How much to tell kids?

[Tcbtennis]

Originally Posted by BMC9670

My 10YO son is starting to get seeded in 12U tournaments and up until now, I would just sign him up and let him play without telling him who else is in the tournament (outside his training friends), who is seeded, who he plays, how old they are, etc, etc. I just wanted him to play without any mental clutter.

Do you think knowing they're seeded helps a kid's confidence going in or puts pressure on them? Curious to hear thoughts and experiences.

It really depends on the child. My son waits for the draw to come out and if he is unfamiliar with his opponent he looks at his opponent's record to see if he can find a pattern to the wins and losses his opponent has had against other kids that he knows. He makes a plan A and plan B. My daughter no longer looks at the draw after she had a near panic attack after seeing that she was seeded number 1 in a local tournament. Her play in that match reflected her anxiety. It was awful. So now she just shows up and plays whomever is in front of her. She doesn't have a plan except hit the ball hard. When she faces a junk baller she is at her mercy because she has no plan B. I like my son's approach better because it means that he has to think on the court. He will make adjustments based on what's happening on the court. Because he did his homework before the match started he never feels helpless.

[Chemist]

Originally Posted by nightfire700

Yes, he has a relatively strong arm (throws a lot of balls around while playing cricket) and good timing, though overall he is pretty small for his age. As for the opponent coming to the net, isnt a flat close to the net more difficult to volley back? I will have to observe more on his X-court returns but I think he uses a flat out shot there as well but he does lack consistency there. Maybe its because of the reason you stated. Having said that is there a need to hit way above the net (4-6 feet) to get good spin or one can add good spin even when hitting relatively flat shots (1-2 feet above net) especially if the player is only 52 inches tall?

It's almost impossible to hit a x-court flat shot to the side T, especially for a 9 yr old. You can put a cone at the side T, toss balls to him 1-2' from the corner of the deuce or add court and ask him to nail the cone x-court. You will see that he needs spin to hit it. The side T is a good target for x-court passing shot, when his opponent hits a down the line approach. BTW, he will need to practice loopy balls that are 4-6' over the net. Many of his young opponents will hit these to get him frustrated. He will need to be really patient and only step in to attack short balls with his flatter shot (yes 1-2' over the net).

[Chemist]

Originally Posted by Tcbtennis

It really depends on the child. My son waits for the draw to come out and if he is unfamiliar with his opponent he looks at his opponent's record to see if he can find a pattern to the wins and losses his opponent has had against other kids that he knows. He makes a plan A and plan B. My daughter no longer looks at the draw after she had a near panic attack after seeing that she was seeded number 1 in a local tournament. Her play in that match reflected her anxiety. It was awful. So now she just shows up and plays whomever is in front of her. She doesn't have a plan except hit the ball hard. When she faces a junk baller she is at her mercy because she has no plan B. I like my son's approach better because it means that he has to think on the court. He will make adjustments based on what's happening on the court. Because he did his homework before the match started he never feels helpless.

Your son must be much more matured than most kids of his age. The kid who makes his own game plan, is usually more capable of adjusting his game accordingly during the match. An earlier thread had a good discussion about the need of using a variety of shots, slices, drop shot, net games, even occasionally a moon ball - ask your daughter to watch a few video clips of Justine Henin.

[BMC9670]

Well... too late, my wife told him he was seeded #2 this weekend. He said "I think it's kind of cool" and seemed rather indifferent. He did seem to hit with a little extra today, but we'll see if it has any positive/negative effects tomorrow.

Generally, I take the approach of "control what is within your control" - play your game, adjust if need be and do your best, no matter who is on the other side of the net.

[nightfire700]

Originally Posted by Chemist

It's almost impossible to hit a x-court flat shot to the side T, especially for a 9 yr old. You can put a cone at the side T, toss balls to him 1-2' from the corner of the deuce or add court and ask him to nail the cone x-court. You will see that he needs spin to hit it. The side T is a good target for x-court passing shot, when his opponent hits a down the line approach. BTW, he will need to practice loopy balls that are 4-6' over the net. Many of his young opponents will hit these to get him frustrated. He will need to be really patient and only step in to attack short balls with his flatter shot (yes 1-2' over the net).

Thanks for the valuable advise. He has a 2 hr session today and I will keep an eye and also try the setup you suggested to see how he plays.

