The Case For No Cut

Lots of great info from the USTA South Carolina tennis coaches workshop I attended recently. New drills forthcoming. In the meantime I am taking a moment for a brief rant about 'no cut' tennis teams. If you are not into rants, just be patient and new drills will be posted over the next few days.

Rant Commences Here

When the workshop broke for lunch, I was fortunate to be sitting at a table with lots of great tennis folks

These fun portraits happen when you get
inducted into the SC Tennis Hall of Fame

including Barbara Jones from St. George SC and some of her pals who have done amazing things getting youth tennis going there. SC Tennis Hall of Famer Bernie McGuire also joined us. Bernie is the tennis coach at a private school called Hammond in Columbia, SC. I had never met Bernie in person, but had worked with him by proxy, coordinating a friendly with some of his players last fall through his assistant, Bob Crab. I introduced myself and we talked about Hammond a little bit. He mentioned he had 71 girls on his no cut tennis team.

Seventy. One.

While that is sinking in, let me 'splain. In case you are not familiar with 'no cut', it's exactly what it sounds like. No one is cut. Anyone can join the team, regardless of skill level. USTA has an official No Cut program and encourages schools to participate because obviously this has the potential to increase the tennis playing population. But in my experience, schools are reluctant to embrace no cut. Last year another coach (who will remain nameless) summed it up when she said she didn't like no cut because they didn't have enough coaches to handle large groups of kids. Okay, I get that. But she also had some tasteless remarks about the skill levels of the kids that no cut attracts. She basically didn't have the personality or patience to coach beginners, is what it boiled down to. She'd rather just cut them.

With this conversation in mind, I asked Coach Bernie how he handles staggering numbers like 71 kids on a team. He said he just recruits volunteer coaches through parents, friends and staff members who have tennis skills. And that was that. No complex methods or explanations. No whining or complaining. Just asks for help, finds help, finds a way to not turn away 50 kids who want to play tennis.

Doesn't that sound simple? Yeah, but you and I both know it's never that simple. It's a lot of work. But if you have what it takes, the rewards are worth it. Reach out to your state USTA reps, your local tennis professionals, parents, staff, neighbors. Ask for resources. Ask for help. Put a racquet in a kid's hand. The magic of no cut is providing an outlet for kids to play a sport whose main roadblock to playing a sport is the dread of being cut, of being told you're not good enough. High school has enough soul-devouring experiences over four years. Anxiety over making a sports team, which is supposed to be about playing a GAME for crying out loud, supposed to be FUN, should not be one of them.

And all you parents out there worried a no cut team will dilute the coaching talent too much and your little Andy Roddick wannabe won't get his share of coaching time - you and I both know the junior development coaching does not occur on the high school courts, so get over it. If you don't know that, and you're depending on the high school team experience to get your player to Wimbledon, you don't know much about tennis. You're doing it wrong.

Rant Concludes Here

So props to Coach Bernie and all the other great no cut high school teams out there. I'm impressed. You're doing it right.

Photo from USTA Midwest section No Cut page

6 Ways Tennis Should Go To The Dogs

Yes this is my actual dog Chloe, not a stock photo.
Pretty Pretty Princess!

Now that our two children have left the nest, our 9-year-old yellow lab Chloe is undisputed queen of the household. Every day she brings joy (and an astonishing amount of shed dog hair) into our lives.

I mention Chloe often during tennis clinics, and not just because I am a doting dog owner. I find many opportunities to use Chloe in teaching analogies my students may not immediately grasp otherwise. 

Focus

Whenever I have something Chloe wants, there is little in the known universe that can distract her from it. Usually it is food, preferably human food. But it may also be a toy (rawhide chews, tennis balls), or something she smells during her daily walk that she finds particular captivating. I greatly admire her level of intensity and often mention it on court. This works especially well when my students are also dog owners. Recently I had two sisters in a Red Ball class, ages 7 and 5. They come directly from school so there is often some difficulty in getting them to focus on matters at hand. Completely understand! They have just been released from several hours of indoor captivity. They just want to run around! I would, too! However, we also need to get a little tennis accomplished. So anyway we are at the net working on volleys. Lots of misses, lots of fooling around. I asked them if they had a dog. Thankfully they said 'yes'. I inquired further about the habits of said dog, if she liked to chase or fetch toys. Thankfully again the answer was 'yes' (apparently some dogs don't - who knew??). I asked them to imagine they were the dog, and to go after the balls like they think their dog would. Eyes sparkling, giggles galore, instant improvement!

