How Do You Know If Your Child Has "It"?

[TCF]

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[Anyone4tennis?]

I would think that the opinion from someone reputable who has worked closely with a top ATP or WTA player (former or present) since childhood would be able to tell you something about the presence of the "It" factor. If your kid catches their attention, then maybe you have someone special on your hands.

[Tennishacker]

Originally Posted by Anyone4tennis?

I would think that the opinion from someone reputable who has worked closely with a top ATP or WTA player (former or present) since childhood would be able to tell you something about the presence of the "It" factor. If your kid catches their attention, then maybe you have someone special on your hands.

Yes, you are correct. All these "hack" opinions are just a, hackers opinion.

[Number1Coach]

Hers how you know if your kid has it !

A few years back I watched a junior playing the Carson ITF this kid was about 6'3 at the time and he got his 'rear' handed to him in the 2nd round by the future ncaa champion name Klahn .

Now at this point you lose 2nd round at Carson this kid definatley does not have 'It ' and should go to college but instead Milos Raonic decided to go for the pros ,which is a stupid move if your losing 2nd round at Carson at 17 but instead he went pro let me tell you he does not have it and should have went to college,

In the end we really don't know !!!!!

[TCF]

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[Number1Coach]

Originally Posted by TCF

I know you need to have exceptions to support your path but if you really look at it, much different story.

Raonic got his first racquet at 8, hit a tiny bit. Put the racquet away for a year. He was a soccer nut as a kid, still considers himself a Real Madrid fanatic. At age 9 his dad got him back into trying tennis. No lessons, just dad and him fooling around at 6:30 am before school...in Canada, where he could play only some of the time.

From the very start Raonic's dad was amazed by the kids freakish serve. His talent was there from the start yet he did not take tennis seriously. His dad later started showing him recordings of Sampra's matches and gradually Milos got hooked as he got older.

So when you saw him at Carson he was just rounding the corner of really getting fully into tennis. He had maybe been taking tennis seriously for 4 years at that point. Likely at that point he was more interested in working on his game than actual wins and losses. Just like Sampras as a junior.

The talent was there, he bloomed late because he took the scenic route to caring all that much about tennis. I know you want to support your idea that magical things happen and money making pro players come out of no where....but sorry, not really. Milos could put tennis on the back burner at age 8-13, and when he did play consistently, would amaze with how quickly he improved. He always had 'it', he just did not bother much with tennis....but once he did, he became a great player very quickly.

Had he started tennis at age 7, took it seriously and worked hard, he would have likely been winning in the pros at age 17, not losing in the 2nd round at Carson. He took a different path. But do not confuse his reality at age 16-17 with your player's reality. The 'it' was in Milos all along.

IF he was so freakish he would not lose 2nd round after playing multiple tourneys at that point !

He was serious at 17 or he would not be traveling to Carson and according to his resume at that time had 4 years of travel under his belt or more .

Freakish would be having 4 serious hits a month if your lucky having your dad hand feed you balls at the age of 16 and with such minimal resources being able to climb into the top 10 in the nation and climbing to no.2 in Ca one of the toughest areas to play throughout the world by the time your 15.

"Saw" him here at Carson nothing special ,, Oh wait he had a work -ethic and a dad .

great job Milos for turning down UVA



Do the math Milos 17, 6'3 out 2nd round Carson

DB 16 6'5 out 1st round US Open HHmmmmm seems similar to me except the age and height

[ClarkC]

Originally Posted by Number1Coach

Hers how you know if your kid has it !

A few years back I watched a junior playing the Carson ITF this kid was about 6'3 at the time and he got his 'rear' handed to him in the 2nd round by the future ncaa champion name Klahn .

Now at this point you lose 2nd round at Carson this kid definatley does not have 'It ' and should go to college but instead Milos Raonic decided to go for the pros ,which is a stupid move if your losing 2nd round at Carson at 17 but instead he went pro let me tell you he does not have it and should have went to college,

In the end we really don't know !!!!!

Raonic won three matches in straight sets at Carson before losing in the quarterfinals (not the second round) to Klahn. But, I will concede the point that Raonic lost a lot of matches to guys who went to college, and Raonic has since surpassed those guys. But he also came up with good wins against blue chip juniors his own age. He had some tough three-set losses against Ryan Harrison, but also beat Ryan Harrison 6-1, 6-1 at the 2008 Astrid Bowl in Belgium. That is a quality win.

