How to counter this?

[Stokke]

My son plays, in my opinion.., solid and attack-oriented tennis when he is playing with confidence - that is, when he is not worrying about the possibility that he could miss the shot.

He recently met an opponent who yelled YES! YES! regulary when my son double faulted or when he made an unforced error.
My son started to focus more on not missing shots and less on winning points - and lost the match..

How should he counter this behavior? Turn the match into a yelling contest?

[TCF]

Originally Posted by Stokke

My son plays, in my opinion.., solid and attack-oriented tennis when he is playing with confidence - that is, when he is not worrying about the possibility that he could miss the shot.

He recently met an opponent who yelled YES! YES! regulary when my son double faulted or when he made an unforced error.
My son started to focus more on not missing shots and less on winning points - and lost the match..

How should he counter this behavior? Turn the match into a yelling contest?

He will run into that stuff at times. I prefer to teach them to ignore as much as possible. Others may advise he go seek a tournament official to see if the behavior of the opponent can be stopped or toned down.

But like all of us, he needs to gradually build thick skin and learn to deal with the jerks we eventually will encounter in all facets of life.

[Woolybugger]

this the ugly side of tennis that isn't talked about much. there are cheaters and bad attitudes all around.

last tournament my kid's opponent, who was losing, wouldn't hand the ball over nicely. at every side change he would intentionally whack them over to the other court, making my kid walk all the way there. what a jerk.

[Soianka]

Originally Posted by Woolybugger

this the ugly side of tennis that isn't talked about much. there are cheaters and bad attitudes all around.

last tournament my kid's opponent, who was losing, wouldn't hand the ball over nicely. at every side change he would intentionally whack them over to the other court, making my kid walk all the way there. what a jerk.

I've seen the same thing when my daughter was playing with hitting the balls to some far end so that my daughter would have to walk pretty far to get them.

What's the point?

Some of these kids are just nutty. I am sure it is their parents influence.

My advice for the OP's kid, is that he should just laugh at that type of behavior and keep playing his game.

It truly is laughable some idiot kid yelling "yes, yes" on his opponent's errors at some junior tournament.

It's a joke, he should laugh and then keep playing his game.

[Flat Top]

My son just started playing tennis and fortunately we have not encountered anything like this.

Is this something you would say players are tempted to do, part of the sport's nature?

Is there any other non-contact sport where this kind of behavior is rampant?

[Bowtiesarecool]

Find everyday examples to teach him that everyone makes mistakes, constantly. Let him hang around grandparents, or other respectable old people who have long since given up worrying about screwing up in general. It'll rub off on him eventually.

[RF20Lennon]

Keep a poker face and keep going!! Thall let his opponent know its not affecting him any way

[Stokke]

Originally Posted by Flat Top

My son just started playing tennis and fortunately we have not encountered anything like this.

Is this something you would say players are tempted to do, part of the sport's nature?

No, we have only met this one player (twice - same behavior and result) who uses that specific tactics to enhance his chances..

And tactics it is - I overheard his coach asking him why he does it, and the kid said "because it drives them crazy".

He is actually a very good 11 yo player, and obviously very clever as I do not think that his antics are against the rules..

[mikej]

not necessarily the best role model for your son, but:

i once played a guy in the 18s who yelled "that's what i'm talking about - all day" after any slightly extended rally that he won

stayed quiet, used it as motivation to give everything i had to outgrind the punk, eventually won 6-3 in the 3rd after hearing that ringing in my ears well over 50 times

we're both walking up to the net, i stop at the service line and start yelling at him "that's what i'm talking about" probably 5-7 times before he gives up on me shaking his hand and walks off the court

so, get the last laugh by winning the match, and avoid being an *** at the end if you can help it - if not, let him hear it

[coaching32yrs]

Gamesmanship, lack of sprtsmanship, and cheating are part of the junior tennis landscape now more than ever. I recently saw a presentation by the pres of the Univ of Virginia on college cheating. Studies show this generation of college students are under more pressure to succeed, face increased parental scrutiny and, as a result, cheat on tests and papers in college much more than past generations. I believe this behavior has filtered down to the current crop of junior tennis players, although I have read no studies to back it up. Like other here have said- learn to deal with it by ignoring it. Usually it does not cost you the match. The worst thing to tell your junior is to do a "make up " call. I have heard parents and coaches tell their player to do this. It makes me sick to my stomach when I hear it or see it happen.

[Stokke]

Originally Posted by coaching32yrs

Like other here have said- learn to deal with it by ignoring it. Usually it does not cost you the match. The worst thing to tell your junior is to do a "make up " call. I have heard parents and coaches tell their player to do this.

I must admit that a "make up" call was what I (and my son) felt was the appropriate response. Having my son yell YES at every unforced error this opponent makes the next time they play each other, because not responding will most probably result in another loss the next time.

But, after reading your responses (thank you) and having thought about it, I asked him wether he would like to employ the "pay back" tactics or if he could view matches against this opponent as useful mental training.

I am happy to say that he opted for the high road.