Enthusiasm
Paired with Chloe's level of focus is an equally high level of enthusiasm. She has been known to pout and skulk, but never when there is a game afoot. If there is a tennis ball in the vicinity, she gives plenty of hustle. I don't have to beg, plead, cajole, and certainly never have to discipline her. Quite the opposite - I'm usually first one who wants to stop playing! Level of enthusiasm is a also a great indicator of whether I am doing my job as coach during class. If my students are surprised at how quickly the hour has passed and don't want to stop, mission accomplished!

Reward savvy
Most dogs are smarter than we give them credit for. Chloe is no exception. Full disclosure: she has outsmarted me on more than one occasion. But this is a good thing. This means she understands what a reward is and is able to learn what she has to do to get one. I like to have a reward-based philosophy on court as well. I don't give candy, but I do give plenty of praise using the CBG strategy (Caught Being Good). Praise for nice manners, praise for quick ball pick-up, rewards for being on time (first player to clinic gets first pick of various activities during the lesson - first in line, etc.). Participation in optional activities such as our monthly match play may result in a small reward item given to all participants. Naturally winning is a powerful reward for most of my students. In a broader sense I encourage them to set personal goals as rewards for improving their game such as registering for upcoming tournaments. It's all carrot, no stick. But the carrot is an indispensable part of any progression path.

BTW before just about any activity or challenge I present to my students, they want to know what they will 'get' if they perform well/succeed at the activity. I always say: "Respect".

Active
This one's so simple in concept but so hard to put into practice. When I get up and walk to the front door, Chloe is on instant alert. She trots over there with me, tail wagging hopefully. When I open it, she looks at me expectantly. When I give the nod, she is absolutely joyous that we are going outside because all the fun stuff happens outside. If I also grab the leash on the way out, look out! She goes bonkers. Contrast this with humans. Given the choice of going outside to play versus hanging around inside connected to any device with a glass screen, which will most choose? I compare it to the advice I give my students about our water breaks: never pass up an opportunity to get a drink. Ditto on activity, especially outdoor activity: never pass up a chance. Unfortunately, in today's society, often the chances are not frequent enough. So be prepared to create additional opportunities to get out and chase a ball.

Rested
Chloe is a senior citizen in dog years. This means she sleeps a lot. I mean, a LOT. But here's what I admire about her and need to do more of myself: when she is tired, she takes a nap. She doesn't park it in front of a glass screen, listlessly scrolling through meaningless information,  wasting quality nap time! Science is telling us restorative brief naps are beneficial. It is also telling us not getting enough good quality sleep at night can be very detrimental, even possibly related to attention deficit issues. So let's take a lesson from our pets and make quality sleep a health priority right up there with eating healthy and getting plenty of physical activity. Walk out on the court full of energy, not draggin' your wagon!

Positive
As I am writing this, I can only think of two things Chloe is not super pumped up about doing. One is taking a dog bath. Considering she is a Lab aka 'water dog', and we live on a lake, and she is in the lake multiple times daily in warm weather, I have always found this weird. She absolutely hates being bathed. Maybe it's the shampoo? IDK. The other thing she hates is taking her flea/heartworm pill which is big and smells nasty and I wouldn't like it either. Other than that, she is on board for whatever you want to do. Car ride? You betcha, even if it is just to the corner store. Boat ride? Heck yeah - who wouldn't? Long walk? Big favorite. Short walk? Absolutely. Walk outside and plop down in the sun for a nap? Every chance she gets. Hang out with me while I am typing this? Sounds a little boring to you, I bet, but to Chloe, sure, she is up for it. That's a quality I love to see in my students. Occasionally I hear some resistance, maybe in the form of excuses, for some of the activities we do, or when learning a new skill is proving to be a challenge. Excuses are mowed down in short order on my court. Not rudely, but methodically so that the student understands how the 'impossible' can indeed become possible. And when I have students who are upbeat and ready to try again, man, that makes my day! Our motto is 'Next Time'! I also love the Yoda philosophy, totally mangling it here but the gist is, "There is no CAN'T. There is only DO."

