Paul Annacone compares his coaching experience with Roger Federer and Pete Sampras
What's the story?
American tennis coach Paul Annacone recently spoke about the differences between tennis legends Roger Federer and Pete Sampras. Annacone discussed the two players' personalities and explained how that had impacted his coaching success with each of them.
In case you didn't know...
Federer is widely regarded as the greatest tennis player ever, but before his emergence many believed that that title belonged to Sampras. The American dominated the 1990s and broke almost every meaningful record in the men's game that stood at that time.
Annacone has the unique distinction of coaching both of them, so his observations about the two legends would hold a lot of significance.
The heart of the matter
"I was with Pete for over seven years, I was with Roger for four. They are all very different, different personalities," Annacone said.
The tennis coach then explained how he went about tailoring his methods to suit their differences:
"You have got to learn your philosophy and strategy but you have got to do it in different ways and say it in different ways. Because each person reacts differently to receiving information."
Annacone was suggesting that although his philosophy in tennis remained the same for both Federer and Sampras, due to their different personalities he was required to approach his coaching style accordingly.
He further emphasized his point point by stating: "You have to figure out how to get your beliefs and your foundational kind of techniques across but in a way the players can receive it."
He then went into particular detail about his time as Sampras's coach.
"I have never met a human being that is more able to understand and know what they want to accomplish and be more confident about how they are gonna do it," he finished.
What's next?
Sampras is long retired, but Federer is currently working with Ivan Ljubicic, who has been the Swiss' coach for a couple of years.