Are they really child prodigies??

[Truth_seeker]

I was going through the internet looking for tennis child prodigies. I came across couple of them Ty ana williams and alexa jones. I was very impressed that one of them was invited to play at the opening of sampras exhibition and so on. I searched for their videos and to my shock and disappointment, they were very average. A few girls in my region could beat them easily. I though maybe my eyes are deceving me because sometimes the angle can fool ya. So I looked them up at the 12 and under national ranking. They are ranked quite low. I think Tyana was 519 and the 10 year old girls that I know are up in the 50's and and 100s. I again thought maybe they are not playing that many tournaments.. wrong... they are playing the same number as other kids.. so I dont know if the parents really dont see this or intentionally trying to fool everybody but for what?. I saw that alexus is selling videos of tennis training... mmmm

[MIGHTY MANFRED THE WONDER]

I am pretty sure every poster here can and will ask this thread be deleted.

[slicekick95]

I am pretty sure every poster here can and will ask this thread be deleted.

umm... why:confused::confused::confused:

[MIGHTY MANFRED THE WONDER]

For newer members, these "folks" are about as bat-sh*t crazy as they come...
All their relatives were on here at one time or another agreeing with each other and making Richard (Big Bird and Tubs) Williams look moderate.
When you see ONE POST record AND it brings up these players, mentions that they have sites and all....Pretty much figure they got themselves signed up on a new server/name handle and are at it again.

[tacticaltennis]

Does anyone know Terry Grogan?

[TennisCoachFLA]

If I remember, one of those girls is touted by the dad as being a "tennis samarai" (not sure exactly what that is)......and the other's website has videos of her carrying huge trophies over her head that her dad bought himself.

Yeah, we had some fun with that nonsense a while back.

[tenniscrazed]

If I remember, one of those girls is touted by the dad as being a "tennis samarai" (not sure exactly what that is)......and the other's website has videos of her carrying huge trophies over her head that her dad bought himself.

Yeah, we had some fun with that nonsense a while back.

TCF... rest assured they are most certainly still here. Like the Mighty Manfred stated, likely under another "handle". Close review of the writing and a little cross referencing (I actually have a job, but this is so fun) will reveal many tendencies. So this relative or that relative comes back on and starts the loop all over again.

It does appear that this loop is starting again. Trying to get a 2nd wind so to speak :)

[tenniscrazed]

Are they really child prodigies??

In tennis, my belief is that you can have many "natural" abilities. Athletic ability, good hand / eye coordination and other attributes to an athlete of any sport. Does that make you a "tennis prodigy". I don't think so. No more than the same child would be a baseball, or basketball, or soccer prodigy. If you repeat something over and over and over does that make you a prodigy. No, it just means you've repeated something more than your peers. Simple as that. Tennis is way too random of a sport.

The best way to reach a level of "peace" with respect to prodigies is to youtube search "baseball prodigy", "basketball prodigy", "soccer prodigy", "golf prodigy" and any other sport or activity you can think of. Your search results will reveal that this country is riddled with prodigy's in every sport you can imagine. If that is the case, we should dominate every professional, and Olympic sport in the coming 10 - 15 years.

[TennisCoachFLA]

Are they really child prodigies??

In tennis, my belief is that you can have many "natural" abilities. Athletic ability, good hand / eye coordination and other attributes to an athlete of any sport. Does that make you a "tennis prodigy". I don't think so. No more than the same child would be a baseball, or basketball, or soccer prodigy. If you repeat something over and over and over does that make you a prodigy. No, it just means you've repeated something more than your peers. Simple as that. Tennis is way too random of a sport.

The best way to reach a level of "peace" with respect to prodigies is to youtube search "baseball prodigy", "basketball prodigy", "soccer prodigy", "golf prodigy" and any other sport or activity you can think of. Your search results will reveal that this country is riddled with prodigy's in every sport you can imagine. If that is the case, we should dominate every professional, and Olympic sport in the coming 10 - 15 years.

I agree. I think child prodigies are real in math, art, chess, music. There are the extremely rare 5 year olds that hear Beethoven and can play it in minutes. There are math geniouses who can solve higher math problems at 7 years old. These kids don't get caught by other kids. That music prodogy at 5 will still be an elite music talent at 20.

I don't think tennis works that way. A kid who hits an amazing ball at 5 often times becomes average at 12 or average at 20 compared to the top tennis players.

You could take a very smart kid at 5 and train him in music but he will never approach the level of that music genious.....he just does not have whatever that music prodigy has. But take a very athletic 5 year old and train him in tennis and he will perform fairly close to that 5 year old 'prodigy' within a few years.

And like you said, it is so random. You can identify a math genious at 7, but it is almost impossible to pick out which 7 year old will be a top 100 tennis player.