Looking forward to seeing lots of tail-wagging out on court next time. Something about chasing a tennis ball does that to ya.

Low Compression Balls = Instant Tennis

Low compression
to the rescue!

True story, just happened over the weekend and I wanted to share it with you as anecdotal evidence demonstrating why I support the use of low compression balls to introduce 99% of junior newcomers to the game of tennis. (For those of you new to my blog, I have discussed this teaching technique in a previous blog entry. )

Recently as I rolled my teaching cart to my regular teaching court, I found two young boys already there. As I later discovered, they were about 8 and 10, flat-out beginners. They had racquets and a couple of yellow balls and were trying to play a little bit. Their 'play' went like this:

• player bounces ball
• player hits ball
• ball goes in net - or - ball goes over net somewhere
• opponent swings and misses - or - hits out - or hits into net
• player retrieves yellow ball
• repeat

I walked over to the adult who was standing outside the court observing them. She was their aunt and had brought them by to play tennis for fun. They had expressed interest in learning the game and even had two brand new racquets to try it out with.

I had a few minutes to kill before my lesson, so I inserted myself into the process. I sent both boys onto the same side of the net and set up across from them. But before I started hitting with them, I grabbed a couple of red felt low compression balls from my cart. Folks, I am not kidding when I say we went from zero rallies to instant rallies by the second ball. Sure, it was mini-tennis and it wasn't exactly championship form, but we were rallying! I wish you could have seen those boys' attitudes improve instantly. Gone were the slumped shoulders and frowns, replaced by lots of activity darting around the court and plenty of smiles and laughs. When two of my regular students showed up, I plugged them into my spot and went over to chat with the boys' aunt while the four kids played mini-tennis together. They had a ball.

When it was time for my lesson to begin, they graciously agreed to move to another court. I sent some red as well as orange balls with them so they could at least enjoy some rallies rather than chase a yellow ball all over the court. As they left with their aunt, I heard them ask if they could stay for the lesson.

These two young beginners' first experience on the tennis court went from disaster to delight in about 30 seconds, all due to a low compression ball.

I am not telling you this as part of a feel-good marketing scheme. Notice there were no 30-second spots featuring Clydesdales or astronauts. So there was no happy ending for the pro, with auntie shelling out big bucks for tons of lessons for her two nephews. But the chances of those kids pursuing their interest in tennis, at least short term, are 100% IMO. Without the low compression balls, no way. And that's happy ending enough for me.

Lesson Management: Lockstep or Free-For-All?

There is probably a different management style for every tennis club. At the first club I worked at (at first in an admin position; later doing a little of everything), it was a very small club. We had one full time teaching professional and one part time high school student who helped out at our summer camps. So the pro had full say-so on everything from creating lesson plans to ordering toilet paper. 

My current club is much bigger with several teaching pros and several layers of administration. My boss sets the expectations, but we all have a great deal of latitude on court. There are some broad common sense guidelines such as safety, customer service, dress code, punctuality, the usual worker bee stuff. We are expected to become PTR or USPTA certified. We are encouraged to maintain our skills by attending workshops and so forth. Our certifications lead us to general suggestions for lesson plans, skill progressions, the latest trends in tennis instruction, etc. But how we interact with our students and the details of each lesson plan is left to us. 

I understand some club management goes a little further, expecting all staff to teach in exactly the same way, using the same terminology, lesson plans, swing style/technique, etc. across the board. For example all 8-year-olds will play orange ball or higher. They will use a semi-closed stance with a semi-western grip and a baby C loop on the racquet prep. 

I have never worked in such a regimented environment. I can see the advantages, one big one being your lesson plans are already mapped out for you! I suppose this would be fine assuming the club's teaching style is in sync with those of the pros. My concern with this approach is: what do you do with the students who don't fit the mold? What if the club's curriculum is out of date, such as insisting on a one-handed backhand, or using yellow balls regardless of the age of the student? I suppose the easy answer is to not accept the job in the first place, but in this economy, turning down work is easier said than done.

What is your experience with various tennis club management styles? What works and what doesn't? 

The Tennis 1%

Thomas Jefferson and Cheryl Crow may not appear to have much in common - one a historic figure and founding father dead lo these 200 years, the other a successful modern day singer/songwriter still very much alive and kickin'. But there is at least one thing they agree on: in Ms. Crow's words, 'change will do you good'. Mr. Jefferson put it more eloquently, suggesting revolutionary change every twenty years or so. And what we are seeing now in the realm of junior tennis is change indeed. Whether or not it qualifies as revolutionary remains to be seen.

