Jack Sock's past & future?

[hound 109]

Jack Sock plays Roddick in what may be a passing of the torch.

I know a little about him.....would like to know more. Especially in regards to his Junior career. What i know:

- Although born in Nebraska (which the media focuses on), he's lived & trained in greater Kansas City.
- Dude WENT to HS (& won the multiple State HS championships).
- His coach is Mike Wolf (I assume Sock works out at the tennis academy of the same name) from Overland Park KS.
- Started tennis at age 8. (not sure where)
- Great forehand, serve & an ok 2 handed backhand.
- Comes to the net more often than most.
- Great smile....seems to have a good attitude.
- Won multiple USTA National Championships at age 12, age 16 & 18. (not sure what happened at age 14?)

Interesting that:

- obviously no QS.
- Not a USTA training center dude. (correct me if i'm wrong)
- Not a home-schooled dude.
- Not a FL or SoCal dude.
- Considered Nebraska, Oklahoma & Texas....but decided to go pro.

How'd he do it?

- Where (& how) did he train from 9-12 that got him to be the best in the country?

- Was he a banger (or a pusher) at age 10-12?

- Why didn't he go to Boca?

- When did he move to Overland Park?

- Why did he go to HS (& play HS tennis?)

- How many hours a day (or week) did he train to become the top US kid at age 17?


- Is he a future Top 10 player?

- What racquet does he play with?

- Is he buddies with Harrison? Enemies? Will they be the #1 & #2 US players in 2014?

If anyone has info or wants to add comments on this former Junior Champion, please do.

Thanks.

[Tennishacker]

Sock is a great argument for keeping your child in "regular school", not home schooled and playing on the high school team.

He is the 1% of 1% to make it as a pro.

Normal childhood=staying in school!

[Fedace]

He will win at least 1 wimbledon and 1 US open.

[treeman10]

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[mojojojo]

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[NouKy]

Originally Posted by treeman10

... He was on the courts from 9-3 everyday like every other top player, not sitting in a classroom.

So how do the other if they failed to become pro.
This mean once the choice done (to become pro), they are no other choice ?
That is dangerous.

For Sock if he passed 9 to 3 everyday, it is not high school

[SoCal10s]

Originally Posted by mojojojo

Many top ranked junior boys blow by the 14s, basically skipping it, or not putting much emphasis on it and start working 16s. 14 ranking is probably most insignificant of any for boys. Changing bodies, still some ugly tennis (pushing) -- just too inconsistent for some high level players - and they want to get into the big boy game more quickly. I would assume that was Sock's path.

no he broke his foot(???)when was in the 14s ,he was on the mend for a long ,long time...

[mojojojo]

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[mojojojo]

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[TennisCoachFLA]

Originally Posted by mojojojo

I also understood the high school story to be a PR thing. I don't want to turn this thread, but I don't believe anyone can be a successful pro through a truly traditional school route these days. The competitive level is so high. We can barely miss school for true family emergencies yet tennis tournaments. Back to Jack, he was at an academy and tournaments most days. Not "normal" at all.

I can't figure out if him beating Roddick would be a good thing or bad thing. Hate to see either lose, but that's tennis.

Exactly, his normal was lots of classes done on the road, etc. He wasn't sitting in Mr. Kotter's class shooting spitballs.

There is no formula, some kids leave for academies, some partially, some raised by obsessed dads.....the money making pros are represented by all kinds of backgrounds. Sock worked hard and has lots of tennis talent. But he certainly does not prove that the road to the pros is paved by living a perfectly normal childhood either.

[hound 109]

Thanks for all the comments.

Originally Posted by treeman10

.... But what has rubbed current juniors and parents wrong is all the hubbubb of him staying in school and playing high school tennis. He was able to do that because of great flexibility with the school - most well performing high schools will not let a student miss so much school (then claim a diploma from there) and most tennis kids have to choose.

Are there not rules to follow in Kansas? In my state, "academy kids" (or any gifted type kid) is allowed to skip PE in HS & leave at (say) 2pm to go train for 3-4 hours. Are you saying that only his school is "flexible"?

Obviously they were very flexible with Jack as seen by his traveling tournament schedule. I know both the public and private high schools in our area would not allow missing so many days.

Since many of the tournaments are in the summer (or over holidays), how many school days did he (would he) miss? My kid missed 4-5 days last year (would have missed more if he went to the Spring Championships, but we chose not to for school & economic reasons).....as long as it was under 10 days, no problem.

Also you know he wasn't practicing with the team everyday, Monday-Friday which was also a requirement to play on our high school team, and the reason the USTA tournament kids didn't play high school.

That's a pretty dumb school (or coach??) requirement. Not at all a "requirement" in our area.....& nor i guess at Sock's HS.

Sock came in for a match now and then and to get the titles. So basically, Sock had home schooling through his district. Do not think he was sitting in a class everyday.

Again, it is great that he is rockin' it, but don't buy into all the "went to school" hype. It sets unrealistic expectations on everyone else. It is not realistic to think his schedule was anything like a normal high schooler. He was on the courts from 9-3 everyday like every other top player, not sitting in a classroom. And he wasn't practicing with his HS team either. Just making guest appearances.

I doubt he practiced daily with his HS (most 4 star & above players don't)....but are you saying he didn't attend class?

Does anyone else have confirmation that Sock didn't attend HS? (or did he come to school from 8am - 1:30 or 2pm & then go train for a few hours like high level players elsewhere??)

.

