Florida men’s tennis coach Bryan Shelton will be attending the USTA/ITA Southeast Regional Championships for the 14th straight season this weekend, but the 2012 tournament will be a little different from his 13 previous seasons.
He is coaching a men’s team.
Shelton spent 13 seasons coaching Georgia Tech’s women’s program until he got an offer to coach Florida’s men.
Shelton’s transition from coaching women to men has been rather smooth this year, aside from the small physical and tactical adjustments between the men’s and women’s games. From Shelton’s point of view, it starts with hitting the ball.
“The guys naturally hit a heavier ball, which means they put more rotation on the ball, so the ball gets up and out of the zone a lot more,” Shelton said.
“We really put an emphasis on being able to develop that shot and being able to open up the court a little more so we can play a more attacking ball from inside the baseline.”
Shelton believes every player on his team has a competitive drive, and he wants to bring it out.
“Guys are more willing to step forward and to play more aggressively, so it’s kind of a more natural thing for them,” Shelton said. “You want to take that and teach them how to use it.”
Shelton will try to bring out that competitive drive when Florida competes in the regionals on Friday at 9 a.m.
The championship will be held on Monday.
Shelton said the psychological aspect is the main similarity between men’s and women’s tennis.
To Shelton, though, this thought process is not limited to tennis.
“I don’t care if you are talking about tennis or basketball or football, just to have that mentality, that mental toughness, is what it takes to be ultimately successful,” Shelton said.
After some thought, Shelton pinpointed the major difference between women’s and men’s: selfishness.
“The great thing about coaching the women’s side is that I felt like they were really trying to please,” Shelton said, laughing.
“The guys aren’t so much the pleasers. They are thinking about what they need to do to get the job done or be successful, but they aren’t doing it for someone else. I don’t know if that means the guys are more selfish, but I think they are not worried about what other people think as much, and that can be a positive.”