The United States Tennis Association is promoting two big changes to junior instruction and competition. Both are being met with varying degrees of acceptance and resistance from players, parents, and coaches. The USTA's proposed change to the structure of junior competition (tournaments) is the more recent and most hotly contested. Because it is more relevant to older players, I will direct you to the Parenting Aces blog for further information. The second change regards teaching methods geared toward players ages 10 and under. Hey - that's the title of this blog! So let's discuss.

Who knew a little different
colored felt would cause
 such a kerfuffle?

The 10 and Under Tennis Revolution (formerly known as Play N Stay and QuickStart among other names) has been around under the USTA label for a few years, slowly gathering momentum. They are throwing all kinds of money and promos at this program. Fancy marketing materials, commercials during the US Open, tennis with the First Lady, community grant money, training sessions, you name it. The genesis of the program appears to be the realization that A) Americans are falling far behind in the world tennis rankings, and B) in researching the cause for A, it has been discovered that other cultures have been taking a different approach to teaching instruction for decades. Basically, someone on this side of the Atlantic decided if it was working for the Euro nations, maybe we better have a look-see. So 10 and Under Tennis was born. Mini nets, small racquets, slower balls, and updated teaching methods (No Laps! No Lines! No Lectures!) descended on the tennis world over the last decade. The logic is that other sports don't expect small players to begin on full size courts or fields, so why should tennis? Tee ball is often mentioned as the baseball analogy. This video explains the concept well. Equipment and courts should be sized to the player to get them playing successfully sooner and avoid attrition due to frustration.The goal is to get more kids interested in tennis, keep them interested longer, have more talent in the talent pool, regain some dominance in professional tennis, and create lots of future adult league players/USTA members in the process.

The stink that has resulted is in the form of some resistance from certain sectors of teaching professionals, and a few parents as well. They don't believe the lower compression balls, smaller courts, and smaller racquets provide any benefit. Their kid/student learns just fine on full size courts with yellow balls, thank you very much. The implication is that if your kid isn't thriving with regular equipment, either your kid or your instructor (or both) leave something to be desired in the tennis department. We've seen these fads come and go, they say. It's a marketing gimmick by the equipment manufacturers. Don't waste your money! Just be patient and this too, shall pass.

Since this is an editorial, and this is MY blog, here's my 2 cents. Your comments are welcome below BTW. I am fairly new to tennis instruction. I did not come up through the junior development ranks. My highest rating when I was still playing league tennis was 4.0. I became interested in tennis instruction as a volunteer Jr. Team Tennis coordinator. I discovered I much preferred spending my tennis volunteer time on the court introducing beginners of all ages to tennis than sitting in cramped committee meetings watching uninspiring Power Point presentations. So I took it to the next level, attended lots of on-court workshops, got certified, and here I am, living the life. Those of you who teach tennis part time will recognize a teensy bit of sarcasm there.

Setting all sarcasm aside - in my experience the last several years, having seen literally hundreds of kids float through my court in Jr. Team Tennis, summer camps, group clinics, private instruction, Play Days, etc. etc., I can think of exactly 1.5 kids (one definitely, one maybe) who I thought, with minimal instruction, would be playing better than me very quickly. With yellow balls on a full size court. In my somewhat math-challenged mind I estimate about one percent of the kids I have seen could go straight to yellow ball, do not pass go, do not collect $200. That means 99% of the kids I have seen have benefited from a kinder, gentler introduction to tennis, earlier sense of mastery, and frankly just plain fun, because spending an hour swinging and whiffing at yellow balls flying past is no fun.

There is an ongoing debate about restricting tournament play to particular color balls, court sizes, etc. The parents whose kids are doing well with yellow balls (the 1 percent) chafe at the idea of going backward, of having to play with red or orange balls when that stage is clearly behind (or beneath) them. I also suspect the instructors feel somehow diminished by being asked to lower themselves to admit tennis is difficult and some of their students are not up to the task and could use a little help getting started. But I am not particularly proud. If using modified equipment is going to help my students 'get it' quicker, I am all for it. I have seen it over and over again. It takes time (but less time than if we were using yellow balls!), but progress is made at every lesson. When I imagine any of my red ball students trying to do what they do now (rally, serve, play) on a full size court with yellow balls, frankly it just would not be possible, and after our last lesson, they would be off to the soccer field before I got all the balls picked up.

