Tournament Play/ Type of play

[NouKy]

Hi,

I am a parent a 11 years (almost 12) boys, who started tennis 2 years ago.
I am not a tennis player myself and try to help my little as possible.

Last weekend, he was playing a satellite tournament and beat a seed player.
As he didn't have a lot of experience i thought that he would lose in the first round to that seed player.
This player has a very good stroke and move well, my son also have a good stroke and move well too.
And he win the match 6-1 6-0
Now in the second round.
I am not really good at telling, but it seem that this player doesn't have a stroke quality of the 1st player, so his ball can be short or long not depending of his willing, the same for the direction of the ball.
So My son panic and lose completely the match.

The point now.

My son lost before he lost the match. I see the difference after he began to lose some game, he is completely dreaming, not even counting his point.

I am sure that if the first player, would have play this other player it would have beat him.
because when my son was leading in the game, the seed player still play his game consistently.

How can I give advice to him, to stay and play the same ?
He is a shy person and is easy to intimidate, another example when someone just get louder and say "come on" repeatedly, i get afraid and began to dream to nowhere.

Thanks

[crazygamer2091]

Well at tournaments, you're going to play a variety of players. I am a junior player myself. How I view it, I'd like to say that there are four main types of players out there.

1) The ball basher. This type of player hits as hard as they can with very little patience and consistency. They are the easiest to beat if you can move around the court well.

2) The pusher. This player just gets the ball back in play and rarely misses. To win, they count on their opponent's own unforced errors and impatience.

3) Consistent all around. This player is good in all aspects of their game whether it's groundstrokes, serving or volleying.

4) Inconsistent newbie. This player may be new to tournament play and has a very inconsistent style sometimes mishitting the ball. The type of ball they give varies greatly.

I think the type of player your son played was #4. At such a young age, one cannot expect a player to hit every ball cleanly. Your son's opponent seems to be like that. Short balls followed by some deep balls and then back to short. I find it hard to believe that this was the kid's strategy all along. In this case, I would just work on anticipation. Make sure that your son can move up into the court easily and also back away if needed. Tell him to keep a cool head. It does not matter if you lose a point or game. Each match is a opportunity to improve so being able to keep calm and patient is all part of the process. Mental toughness is just as important as how well you execute your strokes are if not more important. The more matches and pressure situations your son experiences, the better he will get and know how to react!

[NLBwell]

Seems like he is doing well. Be encouraging and positive toward him and his tennis game. You can't coach him since you don't know tennis well (also, it sometimes isn't a good idea to have parents coach). All you can do is make sure he does what the coach tells him to do.
Remember, that how a player looks hitting the ball doesn't determine who wins. The second player also had to defeat another player in the first round, so despite the way things looked, he wasn't a bad player. It can be more difficult to play against someone who doesn't put the ball where you expect it.
As far as your son giving up early, that is something that should be overcome with experience. Let the coach know what happened (if he wasn't at the match) and let him give advice on how to overcome it.

[MarTennis]

Originally Posted by NouKy

Hi,

I am a parent a 11 years (almost 12) boys, who started tennis 2 years ago.
I am not a tennis player myself and try to help my little as possible.

Last weekend, he was playing a satellite tournament and beat a seed player.
As he didn't have a lot of experience i thought that he would lose in the first round to that seed player.
This player has a very good stroke and move well, my son also have a good stroke and move well too.
And he win the match 6-1 6-0
Now in the second round.
I am not really good at telling, but it seem that this player doesn't have a stroke quality of the 1st player, so his ball can be short or long not depending of his willing, the same for the direction of the ball.
So My son panic and lose completely the match.

The point now.

My son lost before he lost the match. I see the difference after he began to lose some game, he is completely dreaming, not even counting his point.

I am sure that if the first player, would have play this other player it would have beat him.
because when my son was leading in the game, the seed player still play his game consistently.

How can I give advice to him, to stay and play the same ?
He is a shy person and is easy to intimidate, another example when someone just get louder and say "come on" repeatedly, i get afraid and began to dream to nowhere.

Thanks

...play disruptively and coach him through the disruptive situations. Most of it is timing and not being accustomed to storming forward to deal with short weak balls.

[NouKy]

Thanks

As you said, it is certainly due to his experience, and need to work on his mental things, He will need more time to get that.

Also as MarTennis said, he may only drill with well feed balls so he is not capable to win over the player who don't hit a clean ball.
That is why he can manage to hit competitively with the other player who hit better stroke.

I think no need to ask his coach to feed him with disruptive ball, because it is something i can do without effort lol.

Thanks all