Michael Chang retired from tennis during US Open. When he was asked what his plan would be, he said that he would like to help Asian nations, especially china to establish a good training program in tennis. Of course, this won't surprise me. However, when he was asked for "why he has such confidence?" One of the reasons he applied quite surprise me a lot: "Many Asian (especially chinese) kids are learning sports such as badminton, and table tennis, and they can do very well. Such sports are very similar as tennis, and I am sure they can do the same in tennis..." Excuse me, very similar??? by what? The name? The fact of using a racket (bat?)? Hmmm... Ok, ok... we had a lot of debates / discussions on such issues already. To me, those are different games require different level of strength, height, speed, agility, etc, most important strategy. Very mixed feeling after reading this comment...
Maybe he means that all of it are sports and still interest Asians? Unless he means these kids who play badminton and table tennis can switch to tennis and do well, which I disagree completely. I'm 99% sure he doesn't mean that?
I can see where he's going He says they (tennis, badminton, table tennis etc) are similar, but I dont think he meant it in that way. I think he means they share some concepts such as using a racket/bat, serving, concepts behind scoring points etc. Of course, ability in one doesnt transfer from the other. I think it was a statement meant to distinguish tennis from other US sports such as Basketball, (American) Football, Baseball etc. Maybe if you posted the entire article, we could see the exact context of the quote as he may have said more on the subject I agree with Joanne, there's no way he would talk about people switching from badminton etc to tennis
Agree with both posts. I doubt he wants esablished shuttlers to switch to tennis. But rather he means that badminton and table tennis (less of course) has far more relation to tennis than say water polo, soccer, or high jump. Aside from having similar playing characteristics, they also have similar shots such as drop, smash etc. Also, due to Asia's (esp. China's) large population, he shouldn't have much trouble finding willing and motivated players who want to take tennis to the next level. Large talent pool will generally = many successful athletes with proper development.
I completely agree with ppl's ideas. And I never think Michael Chang will try to convert current badminton / table tennis prospect to tennis players. What I actually disagree with him is, a lot of sports surely depend on hard-working and strategy, but the "natural" parts also have to be taken into consideration. Asian ppl tend to be short but quick, while most western ppl tend to be tall and strong. Therefore, different nature build fit better for differetn sports. For example, soccer is very popular in many asian nations, but how come none of them ever won a world cup? Never have to say, besides Korean and Japan, other nations even having difficulty even to win or game or even score a goal. Same as basketball. On the other side, badminton / tennis requires speed / agility rather than muscle strength, therefore, the dominating nations almost all from Asia, and I don't think I need to list the power houses one by one. So my point is, hard and effective training really can help a player, but the nature is also the key point of success. Put this way, if Michael Jordan has his passing, shoting, even jumping skill, but he's only 5'2 instead of 6'6, I really doubt he can ever be this much successful in NBA. Another good example is Michael Chang himself. He's one of the most hard working player when he was at his peak, but how come he never win another grand slam title after the Frech Open 89? Never have to metion, Frech Open court is the slowest one in 4 grand slam, which fits for Michael's baseline running style the best. Same thing applied for why Pete Sampras can't even advance in French Open later round very often. I totally respect Michael's idea about helping out to spread out another world class sports in Asian, but really doubt about his success in the near future, and really think his example is very bad from the "nature" point of view.
tennis is so boring anyway... who wants to play tennis, except for the millions?? (I suppose that's a good reason for many people though! )
I used to think like this, too. However, I think we should respect all sports. Like some old men always saying, "The only way to gain true respect, is to respect others first."
Yes, I was just joking! (though I do find tennis boring myself, it doesn't mean it can't be interesting for others)
I'm sure if they seriously applied themselves to it, the Chinese would do well in tennis. Not necessarily because of any badminton or table tennis experience, but I think it's been demonstrated before that if a country with resources and national commitment wants to succeed in a sport, they can. The Chinese have made great advances over the past several years in Olympic diving and figure skating. Maybe tennis is still seen as a little too "capitalist," but as the country becomes more influenced by Western culture, maybe that will change. After all, they sent us Yao, and the NBA is about as capitalist as you can get.
