About 525,600 minutes pass in a single year, leaving a seemingly endless amount of time to improve in just about anything — LSU men’s tennis sophomore Mark Bowtell knows.Bowtell was an average, run-of-the-mill player just one year ago. He primarily held down the No. 6 singles position and finished the 2009 season with pedestrian numbers — 14-17 in singles and 6-11 in doubles. But Bowtell has exploded onto the scene in his second year with the Tigers, climbing to the team’s No. 2 singles spot. He remains one of the lone bright spots for the 7-14 Tigers. “To his credit, it’s pretty amazing the jump he’s made in one year,” said LSU assistant coach Danny Bryan. “He was a pretty average No. 6 and to make that jump to No. 2 and actually win is impressive.” Ironically, there is nothing average about Bowtell. He is listed at 6 feet, 4 inches but plays like a 7-footer, combining a blistering service game with an overpowering forehand smash. This unique blend allowed Bowtell to easily climb to the top of the lineup.  Bowtell, who leads the team with 11 dual wins, regularly played at No. 4 and No. 5 in the early part of the season, but LSU coach Jeff Brown inserted Bowtell into the No. 2 spot April 2 against Alabama. The move has paid off for Brown as Bowtell has posted three wins since the switch, including a victory April 11 against No. 114 Vijay Paul of Vanderbilt.”Most people don’t own their serve generally like he does,” Brown said. “On the other side, to have the super powerful forehand — not everyone that has a big serve has something else as well.” Brown and Bryan have seen tremendous improvements in Bowtell’s serve since last year to a point where Brown said Bowtell has close to a 95 percent hold rate on his service games. In addition to his powerful first serve, Bowtell has added a topspin serve and a slice serve to keep his opponents on their toes. “I can get a lot of free points on my serve, which puts a lot of pressure on my opponent and their service game,” Bowtell said. Bowtell’s 20th birthday isn’t until mid-May, and the County Wicklow, Ireland, native has yet to reach his potential — a scary prospect for future opponents.Both coaches want to improve his lateral quickness to give him the ability to play at the net.Bowtell regularly plays behind the baseline and blasts forehands to the point. Brown said he wants Bowtell to learn how to transition better between the baseline and the net.”I can’t imagine how good he’ll get if he works on that transition game,” Brown said. “There really wouldn’t be a time where anybody could really relax.”The transition game will not only help Bowtell in singles, but also in doubles.Doubles play normally requires quick feet and the ability to play at the net. Bowtell has been passive at times, staying back near the baseline for too long.”Recently, he’s starting to take more ownership in the fact that he should be a better doubles player,” Bryan said. “He’s always kind of just looked at it that he was only good at singles, which is kind of silly.”Whether it’s singles or doubles, being in the spotlight and playing against top competition is familiar to Bowtell.He was one of the top junior prospects in Ireland during his teenage years in County Wicklow and was the highest-ranked International Tennis Federation junior in 2006 and 2007.But Bowtell’s success in Ireland was highly individualized, which is the opposite of college team tennis.”The team environment is fun because back home in Ireland, it’s all individual,” Bowtell said. “Just being part of a team is fun and just going out on the road together.”—-Contact Sean Isabella at [email protected].