I join into the 11-1pm group training have my lunch after and then I have to do my fitness program in the gym at the academy. It has taken quite a while but I think I have finally gotten used to this tough surface.
A couple weeks ago we were fortunate to have a seminar on the Mind-set with Jackie Reardon which took 2 afternoons during this time with Jackie she helped me a lot with my mental side of the game which has helped with the trainings afterwards and I will use a lot of her tips and guidance in the tournaments to come.
We are very thank-full to be staying in a very friendly and beautiful house-hold, The parents are very nice and helpful and they also have a 15 year old son called Fin who we all get along with. The house Is about 15-20 minutes away from the courts by metro and are very happy to be staying with this family.
(2012 NZ JDC Team featuring the three junior boys on Tour in Holland. From Left to Right - Non-Playing Captain Alistair Hunt, Kyle Butters, William Matheson and Alex Klintcharov)
I am looking forward to the rest of this trip and am very grateful for this opportunity to improve my tennis and this has been a exiting experience so far and I am excited for the weeks to come.
First of all thank you very much to Marcel and Tennis New Zealand for organizing this Tour and giving me this opportunity. The NZ under 16’s Junior Davis Cup team including myself - Kyle Butters and Paige Hourigan are in Holland, Amsterdam experiencing what it’s like to play on clay.
I was very nervous and fell over lots but now it’s very exciting sliding and gliding for the ball. We are working mainly with 3 very experienced coaches, Sven Groeneveld, Michiel schapers and Martijn Bok. The three men are very highly regarded for their coaching skills and playing abilities with Sven being the Adidas global coach. So far they have all taught me a lot about the clay and how to move to the best of my abilities which has been awesome.Working hard to brush up on my teqnique.
There were a few more pro's around as well this week, Zvonereva, Kleybanova and Laura Robson. Paige got a good shot with Vera while I am waiting for some guys. great to see them practice.
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We are training for about 5 hours a day which includes tennis, fitness and a personalised program.Next week we are going to do yoga. By the end of the week my body is dead, I look forward to Sundays as that is our day off. The training we do here really improves our footwork, balance and fitness whilst working hard on technique.
The ball bounces higher and once it hits the clay court it really checks and sits up. The rallies are long and often we play 20 shots before winning or losing the point! I played one set against a Holland boy that lasted nearly two hours! The restringer here loves me as I am breaking around 4 strings per day. The clay destroys the racket strings. We are on a first name basis! I have changed rackets now with a smaller pattern which helps on the restringing.
Last Sunday we went out to the city to experience what it’s like in Amsterdam. In my eyes it’s beautiful. We walked around and saw some very famous buildings which was good. At the moment we live in a 4 storey apartment in the city which faces a very beautiful canal. A lot of people ride bikes here.
I will be in Amsterdam for about another 7 weeks which is awesome. I am sure I will improve my tennis a lot here. I am the first New Zealand /Maori they have met and they asked me if all the Maori boys were my size in New Zealand. I told them only in Wanganui.
Yours sincerely
Kyle Butters
I have learnt more in the last week than I have in my entire life. My experience in Amsterdam has been really great so far, we have great trainings, great coaches, and we have a lot of fun.
Our daily schedule looks like this: we alternate between a private lesson (9-10 or 10-11am) or a fitness session (9-10am) everyday. Our private coach is Michiel Schapers, his highest career ranking was 25 in the world and he made the Australian Open quarterfinals in 1985 and 1988 defeating Boris Becker and Yannick Noah. He also made the finals of the Heineken Open in 1987. He is a great role model and has been very helpful in our development so far. After our morning session we have two hours of tennis from 11-1pm followed by a lunch break. Afterwards there is another personalised fitness session and another tennis session from 4-6pm for the players who didn’t have a private lesson.
In the last week, we have had the privilege of having a mental seminar on a book called Mindset by the author Jackie Reardon. She talked to us about mentality and how important it is to have in order to be an athlete. She talked about the 6 pillars, the 4 concentrations, and the 9 instruments which are explained in the book, then showed us examples of the top players using it in action. She then took us on court and we got to apply it to our tennis. It was a real eye-opener to see how you act on court.
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The facilities are great at the Amsterdam Tennis Academy, there are about 20 clay courts outside, and 8 indoor hard courts. There is a restaurant/bar in the main area and a gym upstairs.
It is really different to play on clay courts. The points last much longer, which evidently makes us more tired after just a few hours of training. The clay teaches us to be patient because you cant finish off the point with just one massive shot like on the hard court, you have to structure it until you get the right chance.
We have been training with a lot of older players, and it’s a real challenge for us to play with great players on a surface that is very new to us. We learn a lot from watching how they play which has helped our performance on the clay
The city of Amsterdam is a wonderful place with very old-fashioned buildings. One main feature is the canals, which is a very beautiful scene on a nice day. The people are very kind and it’s a very cool place. Quick Note: Zeeland is a province in the Netherlands also known as Old Zealand. The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman discovered and named New Zealand after it.
We are very privileged to be staying in a great family home. The home stay parents are very nice and their son Fin is also a tennis player. The house is about 15 mins away from the tennis courts by Metro. We have two floors to ourselves and we are very greatful for them to be hosting us for the next two months.
The coaches that have been helping us are Michiel Schapers, Sven Groeneveld, who is currently the private coach of Caroline Wozniacki, and has won 3 grand slams as a coach (coached Monica Seles, Mary Pierce, and Ana Ivanovic). Mairtijn Bok (coached Patty Schnyder, Natalie Dechy and Laura Robson). Also great to have Marcel here to help and guide us through. All the coaches seem to work together really well.
I am excited for these next up and coming months and I am very thankful to be given this opportunity to be here.
When Marcel Vos, Alex Klincharov, Kyle butters, William Matheson
and I (Paige Hourigan) arrived in Holland Amsterdam to meet Michiel Schapers
and Sven Groeneveld the coaches working with us for the next three months, we
all looked tired from the 24 hours flying we had just done but all of us knew
that these two people standing in front of us were going to be a huge part in
helping us improve, learn and experience a lot while over here in Holland
although our faces might not have expressed it.
I have represented NZ in many NZ teams and gained lots of experience from these tours but the tour to Holland that Marcel Vos and Tennis NZ made possible for us 4 will be the longest time the boys and I have been away from home.After 2 weeks here we are just starting to get into the routine of tennis training, fitness, and private, personalised fitness programs. It is just great having the opportunity to be able to train with different people from other countries and to be coached by the these top coaches who used to be great players themselves is phenomenal. We have no problem falling a sleep at night as the training is tough and the clay is physically tough work.
I know Alex, Kyle, William and I are very grateful and thankful to have this opportunity and experience.We also did a mental seminar with Jackie Reardon who wrote the book MIndset which was lots of fun and it taught me to look at myself and coach myself instead of reacting to mistakes.
Amsterdam is of course different to NZ, one being that the cars drive on the different side of the road. I have been billeted with a lovely family that only lives 10 minutes bike ride from the courts. Bike riding each day is so much fun, but sometimes when I don’t take as much caution I am getting belled at by the bikes because I am on the wrong side of the road. Billeting by myself with a Dutch family has already given me more independence and I’m loving living as a Dutch girl in Amsterdam.
Thank you very much to Tennis NZ for making this tour to Holland possible. All four of us are enjoying and adjusting well to the Dutch culture. We are loving the tennis environment and they clay surface and all are looking forward to the weeks ahead of us for what new stuff is to be taught and learnt.
That is all for now.
Paige Hourigan
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