From The Heart

ga tennis

Hall of Fame
I have been a Talk Tennis fan for many years. At first, I would just look at what others have posted.When my daughter started getting serious in tennis I began to post about my daughter's tennis. Over the years, I have made some really good friends here on this site that I am still very close to now.I HAVE LEARNED SO MUCH FROM THIS SITE AND FELLOW POSTERS THAT NOW I WANNA GIVE BACK. If you ever read my post you can tell that I am so so passionate about junior tennis and trying to help others on this journey. I have been around tennis for 30 years. I have been fortunate enough to have worked for Nick Bollettieri, Manny Diaz, and many other great coaches. I just wanted to share with my fellow T.T. posters some information that can give you a blue print on how to help your child or student reach their goal of being the best player they could possibly be. This summer I met Heath Waters and I was blown away.He is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After talking with him, I knew I had to take my daughter to him.In less than 2 months she has moved up nearly 40 spots in the rankings. As a 10 year old, she has placed in the last 3 level 2 tournaments in the 12 and under division. She has won one and lost in the finals of one in doubles. Not only has she improved as a player, I have improved as a parent coach. On October 26-28, Heath will be doing a coaching seminar course in Atlanta. What an opportunity for parents and coaches to learn a system that has produced multiple professional players with over 90 pro-titles as well as 30 gold balls. I know I will be there and I hope some of my talk tennis family will join me.See you guys in October. http://www.tennisdev.com/
 
Can you name his players (16-18 yo) and their results? It does not matter how small kids play in 10-12 yo., it is important how they play in 16-18 yo.
 
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thanks GA for the heads up.

Good job to you and your daughter, just remember, you and your daughter are amazing too. If it were not up to both of you no amount of coaching system whether Ace or any other will help if the both of you have not put in the time, effort and hard work.

Anyway, might come down with my with my kid. I will tell them you referred me.
 

ga tennis

Hall of Fame
thanks GA for the heads up.

Good job to you and your daughter, just remember, you and your daughter are amazing too. If it were not up to both of you no amount of coaching system whether Ace or any other will help if the both of you have not put in the time, effort and hard work.

Anyway, might come down with my with my kid. I will tell them you referred me.

That would be awesome if you were to come down. Pro Tour as much as you love the game you just have to meet Heath!!! Its gonna be so much fun!! One of the many things i love about Heath is that he wants to empower the parents. Thanks for the nice things you said about me and my daughter. Im just glad you and I arent still fussing about quickstart :)
 

ga tennis

Hall of Fame
I really hope some of you guys can come. This is gonna be the best money you could spend if you wanna improve as a coach or as a parent coach. Heath is amazing and his system is gonna change the status of American tennis. I promise if you come you will leave knowing soooo much more.Wouldnt it be nice to put on your business card that you were ACE certified, a system that has produced 90 pro titles and over 30 gold balls.
 

BHiC

Rookie
I agree with you, Heath Waters is a great pro. I had the chance to work with him about a year ago when he and some of his players came to my area for a week, and I really enjoyed being on his court. I am still using some of the tips that he gave me in my matches today, and they are really affective.
 

gplracer

Hall of Fame
I do not think mine is quite ready for that. But we are going to the level 2 RTC this weekend at RCS. Good luck at the regional segment.
 

ga tennis

Hall of Fame
I do not think mine is quite ready for that. But we are going to the level 2 RTC this weekend at RCS. Good luck at the regional segment.

We arent either right now since we changed everything. I am not gonna worry about wins or losses now she just needs the match play.I think 100 matches a year is a good number.
 

gplracer

Hall of Fame
I think 100 is plenty as well. My son just turned 10 and he did 91 yast year. I really did not know it was going to end up being that much.
 
Some interesting information about great players was found, for instance:
- They played 45-50 singles matches per year plus 15 doubles matches, which was below average for these ages.
- They practiced around 10 hours per week, which was below the average for the group, and two to four hours less than the top 12-13 year-old players.
Look at the article: http://wp.me/p2iyrR-bY

100 matches an year for 10-12 year old? You cannot be serious.
 

gplracer

Hall of Fame
My son is playing in the 12s now. He has only played 3 10 and under tournaments in the last 10 month. We are pretty much done with the 10s. Send me an email and we can talk ga tournaments.
 

chalkflewup

Hall of Fame
Some interesting information about great players was found, for instance:
- They played 45-50 singles matches per year plus 15 doubles matches, which was below average for these ages.
- They practiced around 10 hours per week, which was below the average for the group, and two to four hours less than the top 12-13 year-old players.
Look at the article: http://wp.me/p2iyrR-bY

100 matches an year for 10-12 year old? You cannot be serious.
If you play 24 tournaments a year (average of 2 per month), 100 matches could happen to a great player in the 10s and 12s.