[mjdoubles]

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/4013854/10863411

[TennisCoachFLA]

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/4013854/10863411

Those little guys look like they are having fun. Good to see them playing doubles.

[Federer's cat]

The only one I heard of was Janet Silva and some other Canadian dude.

[slicekick95]

The only one I heard of was Janet Silva and some other Canadian dude.

Denis Shapovalov? he is an internet tennis sensation lol!

[LeftyServe]

I agree. I think child prodigies are real in math, art, chess, music. There are the extremely rare 5 year olds that hear Beethoven and can play it in minutes. There are math geniouses who can solve higher math problems at 7 years old. These kids don't get caught by other kids. That music prodogy at 5 will still be an elite music talent at 20.

I don't think tennis works that way. A kid who hits an amazing ball at 5 often times becomes average at 12 or average at 20 compared to the top tennis players.

You could take a very smart kid at 5 and train him in music but he will never approach the level of that music genious.....he just does not have whatever that music prodigy has. But take a very athletic 5 year old and train him in tennis and he will perform fairly close to that 5 year old 'prodigy' within a few years.

And like you said, it is so random. You can identify a math genious at 7, but it is almost impossible to pick out which 7 year old will be a top 100 tennis player.

There's an excellent book out there called "Talent is Overrated" which explodes many of the myths around natural talent, prodigies, genius, etc., and what separates the merely good from the very great, and it's certainly not something that can be established or evaluated for the long-run at a very young age.

[TennisCoachFLA]

There's an excellent book out there called "Talent is Overrated" which explodes many of the myths around natural talent, prodigies, genius, etc., and what separates the merely good from the very great, and it's certainly not something that can be established or evaluated for the long-run at a very young age.

Sounds like a good read, I will check it out.

[Liv3 For It]

jan silva .....

[P8ntballa]

Jan silva would b a good pik. Also wen i was down in cali, i saw this 12 or 13 year old kid named Zandrix Acob playin, kid is good! He has som really nice strokes.

[flat]

I agree. I think child prodigies are real in math, art, chess, music. There are the extremely rare 5 year olds that hear Beethoven and can play it in minutes. There are math geniouses who can solve higher math problems at 7 years old. These kids don't get caught by other kids. That music prodogy at 5 will still be an elite music talent at 20.

I don't think tennis works that way. A kid who hits an amazing ball at 5 often times becomes average at 12 or average at 20 compared to the top tennis players.

You could take a very smart kid at 5 and train him in music but he will never approach the level of that music genious.....he just does not have whatever that music prodigy has. But take a very athletic 5 year old and train him in tennis and he will perform fairly close to that 5 year old 'prodigy' within a few years.

And like you said, it is so random. You can identify a math genious at 7, but it is almost impossible to pick out which 7 year old will be a top 100 tennis player.

This kind of makes sense. As chess, math, and music (to a lesser degree) are much more pure mental disciplines. You can have the best mental game for tennis, but if you don't have the physical strength/skills to back it up, it won't amount to much.

I've also heard about this book "Talent is Overrated". But I haven't read it yet.

Here is my own theory...I believe most "intangible talents" are developed at a young age, when brain is rapidly absorbing. So feel for the ball, seeing the ball clearly, quick reflexes, great timing & hand eye coordination, are all things that a player can/should develop when they are young.

But physical talent...height, muscle mass, quickness, stamina are in the genes. Not much you can do about that.

The best players have to combine both. Then add to that a third dimension of desire, or how much they are willing to work.

Then of course, all this assumes you have good coaching & mentoring, and that you can avoid injuries & burnout.

So this is why child prodigies are hard to predict...

[WARPWOODIE]

If you have a chance, read "Competive Tennis for Young Players" by German authors, Manfred Grosser and Richard Schonbornd. It a very technical book but it covers alot about this topic.

[TennisCoachFLA]

jan silva .....

This is an example of why child prodigies don't apply to tennis. Like we said before, a kid at 5 with a genious math mind will be a math genious his entire life. No kid without that gift could practice math starting at 8 and surpass him. The genious mind is there at birth.

But just because Jan Silva hit the ball well for a 5 year old does not mean the same thing. He could easily turn out to not be on an elite level at age 20. Other boys who play multiple sports and are great athletes could pass him by. Top child players at young ages get passed by all the time in tennis....but not so in math, art, etc.

[NickC]

There are prodigies, to an extent. For athletics and all that, there are always those kids that just "get it" at a younger age than most and tend to just have a different kind of ability than most kids their age; a much more advanced knowledge of the game and it's inner workings.

Take for example that 7-year-old Aussie kid who signed for Manchester United's youth academy after scoring over 100 goals in a season against kids that were 5 to 7 years older than him. The kid wasn't very big or physically gifted, he just had a different view of the game that didn't come about through practice, it came about naturally, and you can see videos of the lad on Youtube just out there doing his thing, and he does it better than anyone.

