Tennis.com Podcast: Coach Rob Steckley seizes the moment, one opportunity at a time

There’s just nothing like finding your calling. No matter the industry, it is an invigorating feeling to discover exactly what you have been put on Earth to do. For Rob Steckley, that calling is, undoubtedly, coaching others.

Since the end of his competitive playing career, he has thrown himself full force at developing and leading others in their tennis journeys. His passion remains relentless, even if the journey has been arduous on occasions. But the Toronto native has remained dedicated to the process of helping others improve. His appearance on the Tennis.com Podcast with Kamau Murray examines the highs and lows of his profession, and why there’s always room to grow in coaching.

Like many in his industry, Steckley was a fine player in his own right. He excelled in college, making it to the pros briefly before realizing that it was not in his best interest to keep fighting upstream. The talent level required to succeed is massive, and the costs are expensive to pursue the dream.

But that’s when the lightbulb first went off his mind, and he realized there was a way to stay very much involved in the game he loved.

“I actually found myself in the last year helping a lot of my friends out there. Even when we were playing doubles and going to watch friends’ matches. I just had that knack for enjoying to help others,” Steckley explained.

The spark was lit, but he needed to find his lane. Coaches starting off often tussle with which area to pursue, be it your country’s national development system, the private sector, or just seeking friends and former contemporaries that you easily work with. For Steckley it started with the national team, which led to a tour opportunity with Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak. It was the moment he had been waiting his whole life for.

Steckley’s work with Wozniak gave him the opportunity to earn a living and build a reputation as a coach, which he was able to carve up rather quickly. He has worked with several pros, but his most successful career heights occurred with Lucie Safarova. Trust and commitment are always the key ingredients to good partnership, and Safarova was willing to go all in.

“Out of nowhere at this truck stop, we got these Wienerschnitzels in Austria," he says. "And she was like, ‘I wanna do it. I fully trust you, I want to commit to change.’ And I was like, excuse me?”

The road took the two all the way to the singles final of Roland Garros, where Safarova fought valiantly against Serena Williams. The Czech lost in three sets, but despite the pain of losing was able to identify that she had accomplished a great deal.

“I was just so blessed to be a part of, not only that result. But it was bigger than that,” Steckley told Kamau Murray, a fellow WTA coach who has gotten to experience both a euphoric major win and a heartbreaking loss in a Grand Slam final. “She just was a perfect human being. And so seeing her disappointment, I was there for comfort and I couldn’t get mad at that. We just enjoyed the moment and got back to work.”

As Safarova’s career was winding down, Steckley began working with a fellow Canadian and one of the fastest rising stars in the men’s game. Denis Shapovalov came up through the same development system that the coach got his start in, and with Safarova’s blessing, he made the switch to the ATP.

“When we started working, he was like ‘do you remember when you were teaching me the tweener?’ And I was like, 'No dude, but I must of because that sounds like me,” the coach recalled fondly. “He had all of these things to learn. Like you’re a young stud, what do you do on and off the court?”

Steckley brought up a very good point that when you shoot up the rankings quickly at a very young age, you’re often not prepared for the inevitable pushback that will happen from your competitors.

“A lot of it was tactical, trying to understand how now to play when people start to figure you out. And so bringing that element of, now you have to think. You can’t just go on autopilot and crush winners.”

It’s a candid observation of the men’s game, and a fair critique of what has held the supremely talented Shapovalov from reaching the very top of the ATP. Steckley still serves as a mentor to the player, and would like nothing more than for his countrymate to realize all of his potential.

Anytime Kamau Murray gets to talk shop with a fellow coach on his podcast, knowledge oozes out of the conversation. Steckley dives into how doubles came to grow on him, the ins and outs of setting up practices for his player, and how coaches try to balance the right amount of energy and personal action while his pupil is playing. In the present day, Steckley is at home with wife and two daughters, in the process of setting up a high-performance training ground for the next generation of tennis-crazed youths.

It’s the most logical next step for a man who’s still as committed as ever to educating others.