How Judy Murray succeeded where the LTA has failed

Judy Murray says you have to teach children how to win

Judy Murray pulls no punches when it comes to explaining how she succeeded in raising two champions while the LTA has failed to produce any.

The mother of Andy and Jamie, told BBC Jersey: "If you want to create kids who can win you have to teach them how to win, not just how to hit the ball."

Mrs Murray criticised the current LTA system, revealing she has not been asked for her input.

"I certainly would tell them if they did ask me," she said.

Jamie and Andy were playing in the men's third team at Dunblane with a bunch of 60-year-olds.

Judy Murray

Talking at the Caesarean Tennis Club, where she was coaching young Jersey tennis hopefuls, Mrs Murray went into some of the reasons behind her sons' success.

She said: "It's all about creating the right opportunities at the right time."

"In my opinion, the way British tennis has gone with our better children is that they are put into programmes at tennis centres and they're taught how to hit the ball very well and are with other children of a very similar age and level."

Looking back at her boys at the age of eight and nine, she said it was very different.

"They were playing in the men's third team at Dunblane with a bunch of 60-year-olds. They were working out how to slice and dice and get themselves out of trouble against very much older competitors.

"I think that's what it's all about for me. It's understanding how to play the game, not just about how well you hit the ball. It's learning what to do with the ball to make your opponent struggle. It's how to take them out of position, where do they miss from, understanding how to make them run."