What is the latest age a boy can start tennis seriously and become D1 level quality(top few hundred nationally in his class) provided his innate skill set is conducive to the sport at this level? In other words if a child plays once every couple of weeks , has developed good strokes, but is not highly competitive due to lack of play, what is the latest age he needs to get serious to achieve this?
Latest age to start serious tennis
- Thread starter everett
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TennisCoachFLA
Banned
I am sure you will get all sorts of ages in reply. Guys have reached D-1 from all sorts of start ages and multisport backgrounds.
But honestly, we would all be guessing to try and answer for a specific boy without putting him through a work out to gauge his athletic ability and skills.
But honestly, we would all be guessing to try and answer for a specific boy without putting him through a work out to gauge his athletic ability and skills.
JoshDragon
Hall of Fame
It depends on the person. Some people learn tennis more quickly than others because they're more athletically skilled.
LeftyServe
Semi-Pro
There's a theory about the 10 year /10,000 hour benchmark necessary to develop expertise in a given field. That might put the starting range at ages 7-10. Obviously the bulk of the hours are going to come after the age of 12. But like the other posters say, there are too many individual variables to pinpoint the latest age, particularly if the goal is D1 rather than professional.
Kenny022593
Professional
One of the pros at my club was telling me about this. He told me that he achieved the '10000' hour mark in half the time because he knew he wanted to teach tennis and play for a D1 college. I guess anything is possible.
scraps234
Hall of Fame
well said 10char
spacediver
Hall of Fame
what would division 1 quality be like? Would it be the step before going pro?
justinmadison
Semi-Pro
11 or 12 max
tennismom42
Semi-Pro
My son's volunteer coach started tennis at 15. No parents in HS as they had checked out. He ran two tennis programs in HS. He had talent, grades & drive. He arrived at D1 college on a full-ride scholarships and all his belongings in one suitcase. He worked for & consulted for the USTA, created tennislink, chairman of the Davis Cup.
Sorry, but I think anyone can do anything, regardless of their fortunate or unfortunate circumstances, or age. Our times are different now, but not that much. When I went to HS, kids lettered in 3 sports. Now days it's one. High Schools and sports have navigated away from seasonal sports to all-year-long training seasons.
Personally, a lot of people watch tennis & think it looks easy. It's not! As my son explained it to me: it comes down to the ball hitting 1/2 mm in any direction on the racquet.
On the upside, again, D1 is not all that!
There is a college for everyone. Get the education & the tennis will follow you all of your life.
eeytennis
Semi-Pro
Yes, a friend of mine was predominantly a soccer player but took up tennis within the last two years. He is now getting some serious looks from D1 schools for next year. If you are talented and really dedicate yourself and work hard you can start at 15 or 16 and go to a really great tennis school.
And tennismom is correct when she says D1 isn't all that. While teams like Stanford, UCLA, etc. are amazing, many D1 schools aren't anywheres near that level. There are quite a few D3 players (at least on the girls side) that could easily start for a number of D1 teams.
justinmadison
Semi-Pro
There are 131 D1 schools. I don’t know if all have tennis programs, but if they do that makes 1,572 roster spots. If 25% of the spots open up each year that leaves 393 new players in D1 each year. Some number of these spots are going to foreign players. Let’s not have that discussion in this thread, but we are probably looking at 150 or less new US kids playing D1 each year. If you look at the college commitments list from tennis recruiting that seems in the ball park but if anything it is less than 150.
Does anyone seriously think you can get one of 150 spots training for 2 or 3 years? The vast majority of kids who train every day for 8 or 10 years will not get a spot.
The better 13 and 14 year olds in our town of 90,000 can beat any USTA 4.5 man around. The 15 and 16 year olds are crushing anyone except the younger club pros that played college tennis.
It is nice to think that “anyone can do anything, regardless of their …” but reality comes in somewhere and if you are starting tennis at 15 or 16 you have virtually no chance of playing D1 tennis. Sure, you can probably find some exception somewhere, but that is like saying you can win the lottery because you saw someone on the news that did.
