And speaking of expense

[playfairplease]

For you junior or parents of same, how much do you think you spend on lessons, training and playing not counting tournaments. Any hints about how to design training that is cost effective for cold climate players but that will allow enough daily or weekly play to stay competitive? How many hours a week does your junior play? Don't mean tournaments here but practice and training summer and winter.

[10isDad]

You'll get a huge variety of answers. Some of my son's friends are top juniors and spend virtually nothing because they're coached by family.

I currently spend about $400/month and have spent upwards of $800/month in the past.

My kid does 3 two-and-a-half hour clinics per week, 1 one-hour private lesson per week, 1 two-hour hitting session with a former college player per week, 3 to 4 hours per week hitting with me or a friend and another couple hours per week playing matches against peers.

I'm in sunny, hot Arizona, so have no comment about cold weather climate practice strategies.

[playfairplease]

Does the sunny climate mean that you can play outdoors all year and spare the court costs?

[10isDad]

Yes. We have a public park a mile away w/ 4 decent courts. We have a slighly different issue: sometimes he's practicing in 110 F heat (probably 130 on court).

[playfairplease]

Still better than snow!

[CatsMeow]

Spend approximately $500-$600 month. Schedule is 3 two-hour group, 3 one-hour privates per week. About 3 hours a week conditioning and approximately another 3 hours/week doing serves/ball machine. I have no idea about a training schedule in cold states, we are in FL.

[TennisCoachFLA]

We lived near Philadelphia for a while and had to deal with cold weather training. Cold weather training requires some flexibility, but you can turn this negative into a positive. Especially with young players, the 'off season' can be a good thing.

Use the winter to play another sport, increase your overall athleticism and give your body a tennis break. Work on your aerobic fitness and strength training. Improve your flexibility and core strength. Give the knees a break.

Indoor court fees are very expensive, from $25-40/hour. Try to reason with the manager of the facility, ask if you can clean up or do odd jobs in exchange for reduced or waived fees. Offer to give lessons to the younger kids. Ask the manager to let you clean up and then hit for a while after hours.

When you do get court time, have a plan. So many kids just hit and hit and hit. You have to have a plan, know what you are going to work on that day, Be fully warmed up so that when your time starts so you can get right to it.

You will find that you can improve with less court time if you use your time efficiently.

[tenniscrazed]

We lived near Philadelphia for a while and had to deal with cold weather training. Cold weather training requires some flexibility, but you can turn this negative into a positive. Especially with young players, the 'off season' can be a good thing.

Use the winter to play another sport, increase your overall athleticism and give your body a tennis break. Work on your aerobic fitness and strength training. Improve your flexibility and core strength. Give the knees a break.

Indoor court fees are very expensive, from $25-40/hour. Try to reason with the manager of the facility, ask if you can clean up or do odd jobs in exchange for reduced or waived fees. Offer to give lessons to the younger kids. Ask the manager to let you clean up and then hit for a while after hours.

When you do get court time, have a plan. So many kids just hit and hit and hit. You have to have a plan, know what you are going to work on that day, Be fully warmed up so that when your time starts so you can get right to it.

You will find that you can improve with less court time if you use your time efficiently.

OUTSTANDING advise. Maybe after a while with odd jobs the manager will give you a part time job and pay you enough to pay for tourney fees in addition to hitting time.

[tenniscrazed]

Spend approximately $500-$600 month. Schedule is 3 two-hour group, 3 one-hour privates per week. About 3 hours a week conditioning and approximately another 3 hours/week doing serves/ball machine. I have no idea about a training schedule in cold states, we are in FL.

Don't let the academy parents see this @ 30K per year they might bail out in droves.

[playfairplease]

"When you do get court time, have a plan. So many kids just hit and hit and hit"

Thanks everyone for the advice. Indoor time is really high so making the most of it makes sense. Could you let me know what would be a plan. Like what might the sessions be like for a weeK?

[tenniscrazed]

"When you do get court time, have a plan. So many kids just hit and hit and hit"

Thanks everyone for the advice. Indoor time is really high so making the most of it makes sense. Could you let me know what would be a plan. Like what might the sessions be like for a weeK?

