Kids: how many hours court-time a week?

[Milan]

Originally Posted by TheCanadian

You might disagree but just saying it's not true doesn't make it so.

The empirical evidence suggests most top professionals were coached by parents and come out of national centres. I'm sorry to confuse you with facts.

Nadal was coached by his Uncle, an ex Professional.

Federer had a private coach (NOT federation).

Roddick had Benhabiles

Blake had Same coach from 8 (Private Coach)

Djokovic was at Academy doing Private work with Niki Pilic

Sampras had Private Coach

Nick Bolletieri privately coached Andre at his Academy, a direct competitor to USTA.

Name me any players the USTA have produced???? NONE. Not 1.

[TheCanadian]

Originally Posted by Milan

Nadal was coached by his Uncle, an ex Professional.

Federer had a private coach (NOT federation).

Roddick had Benhabiles

Blake had Same coach from 8 (Private Coach)

Djokovic was at Academy doing Private work with Niki Pilic

Sampras had Private Coach

Nick Bolletieri privately coached Andre at his Academy, a direct competitor to USTA.

Name me any players the USTA have produced???? NONE. Not 1.

I can also give you a much longer list of players who were coached by their parents. Some of your points above are false: Federer did train at a national centre; Agassi's first coach was his father, etc., etc.

This might come as a shock to you, but the tennis world doesn't start and end with the US.

You should state your vested interest when you come on in a thread and write obvious untruths.

[Milan]

Originally Posted by TheCanadian

I can also give you a much longer list of players who were coached by their parents. Some of your points above are false: Federer did train at a national centre; Agassi's first coach was his father, etc., etc.

This might come as a shock to you, but the tennis world doesn't start and end with the US.

You should state your vested interest when you come on in a thread and write obvious untruths.

99% of parents who "try" to coach their kids don't know what they're saying. The few who do know, push their kids to the max, and because it doesn't cost anything, they have a benefit.

I agree to that. But to say don't spend money on coaches just coach them until you get a scholarship to a National Center, that's ridiculous.

And, I can't speak for Spain's Center (I know they're pretty good), but in America, the USTA is absolutely Terrible.

In Canada, the coaches at the Federation have to study Tennis like a Physicist studies for their Doctorate, so I would imagine their story is different.

[tennisconsultcom]

In ex-USSR and some Eastern European countries the same situation. First go to college for five years, then work as a coach assistant for a couple of years. Here in America, anyone may announce himself a high qualified tennis coach.
Often parents do not understand huge difference between a good coach and a good player. There are different professions.

[tennisconsultcom]

I mean the same situation as in Canada.

[TheCanadian]

Originally Posted by Milan

99% of parents who "try" to coach their kids don't know what they're saying. The few who do know, push their kids to the max, and because it doesn't cost anything, they have a benefit.

I agree to that. But to say don't spend money on coaches just coach them until you get a scholarship to a National Center, that's ridiculous.

And, I can't speak for Spain's Center (I know they're pretty good), but in America, the USTA is absolutely Terrible.

In Canada, the coaches at the Federation have to study Tennis like a Physicist studies for their Doctorate, so I would imagine their story is different.

I never said that parents should be the only coaches. I specifically said that parents should occasionally consult established, reputed tennis coaches. What I did say is that parents/close family members play a crucial role in the development of a tennis player. This fact is verified by history. The examples are so numerous to support my point that I won't even bother listing them.

Technique is very important but there are so many great books and videos out there that any parent who has the time and will to train his kids can do it, even if his knowledge of the game is lacking at first.

