What to do with a gifted kid

[tennis5]

Originally Posted by Opus

I hope this isn't coming across as boasting of an over proud parent because really I am having a hard time justifying the $500 dollars a month we spend on lessons and group lessons. I know that number will only go up. So, here it is. My son just turned 7 and started playing at 2 1/2. We have gone through the progression of balls red, orange, green dot and now yellow. We are able to do full court rallies of 15 to 20 balls. He's won two 10& under tournaments. He has the technique down. Now he primarily hits with 10 and 11 year olds. Okay, now with that established my question is it really worth it? Let's run the numbers: For boys div I scholarships are extremely hard to get. So, with lessons, tournaments, travel costs etc it seems to me that a parent should expect to pay $10,000 a year or more. If we were to put that money into his college fund he could pretty much go to any college without worrying about getting a scholarship. So, here is my question to those that have a gifted kid. Is it worth it? To pre-answer some questions: Yes, he loves it. He loves the tennis channel. I've had multiple pros and other parents tell me over and over how gifted he is. He loves to compete but $10-20K a year seems ridiculous when American kids compete for such few scholarships with kids from all over the world. I just don't see the ends justifying the means.

This is really a good question because you are asking while your son is age 7......
When the fact is for most parents, the truth dawns on them much later about the scholarship money,
and they feel resentful. You seem to know the answer already.

On a bigger picture, no one on this board knows how college tennis is going to change or what it will look like in the future....
I went to two state schools in two different states..
Today, one state school has an all foreign men's tennis team,
and in my current state, the university has a women's tennis team, and no men's tennis team.
Will the USTA exert influence on the NCAA and will foreigners be capped to two a team in the near future? Probably not. So, most likely, the foreign numbers will expand. Maybe, Johnny will make the team, I doubt he is going to get any $ though.

In regards to other concerns:

1) Success at age 7 doesn't always translate into success at age 18.

2) Many kids get burnt out playing a sport for all those years.

3) Many kids get injuries from repetitive use.
You say you're a baseball guy, so you would know about the kids who now pitch all year, and the subsequent surgery they will face.

4) The money that you are spending now, $6,000 for a 7 year old seems very high for the year.
It will only get higher if he starts to compete. I would save the money for later.
I would try to find some creative ways to spend less money.
Maybe, an uncle can hit with him? Older brother?

5) It is a long journey.
Not so much fun when you are on the court by yourself, and you are not winning and that will happen to him as the other kids catch up....... And they will.
I would try to keep him around team sports until age 12 or 13, so he plays tennis from now until 12 and also a team sport too. At age 12 or 13, he can switch full time to tennis if he so desires.

Good luck.

[Opus]

Baseball is worse and more expensive. Look up the number of 11 and 12 year old kids that are having Tommy John's surgery. It's scary. Select league coaches, if they get a stud pitcher, they pitch him all the way to Tommy John's surgery. That's because select league coaches get paid by parents that want their kids to be on winning teams. The coach hopes the superstar kid will mask the truth that the child could get just as good of training from many other select league coaches but parents generally seek out the coaches that win the most. If they don't win they do not get parents to pay their salaries. They are supposed to monitor pitch counts but overall coaches push the limits on it all the time. The result is a lot of collegiate/minor league pitchers are former outfielders with strong arms because pitchers from the juniors arms are all fried. Thus, even though I have coached baseball before, I will not let my son play select ball. I know performance pre-12 years old does not indicate future success but on the other hand a friend of mine grew up with Marc Bulger, former St. Louis Rams qb, and he said Marc stood out from the first grade on. The difference is football/basketball are low costs sports. Tennis/baseball/skating/soccer(select) are very high costs if you want your child to get proper instruction. The information I am seeking is from others who have been in this spot and what they did and what they spent and how they went about it.

There have several great posts, thank you!.

[tball2day]

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[coaching32yrs]

Sorry Opus. Not my intent to insult. My antennae goes up when I hear a parent use the words gifted, training expenses, and scholarships for a 7 year old. I have been in the tennis game a long time. In my experience success at this age just doesn't translate into success later on. What other parents say is not relevant. Many coaches say the wrong thing also. I have had players at the highest level. I never use the word gifted around my players. Just my opinion, but I think it says all the wrong things.

[WARPWOODIE]

Originally Posted by coaching32yrs

Sorry Opus. Not my intent to insult. My antennae goes up when I hear a parent use the words gifted, training expenses, and scholarships for a 7 year old. I have been in the tennis game a long time. In my experience success at this age just doesn't translate into success later on. What other parents say is not relevant. Many coaches say the wrong thing also. I have had players at the highest level. I never use the word gifted around my players. Just my opinion, but I think it says all the wrong things.

Coach, I totally agree with you. I recall a girl named Monique Viele in the 90's and as recently, Jan Silva....promising juniors whose games never really met the expectations that was thrust upon them.

[Tennishacker]

To truly know if your child is gifted, send him to Nick B./IMG, if they offer him a contract, then you know child is truly gifted.

[tball2day]

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[Opus]

I probably should have started this thread as conceptual vs personal but it would be nice if someone started up a new thread about psycho parents. I coached baseball, part time, for ten years and I saw my share of psycho dads out there. One kid in particular, and bless his heart he did not have an athletic bone in his body, struck out with the bases loaded, two outs and the game on the line. His father came on the field screaming at his kid for not swinging, another parent yelled at me for having the "loser" kid in the lineup in the first place. The child left the field crying while the two obese coach potato dads kept yelling both at me and the kid. As far as I know that was the last baseball game that child played as he didn't sign up for our team the next season. I have yet to experience what the parents are like for tournament tennis but I was hoping that it would be a more sophisticated group of people than what I experienced in baseball.

As for goals/payoff there seems to be some backlash here as if it were a selfish motivation. Let me restate it then. I've never met a successful person that wasn't goal oriented. Whether one reaches that goal or not is not as important as the value that is gained from setting up the steps and the mechanizations that it takes to reach those goals.

[ATP100]

Originally Posted by Opus

I probably should have started this thread as conceptual vs personal but it would be nice if someone started up a new thread about psycho parents. I coached baseball, part time, for ten years and I saw my share of psycho dads out there. One kid in particular, and bless his heart he did not have an athletic bone in his body, struck out with the bases loaded, two outs and the game on the line. His father came on the field screaming at his kid for not swinging, another parent yelled at me for having the "loser" kid in the lineup in the first place. The child left the field crying while the two obese coach potato dads kept yelling both at me and the kid. As far as I know that was the last baseball game that child played as he didn't sign up for our team the next season. I have yet to experience what the parents are like for tournament tennis but I was hoping that it would be a more sophisticated group of people than what I experienced in baseball.

As for goals/payoff there seems to be some backlash here as if it were a selfish motivation. Let me restate it then. I've never met a successful person that wasn't goal oriented. Whether one reaches that goal or not is not as important as the value that is gained from setting up the steps and the mechanizations that it takes to reach those goals.

Sorry, as a group, they are the same.
I know both sports very well.

[t135]

It is a little different..

[tennisconsultcom]

There are three basic types of talent: general motor talent, sports talent and sports specific talent. All of these types of talent play their role in the complete development of a tennis player. The main components of talent identification for tennis are: physiological, physical, psychological, technical/tactical, results and intangibles.

I am writing one more article about it, hope to post it tomorrow.