JOHN Schofield has hit enough backhands, smashed a enough volleys and served enough aces to cast a critical view on the state of tennis in East Lancashire.

One of the area's longest serving coaches and one of its most respected, John has been righting wrongs on the court for some 30 years -- credentials good enough to make anyone sit up and listen to what he has to say.

From the baseline to the net, from the serve to the volley, John and his team of coaches have worked hard to do their bit to improve the game.

While he is the first to admit that all is not rosy in East Lancashire he believes it has come a long way since he first turned to coaching in 1970.

"There once was a time that if you were your club champion then you may as well have been world champion. There was no structure in the game. Nothing to go on to. But thankfully that has all changed."

While the structure has improved on a national level, John is working improve coaching on the local scene.

For he has now established a coaching school which he believes is the ideal way to nurture young talent and turn it in to county and national champions.

It's not a pipe dream, it's reality -- for John has already coached five national champions and dozens of players who have gone on to win titles at county level.

John's coaching philosophy is different to other local coaches and a philosophy he believes that works.

While he agrees it is good to see youngsters taking up the game, he said the coaching has to be right to get the best out of players -- whether they want to go on and compete at the highest level or just be a good club player.

He said: "As far as I am concerned it is no good coaching a group of 30 or so kids altogether because their abilities will be of varying levels.

"When you do that, the good ones aren't challenged and get fed up while the poor players become disillusioned.

"Unfortunately, there are some parents who don't come from tennis backgrounds who send their children to coaching lessons. As far as they are concerned, coaching is coaching."

John has a rigid formula that caters for players of all levels good, bad or indifferent.

It starts with the six and seven-year-olds and mini tennis, moving on to beginners, through to improvers then club, county and national standard. "I get as much pleasure out of seeing a youngster pick up a racket for the time and learn hand eye co-ordination as I do at seeing a player make it at national standard. But I suppose getting players to compete at national standard is what it is all about. That is what we are striving for.

Now aged 55 and living in Hoddlesden, John hails from Accrington. The former Haslingden High School pupil counted himself as a decent club player and won plenty of titles at that level mainly at Bolton club Markland Hill and Blackburn Northern.

But even when he was playing he realised there was a void in the coaching set-up so he decided to give it a go.

So he took his coaching awards -- he is now a level two coach -- and using school sports hall and leisure centres, John travelled across East Lancashire teaching his own brand of coaching.

"At the beginning, it was a case of holding coaching sessions at whatever venue I could get hold of. It was practical and it was pretty costly." To start with, John continued to work as a sales manager for confectioners Mars and coach part-time.

But after combining the two for six years, John took a gamble, gave up his job and took up coaching full time.

But it was a gamble that paid off.

"It was tough at the beginning because I gave up a job to take up coaching where I was not getting paid as much. The first few years were very tough."

John started coaching at two designated venues at Ribble Valley Tennis Centre and Blackburn Northern where he introduced the revolutionary Air Dome in 1988 -- the first 'inflatable' tennis courts in the North West.

But it is far from a one-man job. In those early days, John worked alongside Ian Broughton and today has a coaching team that includes Jamie Hutchins, Gale Atherton and his son Mark who is a Level Three high performance coach.

"Today, I tend to look after the mini tennis youngsters, Mark does the national players and Gale and Jamie look after the players in between.

"I would have to say I am delighted at what we have achieved. I think we have now reached the level that we aimed for. We are one of the few coaching schools in the county where players can fulfil their true potential."

But despite the set-up, the coaches and the experience, John says all the hard work has to be done by the players themselves -- and that is where tennis falls down in this country.

"To be a top class tennis player you have to have that hunger inside. Tennis is not like sports such as football where you can play whatever standard you are.

"There is no instant success in tennis and it could take a young player up to two years to hold a rally with a player of the same standard. It is all about stickability and commitment. Unfortunately there are too many players who have high aspirations but a lack of commitment."

Strong words but strong words from a man whose commitment and stickability has never come in to question.