미국은 선수보다 코치를 키우나?

Oscar Wegner (born 1939 in Argentina), www.tennisteacher.com, is a tennis coach notable for his revolutionary methods of teaching tennis which have influenced not only dozens of top players, but created tennis booms around the world. By 1971, he had developed a breakthrough tennis-teaching methodology that integrated radically simple, powerful techniques with the natural instincts of the human body. Though his coaching resume includes praise from coaches and pro players he coached including Bjorn Borg and Vince Spadea, his extended stays in Spain, Germany, Latin America (where he developed the young Gustavo Kuerten), and later work as the Spanish speaking counterpart to NBC's Bud Collins as tennis commentator on ATP and Grand Slams during the 1990s helped spread his Modern Tennis Methodology techniques. Even today, despite his world renowned reputation as a great tennis teacher, Oscar's simplistic analogies to teach people to "play like the pros" still come under attack, though mostly in the USA. However, his legion of fans and coaches continues to grow as recent high speed video analysis vindicates his Modern Tennis theories first adopted by Spain in 1973 and later published in writing in his 1989 book Tennis in Two Hours, his self proclaimed "tennis teaching bible." Oscar teaches a "play by feel" method using simplistic techniques based on natural movements using martial arts concepts of hitting across the ball. To this day, Oscar's advocacy of open stance, topspin, and natural-based movements are the basis of all top pro players and millions of amateurs who discovered that traditional tennis teaching inhibited their natural athleticism. Wegner claims his methods can be adopted by nearly every person with any athletic ability whatsoever and that his methods make tennis an easy sport to learn, especially when every person tries to copy the pros, who today all play the way he advocates.

After introducing his new Modern Tennis Methodology to the USPTA beginning in 1971 with no success, Oscar was invited to test his theories in Spain in 1973. His amazing success with top juniors forced the National Tennis School of Spain to adopt his methods, resulting in Spain becoming a virtual tennis factory of top rated players to this day. Teaching one year in Germany and then eight years in Latin America resulted in tennis booms that replicated the success of Spain in tennis becoming one of the most popular sports. As more pro players began to appear using his techniques, Wegner began to believe that tennis teaching at the grass roots level must be reformed using his methods and so he set out to change tennis teaching almost singlehandedly around the world. He believed that "conventional tennis teaching" and it's form based methods emphasizing footwork destroyed natural athleticism except for all but the most gifted of athletes. In 1989 he published his first book to prove his theory that tennis was an easy game to play. He then moved to the U.S. permanently in 1990 to start reforming USA conventional tennis teaching which he felt was hurting tennis' growth and causing millions to quit the game while the sport boomed elsewhere in the world where his methods were adopted at the grassroots level. In 1992, tennis historian/commentator Bud Collins forwarded the republication of his 1989 book "Tennis in Two Hours" after Bud witnessed the top Russian coaches were using Oscar's methods with great success and wanted more copies of his book which had been panned in the USA's Tennis Magazine. Bud had seen Oscar's methods as far back as 1973 when Oscar was coaching a new group of junior Davis Cup players for Spain who hit the ball with a new "across the body" style that would eventually help make Spain a world tennis power to this day. Bud challenged Oscar to prove his "You can Play Tennis in Two Hours" claim by bringing Oscar a group of total adult "beginners" to teach. Observing how in a few hours these adult beginners were hitting the ball incredibly well using these new techniques caused Bud to rethink his previous theories of how tennis was really best played and taught. It was as if Oscar was teaching the exact opposite of conventional tennis theory and yet Bud Collins, the game's historian, became one of Oscar's biggest believers in Modern Tennis Methodology. Oscar's popularity overseas resulted in his being hired to do a series of tennis tips in English and in Spanish while he became the Spanish tennis commentator for professional tennis. Overseas, during the 1990s, Oscar's famous TV tennis tips would be seen in over 150 countries on ESPN International to the tune of three billion impressions but to this day have never been shown on US television. His growing number of advocates might argue that would help account for the dearth of top USA players in the rankings today. These tips are available only through his website today.

Though Oscar worked with many top pros in their formative years, he stays away from coaching individual players in order to "coach" tennis coaches, reaching more players and possibly accounting why so many parents successfully coach their children. Only in the USA, where he is resisted by the top teaching organizations with a few exceptions in their ranks, does tennis growth stay flat or not grow, a statement (with no reference to Oscar)admitted by then USTA President Franklin Johnson in 2005. You will almost never find a mention or reference to Oscar in any USPTA, PTR, or Tennis (the USA magazine) literature. Though he is a controversial subject on tennis websites (mainly from teachers who have been raised to teach opposing theories to his methods), no one publicly appears to dare challenge this congenial Argentine though Oscar will submit his theories in any test against any other tennis teaching methods to be tested objectively in person. Oscar does not claim that his theory is the only way to learn to play tennis well, but that the Wegner Method is the fastest and best way to learn to play naturally and instinctively to a person's best potential, whether amateur or pro. He also claims his methods based on using long muscles and martial arts principles are partly responsible why previously common tennis ailments such as tennis elbow are disappearing from the game and there is much documentation to prove such. From his Florida headquarters, Oscar travels wherever he is invited to spread his belief that it's easy to "play like the pros" and he offers to test his theories against any conflicting tennis data. He has a series of DVDs and a new 2005 book as well as a new 2006 DVD on advanced tennis updating his theories. In 2006, www.tennisone.com, an internet site devoted to study of the pros using high speed video, finally saluted Oscar with an internet article titled "History Proved Him Right."

