Image of Andy Ireland with gay paw and Brad Gilbert. High profile Brad Gilbert is making his way to the west coast of FLA form his cozy home base in California. Guess you can call the unemployment agency and let them know you found a job. This should be interesting, since talent is thinning on the American front hopefully he can work with the American kids, there are so many foreigners at the academy its ridiculis. He may be the only other American coach besides Nick. I wonder what he is getting paid? Do you think he filled out an application with IMG? 47 is kind of old, I bet i could whoop him on the court. Has anyone told him to clean up that white patch on the side of his head and not to wear suit jackets in the Australian heat with pink whacky shirts. This guy was a fashion disaster for two weeks. Hey Brad, always wearing black is a little creepy too, get original because it reminds me of night matches with Andy Roddick at the US Open. Does IMG have their guy??? Anyways, I absolutely can't stand Bob Larson and his site, but please read the following...
March 9, 2009 - Brad Gilbert to guest coach at Bollettieri Academy
Five months after quitting his lucrative job with the Lawn Tennis Association in the UK, Brad Gilbert is back in coaching – this time with Nick Bollettieri at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fl.
Because Gilbert is a very high-energy, very Type A personality, you knew he couldn’t stay on the sidelines much longer, though it’s not clear how long this gig with Nick is going to last. It’s open-ended right now.
"Brad will come down here for two weeks and we’ll see how things go," Bollettieri told me this afternoon. There’s no exact date set for Gilbert’s arrival, but it’s supposed to coincide with students’ spring break. "I’ll be seeing Brad in about a month," Bollettieri said.
"Let me make this very clear. He is going to bring his knowledge here to work with every group at this academy." That means juniors who have already shown the talent to have a pro career; juniors whose best next move is college and then, possibly, a pro career; and club players who are spending several days to a week at the academy trying to bump their USTA ratings from 3.5 to 4.0, or higher.
"What Brad brings is a formula of how to fight, how to dig in and make the maximum out of what you’ve got," said Bollettieri. "He’s going to bring how to win . . . h ow to get into people’s minds . . . how to play with what you’ve got."
At 47, Gilbert has already established himself as an in-demand coach and I asked him on this conference call from his home just north of San Francisco what he would do if, during his time at the IMG Academy, he got a phone call from yet another top-10 player looking to contract for his services. Nick stepped in and joked: "Plead the 5th on that one, Brad."
The answer is obvious. He’s going to be back on tour if the right opportunity presents itself. It’s in his blood, and Bollettieri understands that. He also understands that there are a number of very high-profile young pros at the academy who have the opportunity to be personally exposed to Gilbert during these (expected) series of two-week coaching stints. That would include one of the most intriguing young players on the ATP Tour today, 19-year-old Kei Nishikori.
Nishikori (currently No. 94 after reaching No. 56 in February), it should be noted, is currently working with Bollettieri traveling coach Glenn Weiner. Could Nishikori be working with Gilbert in the future? That’s not why Gilbert is coming to Florida, but, as anyone who has ever coached tennis will tell you, "These relationships are not forever."
Certainly Gilbert knows that after coaching and be fired by Andre Agassi (1994-2002), Andy Roddick (2003-04) and Andy Murray.
But wherever Gilbe rt has gone, he’s improved an already immensely talented player into a better player. He supplemented Agassi’s physical gift for the game with the mental processes that were lacking and was with Andre for six Grand Slam singles titles. He was coaching Roddick when Andy won his only Slam.
Maybe there are better stroke technicians than Gilbert out there, but few coaches are better at instructing players how to properly use what they’ve got.
That finesse and the mental game was what Gilbert used to finish nine of his 10 pro seasons in the ATP top 10, reaching No. 4 in 1990. It carried him to a career best Slam quarterfinal finish at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open and won him 20 singles titles.
He’s written two books (Winning Ugly and I’ve Got Your Back) and probably made an obscene amount of money working 16 months for the LTA, which couldn’t have been very satisfying after Murray split with him. He was left to squire Alex Bogdanovic, Britain’s No. 2 player, to a series of Challengers.
"I’m looking forward to the opportunity to spend a couple weeks with Nick," said Brad, who himself was at this academy, as was his son, Zack, two years ago.
Said Nick: "We’re going back to the old times when Brad was here (as a student)," said Nick. "I assure you Brad has always been a favorite of mine because of how he knew how to fight and win. Right now we’ll start with two weeks and see how it goes. But when we need Brad here, he’ll be here."
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