[Staidhup]

Rule number one, a parent should never coach their own child. Yes they can help feed balls, work on mental toughness, only if they themselves participated in high level sports and truly understand what goes through the mind of an athlete. A parent is a child's last and only private sanctuary where they can unload, enjoy that role, as a coach you lose that special role. Let the coach do what you pay them to do, the one that pushes the child, makes corrections, demonstrates what they need to do. At 10 years old to jam tennis down their throat is a terrible mistake, read Andre's book, let them discover and experience all sports. Let them decide what sport suits them best. This garbage about if they don't focus on one sport by 10 or 12 is total nonsense. The key is if they have the determination, discipline, hart, work ethic, and athletic ability, to succeed in a solitary sport. You won't be able to drag them off the court, stop them from training, it's their play ground, in the blood, where they find peace. Yes there are those that are what we call lifers, most burn out early, never live up to the hype, become easily distracted because they don't have that spark and true love for a sport. Support the child in their pursuits, but let them decide what sport to pursue. I see too many parents that have dreams and illusions that are unrealistic for their child to obtain and I see it surface, manifest itself, in the lack of enthusiasm for the sport they have been forced into.

[TheCheese]

The MOST important thing is that the kid really wants to be a really great player and wants to put in the work. It's going to be really hard to force a kid to practice when they don't want to.

[Staidhup]

Kids are impressionable, constantly strive to receive parental approval, parents need to listen, observe, and let their children's actions speak for itself. As they say go with the flow.

[SprintCoach]

As stated by lot of people on this forum there is no answer to this question or I should say there is no right answer?

To give a quick background about myself, I come from an athletics background and have been involved in athletics for the past 30 years. As an athlete I competed at an elite level and I have been a coach for the past 15 years. I coach sprinters and also work with tennis players to improve their speed and agility.

Being athletic does not guarantee success in the tennis court but it for sure helps you to learn the skills quickly and potentially progress faster. Being athletic usually means that the kid is better co-ordinated and adapts to changing situations on the court faster. Also the co-ordination and quickness (at least the basics) are best learnt between 8 to 12 years of age. So question is how much time you want to focus on making the kid more athletic.

The main issue is the lack of understanding on how to learn an athletic skill and knowing what short comings does the player has to learn that skill. For example I would hear the tennis coach yell at the player ‘Be explosive off the first step” or “use your legs to hit the shot”. Looking at the kid you can see that there is no way the kid can do all that because he is flat-footed and has no co-ordination. So does not matter how much work this kid will put on the tennis court those aspects are not going to be fixed. It has to be done outside off the tennis court. So for a player like that you are better off distributing your time equally between the tennis sessions and off-court practice. And contrary to people’s belief you can improve a kid’s athletic ability. You will not be able to make him a Usain Bolt or jump like Michael Jordan but can definitely make massive improvements in their atheism.

So in summary continuing to do an activity repeatedly does not guarantee that the player will improve. But understanding what is required to perform the activity and improving those pre-requisites might give you better results.

[tennisconsultcom]

Some tennis coaches know nothing about special conditioning for tennis. Some coaches just do not want to send their players (clients) to a specialized fitness coach, because they want to get as much money as possible. That's why these coaches try to use on-court fitness (with very little understanding) and tell to their players that they (coaches) are able to develop all necessary skills. I already wrote that not many players warm-up and cool down in right way. As concerns how many hours court time a week: any organism has its own limits. If a kid trains in right way, using periodization and cycles with a good coach, 12 hours a week on the court till 15 yo, is more than enough + off court fitness and tournaments.
All these talks about 25-30 hours a week for kids come from:
1. incompetent coaches, who never studied Sports Science,
2. academies and coaches who love money more than their players. Parents pay for a coach's time on the court, not for the final results. It is very simple.

Just look at ITF recommendations, I posted them in my article: http://wp.me/p2iyrR-2W

[tennisconsultcom]

I placed one more article about a program for development of a top junior tennis player. These recommendations are based on ITF standards. Everybody who is interested in reading it, can do that on my site. The article is too big to be placed on the forum.

