paulisi wrote:

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I think the attitude that comes across from Oli in that interview is what the LTA are trying to stamp out.

It just comes across as I want an easy life and with as much help as possible. It's just the wrong attitude if his plan is to be a top class player, he may need to make sacrifices and move away from home to train and find the right base.

I agree with his comments regarding the way players have been coached away from their natural game though.


In general I'm in agreement that we need to try and find lots of top 100 players and some of these will push on and become top players.

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Paulisi I am not a member of the Oliver Golding fan club but I did take issue with your view/opinion of Oli.  I accept that he may have changed or maybe I don't really know him, but I do remember him before the LTA would touch him with a barge pole travelling on his own all over Europe as a 15/16 year old to play in the various events.

He struck me as someone who was prepared to and made huge sacrifices for his dream of becoming a professional tennis player. For him to continually put himself at risk then having to deal with the ups and downs  of being on the tour and what ever else he had to suffer probably from his own country folk spotting an easy target does not support your view.

And I hope he hasn't changed into what you described above even if he wouldn't have given me the time of day. He has paid his dues and deserves to have an opinion even more so when as in this case it is extremely valid.

Sitting on the fence slightly - completely admit that Oli's young, we're not on the inside, so who knows - but Paulisi has a good point, Equality.

Julien Hoferlin (got a lot of time for the man) basically said Oli was a nightmare to train, very immature. And, yes, he was happy while at the NTC with mega help/funding but after that was cut only lasted about two months before throwing in the towel. He'd also earned about $20k in 6 months, so on a yearly basis was doing pretty OK, and very OK compared to most. His points re club tennis and the system here are true and well-said but, given all the help he's received, and his potential, I can't really see what he has to complain about. If he now doesn't want to play tennis, that's fine, but it doesn't make it the fault of someone else.

Madeline wrote:

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I could not get the original link to work, but for anybody like me coming to this thread late and unable to read it, I found the article here:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/atptour/11298902/Rising-tennis-star-who-quit-sport-Oli-Golding-says-its-too-hard-to-find-places-to-play-tennis-in-London.html

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Blame me for that one.I couldn't get the link to wrap around onto a 2nd line without breaking it.

Timothy wrote:

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Heard on the grapevine that Luke Bambridge is considering quitting, I would have thought he could make a career on the doubles circuit after the success he has had on the Futures tour.

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Pleased to hear that this rumour appears to be a red herring.  Had the pleasure of talking to both Liam and JWH in La Manga today.  Luke has said nothing to them about quitting and Liam in particular said that if Luke WAS considering quitting, he would be the one of the first to know.

Equality wrote:

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paulisi wrote:

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Did you read the article?

He was happy when he was training ten minutes down the road at Roehampton, but since they closed, he's not prepared to travel to train, given that he was offered training in France or he could have gone to Gosling or Nottingham if he so wished. I deem that a lack of commitment.

If I have misinterpreted the article then fair enough.

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Why should he have to travel to train. He's already travelling 25-30 weeks to play. Add another 15 weeks away training with the additional expense which will be far more significant then being based at home and if he currently can't make ends meet with his current commitments, is it a lack of commitment?

We cannot grow our player base without decent facilities and players like these who are more accessible than Andy and provide inspiration/targets for those following. 

What is he saying that shows a lack of commitment 'I give up'. Or is he bright enough to realise he no longer has the means to make it if the money he could be spending on chasing points he will now have spend on living while he trains or train with much weaker players. 

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If he is not prepared to travel in order to train he doesn't have the commitment required to make a career out of tennis. I am disappointed that he has decided to call it a day but given what he has said I can only conclude that he has made the right decision. Tennis is a brutally tough sport and all but the most talented need almost total commitment if they want to make a decent living out of it. 

Oli has had the funding and opportunities that many young players would kill for yet rather than acknowledge what has been given to him all he does is complain that it is not enough. I deplore this attitude among some young sportsmen and women that they are entitled to be funded by someone else. Such funding is a privilege that they should be grateful for.

-- Edited by RJA on Saturday 20th of December 2014 08:57:17 PM

Bob in Spain wrote:

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Timothy wrote:

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Heard on the grapevine that Luke Bambridge is considering quitting, I would have thought he could make a career on the doubles circuit after the success he has had on the Futures tour.

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Pleased to hear that this rumour appears to be a red herring.  Had the pleasure of talking to both Liam and JWH in La Manga today.  Luke has said nothing to them about quitting and Liam in particular said that if Luke WAS considering quitting, he would be the one of the first to know.

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That's good. I wonder if the initial rumour started with someone overhearing something like "I think I might as well retire" after a bad result ...

I note James Cluskey's comments that Golding maybe just didn't love his sport enough - it's got to be your passion, says James.