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Tennis talent scout learned from greats

By: Geoff Kirbyson

16/11/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

BORIS.MINKEVICH@FREEPRESS.MB.CA Enlarge Image

Rob Brett with some young tennis players at the Winnipeg Winter Club Sunday.

The man who guided Boris Becker to a trio of Grand Slam tennis titles put on a clinic for the province's most promising junior players Sunday -- but his teaching methods weren't limited to tennis.

Bob Brett, a consultant to Tennis Canada for its under-12 boys and girls and under-14 boys' programs, learned from some renowned tennis coaches early in his career, but his mission was to search out the best instructors in the world regardless of their sport.

For example, the Australian-born Brett used common acquaintances of iconic coaches such as John Wooden, coach of the UCLA men's basketball team and winner of 10 NCAA American university national titles, and Doc Counsilman, former coach of Mark Spitz, the gold standard for Olympic swimmers before Michael Phelps, to get some face time with them.

"You can learn so much from other people. Their thoughts on success, what they did, how they were involved with their athletes. They're very detailed in their coaching. They have consistent success, that's what's really amazing about them," said Brett, who worked with about 50 young Manitoban tennis players Sunday.

Brett also tapped into the expertise of Alexei Mishin, coach of Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko, because of his groundbreaking ideas.

"He used to deal with the (Russian) space agency to figure out how they could practise getting more turns. You try to get things that haven't been done before. You try to be innovative."

But Brett didn't stop at learning from other coaches; he also sought out the expertise of other athletes, such as decathlete Daley Thompson and pole vaulter Sergey Bubka, too. He had Goran Ivanisevic, another former protege and Wimbledon winner, work out with the legendary Thompson.

"Training with them you understand just how good they are. (Thompson) was tough, it was a great experience (for Ivanisevic). They don't tolerate less than 100 per cent," he said.

In Canada, Brett's goal is to identify tennis talent and give some continuity to provincial programs across the country. He said it's too early to tell what level of success his students on Sunday will have, but they won't have any unless they're enjoying themselves.

"The goal today was that they want to come back to practice tomorrow, another time, and that they're happy and they get pleasure from hitting the all over the net one more time. That's the most important thing," he said.

geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 16, 2009 B3

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