[hound 109]

Originally Posted by SoCal10s

no he broke his foot(???)when was in the 14s ,he was on the mend for a long ,long time...

Thanks for this info. When i googled his name there was an article from (i think) 2007 or 2008 saying he had been dominant in 12s & had never been higher than the 200s in 14s.....then had just won a 16s national tourney. But the article never mentioned why.

I also had wondered if he decided to work on a bigger better game during those two years.

[tennis5]

Tomorrow, we will be watching Jack Sock on television playing at the US Open...
I think that sentence in itself speaks volumes about his tennis ability...

So, I am not knocking him by writing this,
but I think there is enough stress on high school tennis kids
without a parent thinking to themselves....
Oh, Jack Sock WENT TO HIGH SCHOOL AND IS AN AMAZING PLAYER.
Why not my kid?

(Quotes are taken from different news articles)

"Sock estimates that he has missed “35 or 36” days of school this semester —
even more than last semester, when he attended the first days of classes,
but then left for 18 days straight to play in a tournament."

"Jack's tennis schedule was so heavy last fall and winter,
he missed more school than he attended when the high school season arrived in March. "

At my son's school, you may not leave before 4:00 pm even if you were in the Junior Olympics...
You are allowed to miss 10 days of school a year,
and not a day more ( so flu, stomach virus, surgeries, funerals, have to fit into ten days).

"State association guidelines mandate a minimum enrollment in five classes.
Sock currently takes six, including:

English
Reading Lab
Marketing and Rec Team Sports. "

Now compare with other high school juniors course load:
( and yes, this varies, but is representative of many kids)

AP Calc or AP Statistics
AP Chem or AP Bio or AP Physics
Honors Spanish IV
AP Literature
AP US Gov
Latin 3

And, at my son's school, if you play on your high school school tennis team, you may not miss practice. Period.
If you choose to use part of your ten days above to play the Easter Bowl,
well you can't... because you can't miss the high school tennis team practice.


I think Jack Sock's high school experience is an anomaly.

[mojojojo]

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[Tennishacker]

Originally Posted by treeman10

First, I like Sock, have watched him for years. But what has rubbed current juniors and parents wrong is all the hubbubb of him staying in school and playing high school tennis. He was able to do that because of great flexibility with the school - most well performing high schools will not let a student miss so much school (then claim a diploma from there) and most tennis kids have to choose. Obviously they were very flexible with Jack as seen by his traveling tournament schedule. I know both the public and private high schools in our area would not allow missing so many days. Also you know he wasn't practicing with the team everyday, Monday-Friday which was also a requirement to play on our high school team, and the reason the USTA tournament kids didn't play high school. Sock came in for a match now and then and to get the titles. So basically, Sock had home schooling through his district. Do not think he was sitting in a class everyday.

Again, it is great that he is rockin' it, but don't buy into all the "went to school" hype. It sets unrealistic expectations on everyone else. It is not realistic to think his schedule was anything like a normal high schooler. He was on the courts from 9-3 everyday like every other top player, not sitting in a classroom. And he wasn't practicing with his HS team either. Just making guest appearances.

You're missing my point. Unless your child is truly a freak of nature, then just keep them in a traditional school.

My daughter is on a scholarship to a D1 Socal school. She went to public school, won two CIF high school championships (similar to state championship) and played all the L1-3 nat'l junior tournaments.

If Sock's high school experience was not "realistic", then how did he graduate with a high school diploma?

[mojojojo]

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[tennis5]

Originally Posted by Tennishacker

You're missing my point. Unless your child is truly a freak of nature, then just keep them in a traditional school.

My daughter is on a scholarship to a D1 Socal school. She went to public school, won two CIF high school championships (similar to state championship) and played all the L1-3 nat'l junior tournaments.

If Sock's high school experience was not "realistic", then how did he graduate with a high school diploma?

What I have learned from this website ( besides tennis info) is that every state's school is different.

But, if your child is taking 4- 5 AP and 2 honor classes,
you really can't miss that much school anyway....

[TennisCoachFLA]

Originally Posted by tennis5

What I have learned from this website ( besides tennis info) is that every state's school is different.

But, if your child is taking 4- 5 AP and 2 honor classes,
you really can't miss that much school anyway....

Ha, great player, but lets not act like he had a traditional high school experience. It never got in the way of his tennis. Sure he missed plenty of school. Come on now, he was not exactly rocking high school which isn't very hard anyway in Kansas anyway. Even his coach says his grades are just okay and is basically saying he ain't into all that fancy book learnin....which means he just did what was needed to graduate....in Kansas, where they are very sure the world was formed 6000 years ago. They most likely passed him because he won them tennis championships.

From the Kansas City Star:

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/05/13...n-a-smash.html

"Sock estimates that he has missed “35 or 36” days of school this semester"

"he attended the first days of classes but then left for 18 days straight to play in a tournament."

"The school also has no rule stipulating that student-athletes attend a certain number of days to be eligible to participate in sports. Completion of assignments, not physical attendance, is considered most important."

"“He’s probably not going to woo you with the number of books he’s read,” Wolf says. “His grades are OK."

[Tennishacker]

Originally Posted by mojojojo

I thought we were talking about Jack Sock's path, not a debate on traditional vs. homeschooling....which has been done before.

Also, the boys track to tennis success is very different than girls, exponentially so.

What kind of statement is that?

What makes them different?

last I looked they have the same coaches as boys, play on the same courts, play the same tournaments, are ranked the same way

[2ndServe]

kid looks like he's got a big serve, some wheels and decent forehand. He should be able to hold his own in the pros.