I am not particularly interested in foisting 10 and Under Tennis onto other teaching pros, just as I am not interested in them foisting their allegiance to the yellow ball onto me. But if you are coming to my club for junior instruction, unless you are Andre Freaking Agassi, you are gonna get 10 and Under Tennis until you show me you are ready for the next level. After all, like the woman said, change will do you good.

5 Biggest Junior Tennis Instruction Myths

Take these 'tips' with a grain of salt

Formal tennis instruction can speed up the learning process.  But it doesn't hurt to have multiple viewpoints on some of the information still being offered out there. Here are a few things you may hear from your child's instructor that don't bear up under close inspection.

Tennis should be your #1 priority.
At some point most advanced level junior players narrow their focus to one sport. The question is, when should that be? Conventional tennis wisdom used to say the earlier, the better. Stick a racquet in their hands at age 4 and never let them touch a bat or a golf club. Recent research is proving otherwise for tennis. It seems tennis is what is known as a 'late specialization' sport. Youngsters should be encouraged to sample as many different activities as time and family schedule will allow. Even just running around in the back yard will do! This helps them become good all around athletes, which helps them become better tennis players. Focusing on tennis exclusively too early runs the risk of skipping this important step. If a player decides tennis is for them, the early teens are a great time to make tennis the priority. Here's a great article by Paul Lubbers with the biomechanical details.

If your young player can't handle yellow balls and full 78 foot courts, forget it - they will never be much of a tennis player.
Like everything else on earth, tennis instruction is evolving. Here in America, this is a relatively recent event. As world rankings tell us, the rest of the tennis world is far ahead of us in their evolutionary path. In Europe and elsewhere, the progressive method of instruction has been around for years. Young players learn with modified equipment (lower nets, smaller racquets, slower balls). As they master each level, they move up until they are physically ready for the full courts and 'real' (yellow) balls. Are there some 5-year-olds who can bang the ball from the 78 foot baseline? Sure, just like there are a few Tiger Woods and Andre Agassis. Are they a tiny minority of total players? Yes. If your child is assigned to a 'red ball' or 'orange ball' class, do not despair - rejoice! They will be learning improved techniques faster, will spend less time unlearning things they learned to help them cope with oversized equipment , and will be less likely to drop out due to frustration. Still not convinced? Watch this video.

Private lessons are the quickest path to the pros.
Certainly PLs can be an important component of instruction. But players need a well-rounded tennis experience that includes private and group instruction, team play, match play, and just plain old recreational 'pick up' play. The more you play, the better you will get. But that doesn't necessarily mean you need a private lesson five days a week. Conversely, lots of matches without instruction does not always lead to improvement. Much depends on your tennis goals. Players hoping to reach the top 100 will have different priorities from players hoping to make the high school team. Here's a good article on this topic.

Your student should be hitting 300+ balls per one hour lesson.
Back in the olden days, a tennis coach stood across the net next to a ball cart and fed balls to the students for 50 minutes (the other 10 were devoted to two ball pick-up sessions). Times have changed. Today's coaches realize the importance of live ball drills and match play, both of which greatly reduce the number of balls fed/hit per hour. Does this mean your student is getting less instruction? No! It means they are getting a well-rounded tennis experience that includes more realistic on-court situational play.

Lessons and tournaments and hard work will all but guarantee a college tennis scholarship. 
This is not exactly a myth, but if you do the math, you will find only a very small percentage of players in any sport actually end up getting a sports scholarship. This article by CBS MoneyWatch puts the number at around 2% of high school athletes (regardless of sport) getting an NCAA college scholarship. My estimate for tennis is around 5%. So if your high school team has 20 players, one of them will get a scholarship. However, there is some good news. Tennis is a sport that can be enjoyed at any age. Also, just because you have not been offered a scholarship does not  mean you cannot play team or club tennis for your school. And of course the USTA's 700,000 members are waiting to welcome you with open arms when you enter the world of adult league play.