He traveled the world on the tennis tour from 1963 to 1967. Upon suffering a back injury, in 1968 he retired to coach with tennis stars Pancho Segura and Pancho Gonzalez at the Beverly Hills Country Club in California. He then became the first tennis coach to draw a distinction between the way the game of tennis was being taught versus the techniques of the top pros he had played with and observed closely, in particular, the swing of Spain's Manuel Santana. Using his background in engineering and his study of martial arts, Oscar began developing simple new teaching methods to copy the best strokes of the top pros. He tested his new theories on a group which included Hollywood movie stars Charlton Heston, Carol Burnett, Dinah Shore, and Dean Martin's son Dean Paul Martin, who became a good enough player to have played the lead in the movie "Players" during which he played Guillermo Vilas in a fictional Wimbledon final. Oscar's instructions were contrary to those of the established teaching USA tennis teaching organizations such as the USPTA and PTR. Oscar's revolutionary ideas did not catch on in the USA and were rejected by the USPTA in 1971 (and every decade since), forcing Oscar to go to Spain where he would eventually be hired as the Junior Davis Cup Captain for the National Tennis School.

Despite a horrible review by Tennis magazine, Oscar's book quickly made it's way to top coaches around the world who noticed their players seemed to improve instantly using Oscar's "play by feel" methods. Tennis commentator Bud Collins noticed top Russian coaches were using Oscar's book to base their methods on. In the 1992 republication, Bud Collins, who is the game's acknowledged historian, advocated "you will find it worthwhile to dump the past and join Oscar in our tennis future." Prime Network cable TV in the USA then featured a tennis show, the New Tennis Magazine Show, from 1992 to 1995. Oscar appeared with host Brad Holbrook in a series of unedited video segments. Brad became such a fan of Oscar's teaching techniques versus conventional tennis teaching that he was the first to call Oscar "the father of modern tennis”. It was these Prime Network shows that were later released on five video tapes (later three DVDs) that later spread Oscar's method around the world via video.

In early 1990s, a janitor in the USA also would have the foresight to see the future of tennis teaching. It was these simple instructional shows that a janitor used to teach his then eleven and nine year old daughters with. Hardly anyone knew of the "revolutionary method" taught to his daughters referred to by then unknown Richard Williams until he thanked Oscar in person for all he had done for tennis and told him the story of how he coached Venus and Serena using Oscar's methods. In another continent, a father in Thailand bought the videos to coach his teen son who within five years was ranked as high as number ten in the world ... Paradorn Scrichaphan. Using Oscar’s first 1989 book, the Russian Tennis Federation coaches in 1991 proceeded to overhaul their teaching methods and by 2006, had five women ranked in the top ten at one time. The International Tennis Federation (ITF), the largest teaching organization in the world (based outside the USA) has modeled their teaching methods on the Spanish success that Oscar started, creating a worldwide grassroots tennis boom (with the exception of the USA).

Oscar started www.tennisteacher.com in 1997 to document and convince the world public that his theories were accurate and the easiest way to play the game to a person's maximum potential. Via email and by mailing out thousands of DVDs and books, he continues to help coaches and players aroung the world develop their abilities. He has a growing following in the USA coaching ranks which is beginning to admit (though begrudingly at times) his theories are a least a good foundation. High speed video study of the top pros continues to substantiate his methods. His website is full of testimonies from some of the biggest names in tennis advocating his Modern Tennis Methodology including Bjorn Borg, Bud Collins, and Bill Mountford, Head Pro of USTA.com. Hit website contains videos of a four year old boy, five year old girl, and twelve year old tennis prodigy whose parents all credit Oscar as the primary influence. In late 2004, the USPTA, which had resisted Oscar for over three decades, finally announced a five year phase out of conventional tennis teaching (no mention of Oscar's name ever appears as to why). Though maligned except by those who have grown to love tennis or rediscover how to be a better coach using his methods, Oscar can always be found with a smile on his face while he continues to be the Johnny Appleseed of Tennis, speaking and teaching wherever he is invited on how to help tennis grow, especially in the USA. In December of 2004, McGraw-Hill published a new book by Oscar Wegner, "Play Better Tennis in 2 Hours." Two new advanced videos featuring Oscar with tennis pro Randy Ardenfriend are now available through his website. Oscar may be reached via email at tennisoscar@aol.com or via toll free telephone, 1-888-999-0077.

미국테니스협회에선 그의 혁명적인 방법을 받아들이지않아 스페인, 남미,러시아 등지로 이주 자신의 방법을 전파했는데 선수 개인을 육성하기 보다는 선수를 가르치는 코치를 교육함으로서 이 지역 테니스부흥에 일조했고 그의 교수법이 이들 국가가 현재 테니스강국이 되는 하나의 단초를 제공한 것으로 평가됨.
건물관리인을 하고 있던 윌리암스가 와그너의 방법을 배워 자신의 두 딸을 교육시킴으로 비너스, 세러나의 탄생
태국의 한 아버지가 와그너의 비디오를 사서 자신의 아들인 파라돈 스리차판에게 그방법으로 코치한 결과 불과 5년 안에 탑 10위 안에 랭크되게함.
배우기 어렵고 복잡한 전통적 방법 대신 손과 눈의 협응력에 기초해 내재된 운동능력을 일깨우는 방법으로 누구나 쉽게 배우고 즐길 수 있는 방법 창안.
30년 가까이 와그너방법을 이단시하던 미국도 마침내 그의 방법을 뒤늦게나마 인정하기에 이름.
이젠 미국 전역을 돌며 사과씨를 뿌려 사과나무를 키운 조니 애플시드처럼 테니스의 조니 애플시드로 불림.