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For folks interested in reading more about the Spanish style of tennis development... I highly recommend: http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Spanish-Tennis-Chris-Lewit/dp/1937559491
^yes. The list of US kids with good coaching and superb work ethic is limited. Among them are the kids you mentioned, who come from wealth. They get to go on sweet vacations, attend demanding academic institutions, and cannot devote as much time to tennis training as their foreign counterparts. They get edged by a kid more used to hustling and grinding.
To make America great again, in tennis, I am for kids who are humble, hungry, and hardworking ...kids who just slurp up every pearl of wisdom the coaches drop, kids who train like dogs....and never burn out when it is time to climb.
Ernests Gulbis is from a wealthy family but he succeeded anyway. How did he do it? Must have a screw loose. He put the comfort aside and trained his rear off?
My son's coach believes this theory along with Adult League tennis dominating club courts and discouraging the parents from spending time in tennis with their kids.Soccer moms killed the US tennis star.
The 4, 5 and 6 year olds are playing youth soccer. They may not stay with soccer as older kids, they might move to other sports late elementary or into middle school, but they're playing soccer early. This 4,5,6 is exactly when kids need to be starting tennis to have any real shot. Game over.
This is sadly true. Roddick and Blake are the only 2 I can envision being pro in another sport. Maybe Tommie Paul but I haven't seen enough.Exactly, if even lower tier NFL/NBA players picked up a tennis racquet at 6, American tennis would be in strong shape. Look at the American guys (and some other countries too), none of them were ever going to make it in any other pro sport with serious $$ involved. Nick Kyrigos saying he should've played in the NBA? Get real, that's a pipe dream for him. Steve Johnson or Jack Sock playing pro soccer? Not a chance. The Bryan brothers making millions doing any other sport? Nope.
For all the reverence we have for the elite level of tennis (and they are all better than me), it's not near what it could potentially be if several generations of the worlds best athletes were engaged and pushed the game to new levels.
It's the 21st Century. Sissy is just silly.Does anyone think that the risk of injury is much higher in basketball and football? When I hear about broken bones and concussions, I wonder how parents feel comfortable letting their sons play on? Tennis is a sissy sport and relatively much safer, that is what I feel.
Even tennis people idealize other sports. Bands of foolish parents can be found everywhere in youth sports.I hear you and pay my share with 2 kids in it. Gotta get creative for sure. As I mentioned before, some sections give a little back through scholarships, just gotta know where to look.
Speaking of whining, has your kid ever played a team sport? Multiply what you hear in tennis by a whole team of parents whining about playing time, bad coaches, team politics, bad referees, cheating, recruiting, etc, etc. My kids went through it in soccer and basketball. Ugh.
Hey I know those girls! Are you working with Azaria?Hungry! Azaria Hayes and Katie Volyets.
When you are poor, you tend to be humble, hungry and hardworking. I don't think America is short of those poor kids. But why aren't they showing up?
When I drop my six-year old off at school, I see a large scrum of boys playing football. There are a handful of kids with basketballs shooting hoops. There is always a crowd at the two four-square locations. No one playing tennis.BBall is more accessible to young great athletes than tennis. Plenty of 6'6" athletes in late junior high, early high schools.
Interestingly, at the bus stop (on a deadend street), I'd got into the habit of taking a handful of kids racquets out, and playing the "bump it up drill" or "basic volley drills" with the kids.... inspired, 2-3 of them went out to get group tennis lessons... They definitely introduce tennis at more affluent schools (eg. middle schools that can afford courts on premise), but for the most part, I agree, I don't see it.When I drop my six-year old off at school, I see a large scrum of boys playing football. There are a handful of kids with basketballs shooting hoops. There is always a crowd at the two four-square locations. No one playing tennis.
Hey I know those girls! Are you working with Azaria?
Is that as much work as Macci did with Serena?No, but I should be. I talk with Steve the Dad once a week, much more in the previous 4 years. He agrees with almost every point I make concerning the girl's games.
I've hit with Az a lot, played over 20 sets of doubles against, and started two singles sets with her that came out ending at 4's. She had to go, for some reason.
I mainly play with Ays, who can hit harder, but doesn't put it together upstairs quite as well.
Both need lots of help with the serves, as they are quite forehand grip oriented, and snap the body too early, hitting the serve while the body is arched beyond it's effectiveness. Contact point should be body straight, but leaning into the court. They lack the ab crunch that straightens the torso at impact.
I talked Ays to start hitting a 2hbh instead of the 1hbh her Dad wanted her to hit, 4 years ago. She hit's 2hbh about 70% of the time. Even Az is doing it sometimes now.
One of their weekly coach's only hit's 2hbh, so why not the girls?
Both still need drilling on conti grip volleys, not defensive pokes.
I can let them decide how and where to hit their groundies, but I"d start them out adding a bit of loop to their backswing, not a full on Gonzo loop, but a slight raised head of the racket.
Has anyone setup, or know of an organization setup for youth tennis, that doesn't cost an arm and a leg?
So in my town, youth soccer is the craze. I volunteer coach both my kids teams, and even have to pay the privilege to do so (for background check etc...). It costs $150/per kid for fall/spring season, consisting of 10 practice days, and 10 game days. There are over 1000 kids in the program, and the money typically goes back into uniforms, taking care of soccer fields, equipment, training, etc... But in general the non-profit-organization is generating huge revenues (say $50-100k net year after year)... largely I think because:
1. the cost per kid is cheap (considering a couple tennis or music lessons is easily over $150), so many parents see huge value
2. large force of volunteer parents (most of us don't know anything about soccer, except what we google or youtube)
3. passionate parents who organize (even well after their kids are out of program)
4. town is willing to give up land use in exchange for $ to maintain
so I'm wondering if something similar could be set up for tennis? Anyone else think it's possible?