There are many 10-12 kids that take 200+ privates a year. That's a crazy number to me.
 

floridatennisdude

Hall of Fame
Some interesting information about great players was found, for instance:
- They played 45-50 singles matches per year plus 15 doubles matches, which was below average for these ages.
- They practiced around 10 hours per week, which was below the average for the group, and two to four hours less than the top 12-13 year-old players.
Look at the article: http://wp.me/p2iyrR-bY

100 matches an year for 10-12 year old? You cannot be serious.

Somebody has a business competitor they are slamming on a message board
 
If you play 24 tournaments a year (average of 2 per month), 100 matches could happen to a great player in the 10s and 12s.

There are many 10-12 kids that take 200+ privates a year. That's a crazy number to me.

If 10-12 kids play 24 tournaments a year, they do not have a periodization at all.

200+ privates for 10-12 yo???? It guarantees nothing anyway.

Parents just want to buy feeling that they do "everything" for their kid.
 
If you play 24 tournaments a year (average of 2 per month), 100 matches could happen to a great player in the 10s and 12s.

There are many 10-12 kids that take 200+ privates a year. That's a crazy number to me.

Highly unlikely... if you're talking about 200+ hrs of privates, retaining a fulltime coach, or if the coach is mom or dad, that's a different matter.
 
If you play 24 tournaments a year (average of 2 per month), 100 matches could happen to a great player in the 10s and 12s.

I don't even think it takes 24 tournaments or a great player. If you only play your sections 12 designateds, singles and doubles, and play the consolation rounds, you don't even have to go that deep into the tournament on both draws to play 8 matches per tournament. Just one win in the main and one win the consolation and you have four matches. That's just shy of 100 right there. Maybe he wasn't considering doubles matches as a real match.
 

chalkflewup

Hall of Fame
You don't even need 12 or 24 tournaments - just matches, matches and matches. I know that's tough to do depending upon where you live.
 

floridatennisdude

Hall of Fame
You don't even need 12 or 24 tournaments - just matches, matches and matches. I know that's tough to do depending upon where you live.

Yea, pretty much all the local junior programs near me are drills in the morning and match play in the afternoon. Figuring 4 days a week for 8 weeks...easily an extra 50-60 matches every summer.
 

ga tennis

Hall of Fame
I wish I went , can you share some highlights of something you learned that you did not know about from before, you can email if you like .

Alot of information on how the mind works,leverage based forehand,and a ton of footwork information.At first i was like i didnt want him to share all this information with other coaches i wanted him to keep it only to share with just our girls. Now i see the big picture and understand what hes trying to do by educating other coaches in his system. It really was a great weekend. We had about 20 coaches there from all over the world. I think the one thing that made the weekend so great was the way Heath teaches you to deliver this information. I felt like i knew alot of the stuff already because i have been around him since June but now im soooooo much more confident in how i teach it. Thats the thing alot of coaches can learn alot from his website but when your taught how to apply it with your students its priceless!!! It is something that will definitely help you become a better coach. Hope to see you there in Dec!!!
 

High Rustler

New User
just read the article, interesting. I've known a few ACE kids/parents but never heard that name. I have sons at one of the other well known academies on the north side, gonna ask some of the coaches if they know of heath.

one thing is for sure. $250 an hour is way, way outta my range.
 

gplracer

Hall of Fame
just read the article, interesting. I've known a few ACE kids/parents but never heard that name. I have sons at one of the other well known academies on the north side, gonna ask some of the coaches if they know of heath.

one thing is for sure. $250 an hour is way, way outta my range.

Same boat for me. $250 is way out of my price range and the minimum of 4 hours for one trip means it would be a $1000 weekend. I just cannot not afford to pay that. I did notice some kids in the video that I have seen at tennis tournaments. I have also seen the Strive kids at tournaments. I did not know that was Heath Waters kids.
 
