Discipline

Robert Lansdorp

Discipline. That almost sounds like an old-fashioned word today, like something negative. Nowadays, everybody has to be politically correct, and so there is less and less discipline, and sometimes none at all.

Discipline was the key to developing Pete’s forehand—and the strokes of every player I’ve worked with.

Parents, especially today, are so into the concept of positive reinforcement, “Let’s always be positive!” And I think that’s good. That should be the role of the parent.

But what they don’t see is that the kid never accomplishes anything. The kid may be very “positive” but he’s never going to be a tennis player if he isn’t disciplined and taught to go from Step 1 to Step 2.

That’s where I come in. I’m the one who gives them a reality check.

I put a lot of effort into discipline because I know how important it is. When I worked with players like Tracy Austin and Pete Sampras at a young age, I was very tough. The discipline was intense.

I’m sure Tracy, Pete and maybe a lot of other players I could mention hated me at times. Tracy in particular thought I was very tough. But later, they both acknowledged that they wouldn’t have become the same players without my help.

They had to hit the ball the right way and they had to do it over and over. We don’t just do it once. We do it 20 times. And then we do it 40 times. That’s the way it is. The discipline of repetition is the key to success.

If you want to be a tennis player, you can’t afford to make unforced errors. You have to be able to swing, hit the ball hard, and know that it’s going in the court. The only way to develop that is repetition.

Today, a lot of people think that I am being tough on the children. At times, I think that is part of a huge problem that parents don’t realize.

The problem is that it is very difficult for their children to concentrate on anything. The problem is much bigger than tennis, of course. It’s the society of everything going fast. Kids have computers, they have video games, they have cable television with a hundred channels to click between. They don’t read that much anymore.

They don’t have to concentrate on one thing. Everything switches constantly. Kids have problems following sequences. They take a few steps and then they forget step one. Unfortunately, kids will never become great players with that mentality.

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Robert Lansdorp is back on TennisONE with another provocative article that tells how he developed world class players like Pete Sampras and Tracy Austin - with rare footage of a young Maria Sharapova

Robert Lansdorp is the legendary Southern California coach who has developed dozens of world class junior and professional players, including 3 juniors who started with him and went on to become number one in the world: Tracey Austin, Lindsay Davenport, and Pete Sampras. This new series presents, for the first time anywhere, his views on what goes into the making of a champion.

Lansdorp is currently the Head Teaching Professional at the South Bay Tennis Center in Torrance, California. For information on working personally with Mr. Lansdorp or on his upcoming camps, you may call 310-415-1969.

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