Yes, currently private tennis club instruction costs are too costly compared to team sports programs... but could we come up with something that can compete?There is NJTL though the USTA, but it doesn't even come close to team sports programs. The player/cost ratio just isn't the same. Team sports spread the cost among many.
Similar to your soccer league, my son also plays competitive basketball. He has played in three different programs, all close by and easily accessible.
1. Elementary and Middle School program - these cost us $35-$65 per season and consisted of 2 practices per week and 6 games (elementary school) and 4 practices a week and 8 games (middle school) in nice gyms, qualified coaches, and 2 refs per game.
2. Boys and Girls Club League. Played this when he was 10-11 and only $60 per season - 2 practices per week and 8 games. Nice gyms, parent coaches, and 2 refs per game.
3. YMCA League. Highly competitive "travel team" when he was 12-13. Great competition city-wide. Cost us $95 per season - 3 practices per week, 10 games, 2 tournaments. Nice gyms, high-school coach, and 2 refs per game.
Just can't match that in tennis.
Has anyone setup, or know of an organization setup for youth tennis, that doesn't cost an arm and a leg?
So in my town, youth soccer is the craze. I volunteer coach both my kids teams, and even have to pay the privilege to do so (for background check etc...). It costs $150/per kid for fall/spring season, consisting of 10 practice days, and 10 game days. There are over 1000 kids in the program, and the money typically goes back into uniforms, taking care of soccer fields, equipment, training, etc... But in general the non-profit-organization is generating huge revenues (say $50-100k net year after year)... largely I think because:
1. the cost per kid is cheap (considering a couple tennis or music lessons is easily over $150), so many parents see huge value
2. large force of volunteer parents (most of us don't know anything about soccer, except what we google or youtube)
3. passionate parents who organize (even well after their kids are out of program)
4. town is willing to give up land use in exchange for $ to maintain
so I'm wondering if something similar could be set up for tennis? Anyone else think it's possible?
Perhaps we need more Spartak's in the US:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/russias-unlikely-tennis-nursery/article4090404/
http://thetalentcode.com/2009/03/30/spartak/
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/04/s...087&em&en=1e41358ccd6ae29a&ex=1173243600&_r=0
Is that as much work as Macci did with Serena?![]()
American Jr Tennis why are we falling behind?
Video Games
I know some coaches have made this observation on here. It's reasonable to believe some of the blame lies on this.
Another possibility is the increase of helicopter parents. Despite the stats saying crime per capita is lower now than 20 years ago (the parents generation when they were kids), less parents let their kids roam and play outside unattended. This is really important because really basic skills like walking and running must be learned.
Apart from crime, there is the issue of crazy traffic
Don't think it's possible to beat soccer. Futbol is cheap, that's one reason it's so popular across the world. You can fit 20 or more kids in one basketball court (5-on-5 halfcourt X2), but it's hard to fit more than 4 on a tennis court, right? Strangely, don't see too many adults playing soccer, even those who played as kids. I'm not trying to discourage you, certainly much more could be done.
I completely disagree with last two sentencesAnother thing about youth soccer is.... IT'S EASY! Parents can drop their 5 year old off at soccer practice and know that they can run and kick a ball. They will get exercise, they will learn basic athletic skills, and they will socialize through a team atmosphere. Drop your 5 year old off at tennis and sure there may be a little "fitness" for exercise, but most the time spent will be standing in line waiting, or standing there trying to learn to hit the ball, or standing there trying to play a match while the ball rarely goes over the net. Parents want instant results. Beginner soccer doesn't even have goalies, so there is scoring and instant success in a game. Not so with tennis.
This is why I think you see most kids who stick with tennis and get good are taught first by a parent and then handed off to a program or coach when they can actually play. Most of the beginner groups don't hold kids - too much standing and not enough instant success.
Has anyone setup, or know of an organization setup for youth tennis, that doesn't cost an arm and a leg?....
The Stanford tennis teams are still all homegrown players, I believe. Don't know if any of the other Div 1 teams are doing this. But then the Stanford men are no longer in the top 10 as they were more than a decade ago.
There is a reason the European players are older when playing for US colleges. They have already taken a run at the pro circuit for three or four years. The regulator of college tennis actually had to coerce colleges to reduce the average age of their players to 24 some years ago. 24! The average age should be 20, by rights. But hey, gotta win....
If they took money in a pro tournament, they cannot play NCAA, right?
Also, there is another reason why they are older. Some of them have to do mandatory military service. Federer got an exemption.
There is a LOT of tax money at stake. If a European moves to a different country, they no longer pay taxes in their country of citizenship. Yep, the USA is uniquely different on that concept. Unfortunately.
Yes the US is I think one of the few countries which requires the difference between local and US tax dues, if US tax dues are more, to be paid to the IRS regardless of the country of residence. On the other hand, the US does provide social security to anyone residing abroad after retirement, and there is now a move to try to get them Medicare too. If that happens, it will be more justifiable.
Not sure about other federations, but the Usta does not get federal funding.
I am guessing their coffers are deep because of our membership dues and the us open.
Do national tennis federations in Europeget government funding? Does the USTA? I don't know, but that may have something to do with things.