Sven Groeneveld on the art of coaching

"What kind of computer system am I running here—is it Apple or is it Microsoft? We need to speak the same language and the language of the player is more important than my language."

 Longtime ATP and WTA coach Sven Groeneveld joins the podcast in the midst of the busiest time of the year for players announcing coaching changes. His lengthy coaching resume includes the likes of Monica Seles, Michael Stitch, Caroline Wozniacki, Ana Ivanovic, Tommy Haas and Fernando Verdasco, to name a few. In March, Groeneveld parted ways with Maria Sharapova after four years of working together.

 Groeneveld explains how he got into coaching, including how he got paired up with Seles in the early 1990s (05:28). The 53-year-old shares who he learned the ropes from (07:27),  what players should look for in finding the right coach (12:38) and how he has dealt with abruptly switching player boxes (19:17). He also addresses the reasons behind the fast-moving coaching carousel, especially on the WTA tour (22:12), and adds his opinions to the on-court coaching debate (24:21).

 A program for teaching and licensing pro coaches doesn’t exist to his standards, and Groeneveld hopes the tours will invest in making a pathway for current playing pros to transition into coaching (26:46). He is already doing his part to connect coaches with the right players and clubs as he helped create OrangeCoach.com, a job placement site with over 20,000 registered coaches (29:39).

 And finally, sourcing from his three decades of experience touring the world as a professional coach, Groeneveld shares his Top 5 career moments (32:56).

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