Juniors Lessons

Swedish Tennis Philosophy

by Stefan Lundgren

When I am traveling abroad as a Swedish tennis coach, people very often ask me, "How is it possible for a small country like Sweden to produce so many top players?" I've also had them ask less flattering questions, like, "Why doesn't Sweden have so many top junior players any longer?" and "Why doesn't Sweden have the same success in women tennis?"

I'll attempt to provide some insight if not some answers to these questions.

The Swedish Tennis History

Before 1970, Sweden was not a very successful tennis nation. Previously, a few Swedish players had some international success but Sweden had no international star before Björn Borg entered the scene in the beginning of the seventies. With his five Wimbledon victories, six French Open victories and the Swedish Davis Cup victories in 1975, Borg single-handedly made tennis a popular Swedish sport. Large numbers of juniors started playing tennis and tennis became a sport for every one--not one just for the upper class--which it had been up until that point.

The Technique and Strategy of Björn Borg

At the end of 70s and at the beginning of the 80s when Sweden won nearly all international championships for male juniors, we had a big advantage thanks to the new technique and strategy that Björn Borg used to dominate the sport. Borg was the man who popularized heavy topspin groundstrokes, including the two-handed backhand and the strategy to wait for the opponent's mistake instead of trying to win the point by your self. This was the way all the juniors started to play in the middle of the 70s, and it was very successful. It took a few years before other countries adopted this style and therefore Sweden had a big advantage during these years.

The Swedish Team Philosophy

Tennis is an individual sport, but Sweden very much takes a team approach to the sport. Its characteristic of our country that we have believe that a group is always stronger than an individual even if the individual performs alone. The team approach also makes it possible for three to four players to afford a personal coach. But more importantly, the members of the team learn from one another and boost each other's confidence. It's very common that if one player in the team becomes successful the other team members will soon have the same success because the first player broke the barrier. The most successful team was "Team SIAB," with players such as Mats Wilander, Joakim Nyström and Anders Järryd. Sweden continues with its team philosophy in developing both juniors' and men's teams.

The Swedish Culture and Lifestyle

I'm convinced that the Swedish culture and life-style have helped Sweden become a top tennis country. Swedes are well-known for their great fighting spirit, calm manner and very analytic thinking, and these abilities are very important for tennis players. In addition, Swedes don't, to be honest, have the opinion that school work is the absolutely most important thing for a child. This attitude provides the time for children and juniors to train and compete. This is also showed by the great number of juniors that are trying to become tennis professionals after high school.

The Club, District and National Federation

Another important reason for Sweden's tennis success is its system of well organized tennis clubs. Most of the clubs have well-educated coaches and a team to play on for most of the juniors. The best juniors are chosen to train and compete with the district coaches for two to three weeks per year. Finally, the national federation chooses the best players in the country to represent Sweden in international tournaments. In other countries, the top players are identified at an early age and isolated in national training centers. This creates tremendous pressure on a young person. In contrast, Sweden tennis school believes in letting its juniors train at their clubs most of the time. The juniors will have the same coach during their whole development time, and the individual junior will stay in a place where he or she feels secure--with parents, friends, etc.

This leads me to address the second question I am sometimes asked, "Why does Sweden have so few top junior players now?"

There is a very simple answer to this question. Sweden is not forcing and rushing the players to become stars. The Swedish philosophy is to develop players slowly and steadily. Today, there are no Swedish players that are becoming international stars before the age of 20. Thanks to this philosophy, there are very few examples of burned out junior stars in Sweden.

Now to the last question: "Why doesn't Sweden have the same success in women tennis?"

I believe that we can find the answer in the history of Swedish tennis. In contrast to how Borg inspired the young male players of Sweden, there has never been any idol for the female junior players. Sweden needs a female star that will inspire a new generation of young girls just as the young generation of the 70s was inspired by Borg.

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