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W2RZeroEight · Jun 26th, 2009, 09:13 PM

i read somewhere that maria actually thought of replacing michael. but lansdorp said that if she will replace michael then he will not work with her again. whenever she encounters problem in her career there's always lansdorp to guide her and help her.

cyannnnn · Jun 26th, 2009, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2RZeroEight

i read somewhere that maria actually thought of replacing michael. but lansdorp said that if she will replace michael then he will not work with her again. whenever she encounters problem in her career there's always lansdorp to guide her and help her.

you want to say it's always lansdorp behind her

strange for me he looks like hate her

xan · Jun 27th, 2009, 01:06 AM

Lansdorp is not really what Maria needs now. He is a groundstroke coach. What Maria needs is help omn serve, movement and tactics. Michael is not a coach by trade, and she needs expert help on these things alongside Michael.

Sharapower · Jun 27th, 2009, 02:25 AM

Lansdorp? I thought he was on bad terms with Masha and Yuri???

Rerun · Jun 28th, 2009, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xan

Lansdorp is not really what Maria needs now. He is a groundstroke coach. What Maria needs is help omn serve, movement and tactics. Michael is not a coach by trade, and she needs expert help on these things alongside Michael.

well he's considered probably the best coach on wta tour, mostly specialized into technically complete players. we was also the Davenport's coach

I don't think he can teach only groundstrokes

unfortunately he's not behind Maria anymore

Sharapower · Jul 1st, 2009, 05:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rerun

unfortunately he's not behind Maria anymore

Not sure to agree that it's unfortunate, really. He's skilled to mold young players at their prime but he's not the kind of champion's coach that Maria would need today.

The more I'm watching the other players currently, the more it seems obvious to me that hiring a coach besides Michael would be the wisest decision Maria could make right now.

Maria Croft · Jul 1st, 2009, 07:02 AM

Obvious?

Because we have seen Maria play so much in the last 11 months to come to this conclusion?

I satnd by what I said earlier, I think it's not a good idea right now, she's just back from the most serious injury in her career. At the very least wait until the end of the season.

Sharapower · Jul 1st, 2009, 08:54 AM

Summon, like Rerun has mentioned, compared to other players, who experienced the same kind of long injury-break, for example Kim Clijsters, Maria proves to be much more struggling to get back into form. There are benchmarks out there and Maria's not doing great for that matter, neither is she doing bad, just so-so.
I'm not saying at all that there's anything catastrophic in what we saw so far and I have no doubt that new coach or not, things will go improving. The question is how fast are things going to improve and if it's going all the way to coming back as GS-winner/World #1 material.
There are two aspects to mental toughness: fighting spirit and confidence. The first one is intact but the second one is not really there so far. That's where a coach can help a lot if s/he is the right person for the right player.

Rerun · Jul 1st, 2009, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sharapower

Summon, like Rerun has mentioned, compared to other players, who experienced the same kind of long injury-break, for example Kim Clijsters, Maria proves to be much more struggling to get back into form. There are benchmarks out there and Maria's not doing great for that matter, neither is she doing bad, just so-so.
I'm not saying at all that there's anything catastrophic in what we saw so far and I have no doubt that new coach or not, things will go improving. The question is how fast are things going to improve and if it's going all the way to coming back as GS-winner/World #1 material.
There are two aspects to mental toughness: fighting spirit and confidence. The first one is intact but the second one is not really there so far. That's where a coach can help a lot if s/he is the right person for the right player.

agree

nelsondan · Jul 1st, 2009, 03:58 PM

Maria is the one who called a halt on the direction of the medical diagnoses
she was getting---she was pissed about it last August, if you remember.

She has been disciplined in her coming back efforts.

She does not seem confused, to me.

If she decides Michael needs replacing, or "assisting", she will do so. If not, she won't.

I trust her judgement.

Maria Croft · Jul 1st, 2009, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sharapower

Summon, like Rerun has mentioned, compared to other players, who experienced the same kind of long injury-break, for example Kim Clijsters, Maria proves to be much more struggling to get back into form. There are benchmarks out there and Maria's not doing great for that matter, neither is she doing bad, just so-so.
I'm not saying at all that there's anything catastrophic in what we saw so far and I have no doubt that new coach or not, things will go improving. The question is how fast are things going to improve and if it's going all the way to coming back as GS-winner/World #1 material.
There are two aspects to mental toughness: fighting spirit and confidence. The first one is intact but the second one is not really there so far. That's where a coach can help a lot if s/he is the right person for the right player.

I get what you are saying, but I think you are missing my point. Why would you think that she isn't getting everything she needs right now from her current coach Michael. Like I said, just because she hasn't come back like Clijsters or Serena you assume there is a problem and want to fix it by getting a new coach.

When all I see is how that would be terrible to do coming back just after an injury break, if she wants to do it, she should wait, at least a few months before doing anything drastic. Having a big change after such a huge event in her professional life is IMO a bad idea.

johnoo · Jul 1st, 2009, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sharapower

Summon, like Rerun has mentioned, compared to other players, who experienced the same kind of long injury-break, for example Kim Clijsters, Maria proves to be much more struggling to get back into form. There are benchmarks out there and Maria's not doing great for that matter, neither is she doing bad, just so-so.
I'm not saying at all that there's anything catastrophic in what we saw so far and I have no doubt that new coach or not, things will go improving. The question is how fast are things going to improve and if it's going all the way to coming back as GS-winner/World #1 material.
There are two aspects to mental toughness: fighting spirit and confidence. The first one is intact but the second one is not really there so far. That's where a coach can help a lot if s/he is the right person for the right player.

I'm still not totally convinced maria is mentally motivated which is the only reason I think a new member of the coaching staff could help.The second round defeat at wimbledon was like deja vu from 2008 in that she was caught on the back foot all the time,fair enough tennis strokes might not be there but,as has been pointed out,she could have been working flat out on her fitness.It's still odd she came back at the FO and not the USO because she now has a lenthly wait untill she plays again.USO is going to very interesting to see where maria really is tennis wise.

xan · Jul 1st, 2009, 08:20 PM

I think Maria is mentally motivated - and hungry to be back.

The problem has been a) Serve, still not grooved in and secure. b) Match toughness-fitness, getting tired too early. c) Lack of appropriate shot selection and variety.

C. is where new coaching input will help. And it would be silly not to get it through stubbornness or misplaced loyalty. Safina has benefited immensely from the new coach she took on 18 months ago, who has converted her from also-ran to elite player. Dementieva finally took the advice to change her serve, and has also become a much better player. Maria does not have a proper coach atm, and with Yuri, Lansdorp and Bollettieri out of the picture, she needs extra tactical input.

cyannnnn · Jul 1st, 2009, 08:48 PM

she come back for a injury. i think she need a person she believe like mike before a new coach.
the day when she use carlos rodriguez(henin coach). i think i'm died.

Taja05 · Jul 2nd, 2009, 07:31 AM

I think Maria would benefit not from a new coach but she would definitely benefit from an advice. She's obviously not fit enough that seems to me like it's the main problem and that change of service motion. The fact that she's not in such a great shape physically surprises me, because after all it was her shoulder that was injured so she could still do a lot of work to make her legs stronger. If anything it seems to me like she's lost a lot of muscle mass. However I do have serious doubts about Michael's capabilities as a coach when it comes to tactics. I suppose they don't really talk tactics much and I know Maria always said the she played by instinct but she would definitely benefit from some tactics talk (especially now). I think she used to talk tactics with her dad but now he doesn't travel with her anymore. I heard what advise Michael gave her in Warsaw: Just hang in there, the girl will choke. I mean what kind of advise is that.