[Chemist]

Originally Posted by BMC9670

Well... too late, my wife told him he was seeded #2 this weekend. He said "I think it's kind of cool" and seemed rather indifferent. He did seem to hit with a little extra today, but we'll see if it has any positive/negative effects tomorrow.

Generally, I take the approach of "control what is within your control" - play your game, adjust if need be and do your best, no matter who is on the other side of the net.

My son and I often discussed his opponent's strength and weakness before match, if you know him and if he is pretty good. I would then ask him what his game plan would be. I would add my two cents if I see the need. He is pretty good making adjustment during the match. If he splits, I would be the only person who he would talk to and he never called his coach. His after match routine goes like this, he stretches for 5-10 mins, he looks at the stats; he talks about his match, and then I talk about what I see and what we can learn from this match, win or lose.

[gplracer]

Originally Posted by nightfire700

Slightly off-topic but I was wondering is the 6-8 feet above the net a way to play safe or a demand of the modern game? My son loves to hit as close as possible to the net and most of his shots going within 6-12 inches above the net. His coach has asked him a few times to hit higher but my son is insistent and loves getting really flat barely touching the top-of-net shots. Is this something I should be actively working on as I see more and more advise about hitting higher above the net. He is 9yrs and not very tall at 52 inches.

My 10 year old is just over 5'2" 93lbs, left handed and hits a good amount of topspin. He has a good heavy ball. Hitting 6-8 feet over the net with a bunch of topspin works well at this age. Since his ball has good spin it gets over the shoulders of smaller players or forces them to hit a lot of balls on the rise.

After he splits sets? I try to let him do most of the talking. I have him tell me what is working so that can be reinforced. I then him to make himself work really hard to move his feet and get in position to make a good pass at the ball. I figure at this point he is probably tired and he needs encouragement to keep working hard. Since he is so big this is the greatest challenge.

[Chemist]

Originally Posted by gplracer

My 10 year old is just over 5'2" 93lbs, left handed and hits a good amount of topspin. He has a good heavy ball. Hitting 6-8 feet over the net with a bunch of topspin works well at this age. Since his ball has good spin it gets over the shoulders of smaller players or forces them to hit a lot of balls on the rise.

After he splits sets? I try to let him do most of the talking. I have him tell me what is working so that can be reinforced. I then him to make himself work really hard to move his feet and get in position to make a good pass at the ball. I figure at this point he is probably tired and he needs encouragement to keep working hard. Since he is so big this is the greatest challenge.

Yes, most kids hate moon balls, especially if they are deep and toward opponent's back hand. When my son played a kid at the 12 zonal, one boy hit a deep moon ball that jumped over my son's head. But he soon learned how to hit on the rise or move in to swing volley them. I'm sure your son can also hit flatter passing shot to guard against opponents who charging the net.

[gplracer]

I do not really want him hitting moon balls. I just want good height with topspin to set up the point. Then go for the shot with a flatter shot when there is a short ball to hit.

[Chemist]

Originally Posted by gplracer

I do not really want him hitting moon balls. I just want good height with topspin to set up the point. Then go for the shot with a flatter shot when there is a short ball to hit.

This is a very good strategy especially if he mixes it up with other shots

[BMC9670]

Originally Posted by gplracer

I do not really want him hitting moon balls. I just want good height with topspin to set up the point. Then go for the shot with a flatter shot when there is a short ball to hit.

Same here gpl... we are really working on the rally ball vs flat shot selection right now. Nice deep balls with spin and good net clearance (a good rally ball) is invaluable at any age.

[gplracer]

I tell my son there are different types of shots.

Rally shot -Most of the time when you are behind the baseline you are hitting these higher rally shots. This is where you are exchanging blows with your opponent. Since you are behind the baseline you are FAR from you target. There is no need to go for a winner because you are so far from your opponent. It takes so long for the ball to travel to the target that the opponent has too much time to run it down.

Building shot - This is a ball that is usually shorter and you are closer to your target. You are not looking to put it away but you want to try to build a point around the shot. This is where you try to exploit a weakness or get ahead in the point.

Neutralizing shot - This is when your opponent hit a hard deep ball or one that gives you trouble. You have to neutralize it. This is done by hitting a heavy high topspin ball, hitting the ball deep with spin, or slicing the backhand. The idea is to give yourself time to get back in position and regain your position in the point.

Put away - Typically balls that are real short in the point and you are close to your target.

I Sometimes hit with him and he has to call out what type of shot he is hitting (rally, building, neutralizing, or put away)

BMC9670 you have mail!