In my opinion, that is athletic talent. Talent will eventually get caught up to, in most sporting cases. There are examples that go against this, take Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona. He was an average player growing up, but once he stopped taking meds and started growing again only then did he start playing well. The talent wasn't always there, IMO, but once he realized that he had it, he just proceeded to dominate. Talent in tennis, IMO, can work the same way. There will always be the Jan Silvas of the world who can hit a one hander down the line at age 4 or can get 5 or 6 feet of solid kick on his serve by age 6. However, nobody knows how that talent will pan out, as opposed to what others have said in terms of talent in the arts, mathematics or other related things. Those kids will always be in another class than their peers, as opposed to sport when kids who work their asses off day in day out will always catch up to the talented kids who get by only on talent and natural ability.

[tenniscrazed]

This is an example of why child prodigies don't apply to tennis. Like we said before, a kid at 5 with a genious math mind will be a math genious his entire life. No kid without that gift could practice math starting at 8 and surpass him. The genious mind is there at birth.

But just because Jan Silva hit the ball well for a 5 year old does not mean the same thing. He could easily turn out to not be on an elite level at age 20. Other boys who play multiple sports and are great athletes could pass him by. Top child players at young ages get passed by all the time in tennis....but not so in math, art, etc.

As well as the mastering the Forehand, backhand, (top, flat, slice on both), Serve (whew, flat, kick, slice, spin, american twist, even underhand), Lob (BH slice lob, topspin lob on both sides), service return, inside out forehands, inside in forehands, volley (BH and FH), Overheads, swinging volley, sizzor kick bh, and never forget the ever hated drop shot. Prodigies, I just don't see it.

[TennisCoachFLA]

As well as the mastering the Forehand, backhand, (top, flat, slice on both), Serve (whew, flat, kick, slice, spin, american twist, even underhand), Lob (BH slice lob, topspin lob on both sides), service return, inside out forehands, inside in forehands, volley (BH and FH), Overheads, swinging volley, sizzor kick bh, and never forget the ever hated drop shot. Prodigies, I just don't see it.

Exactly, a math child genious blows away the rest of us on every level and at every type of math.

Jan Silva at 5 years old hit a nice forehand and a decent backhand when balls were softly fed to him. Being good at a few very limited parts of a game is not really using the definition of child prodigy correctly.

[nadal for number1]

There are prodigies, to an extent. For athletics and all that, there are always those kids that just "get it" at a younger age than most and tend to just have a different kind of ability than most kids their age; a much more advanced knowledge of the game and it's inner workings.

Take for example that 7-year-old Aussie kid who signed for Manchester United's youth academy after scoring over 100 goals in a season against kids that were 5 to 7 years older than him. The kid wasn't very big or physically gifted, he just had a different view of the game that didn't come about through practice, it came about naturally, and you can see videos of the lad on Youtube just out there doing his thing, and he does it better than anyone.

In my opinion, that is athletic talent. Talent will eventually get caught up to, in most sporting cases. There are examples that go against this, take Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona. He was an average player growing up, but once he stopped taking meds and started growing again only then did he start playing well. The talent wasn't always there, IMO, but once he realized that he had it, he just proceeded to dominate. Talent in tennis, IMO, can work the same way. There will always be the Jan Silvas of the world who can hit a one hander down the line at age 4 or can get 5 or 6 feet of solid kick on his serve by age 6. However, nobody knows how that talent will pan out, as opposed to what others have said in terms of talent in the arts, mathematics or other related things. Those kids will always be in another class than their peers, as opposed to sport when kids who work their asses off day in day out will always catch up to the talented kids who get by only on talent and natural ability.

very nicely put... you are spot on my friend, just look at gasquet. im not saying he wasnt but look at what hes done and the likes of someone like simon (even though im not sure if he was a prodigy or not) what in trying to say is that sometimes talent isnt everything, with out hard work and determination you wont go anywhere

[10isRocs]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/tennis/2009-05-03-jansilva-update_N.htm?csp=34

Poor Jan, he has moved back to Sacramento, his parents are splitting up, they are having financial issues and he is having "tantrums" on the court.....just a regular kid now...

[TennisCoachFLA]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/tennis/2009-05-03-jansilva-update_N.htm?csp=34

Poor Jan, he has moved back to Sacramento, his parents are splitting up, they are having financial issues and he is having "tantrums" on the court.....just a regular kid now...

I miss Scott Silva....he used to come on this board and entertain us all.

[P8ntballa]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/tennis/2009-05-03-jansilva-update_N.htm?csp=34

Poor Jan, he has moved back to Sacramento, his parents are splitting up, they are having financial issues and he is having "tantrums" on the court.....just a regular kid now...

Wow, that really sucks... I hope they work things out and that Jan keeps working hard.