I need your info so you can get discount, talked to Heath and he told me who referred me? I told him someone from TW boards:confused: please email me your contact. are you taking your girl? I asked Heath if I can take my son and to see if there are hitting players for him. He said there couple of good 11-12 year old girls. I thought of you.
 
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ga tennis

Hall of Fame
I need your info so you can get discount, talked to Heath and he told me who referred me? I told him someone from TW boards:confused: please email me your contact. are you taking your girl? I asked Heath if I can take my son and to see if there are hitting players for him. He said there couple of good 11-12 year old girls. I thought of you.
Thanks Pro Tour!!! Are you going to bring your son??? If so i will set him up with 4 or 5 great practice matches against some of the best 10 year olds in Georgia.We will be in class all day so your son can hang out with my daughter while we are in class.Its gonna be alot of fun.You are gonna love Heath!! Send me an e mail tzilla112701@gmail.com
 
Thanks Pro Tour!!! Are you going to bring your son??? If so i will set him up with 4 or 5 great practice matches against some of the best 10 year olds in Georgia.We will be in class all day so your son can hang out with my daughter while we are in class.Its gonna be alot of fun.You are gonna love Heath!! Send me an e mail tzilla112701@gmail.com
did you get my email?
 
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ProTour, what strings do you like for the kids at 8-9 years old? Thinking long term arm safety.

Ga is correct, 17 or even 18g tecnifibre biphase is good or just plain old tecnifibre NRG, you can go down to 50lbs.

If you really have to go poly then zyex monogut from ashaway. The guy who invented it came to grand slam stringers forum and gave us some samples to try out, this stuff is like gum, it is very elastic and arm friendly and has the characteristic of poly because it is polymer, it is the softest POLY in the planet. http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Ashaway_MonoGut_ZX_16_String/descpageACASH-ZYEXMONO16.html

when my kid was 8-9 I used gosen OG sheep 18g, it is the best synthetic gut on the planet. just plain jane 18g, nothing like it, string it low tension and she should be fine,
 

ga tennis

Hall of Fame
Ga is correct, 17 or even 18g tecnifibre biphase is good or just plain old tecnifibre NRG, you can go down to 50lbs.

If you really have to go poly then zyex monogut from ashaway. The guy who invented it came to grand slam stringers forum and gave us some samples to try out, this stuff is like gum, it is very elastic and arm friendly and has the characteristic of poly because it is polymer, it is the softest POLY in the planet. http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Ashaway_MonoGut_ZX_16_String/descpageACASH-ZYEXMONO16.html

when my kid was 8-9 I used gosen OG sheep 18g, it is the best synthetic gut on the planet. just plain jane 18g, nothing like it, string it low tension and she should be fine,
pro-tour THANKS for doing that. I look forward to meeting you and your son. You are gonna LOVE it!!!! Heath is a GENIUS!!!!!!!!!!
 

gplracer

Hall of Fame
If you need something a little more durable NXT Tour is good. Biophase hits and feels great but my 10 year old went ghroug it too fast.
 

INTO10s

New User
Have used both, both have similar durability. Would however, switch to 16G instead of using the 17G x-phase. Wil get similiar play but longer life
 
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ga tennis

Hall of Fame
Gatennis....by the way, the little MO is in town, the kids are practicing all over the place. We hit next to a bunch of them this morning.

Just amazing to watch these intense coaches putting kids through drills with pancake serves and bunting forehands. Strange phenomenon that rushing into tournaments once the kid can clear the net.

I know i did the same thing. Im still doing it today. I know my daughter isnt ready to compete but im still letting her play tournaments as long as shes doing it right.She doesnt have any technical flaws its just she just doesnt know how to compete yet. Im not worried about wins or losses now even though it drives me crazy to watch her lose to some of these girls she loses to. I SEE THE BIG PICTURE AND WHAT IVE SEEN AND WHAT I KNOW IS THAT WHEN SHES 14 SHE WONT BE LOSING TO ANY OF THESE GIRLS THAT I HAVE SEEN PLAY.The ONLY reason she loses now is that it really doesnt matter to her right now. When it starts or IF it starts to matter GAME OVER!!!!
 
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