We don't want to pick on someone for a single loss, because every junior player will play not to lose. We do want to look for quality wins, like beating Ryan Harrison 6-1, 6-1, because then juniors will play to win.

[Number1Coach]

TCF a question for you one that will help you.

Did you ever see Milos at 8 or 9 yrs old in person ?

Did you ever see Gasket in person at 8 or 9 yrs old ?

Or Rafa ?

The answer is probably No!

So when you say Milos was freakish your going off what some person said "hear-say"

they film mr.B in his own living room and posted it world wide that he ran with the Crips not true it was the Bloods but the Crips are better known and it bolstered the story .

thats why when they say these kids are freakish or prodigies in the end there was some crazy parent pushing them and the only thing freakish is they survived the parents!

All I see is the Jrs. is where you learn alot and where you decide if you want to take it to the next level and make a lot of sacrifices to get there.

nothing freakish about good old fashion hard work.

[Number1Coach]

Originally Posted by ClarkC

Raonic won three matches in straight sets at Carson before losing in the quarterfinals (not the second round) to Klahn. But, I will concede the point that Raonic lost a lot of matches to guys who went to college, and Raonic has since surpassed those guys. But he also came up with good wins against blue chip juniors his own age. He had some tough three-set losses against Ryan Harrison, but also beat Ryan Harrison 6-1, 6-1 at the 2008 Astrid Bowl in Belgium. That is a quality win.

We don't want to pick on someone for a single loss, because every junior player will play not to lose. We do want to look for quality wins, like beating Ryan Harrison 6-1, 6-1, because then juniors will play to win.

who were the wins over quality players ? if they are not on the tour or playing 1 or 2 on some d 1 college team the Milos beat scrubs in his own age division .

Thats how we measure on TW

Your right it was the quarters I was there to watch Klahn the one that had "it" , Thought it was earlier cause it was such a mis-match .

[TCF]

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[TCF]

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[TCF]

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[ga tennis]

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[10ismom]

Originally Posted by ga tennis

My kids got IT!!!!!!!! She's got me in her

Don't forget your son too. You said "my kids"!

[TCF]

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[Number1Coach]

Originally Posted by TCF

numberonecoach....hypothetical question for you. Just curious, if one day your boy had an injury or whatever and had to drop out of tennis. What would your next advice to him be for his future? Would you still lead him away from college? If so, what would you encourage him to do, perhaps enlist in the military? I am just curious as you are very anti college....what would you have your boy do instead of college if he had no more tennis?

Well I guess I would tell him " your uncle left you this trailer and 5 other rental propertys ,don't be and idiot and sell any of them , good luck and enjoy what he left you
responsibly" and then see what happens with his injury .

Why what would you tell him ?

[Number1Coach]

Originally Posted by TCF

Raonic is a totally different person than DB. You have no idea of how his tennis mind and vision sees the court. You have no idea if he was a lazy kid who trained hardly at all. No idea if he was replaying the Real Madrid match in his head while at Carson. No idea if he was chasing 10 girls at once in his teens and was distracted.

There is no comparison between his path and DB's. In the end he had the 'it' to become a top 20 player. Thats all that matters.

Your player will peak where he peaks and it will be totally unrelated to whether Raonic did or did not do anything similar along the way.

Well the true test will be DB at carson next year just turning 17 and filled out at 6'5 not 6'3 like the canadian boy and all thise possiblities floating around in his mind "is Payton Manning thowing a touchdown" and see if he quarters or not, will just have to see if he gets tooled by the future ncaa champion.

[Number1Coach]

Originally Posted by ga tennis

My kids got IT!!!!!!!! She's got me in her

Hey GA you get that pic I sent you of the postcard ?

[Number1Coach]

Originally Posted by TCF

How did her tournament go GA?

Unless your girl is from the inner-city "black" or a foreigner from some other country she does not have it right TCF ?

[BMC9670]

Originally Posted by Number1Coach

Well I guess I would tell him " your uncle left you this trailer and 5 other rental propertys ,don't be and idiot and sell any of them , good luck and enjoy what he left you
responsibly" and then see what happens with his injury .

Why what would you tell him ?

Top 10 ATP or a slum-lord. Awesome! The heck with college...