Frosty-Shower-7601
Frosty-Shower-7601 t1_iz4t3bt wrote
Reply to comment by basjaski in Tennis icon Bollettieri, coach for 10 No. 1s, dies. by PrincessBananas85
I haven't read all the bios but I have read these three: Agassi, Seles, and Courier disliked him and said he did nothing for their game. Agassi and Seles said he actually regressed their game. Agassi's career took a massive upswing when he finally got Brad Gilbert as a coach. Seles said NB made her change her two-hander for a one-hander on her groundstrokes, which caused her game to slip and when she went back to her two hander he kicked her out of school. When you say he "coached" 10 number 1's, it doesn't mean he was coaching them when they were number one. He had the largest group of talent in the world at his academy. Many later became number one.
Frosty-Shower-7601 t1_iz4pg9c wrote
Reply to comment by mermicide in Tennis icon Bollettieri, coach for 10 No. 1s, dies. by PrincessBananas85
Hmmmm, where are you getting that? He was at the very least "controversial" as a coach. He self-admittedly knows very little about tennis. He was mostly about branding the academy. He did something no one else did. I'll give him that. Great tennis coach? I don't think so.
Frosty-Shower-7601 t1_iz3gu7t wrote
Reply to comment by St3v3nMS3 in Tennis icon Bollettieri, coach for 10 No. 1s, dies. by PrincessBananas85
He probably "coached" 15,000 during his time at the Academy. The guy was a great promoter of himself. He definitely helped some kids, but the vast majority of his students think he knew little to nothing about tennis. It's impressive, but mainly because he realized he could get all of that talent in one place because no one else was developing young talent in the sport on a mass level. He did put the academy together, you can't deny he had a good idea and it worked.
Frosty-Shower-7601 t1_iz6nwzn wrote
Reply to comment by Former-Ad-9223 in Tennis icon Bollettieri, coach for 10 No. 1s, dies. by PrincessBananas85
Agreed. His name is associated with a lot of great players. Not really the same as being a great coach. He had an innovative idea, and had a mass pool of talent. He gets some credit, but he's not Paula Anacone, Brad Gilbert, Darren Cahill, or a host of other coaches.