Does anyone seriously think you can get one of 150 spots training for 2 or 3 years? The vast majority of kids who train every day for 8 or 10 years will not get a spot.
The better 13 and 14 year olds in our town of 90,000 can beat any USTA 4.5 man around. The 15 and 16 year olds are crushing anyone except the younger club pros that played college tennis.
It is nice to think that “anyone can do anything, regardless of their …” but reality comes in somewhere and if you are starting tennis at 15 or 16 you have virtually no chance of playing D1 tennis. Sure, you can probably find some exception somewhere, but that is like saying you can win the lottery because you saw someone on the news that did.
You must be counting Division I-A football schools. There are more than 200 Division I tennis programs.
Many of the Division I-AA football schools (now called the FCS or some such) are Division I in all other sports. The I-A vs. I-AA distinction only applies to football.
However, many tennis programs have no scholarships, even among Division I programs. The non-scholarship programs are often inferior to good D-III programs.
justinmadison
Semi-Pro
Yep, It looks like 240 total D1 -> football + non football schools.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Division_I#Division_I_non-football_schools
So if all have tennis programs we are looking at 250, not necessarily scholarships, but open spots on rosters I may have underestimated the total foreign participation because it looks on tennis recruiting like less than that many US kids join D1 programs each year.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Division_I#Division_I_non-football_schools
So if all have tennis programs we are looking at 250, not necessarily scholarships, but open spots on rosters I may have underestimated the total foreign participation because it looks on tennis recruiting like less than that many US kids join D1 programs each year.
Thanks for all the comments. It looks like the ages range from 11 to 15. Quite a spread.
I really didn’t mean D1, as much as I meant hi caliber. It could be playing on a decent D1 school, the highest level D2 or D3 school or even an alternate (non starter) of a top D1 school.
It seems that the top 250 in ones class might be what it would take.
Anyways, I’m sure you could take a Federer type talent and make him this caliber in 3 to 4 years. However, I was wondering what is actually happening. It would be interesting to know what the rankings were of the top 250 seniors when they were 14 or 15. If a lot of them didn’t have rankings you know they only got serious about the game around that time or a year or so earlier. If they all had good rankings then you know they were all serious many years before that.
I really didn’t mean D1, as much as I meant hi caliber. It could be playing on a decent D1 school, the highest level D2 or D3 school or even an alternate (non starter) of a top D1 school.
It seems that the top 250 in ones class might be what it would take.
Anyways, I’m sure you could take a Federer type talent and make him this caliber in 3 to 4 years. However, I was wondering what is actually happening. It would be interesting to know what the rankings were of the top 250 seniors when they were 14 or 15. If a lot of them didn’t have rankings you know they only got serious about the game around that time or a year or so earlier. If they all had good rankings then you know they were all serious many years before that.
LeftyServe
Semi-Pro
Be careful about attributing the whole of Federer's success to any kind of natural "talent." Yes, the talent is certainly there; but Federer's been training and playing competitively since age 8. He put in thousands of hours of dedicated practice before he reached his mid-teens to give him the skill base necessary to make the thousands of hours he put in from ages 15-17 productive enough to turn him into a top junior.
T10s747
Rookie
Ashwin Kumar?
stanfordtennis alum
Hall of Fame
i would say 12 or 13
atatu
Legend
You got it. Here's my interview with him:
http://austintennis.blogspot.com/2009/10/atb-interview-ashwin-kumar.html
atatu
Legend
Well, he gets to travel the world and play a game for a living, and if he doesn't make it he has a degree from Harvard (in finance I believe) to fall back on and now he has a new set of contacts from all over the world. Unlike a lot of players, he won't be wondering whether he could have made it or not 20 years from now.
Six.One.Tour.90FAN
Professional
I started just a year ago and now I'm the top 3 in my county
|I you get the chance better to try.
WHat does that mean, how big is a "county"? Top 3 sounds good in a year.
T10s747
Rookie
A great way to spend a year if you can afford it,
