Robert Lansdorp:
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Robert Lansdorp: a coaching journey that began in 1970. |
Before he came to the Jack Kramer Club in the spring of 1970, Robert Lansdorp was known as a former college All-American and upcoming coach who had turned to coaching after finding he wasn't quite good enough to support himself on the limited pro circuit of the day.
Before Open tennis was finally allowed in 1968, most tournament players remained "shamateurs" -- paid under the table in the form of very limited "expenses" -- except for the fewer than a dozen players who were able to make a living on the pro tour managed by Jack Kramer. More akin to a traveling boxing tournament with a featured performer, it had a single champion format -- for example, the great Pancho Gonzales -- facing a series of challengers such as Tony Trabert, Lew Hoad and Ken Rosewall.
After graduating from Pepperdine University in 1965, Lansdorp took a stab at the 9-to-5 corporate world with a brief stint as an assistant bank manager but soon realized he was unsuited for it in every way possible. Then he turned to coaching and began to make a name for himself in San Diego, where he developed a junior champion named Walter Redondo, who later became the top ranked 16-and-under player in the country.
Helped by his growing reputation in Southern California as the "guru of groundstrokes," Lansdorp moved on from San Diego to the Peninsula when he was offered the Head Pro job at the Kramer Club.
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The players Robert developed help make the Kramer Club legendary. |
It was quite an honor: he was stepping up from the public parks system to follow in the sneakers of the legendary Vic Braden, a barrel-shaped, moon-faced stand up comic who wrote several best-selling instructional books that analyzed the bio-mechanics of tennis and preached the use of topspin. Riding the tennis boom of the 1970s, Braden went on to establish a tennis ranch/research center and became the prototype of the ever-smiling, self-promoting big-name tennis pro who turns himself into a brand name through multi-media marketing and endless expansion of the franchise. Other pros of that species include Nick Bollettieri and Dennis Van Der Meer.
Lansdorp, however, is just the opposite: he likes to work alone, he doesn't court the press, he's turned down multiple book and video proposals, he hasn't developed a bunch of disciples preaching the Lansdorp way, and he doesn't want anyone overseeing his teaching methods.
"It wasn't easy for Robert to follow Vic Braden," say Elliot Teltscher, the former top 10 player who was an early Lansdorp student as a junior at the Kramer Club.. "Vic was an entertainer who loved an audience, and his whole thing was about making tennis fun. Robert likes to work alone, and he stresses how much work is involved in becoming a great player."
The names became familiar on the world tennis stage. |
Lansdorp made it work at the Kramer Club through sheer force of personality and stunning success for more than two decades. And what a run it was as he produced an astonishing string of junior champions who went on to solid pro careers.
The names of the players that came out of the Kramer Club under Lansdorp's guidance are now familiar: Tracy Austin, Lindsay Davenport, Pete Sampras.
It wasn't just Austin, Sampras and Davenport but other local kids who turned into highly ranked players like Stephanie Rehe, Brian Teacher and Kimberly Po. And of course Eliot Teltscher, who took the one-handed backhand Lansdorp perfected for him and rode it to a long, top-ten career in the late 1970's and early 80's as a top 10 player in the era of Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe.
Austin, now a soccer mom/TV tennis analyst living in Rolling Hills Estates, recalled the first day she met Lansdorp.
Eliot Teltscher still hits the Lansdorp backhand with pace and style. |
"I was only 7, and after Vic Braden left we all heard this man Lansdorp was coming to take his place," she said. "We kept waiting for him to show up, and finally he walked past the courts one day. I wanted to play really well so he would notice me."
For his part, Lansdorp can recall the exact date he became head pro at the Kramer Club -- April 2, 1970 --and he can recall the first time he spotted Austin hitting balls later that same day.
"She was only seven years old, just a tiny little girl with pigtails who hit with two hands on both sides," he said. "I noticed her right away. She was real feisty and worked hard and really wanted it badly. You could see that right away."
But he doesn't claim that he saw greatness in her right away. First he had to get her hitting a normal one-handed forehand, but he let her keep her two-handed backhand -- which became a weapon and the foundation of her game.
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At an early age, Tracy wanted success--badly. |
"Those were the days when two-handed backhands were rare, but I didn't push the one-hander because she was hitting the two-hander so smooth and solid, I saw no reason to switch," he said. "Then when she was 12 I realized she might be a really special player."
Austin's early success -- along with that of Chris Evert -- established the two-handed backhand as the prototype stroke for young girls learning the game. Only recently, with the advent of ever-more-powerful racquets and success of one-handed players like Amelie Maurisomo and Justine Henin-Hardenne has the one-handed backhand had a revival.
Lansdorp quickly established his commanding presence on the Kramer Club courts, pushing Austin the hardest of all because of her potential and because she had the mental makeup to absorb it and still do better. That soon led to the now-legendary incident when a club member walking by the practice court became so alarmed at what he considered rough treatment that he complained to the club management about possible child abuse on Court 5.
"Sometimes, if people are just walking by the court and don't understand things in context, it can be misinterpreted," Lansdorp said. "That's why I know thingk it's better for me to work on a private court. No interference. No one to misinterpret."
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The two-handed backhand was still unusual when Tracy was coming up. |
For her part, Austin said simply: "He was friendly from the start, and I was never scared of him, no matter what he said or did. You have to understand that so much of his routine is just an act. He actually has a huge heart and he would never try to hurt anyone."
Ironically, the one time Lansdorp did hurt Austin it turned into a bonding experience that they both laugh about today.
"After a workout with the kids, sometimes as a reward I would take them skating at an ice rink on Western Avenue," he said. "Tracy was not a good skater, so she was holding my hand as I held her up."
But Lansdorp slipped, lost his balance, and fell right on 10-year-old Tracy's leg.
"She's sitting on the ice laughing and all of a sudden she realizes her leg is broken," he said.
Austin said she was reluctant to call her mother, so Lansdorp made the call. "He told her what happened," Austin said. "Obviously, it was an accident, and she understood immediately."
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Developing mental toughness with possibly controversial tactics. |
Two days later Austin was sitting in a chair with a cast on her leg, diligently hitting balls being fed by Lansdorp. "Tracy wasn't going to give up any practice time even if she did have a broken leg. That's how mentally tough she was," he recalled.
But Austin said Lansdorp soon came up with an even bigger obstacle to build up her mental toughness.
"He would deliberately cheat me. He would change the score to see how I would handle it, if I would fall apart at the unfairness of it and feel sorry for myself, or fight back," she said.
Lansdorp admitted he may have gotten "confused" about the score a few times -- always in his favor -- but denied cheating Austin out of anything.
"It may have happened by accident, but it only made her fight harder to win," he said. "The girl had unbelievable mental toughness."
In Part 2: Find out about Robert's surprising background in Indonesia and how his experiences shaped who he became as a coach.
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