[superfittennis]

Originally Posted by Stokke

My son plays, in my opinion.., solid and attack-oriented tennis when he is playing with confidence - that is, when he is not worrying about the possibility that he could miss the shot.

He recently met an opponent who yelled YES! YES! regulary when my son double faulted or when he made an unforced error.
My son started to focus more on not missing shots and less on winning points - and lost the match..

How should he counter this behavior? Turn the match into a yelling contest?

You torture them on the court and make them run until they can not breathe well enough to yell or say anything! If you can not do this, I would suggest getting an umpire. I am fairly certain that this behavior is not allowed. I don't think a player can cheer when their opponent double faults???

[MarTennis]

Lure them into the forecourt and crack them real good Lendl style. The more uncomfortable at the net, the better. Plus, your charges will loosen up and ignore the jerk going forward in the match.

[Woolybugger]

good advice all around. always take the high road and don't get down to their level. let your tennis do the talking. stay focused and mentally tough. we've all heard that tennis teaches life lessons and dealing with jerks is life lesson #1.

[Power Player]

As a junior I would always take headshots at guys like this when they came to the net. Then when they made the error, I would say the same thing they were saying (yes..cmon..whatever it was). That always worked. Coming from a football background, I found most tennis players in the juniors to be pretty easy to screw with. The toughest guys were all on my team..we were all multisport guys who played football and baseball for years so we had dealt with everything by age 10 or so.

[arche3]

Originally Posted by Power Player

As a junior I would always take headshots at guys like this when they came to the net. Then when they made the error, I would say the same thing they were saying (yes..cmon..whatever it was). That always worked. Coming from a football background, I found most tennis players in the juniors to be pretty easy to screw with. The toughest guys were all on my team..we were all multisport guys who played football and baseball for years so we had dealt with everything by age 10 or so.

I have to agree... My son is 11. played tackle football for 4 years now. He tells me some kids talk a lot of trash and are mean on the line when they line up against the other teams. Its normal. I was pretty shocked but on game days when I did the 1st down markers I heard all kinds of stuff coming from these young boys.... cursing and taunting, etc...

He tells me his country club tennis friends would not be able to handle the smack talk.

[Soianka]

Originally Posted by Power Player

As a junior I would always take headshots at guys like this when they came to the net. Then when they made the error, I would say the same thing they were saying (yes..cmon..whatever it was). That always worked. Coming from a football background, I found most tennis players in the juniors to be pretty easy to screw with. The toughest guys were all on my team..we were all multisport guys who played football and baseball for years so we had dealt with everything by age 10 or so.

That's an interesting point I never thought about.

Maybe tennis juniors are a little "soft" for the most part, but as a parent, I usually did expect that each player would play fairly and be a good sport.

Of course that did not happen all the time, but based on what you say, I would guess that most kids in other sports expect the trash talk and gamesmanship.

[Power Player]

Exactly. And we were all fighters. We would fight each other before matches sometimes..lol. So the country club kids would try and talk trash on the court to other teams but they would see us pummeling each other in the parking lot and think twice. To us, it was no big deal, we just were aggressive and all wanted to be the king of the hill. I am literally still friends with some of the guys I fought the most to this day. It is funny how that works.

In my experience the best tennis kids in my area only played tennis and were extremely spoiled brats. They were the guys we would pick on before matches just to let them know their mind games would result in a post match throw down (I dont recommend this by the way..lol). the other types of great players were the "young tennis bums". Basically kids who surfed, played tennis and were really chill. Just great players who were fun to play with. Those guys always got the most respect because they were excellent players and never cared about mind games. In all honesty it seemed like they figured out how to enjoy life about 40 years ahead of time and just had an ideal mentality for tennis.

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by Power Player

As a junior I would always take headshots at guys like this when they came to the net. Then when they made the error, I would say the same thing they were saying (yes..cmon..whatever it was). That always worked. Coming from a football background, I found most tennis players in the juniors to be pretty easy to screw with. The toughest guys were all on my team..we were all multisport guys who played football and baseball for years so we had dealt with everything by age 10 or so.

I tried to take a headshot at a guy who was killing me in the juniors. He was seeded, much better than me and was hooking me. I verified one bad call on the clay after a changeover. He just casually volleyed my screamer for a winner.

[sundaypunch]

Originally Posted by mikej

not necessarily the best role model for your son, but:

i once played a guy in the 18s who yelled "that's what i'm talking about - all day" after any slightly extended rally that he won

stayed quiet, used it as motivation to give everything i had to outgrind the punk, eventually won 6-3 in the 3rd after hearing that ringing in my ears well over 50 times

we're both walking up to the net, i stop at the service line and start yelling at him "that's what i'm talking about" probably 5-7 times before he gives up on me shaking his hand and walks off the court

so, get the last laugh by winning the match, and avoid being an *** at the end if you can help it - if not, let him hear it

Acting like an idiot to another idiot - probably not the best advice to give in the Junior forum. It does explain your posts in the " Peliwo, Kreuger, Kozlov, and DB" thread though.