[eck]

Is it odd that I see a bit of Justine in Li Na?
Carlos so far has been a good fit for her though. Her brainless ballbashing game doesn't seem to be as obvious.

[pigam]

Originally Posted by eck

Is it odd that I see a bit of Justine in Li Na?
Carlos so far has been a good fit for her though. Her brainless ballbashing game doesn't seem to be as obvious.

I watched the final and really enjoyed it.
It was refreshing to hear Carlos' approach at the oncourt coaching, telling her (from what I heard from others and myself)
- to play more patiently and hit higher deeper forehands, less hard, less flat
- telling her how exactly to return (mix up body and dtl)

- telling her "if you are a champion, you will take this match"


His tactics didn't immediately help, but LI kept focus and it started to pay off.

LI NA is imho a bit JU like, in the sense, that I always feel like she is actually quite a smart person, and that makes her a dumb player sometimes. In tennis, sometimes it's easier (short term) to be a bit "oblivious" and "dumb" I think.
She also has the ability (like JU) to get "zoned in", when confident, and to really dominate thanks to shot making ability.
The serve (imo) is worse than JU's, and of course, she has less "weapons" (variety) than JU

Hope the collaboration keeps working! It's gotten me interested again

[JJ ismyname]

Originally Posted by pigam

I watched the final and really enjoyed it.
It was refreshing to hear Carlos' approach at the oncourt coaching, telling her (from what I heard from others and myself)
- to play more patiently and hit higher deeper forehands, less hard, less flat
- telling her how exactly to return (mix up body and dtl)

- telling her "if you are a champion, you will take this match"


His tactics didn't immediately help, but LI kept focus and it started to pay off.

LI NA is imho a bit JU like, in the sense, that I always feel like she is actually quite a smart person, and that makes her a dumb player sometimes. In tennis, sometimes it's easier (short term) to be a bit "oblivious" and "dumb" I think.
She also has the ability (like JU) to get "zoned in", when confident, and to really dominate thanks to shot making ability.
The serve (imo) is worse than JU's, and of course, she has less "weapons" (variety) than JU

Hope the collaboration keeps working! It's gotten me interested again

Pigam

You watched the final and listened to what Carlos said to Na? Did he tell her not to be so aggressive? Did he tell her to play percentage tennis, especially on the ros?

The reason I am curious about this is because I am thinking of the advice he gave Justine when she made her return. Didn't he say she needed to be more aggressive. Wasn't that the reason she started hitting her returns of serve so aggressively (most of them going out) and trying to become a ballbasher?

Do you think now in hindsight he realises what he told Justine was a mistake?

Just kind of hit a chord with me really. I'll be taking more of an interest in Li Na from now on.

[Roookie]

I really hope Na and Carlos's parnership to be succesful. It has already a great start!. I do see a little of Justine in Li too

[joshum]

Li is lucky to get Carlos coaching. Li's problem has been mental, more than technique, always hot and cold with lapses and not able to focus consistently . Carlos was right to the point, she can't let her heart and emotions rule her mind, it has to be the head in control so she can see the road ahead. The on court coaching was so obviously that when Li just executed the orders, everything came together in her game. It's lively to see Carlos back in the players box!

It's amazing what a great coach can do to a player. Since he started emailing from the first match in Rogers cup (even though he was not physically there) , the messages got to Li during the tournament and she got to final. If Carlos was there in that final I think she would have beaten kvitova.

[pigam]

Originally Posted by JJ ismyname

Pigam

You watched the final and listened to what Carlos said to Na? Did he tell her not to be so aggressive? Did he tell her to play percentage tennis, especially on the ros?

The reason I am curious about this is because I am thinking of the advice he gave Justine when she made her return. Didn't he say she needed to be more aggressive. Wasn't that the reason she started hitting her returns of serve so aggressively (most of them going out) and trying to become a ballbasher?

Do you think now in hindsight he realises what he told Justine was a mistake?

Just kind of hit a chord with me really. I'll be taking more of an interest in Li Na from now on.

