Croatia Summer Tour 2010

Vuk Zelunka

Head Coach

Croatia Summer Tour 2010

Posted at : August 05, 2010

Croatian tour this summer went very smoothly. Beside technical, tactical and physical training kids got a chance to see some of the most interesting places on the Croatian coast and still had a lot of fun at the local beaches.

Training concept was split in 3 major parts. First week kids were practicing more technically putting a lot of attention on preparation, footwork and balance. Second week was tactical. We didn’t go too deep into the tactical aspect of the game but we have tried to find the balance between patient consistent game in the situations where we need to defend and maintain the rally and aggressive attitude when it is obvious that we have to take charge of the point and start the domination and attack. Last week had match play characteristics. Our kids had a chance to play some matches against Croatian juniors trying to put together all the elements of the training they have practiced in past two weeks.

Touristic part of the trip was very interesting too. We have been to Split and Dubrovnik where we have seen the old squares, monuments and buildings from the age of the Roman Empire. We have been to lot of gorgeous bays and beaches with beautiful clear water and natural environment. Sometime we had to go by car to reach these places but we also had chance to go cycling along the shore and we also went for a boat ride to near islands. During our stay in Capitol of Croatia, Zagreb, we have seen the centre of the city dating from the age of Austro–Hungarian Empire but we have also visited big shopping malls where kids had fun shopping, bowling, cinema etc. We also have visited two small local festivals, one on the island Hvar in first two weeks and another one in the continental area in the Chakovec town.

I think this was a great experience for our kids. They have seen a lot of new things and met a lot of new people from the different world and different cultural and historical background and the most importantly they have played a lot of tennis.

Croatia Summer Tour 2010 Picture Gallery

5 Comments

Posted at : August 07 2010, 8:17 AM by Allison Tang

I think it is excellent the academy has fitness training program. It would be nice to see the fitness program in action ! Otherwise the exposure to Eastern European players is a great idea. Can you also tell me more about how the Eastern European juniors compare with ours. How is the training different?

Posted at : August 10 2010, 1:20 AM by Vuk Zelunka

Allison,

We have a regular fitness program as part of our training process. European players, no matter what level of skills, are very motivated players always fighting hard until very end. It would be good if Hong Kong kids could be little bit more achievement oriented. Training in Europe is not much different in general but the atmosphere on the training and rivalry between players are much bigger.

Posted at : August 13 2010, 9:09 AM by Allison

It is interesting to hear your comment that Hong Kong kids are not achievement oriented on the tennis court whilst academically they are. Do you see the reason for that? a lack of sports heroes, too cushioned ? Is there a part of HKITA training , in the development of this area ?
Many companies like yours are too afraid to impose the strict regimen of training required of an athlethe. I wonder how HKITA stands in this. Without a strong discipline and leadership, great sportsmanship cannot be achieved.

Posted at : August 20 2010, 1:48 AM by Benny Lin

Hong Kong kids are achievement oriented as well in tennis but not as strong as their counterparts from Europe or even Taiwan and China. I feel the general problem in Hong Kong is kids here are not "hungry" enough. Everything comes easily for most of them - as you said too cushioned.

We are not afraid to impose strict regime of training and we do have different degrees of strictness catering to different level/ mindset of players.

Croatia Summer Tour 2010

Croatia Summer Tour 2010

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