is it too late to become a pro?

[iwannabecomefamous]

i was wondering is it too late to become a pro ?
and im 16 years old i just turned 16
i was wondering if i practice like 6 hours a day straight would that help out?

 

[gb.tennis.junky]

i was wondering is it too late to become a pro ?
and im 16 years old i just turned 16
i was wondering if i practice like 6 hours a day straight would that help out?

you need to give us more info on your tennis background, your level, your skills etc... before we can answer you correctly.

 

[raiden031]

I'd say if you want to play tennis for a living, absolutely. If you want to win a few ATP points just to say you're a pro, maybe not.

 

[gb.tennis.junky]

geez!
so it was you again...
guess your really motivated huh?
but you should read my posts in your other thread.
they're just advice, so do whatever you want about them.
but i suggest you take them in account.

anyway...
you didn't have to post 3-4 threads on the same question!
one is enough!

 

[Ronnie92]

I'm 16 too. Nothing's impossible. Roddick was a 3 sport athlete in high school.

 

[andrew_1180]

Well, i think it depends on any innate ability to play tennis, and overall athleticism. My friend's a 3 sport athlete, got sick of soccer in his freshmen year, and began playing tennis. He made the varsity team his sophmore year, and in Senior year he won the State 4A title. So i guess anything's possible if you're good enough.

 

[MasturB]

Determination and work ethic.

 

[LuckyR]

Well, i think it depends on any innate ability to play tennis, and overall athleticism. My friend's a 3 sport athlete, got sick of soccer in his freshmen year, and began playing tennis. He made the varsity team his sophmore year, and in Senior year he won the State 4A title. So i guess anything's possible if you're good enough.

Few State 4A tennis champions will make a living as a tennis Pro. Most future Pros aren't even going to "High School", they are at a tennis academy somewhere and are only doing schoolwork as a sideline.

It's kind of like a lot of topics: if you have to ask, the answer is NO. If the answer is going to be YES, you know that already.

 

[Tikiman53]

I don't know about what it takes to be a pro, but I do know that quantity does not always come before quality. I remember last year, I practiced for hours against the wall everyday, served, and did suicides. Did it help? No, it didn't help because the quality sucked. Sure, my serve might have improved a bit, but the wall made me lazy and slowfooted.

Also, tennis lessons can make a huge difference. However, tennis lessons won't mean anything unless you have a coach who knows what he's doing. If he doesn't bother to work with you for hours to fix any problems you may have or improve on a certain shot, then he probably isn't worth sticking with.

Another thing, when you're playing with friends, don't just rally with them. Make sure you play sets every so and so. If you don't work on playing competitively, the day of your tourney, if you have no experience to hold up your belt, there's a high chance of you being owned even if you have the most beautiful groundies in the world.

I honestly don't know if it's too late. How does ANYONE know? It's different for everyone. Some people are naturally talented or just very determined. I guess the age factor makes a tremendous difference, but there's still no clear cut answer unless you try and fail miserably or succeed, right?

But I don't think you should bet your whole life on being a pro because what if you fail? If you spent everything you've got on becoming a pro and fail, you wouldn't have much left with you.

Just my opinion. Anyways, good luck.

 

[lethalfang]

By the time you hit your teens, learning becomes difficult, and it is too late to make something "natural."
For instance, when one learns a language during his teenage years, he'll most likely retain his native accent. Exactly how much accent, depends on many things, but you get my point.

 

[Sagittar]

if you're just starting tennis then : NO
if you have been playing for a couple of years : Far fetched
if you have played since you're a little kid : Maybe

 

[Mountain Ghost]

Just get good!

If your reason has anything to do with your user name . . . iwannabecomefamous . . . it’s probably too late. At 16 years old, those who will make it are already somewhat famous.

But don’t let that stop you. You can still get very, very good.

MG

 

[The Gorilla]

didn't mcenroe take up tennis very late?

 

[MasturB]

Well let's see.

Andre Agassi hit 1,000 tennis balls a day as a young teenager.

That means to make up for those years, just count how many years and multiply it by 1,000 and hit that many a day.

Although it would help if you hit with someone experienced.

--

My advice is, watch alot of tape and matches over and over till you sleep and dream about it. Whenever I see any good clips on youtube I take it the first chance I get and save it to my harddrive. I've gotten about 20-25 matches on my external harddrive (mostly all just federer matches).

Take what you see and try to visualize it on the court. Hit with someone more experienced than you and juts keep going at it for hours.

 

[BabolatFan]

Yeah we need to know your tennis background. To be honest with you, you outta be playing futures already if you wanna become a pro at this age. So...

 

[tricky]

iwannabe, looking at your posts, it looks like you're trying to find somebody to tell you that you can. Frankly, it makes me wonder how much tennis you've been exposed to, because you surely would know how truly difficult it is to become a tennis professional. You've only been playing for 2 years. There's kids who are in their single digits who can soundly beat you.

Just enjoy the sport and the comraderie with the high school team. Maybe, at the end, you can become good enough to vy for a tennis scholarship. That would be considered GREAT for somebody who started out at 14.

 

[Ronnie92]

Tennis is by far the hardest sport to go pro in. I've been playing since I was 7.
Unless you sacrifice a normal life, it is very, very (x10000000) hard.

 

[dricas24]

Sure you can, blake was around the same age when he first started playing.

 

[lethalfang]

Sure you can, blake was around the same age when he first started playing.

According to wikipedia, James Blake started playing tennis when he was 5.

