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There are four Spanish men and two Argentines in the men’s round of 16 at the U.S. Open this year.

Those six players ,who are reputedly clay court specialists, are fully involved in the mix at the biggest hard court tournament in the world.

There are two American men left in the draw at the round of 16. Those two men, Roddick and Blake, have games molded and designed for hard court play specifically.

So why can’t American make a successful crossover to European clay courts like the Spaniards and Argentines are able to comfortably crossover to our type of courts in the U.S.?

I think our instant gratification culture provides at least one obvious answer.

As a longtime teacher and coach, I’ve dealt with many hundreds if not multiple thousands of students looking to learn or improve their tennis games. Tennis at first glance appears pretty easy, just run over and give the ball a whack with a paddle. It’s pretty easy to do unless you want to compete, even at the lowest levels of competition.

American players, because they learn on fast courts, employ the instant gratification checkers kind of tactics compared to the thoughtful measured chess like tactics of the true European or South American clay court master.

When you learn on clay the surface itself denies you the opportunity for instant gratification and puts your learning focus on how to use the court to degrade the balance and effectiveness of your opponent, rather than the lets really unload on this shot mindset that the Americans tend to employ.

The technical soundness of your fundamental skills determines the strategic and tactical roads you are able to explore in the course of a closely contested tennis match.

Make sure you develop a full set of all court skills so you aren’t a typical American style one trick pony.

Howie Burnett is a member of the United States Professional Tennis Association and tennis director at the Island Country Club on Marco Island. Burnett welcomes questions on strokes, tactics or etiquette. To reach him, call the tennis shop at 394-4464 or e-mail him at islandclubtennis@hotmail.com