The ice caps are shrinking, temperatures are rising, Burma is now Myanmar, and the Twinkie is no more. Everywhere we look, things are changing, and that includes tennis. If you don't believe it, just check how many different types of tennis balls are hanging on the display at your local sporting goods store! When you get new information on the court, do your homework. Do some Googling or check with a tennis professional you trust before making any major decisions.

Choosing the Right Clinic For Your Player

The facility is gorgeous, but does the junior program fit your needs?

Bless you HootSuite, Twitter, Google Alerts and all other such technology. Thanks to them I have found so many wonderful resources on the Internet. Today's gem is a great article at CAtennis on how to evaluate the various junior tennis group clinics available in your area. You can't tell a book by its cover!

The article lists 10 important features of a quality junior tennis program. I wholeheartedly agree with most and have made some of the same points in a couple of earlier blog entries here and here and oh yeah here. I only have two pickies, as we used to say in my writing critique group:

Point #2 of the 10 discusses the number of balls hit during the lesson. They suggest 250-300 balls struck per student as a rule of thumb. I think that's too many for very young players. I would argue 250-300 total balls struck during the class, not per player, is more realistic for players under 7. As the authors note in a different point, tennis instruction is no longer all about 60 minutes of dead ball feeds. Live ball drills and match play reduce the number of balls struck. Even though this is so, these types of activities are more beneficial to the players IMO.

Plus, how on earth can a parent tell how many balls are being struck? I have a second rule of thumb for you. Large ball carts can hold about 300 regulation size balls, so just see how many pickups are done during the lesson. Multiply by 300 and divide by number of students. If they are using the small hoppers, estimate 60 balls.

Point #10 stung a little bit. As a non-traditional instructor coming late to the party, I resent the comment that certifications are 'largely meaningless'. The implication is that any goofball can get certified. While I did not go through a junior development program, and the highest playing level I achieved is 4.0, when I did commit to teaching junior tennis, I went to the trouble and expense of doing it right. I received and maintain my certification. While neither USPTA or PTR is perfect, I think they are on the right track and have the correct goals at center: to provide quality tennis instruction. I would argue if the facility's staff cannot be bothered with becoming certified (said certification achievable by any goofball), one has to wonder why.

Anyway, as I said, I agree with 8 out of the 10 points so be sure to check out the entire article. Thanks CAtennis for a great read.

Reality Check: New 10 and Under Tennis Competencies

USTA recently released a set of videos explaining the competencies expected at the various levels of progress in 10 and Under Tennis (red ball, orange ball, green ball). I have not watched all of them yet - there a lot! But my first reaction after watching the first red ball video is the same reaction I have watching most red ball demonstration videos: this player is clearly not a red ball player! They appear to be orange ball or higher level players borrowed for the video. At least when USTA Florida created their version of 10U videos, they stated up front they had an orange ball player playing the role of a red ball player. If the USTA video stars are red ball players, they are the biggest, strongest, most athletic red ball players in the world.

I love that USTA is putting so much support behind the 10U initiative. There is no doubt these players and the skills they demonstrate in the videos are definitely what we instructors should be aiming for as we teach young beginners.  I would have a stronger connection to the videos if the players were more believable to me. I would also love to have courts full of 6-year-olds performing at this level. Are these videos are a little distanced from reality, or is it just me?

Don't Be That Kid

Our club was the site of a big junior tournament last weekend. High level 10-year-olds came from all over the section to compete. They played with orange low compression balls on 60-foot courts. It was impressive to see such great tennis skills from such young players.

Young Federer had quite a temper.
Who knew?

What was not great was to see That Kid with a serious attitude problem. Keep in mind I saw dozens of kids competing while I was teaching that morning, so That Kid represented a tiny minority. Sadly, this was not the first time I have seen such on-court behavior. Between volunteering at tournaments and a few years spent as an official, I have seen my share. They always stand out in my mind because they are the exceptions, thank goodness. If I were a football or hockey referee, things might be different. But in tennis, we all know some level of decorum and etiquette is expected and encouraged from the first day one steps onto the court with racquet in hand. 

That Kid first got my attention with his loud agonizing over missed shots. During a break between lessons I wandered over to his court to see what the problem was. That Kid was pulling his hair out whenever he missed a shot, giving himself a real tongue-lashing. In fact, he was so disruptive, he attracted the attention of one of the officials. In a tournament like this, there is one official for every 4-6 courts so That Kid had to be pretty loud to attract the official from several courts over. The official arrived just as the players were switching ends. I heard him tell the player why his behavior was not appropriate.

