Milos Raonic’s hiring of John McEnroe during the French Open turned heads for many reasons. The hiring was seen as a big surprise, but not really because of the men involved. The adding of McEnroe to the Canadian’s coaching staff came as a surprise because Raonic already has two coaches. He’s been working with Riccardo Piatti since 2014 and joined forces with Carlos Moya earlier this year.
The world number nine had already been experiencing some strong results with two coaches, but apparently it wasn’t enough as he has now added a third coach, including one veteran coach and a pair of former top-ranked players, a coaching super-team. Questions have been raised as to how well the super-team will work. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of a coaching super-team.
Pros
Different focus for different purpose
Just like it’s hard for players to be strong in every facet of the game on every surface, it’s hard for coaches to be experts in every area. The advantage of a super-team is that you can have different people who each bring their own specific skill set to the player. Having a group of people like that is an advantage for a player because it allows them to learn more and expand their own horizons.
That’s exactly how Raonic has built his super-team. Moya was brought in to help Raonic with his ground game, making his ground strokes more consistent, being patient and constructing points. However, while these tactics will work well on slow courts, Moya does not bring as much to the table during the grass court season. Enter McEnroe. The American brings experience and understanding of how to win on grass. Between the two of them, Raonic has someone who can help at every point of the season. And then there’s Piatti, the backbone of the team who brings veteran understanding and is the calming presence holding the team together.
Less strain on individual relationships
The relationship between a coach and player can be very stressful, especially if they’re travelling and working together on a daily basis. The intense exposure to each other can cause strain and create a negative environment. The advantage of having a group of coaches is there is not the same intensity in each relationship since duties are spread out amongst multiple people.
The other advantage here is when you have multiple coaches is that it allows some to take time off. In Raonic’s case, Piatti has been with the Canadian week-in, week-out all season, while Moya has been present primarily during big events. World number one Novak Djokovic has a similar situation. He splits his time between Marian Vajda and Boris Becker and it’s worked out brilliantly. During Wimbledon and probably the following Masters 1000 events, Moya, McEnroe, and Piatti will likely all be with Raonic. But during training weeks and small events, one or two of them can take some time off which will make the relationship less intense and toxic.
Extra set of eyes
Another advantage of having additional coaches is that there are more people to watch and make observations and therefore provide feedback. It’s not down to one person. With a team of coaches, it allows for more feedback and it’s harder for bad habits and mistakes to go unnoticed. When you’re determined to improve, you want to as many people watching and giving advice as possible. It’s a lot easier when you have multiple people watching you and looking for areas of improvement.
Since 2014, probably not coincidentally the year Raonic experienced his best results before 2016, Raonic has operated with at least two coaches. Not surprisingly, the Canadian has improved since bringing in multiple coaches. Since the coaches each already have their own duties, they can focus on their area while watching Raonic play rather than worrying about his overall game. This means that each part of his game gets more focus because one individual is able to watch specific elements.
Cons
Too many chefs in the kitchen
The primary disadvantage of a coaching super-team is that too many people trying to give advice or be in control can lead to conflict. This problem can manifest in multiple ways. First off, the coaches themselves can disagree. For whatever reason, whether it be vision for the player, coaching styles or personality clashes, if the coaches do not get along, it makes it hard for them to work together and the team will not function. Usually, the player suffers from this situation.
When you bring in this many coaches, the player can also stop being the priority. Especially when one or more (two in the case of Raonic’s super-team) coach is a first-time coach, they might focus on proving themselves rather than helping. Not to mention each coach could think their role or the area they are focusing on is more important. Not only could this lead to more clashes with other coaches, but could result in a loss of focus or other important areas of the player’s game being ignored.
Hypothetically, let’s look at a potential problem with Raonic’s team. With the grass court season approaching, imagine that McEnroe takes over completely. All that they talk about and all that they practice is what McEnroe wants to practice to prepare for grass. Suddenly, Moya is pushed to the outside and all the skills he had worked on with Raonic get ignored. While during the grass court season this may not be the end of the world, what happens when they get to the North American hard courts? Suddenly Raonic hasn’t been practising his consistency, trading it for aggression. Not to mention Moya probably is unhappy with McEnroe. It’s not a great situation.
Now, this is a hypothetical situation to prove a point, not a prediction. However, it’s an example of what could happen in a situation where there too many people trying to assert their will in this type of situation. When there are too many clashing personalities and ideas, it can turn into a messy, dysfunctional situation very quickly.
So is the super-team a good idea? Just like any coaching situation or any team, it depends entirely on the pieces involved. With the right combination of people, there are a ton of benefits to having a super-team. However, it can also implode very easily. There is no answer as to whether or not it’s a good idea. It comes down to the player and their choice of coaches. As for Raonic, McEnroe, Moya and Piatti, we’ll have to wait and see.