To some, former professional tennis player Jeff Salzenstein is known as “The Seagull.”
He was given the nickname by mentor Joseph O’Dwyer in reference to the Richard Bach book, “Jonathan Livingston Seagull,” the story of a bird that chooses its own path.
“He doesn’t follow the herd, he does his own thing,” said Salzenstein, a Cherry Creek High School grad. “I’ve always been on my own journey, my own quest.”
Salzenstein is back in Denver after 11 years on the pro circuit. Now, he’s coaching kids in Denver and globally through video analysis on his blog, . Two months ago, he took on former pro Vasilisa Bardina, who’s working her way back onto the pro tour where she was once ranked No. 48 in the world.
“The Seagull” won a national championship at age 12. He played at powerhouse Cherry Creek High School, winning an individual state title as a senior before heading to Stanford, which won back-to-back team national titles with Salzenstein as captain in 1995 and 1996.
Salzenstein didn’t crack the top 100 in the pros until age 30. A string of injuries in his 20s led him to study nutrition, kinesiology, fitness and flexibility until he was playing his best tennis at an age when many pros are considering retirement.
“I was always between 100 and 200 in the world, and I couldn’t figure out how to get to that next level,” Salzenstein said. “I was serving 136 miles per hour at 32 years old, and people couldn’t understand how long it took to develop that. I wasn’t an overnight success story.”
As a coach, Salzenstein blends tips from mentors he found on the tour with his own situational experience and the styles of other pro players.
His assistant coach, Eric Morin, said he appreciates that Salzenstein is constantly picking up new ideas and customizing them for individual students.
“He just learns,” Morin said. “He takes everything in and takes the best from everything. So he’s always listening to other people and their opinions. You don’t find that very often.”
In a June lesson, Salzenstein worked with William Son, a 16-year-old junior at his high school alma mater. The pair spent time on Son’s most recent match, talking through why certain shots didn’t go his way.
Son served while Salzenstein recorded video. Then Salzenstein pulled up Roger Federer on one side of his computer screen to compare with the video of Son.
“It especially helps me because I really have to visualize something first,” Son said.
Someday, Salzenstein hopes to open a tennis haven dedicated to the development of passionate, not perfect, players. Until then, he’s working with beginners and pros alike, channeling his real-life experience to help them develop holistically.
“It’s not something I read in a book or I cooked up watching TV,” he said. “I actually lived a lot of it. I get just as much satisfaction from a player doing well as for me to do well.”
Sarah Kuta: 303-954-1033 or skuta@denverpost.com