Yeah, well I heard it in the sense that that is what the Eurosport commentator said (there were commercials, so only heard the last part myself).

I do think however that there's a difference between JU and NA in the sense that JU was much easier overpowered than NA. Or am I wrong in this.
Also "playing more passively" for NA means: not blasting every ball. Just playing an "intense" ball with a lot of margin. And besides, I think we understand how stubbourn JU was. I'm not sure the "ball bashing" was all Carlos. I always had the feeling it had something to do with JU wanting to prove herself against hardhitters And lastly, we musn't see JU last few matches as a norm for even her comeback level in globo. At times her level of play after her comeback (AO Dementieva; set against Serena, Wimbledon Petrova, ...) were divine... BIG. FAT. SIGH

[joshum]

Ah I have an evil thought, what if Li and Kim will meet in US open? I can't wait to see how Carlos will teach Li how to beat kim! Like old times.... Hahaha ;0

[eck]

Originally Posted by JJ ismyname

Pigam

You watched the final and listened to what Carlos said to Na? Did he tell her not to be so aggressive? Did he tell her to play percentage tennis, especially on the ros?

The reason I am curious about this is because I am thinking of the advice he gave Justine when she made her return. Didn't he say she needed to be more aggressive. Wasn't that the reason she started hitting her returns of serve so aggressively (most of them going out) and trying to become a ballbasher?

Do you think now in hindsight he realises what he told Justine was a mistake?

Just kind of hit a chord with me really. I'll be taking more of an interest in Li Na from now on.

The difference is Justine tends to be more of a defensive player, Li on the other hand isn't.
Li already goes for most of those ROS now even before Carlos was coaching her.

[pigam]

Originally Posted by eck

The difference is Justine tends to be more of a defensive player, Li on the other hand isn't.
Li already goes for most of those ROS now even before Carlos was coaching her.

Yeah, I agree.

From 8:35 you can see a bit of CARLOS working with NA LI @ the USopen

[vejh]

Carlos back in the swing of things.

Apart from similar height, I nothing of Ju in Na.lol
And what I find interesting is Na's insistence to improve at such an age. That is impressive. Isnt she 30, or going on 31? Nobody bugs her about that though. I hope for the best for her.

[eck]

She started late didn't she?
I thought that was an interesting point too, for 30 she runs really well.
@ that video - Li volleys
I distinctly remembered her baseline hugging ways....

[pigam]

Originally Posted by eck

She started late didn't she?
I thought that was an interesting point too, for 30 she runs really well.
@ that video - Li volleys
I distinctly remembered her baseline hugging ways....

I saw her volleying quite a lot in the CC final. It were almost all drive volleys though.

What I like most about NA is how sound every move and stroke looks. It's a bit "robotic" maybe at times, but you just don't expect a stroke to fall apart, so I think it's a nice basis to build on.

I don't want to offend NA's fans. But in her forum, there's hardly any interesting discussions about her tennis etc. And I don't unerstand chinese . Our heighdays discussions and postings were so much more interesting, yet "intense" at times :bighug:

[pigam]

Originally Posted by pigam

I saw her volleying quite a lot in the CC final. It were almost all drive volleys though.

What I like most about NA is how sound every move and stroke looks. It's a bit "robotic" maybe at times, but you just don't expect a stroke to fall apart, so I think it's a nice basis to build on.

I don't want to offend NA's fans. But in her forum, there's hardly any interesting discussions about her tennis etc. And I don't unerstand chinese . Our heighdays discussions and postings were so much more interesting, yet "intense" at times :bighug:

these new training vids prove what we're talking about.
Very impressive stuff

Getting to the volley


FOotwork being drilled, making NA sweat


Upping the intensity

[j-fan]

Thanks Pigam for the videos.

Looks like Na is a quick learner and a hard worker. If she wins the 2012 USO, everyone will be bagging for Carlos' service and, when he returns, the attendance at Justine's academy will simply explode - half of WTA will be there.

[vejh]

So KC bombs out to Robson. Think she is preggers?

Oh, and bye the bye, guess who's thinking of opening a tennis academy? Youuuuuuu guessed it!