Hockey, I played it in the winter months (great fitness, also great for change of direction). Two or three days per week. Along with tennis should be all you need in the winter months.

[TennisCoachFLA]

"When you do get court time, have a plan. So many kids just hit and hit and hit"

Thanks everyone for the advice. Indoor time is really high so making the most of it makes sense. Could you let me know what would be a plan. Like what might the sessions be like for a weeK?

Okay, lets assume you can arrange for 3 one hour session per week. I also assume you will have a good practice partner. Again, you go through your complete warm up so that you are ready for tennis immediately when your court time starts.

DAY 1: Groundstrokes 5 drills, 12 minutes each.

Drill 1: Rally serviceline to serviceline. Short strokes, gets the body and mind focused for tennis.

Drill 2: Baseline to baseline rally...down the line.

Drill 3: Baseline to baseline rally cross court

Drill 4: Attacking forehands...practice partner hits shorter balls, you attack.

Drill 5: Slice backhand and attack practice

DAY 2: Volleys 2 drills each side.

Drill 1: Mid court volleys 15 minutes each side

Drill 2: At the net volleys 15 minutes each side

(as you can see...I am a big proponent of spending time practicing this part of the game)

DAY 3: Serves and overheads

Drill 1: 10 minutes practice overheads from mid court and the net.
Drill 2: First serve 15 minutes
Drill 3: 2nd serve 15 minutes (the 2nd serve is very important in boy's tennis)
Drill 4: Return of service 20 minutes. The guy that is the best at returning serves will win more matches than the guy who is not.


This is just a guide. Change things up every few weeks. Change the order, put more time to the parts of your game that need more work.

Good luck.

[playfairplease]

Thanks coach. Its hard to get straightforward advice. I appreciate it!

[abenguyen]

You'll get a huge variety of answers. Some of my son's friends are top juniors and spend virtually nothing because they're coached by family.

I currently spend about $400/month and have spent upwards of $800/month in the past.

My kid does 3 two-and-a-half hour clinics per week, 1 one-hour private lesson per week, 1 two-hour hitting session with a former college player per week, 3 to 4 hours per week hitting with me or a friend and another couple hours per week playing matches against peers.

I'm in sunny, hot Arizona, so have no comment about cold weather climate practice strategies.

i guess your are hoping they go pro and are able to pay you back in the future?

[10isDad]

i guess your are hoping they go pro and are able to pay you back in the future?

My kid isn't pro material. Probably less than a dozen kids per year in the entire US are pro material, and most of them will struggle on the Futures/Challenger circuit.

1. He wants to hopefully play college tennis. If he happens to get a scholarship, that's a bonus.

2. He wants a career in tennis, e.g. teaching, coaching, etc.

[tenniscrazed]

My kid isn't pro material. Probably less than a dozen kids per year in the entire US are pro material, and most of them will struggle on the Futures/Challenger circuit.

1. He wants to hopefully play college tennis. If he happens to get a scholarship, that's a bonus.

2. He wants a career in tennis, e.g. teaching, coaching, etc.


I know you have read the foreign athlete posts. If the trend continues the math on this is that he will have a less than 35 - 40% of accomplishing either of those to goals. (at best) Please help so his odds are more like 80 - 90%.

[10isDad]

I know you have read the foreign athlete posts. If the trend continues the math on this is that he will have a less than 35 - 40% of accomplishing either of those to goals. (at best) Please help so his odds are more like 80 - 90%.

I've stated before, if a petition came around advocating limiting foreign athletic scholarships I would sign it. The NCAA wouldn't act on such a petition unless it was applied to all sports and there was little to no chance of legal backlash.

However, everybody is "basically" operating within the rules --- I know, I know, there are foreign players who buck the system by playing futures, then coming over here.

The NCAA needs to enforce the rules that do exist equitably. If that means hiring private detectives to uncover non-amateur players, so be it. However, there is nothing currently that states coaches can't recruit foreign players.

That's the whole point. It may be somewhat unethical, but it's within "the rules".