"Blake started playing tennis at age 5 alongside his brother Thomas. When 13, he was diagnosed with severe scoliosis and for five years as a teenager, he had to wear a full-length back brace for 18 hours a day, though not while playing tennis."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Blake

 

[dricas24]

ahh alright been awhile since I read it on wikipedia.

 

[Cindysphinx]

Tennis is by far the hardest sport to go pro in. I've been playing since I was 7.
Unless you sacrifice a normal life, it is very, very (x10000000) hard.

I don't know about this.

I think becoming a pro golfer would be much harder.

I also think becoming a professional figure skater would be next to impossible to do unless you start when you're 4 years old.

Both sports are ridiculously dependent on technique and precise training. Tennis is too, but raw athletism will take you much farther in tennis than in golf or skating.

 

[iwannabecomefamous]

and i do play tennis with seniors like people who are pretty good and they been playin for over 30 years and they were pretty good i played set matches and it was 7-4 but its was ok.

 

[armand]

Uwannabecomefamous? Try out for American Idol: even if you're diatonically talent free, you may still get on the show and have your 15 nanoseconds of fame.

 

[adlis]

what do you mean a PRO?

simple, after 4 years 14 hour/day practicing and and "high" national rank usta/lta e.t.c contact the ITF via the website for a ipin. After that if you are lucky enough to be accepted sign in to qualify for a "easy"(by pro standards) 128 qualification draw futures tournament(the lowest ATP ranking point competition series) e.g India/Kuwait/Columbia/Spain and if you get into the main draw via qualification(4 games/2 days) or W/C if you are rich and win get to the last 16(up to 6 games over 6 days!!) to get 1 ranking point and $216 prize money. Congratulations you are now a tennis pro!on top of the $1000+ you spent on travel costs/physio/equipment/food/accommodation
seven years ago Nikolay davydenko was living in his friends car whilst traveling around Europe playing challenger series tournaments trying to make ends meet!!being a "pro" isn't as glamorous as it sounds unless your mommy and daddy are loaded during the early years .


If you want to be top 100 then forget it, i am sorry for being negative but tennis is one of the hardest sports to make a decent living from. you need over 15,000 hours (thats 3 years 24/7 365 if you are a cyborg) training/serve over 2 million balls to make it to the top 300.

the 500th ranked ATP "WORLDWIDE" tennis player earned $9000 in 2006. According to the atp website so far this year the 500th ranked player has only won $408! Imagine how much the 500th ranked football (soccer) player "WORLDWIDE" earns a year ($4,000,000+ according to wikipedia).

If you want the fame and fortune i suggest another carrier path.

 

[warneck]

Nothing is impossible. So if you got calfs like a monster and the endurance of a skinny boy. And are rated 6.0 now, yes - You can. I suppose..

 

[zapvor]

dont listen to these people. prove us all wrong! in 5 years you could be facing federer, and losing. ok frankly chances are pretty slim. but nothing is impossible. if you want it bad enough, you should be able to somewhat

 

[Zets147]

what do you mean a PRO?

simple, after 4 years 14 hour/day practicing and and "high" national rank usta/lta e.t.c contact the ITF via the website for a ipin. After that if you are lucky enough to be accepted sign in to qualify for a "easy"(by pro standards) 128 qualification draw futures tournament(the lowest ATP ranking point competition series) e.g India/Kuwait/Columbia/Spain and if you get into the main draw via qualification(4 games/2 days) or W/C if you are rich and win get to the last 16(up to 6 games over 6 days!!) to get 1 ranking point and $216 prize money. Congratulations you are now a tennis pro!on top of the $1000+ you spent on travel costs/physio/equipment/food/accommodation
seven years ago Nikolay davydenko was living in his friends car whilst traveling around Europe playing challenger series tournaments trying to make ends meet!!being a "pro" isn't as glamorous as it sounds unless your mommy and daddy are loaded during the early years .


If you want to be top 100 then forget it, i am sorry for being negative but tennis is one of the hardest sports to make a decent living from. you need over 15,000 hours (thats 3 years 24/7 365 if you are a cyborg) training/serve over 2 million balls to make it to the top 300.

the 500th ranked ATP "WORLDWIDE" tennis player earned $9000 in 2006. According to the atp website so far this year the 500th ranked player has only won $408! Imagine how much the 500th ranked football (soccer) player "WORLDWIDE" earns a year ($4,000,000+ according to wikipedia).

If you want the fame and fortune i suggest another carrier path.

I want my mommy!!!!!!!!'s money.

 

[ssjkyle31]

First it all depends. If you are a girl you have a slighter better chance of being a pro. If you are a boy good luck. You better ask for some money for coaching. It is not impossible but it does take money and drive. If it was thirty years ago. I would say yes you could have becaome a pro. But the odds are against you.

 

[Bagumbawalla]

Nothing is impossible.

Does this question mean, however, that unless there is a chance for you to become professional, you see no point in continuing with the game?

I hope not. Let's say the chances are one in a million that you will make it into the top 100 of professional players. What if you make it to a state championshp? Would that be a disappointment? What if you become only a local legend and possibly an instructor who can train others from an early age and who may, themselves, have some chance of turning pro? I think that wouldn't be so bad.

Now, if you think you really do have the stuff of dreams, then you need to get the advice of someone who has worked with top level players. Have them look at you play and see what they have to say. Give it a shot. Go for it as far as you can, and that would be a good first step.

Good luck,

B

 

[adlis]

If you go to some of the futures circuit tournaments you will find sponsors/players/coaches that could put you in the right direction