[gplracer]

Originally Posted by Staidhup

Rule number one, a parent should never coach their own child. Yes they can help feed balls, work on mental toughness, only if they themselves participated in high level sports and truly understand what goes through the mind of an athlete. A parent is a child's last and only private sanctuary where they can unload, enjoy that role, as a coach you lose that special role. Let the coach do what you pay them to do, the one that pushes the child, makes corrections, demonstrates what they need to do. At 10 years old to jam tennis down their throat is a terrible mistake, read Andre's book, let them discover and experience all sports. Let them decide what sport suits them best. This garbage about if they don't focus on one sport by 10 or 12 is total nonsense. The key is if they have the determination, discipline, hart, work ethic, and athletic ability, to succeed in a solitary sport. You won't be able to drag them off the court, stop them from training, it's their play ground, in the blood, where they find peace. Yes there are those that are what we call lifers, most burn out early, never live up to the hype, become easily distracted because they don't have that spark and true love for a sport. Support the child in their pursuits, but let them decide what sport to pursue. I see too many parents that have dreams and illusions that are unrealistic for their child to obtain and I see it surface, manifest itself, in the lack of enthusiasm for the sport they have been forced into.

There is certainly some truth to what you wrote, but it does not fit in all situations. I played junior tennis growing up. If I let the coaching all to the coach it would not be enough. Not only that but one lesson a week for each of our kids is about all we can afford. Maybe if we could do more then my input would not be needed. I let the coach do the work and lead us in a direction. He then says this week when you hit with your son work on what we worked on today. I am also the ball feeder, the driver, the shoulder to cry on, and the friend. I realize that my kids can lose matches when they play their best and win matches when they play poorly.

[sundaypunch]

Originally Posted by gplracer

There is certainly some truth to what you wrote, but it does not fit in all situations. I played junior tennis growing up. If I let the coaching all to the coach it would not be enough. Not only that but one lesson a week for each of our kids is about all we can afford. Maybe if we could do more then my input would not be needed. I let the coach do the work and lead us in a direction. He then says this week when you hit with your son work on what we worked on today. I am also the ball feeder, the driver, the shoulder to cry on, and the friend. I realize that my kids can lose matches when they play their best and win matches when they play poorly.

Well said.

This is a very common and healthy way for kids to get better at tennis. The average family does not have money for hours and hours of lessons each week or to send their kid to an academy. The coach usually doesn't attend all of the kid's matches so it is the parent that has to analyze what was good/bad about their play.

[gplracer]

Sundaypunch you are correct! Our coaches do a great job but most of the time they are not at the out of town matches. They were not at the USTA RTC to see how he compares to the other players either. They have too many obligations to make it to all of those things. There are certain tournaments each year where the coaches go but my kids play in way more than that. I feel the player of the average parent who has not played or has not played much tennis is at a disadvantage. I do take my gopro with me most of the time and it is a great resource to show the footage to the coaches. Well that is after it is edited so they do not have to see much of it.

[KevinB9986]

Hopefully your kids want to play sports that you are/were good at. Can not rely on others to really have your child's real interest at heart. Also, you really have to have patience with kids. A lot of kids just act goofy at times, and some coaches will not want to put up with someone else's kid acting like a kid. I can think of some very famous players that must have been a pain to coach. I have even heard of some very famous players that you would be surprised on how they acted on the court as children.

[ga tennis]

Originally Posted by gplracer

Sundaypunch you are correct! Our coaches do a great job but most of the time they are not at the out of town matches. They were not at the USTA RTC to see how he compares to the other players either. They have too many obligations to make it to all of those things. There are certain tournaments each year where the coaches go but my kids play in way more than that. I feel the player of the average parent who has not played or has not played much tennis is at a disadvantage. I do take my gopro with me most of the time and it is a great resource to show the footage to the coaches. Well that is after it is edited so they do not have to see much of it.

Which gopro camera do you have?? Do you like it?? Is it easy to use??

[gplracer]

I have the gopro2. I really like it. It has a 170 degree viewing angle. I do not even have to worry about getting it pointed correctly. I also have a thingy to attached it to the net that I got from here: http://www.mytennistools.com/ I will email you a link to a video.

[ga tennis]

Originally Posted by gplracer

I have the gopro2. I really like it. It has a 170 degree viewing angle. I do not even have to worry about getting it pointed correctly. I also have a thingy to attached it to the net that I got from here: http://www.mytennistools.com/ I will email you a link to a video.

Thanks..........

[Eugene Choi]

atleast 2 hours on weekdays and on weekends atleast 3hours so 16 hours at the least every week