So the match continues and the players end up in a set tiebreak. Much drama, much pressure, and slowly but surely That Kid renewed his outbursts. Oddly, the official was standing right there and never corrected him again, at least while I was watching. The tiebreaker went on and on, very exciting and high quality tennis. That Kid continued berating himself. That Kid's fan base at least once loudly cheered a netted ball by his opponent, which, sadly, didn't surprise me. 

I don't know what the outcome of this match was. I don't know the player. I don't know the parents. I could look it up on TennisLink but whoever won or lost is not my point here. My point is this: what must a parent be thinking as they watch their player embarrass themselves like that? My kids were no angels, but they never acted like that on the court (volleyball) or field (soccer). I like to think I would have jerked them out of play quicker than you can say John McEnroe, but thankfully I was never  faced with that decision. Maybe because soccer and volleyball are team sports? IDK. Is that outrageous self-abuse masquerading as intensity something to be proud of and tacitly encouraged by the parents' lack of discipline? Are they willing to overlook any behavior as long as the player brings home the hardware? Would they have been so understanding if the opponent was the one with the unacceptable behavior? 

Maybe it is just a matter of style. The McEnroe/Connors/Djokovic style does nothing for me. Talent? Loads. Class? None. I can't deny their level of skill, but neither can I admire them when they win. In fact, I root against them. And as a role model? Fugghedaboudit. What sane parent would want their child to emulate that hot mess?  Give me maturity and style any day. As has been said of Djokovic, act like you've been there before. 

Let me also add a few kind words about That Kid's opponent. He was cool as a cucumber. Never said a word, never banged his racquet or shook his fist or gnashed his teeth. He showed maturity beyond his tender years under tremendous pressure from the high level of competition as well as the behavior of his opponent and fans. Well done, sir. Well done.

As you may have figured out from some of my other blog posts, Federer is my guy for many reasons, not the least of which is his demeanor on and off court. He is a living breathing example that nice guys can finish first, over and over again. Yes, he lost his cool at the French Open recently, but that was a rare exception. I have heard he was That Kid when he was young, a racquet-breaking screaming banshee. His dad put a stop to it, forbidding him from playing until he straightened his act out. Apparently it worked, judging from the mountain of titles and endorsements he has amassed - not to mention frequent speculation that he may be the GOAT (Greatest of All Time).

Maybe That Kid last weekend will have an equally frank conversation with his parents this week and get his attitude in order soon. Then he will have a great backstory when he is making tennis headlines in about 10 years. I hope so.

Strokes of Genius

Let us take a slight divergence from our discussion of 10 and Under Tennis and examine a popular video featuring world-famous tennis player Roger Federer. If you are new to tennis, or new to ME, let's clarify that Roger Federer is one of the top players in the world. Many consider him to be the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time).  I confess he is my favorite player. I discovered this video by clicking on a link sent to me automatically when I signed up to 'follow' RF on Twitter. Sure maybe it's self-serving and a marketing ploy, but you can't watch this video without marveling. Dude def has the skills. And that sentence just may be the UOAT (Understatement Of All Time).

Things I learned about RF and tennis by watching this string of highlights:

• How a 45 ball rally that you ended up losing could still be your favorite point ever played
• Why you need to be able to pair lightning speed with soft hands
• Greatness has nothing to do with how hard you hit
• Greatness has nothing to do with how fast you serve
• Everyone makes the same face when RF's ridiculously amazing winner goes flying by
• What Andy Roddick looks like playing without a hat

Now back to 10 and Under topics - I heard that during an interview, RF was stunned to discover that until recently, 10 and Under tennis (short courts, modified equipment, low compression balls) was not taught to juniors in the United States; that they were expected to use full size nets and courts and yellow balls regardless of their age or ability. I believe his response was, 'no wonder!' Apparently this 10U approach has been the norm in Europe and elsewhere for years. Check the online tennis discussion boards and you will frequently find people wondering why Americans are no longer dominating tennis. Many feel this is one of the reasons - 'they' (Europeans and others) have been using this method for years and it has really started to pay off.

But it's not too late! Let's get on board with this 10 and Under program and start seeing some results!