Technically Speaking: Ernie Katko builds better players from the ground up

Ernie Katko spent much of his adult life in or near the big cities of New York and Chicago. After moving to the Quad Cities five years ago, he’s enjoying the slower pace of LeClaire, Iowa. But don’t think for a second that he plans to slow down himself.

“It’s nice here,” said Katko, director of the high-performance program at Quad City Tennis Club, where he also runs all the club’s USTA events. “It’s a smaller area than I’m used to. It’s a little different atmosphere, but it’s nice. LeClaire is a great little town right on the Mississippi River. There’s a lot going on here, and a lot of tennis in the area, too.

“I’ve been working with the players here, trying to help them develop. We’ve had around 20 players from the Quad Cities area who ended up playing No. 1 singles for their high school teams.”

Katko moved to the area because his wife has family there. He spent the previous 30 years in New York City and the suburbs of Chicago, where he built his successful coaching career. Katko is a member of USTA Coaching.

“I did a lot of stuff with USTA Midwest,” he said. “I was the tennis director at an academy in the suburbs. We had a lot of top players going to the next level. I’ve had players who ended up playing at Stanford, Michigan and Indiana. Those are some pretty good schools out there.”

Katko played college tennis at West Liberty University, located in West Virginia about an hour southwest of Pittsburgh, Pa. He had a strong playing career, which prepared him to train tennis players for the Division I level.

So, is he a better coach than he was a player?

“I don’t want to say that myself,” he said. “But you could say that. That’s fair.”

What separates Katko from many in the field is his focus on the technical aspects of the game.

“The key is getting that technical base,” he said. “If someone is not superior athletically, which most are at the highest level, then I’ll focus the game on another structure where they’re able to take advantage.

“If they’re athletic, then you take advantage of that. It’s kind of like building a different game. If someone is 6 feet 5 inches, he’s going to take advantage of the serve as opposed to a different-sized player.”

With his decades of coaching experience, Katko’s on-court instruction covers each facet of the game, from the tactical side to a player’s mental approach.