Our next guest on the podcast is renowned Indian tennis coach, Mr Balachandran Manikkath. Popularly known as Balu sir to the Indian tennis fraternity, he has coached many successful tennis players over the years - Rohan Bopanna and Radhika Tulpule in the past and is currently working with top Indian players, most notably, men’s national champion Nikki Poonacha and Davis Cup players - Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan.

Balu sir is a former National doubles champion himself and is also an international travel coach, accompanying the top Indian tennis players at various ITF and ATP tournaments, including the Grand Slams. His passion lies in creating future tennis stars with the integration of strength and conditioning, education and long term athletic development. This integrative approach to high performance and the robust experience of coaching top players has made him a well acclaimed coach in professional tennis around the globe.

In part 1, the topics discussed range from Balu sir's personal introduction to tennis, the evolution of the sport, the importance of creating the right environment for youth development and building a diverse technical vocabulary in tennis players. This conversation provides a deep insight into a coach's perspective and the intricacies involved in developing tennis stars of the future.  

Please stay tuned for part 2 of this podcast, coming up in our next episode. Thanks!

2:00 - Balu Sir's introduction. 

3:53 - Starting out as a tennis player and the influence others had on him.

7:06 - The role of a family as a support system and establishing personal independence in the children.

13:39 - The evolution of tennis  and the importance of access to information.

17:30 - What to look for in a child, assessing future potential and sustaining interest.

20:31 - Diversification of youth sports and exposure to multiple sports at a young age. 

32:07 - The importance of variation in the technical arsenal of a successful tennis player. 

35:55 - The advent of video analysis of tennis matches and the gaps to be filled.

49:20 - The sport personality pyramid. "They are children who play tennis, not tennis players who are also your children."

51:24 - Link between practice and the perseverance in a match. Importance of training and pushing through discomfort.

54:15 - Significance of an integrative support system for athletes . The need for development of data in India.