One year and a 14 year old is a 3.5. Can be become pro?

[Ventolin]

"If I had your body, your life, your opportunities and youth, there would be no one who could beat me. I would be out there every morning at the crack of dawn. I'd kiss the ground, kiss the tennis court, and thank god every day that I had this opportunity.
"You dont even understand what you have. You only have one chance to go through this life and see how brightly your candle will shine. It's all in your life. It's all in your hands"

-Jim Pierce

 

[albino smurf]

Quote:
Originally Posted by albino smurf
Not trying insures failure. Call it what you want but it is defeatism. You can keep stating your case, but the fact remains that if this kid gives up he will fail. Maybe if he tries he will succeed.

You on the other hand are saying "go all out for it, go for broke!"

What you said I said is not what I said.

Maybe if he tries he will succeed.

How this is controversial is beyond me.

 

[raiden031]

What you said I said is not what I said.



How this is controversial is beyond me.

You might as well have said it. You are saying to never give up on your dreams. Well in order to live those dreams, you must make sacrifices. And in the case of a pro tennis career, major sacrifices. Thats is why nobody agrees with you. Because the only way someone like the OP could make it as a pro is to give up everything that is their current life, and make tennis their life. In addition they would need to have the same world-class training resources that all the other pro prospects have.

 

[albino smurf]

You might as well have said it.

Is that what this board is coming to?

I'm sure you all feel like you are helping this kid on his path, again you have stated your position, why not let him sort it out instead of the back and forth. Instead of telling him there is no way to make it, tell him he will have to make massive sacrifices to even have an inkling of a chance, but to flat out say no you have no chance... defeatism.

 

[rfhjr]

In regard to the original question I think the easiest way to think about being a pro in any sport is this. What are the skills of the
top players in the sport? For tennis the first serve is going to average 120 - 130 mph, second serve kicker will probably be 90 - 100 mph, ground strokes topspin on both sides 80 - 100 mph. If you think about it this way your goal should not to be a pro but to obtain pro skills and then the rest will take care of itself. The only thing is once you get these skills you will have to compete against players who have the same or better skills.

Being 3.5 now to be honest to get to the next level you will have to do a lot of work on your own to find out what clicks for you. There are good websites which can help with mechanics and you might find a coach to look at your game. Don't make the
mistake of hitting balls 4 - 5 hours a day; get the skills listed above then you can practice hard. Always practice with a purpose and strive to develop good mechanics. I would also suggest cross training in other sports such as soccer or basketball which will help with your tennis conditioning.

 

[skiracer55]

As others have said...

Oh...well should I just stop playing now then? What's the point?

College tennis seems boring to me...It's not something I like watching or feel like doing. Guess I'll have to think about this for a while.

I was even thinking of making a living off of tennis.

How does one benefit from running around and playing for fun? What's in that? No sponsorships, no money.

I've been so confident for weeks and ran into a brick wall just now. Anyway, thanks guys; at least you were honest with me.

...probably difficult, but not impossible. Let's take a look at it. You want to be a pro and you say, above, "I was even thinking of making a living off of tennis."

To a large extent, if you go pro, you have to make a living off of it, otherwise you don't get to play. Somebody said that the costs of playing the circuit for a year are $100,000 and that was some time ago, so that may be a low number today. Federer and players on that level probably make at least $100,000 a year from their clothing sponsors alone. Contrast that with a pro in the top 200 or so in the world. A pro at that level gets *some* sponsorship money, but mostly its freebies on clothes and rackets, so a pro at that level has to win matches and make money, or he doesn't get to fly to the next event. I think there's a number floating around that says you have to be in the top 200 on the ATP just to break even, not to make anything that you can put in the bank at the end of the year.

So that's the reality, just as a business proposition, of what you're trying to do. Impossible? Not impossible, but in addition to having to have the skill, drive, rankings, and so forth, to get to the level you want, you have to have a sizeable chunk of money just to get to the place where you can begin to break even...

 

[skiracer55]

All true...

Is that what this board is coming to?

I'm sure you all feel like you are helping this kid on his path, again you have stated your position, why not let him sort it out instead of the back and forth. Instead of telling him there is no way to make it, tell him he will have to make massive sacrifices to even have an inkling of a chance, but to flat out say no you have no chance... defeatism.

...but as somebody once said, we all have to eat reality sandwiches at some point. There is another consideration that nobody's really talked about, which is that assuming you get ranked well enough to play in Futures and above level tournaments, the travel, lodging, coaching, and so forth, costs a ton of money, see my post, above. So if you don't have a sizeable chunk of change to start off, you've got a tough row to hoe...

 

[LuckyR]

Howdy y'all. I'm 14 years old and have been playing for a year and a month.

In that time, I was able to reach the 3.5 level. What are my chances of becoming a professional tennis player and what are the steps I can take to reach that level?

Your chances are great if you do what is required to be a Worlds Expert in tennis. Namely, you need to practice 10,000 hours at tennis. Of course at age 14 that is going to require quite a commitment on your part. Get out a calculator and see if you are interested in the commitment you'll need to get in the hours before age 18 or so.

 

[Ken Honecker]

Have you asked you private or group coach what they think of your game and your chance to be a world class player? I would hope they could give you a better idea then a bunch of strangers since they at least have seen you hit the ball

 

[Deleted member 56360]

Have you asked you private or group coach what they think of your game and your chance to be a world class player? I would hope they could give you a better idea then a bunch of strangers since they at least have seen you hit the ball

My private coach is my group coach =p A few months ago he told me that it is very possible for me to become a tennis professional. When this thread was first started, I called him up and asked him, "Seriously Ricardo...what are my chances of really becoming a tennis professional. You know Tennis Warehouse right? Well they have a message board and I asked some people if I haul ass in a short period of time and become a professional. Most of them said that my chances a slim and that I will not make it." He then told me, "Don't let those people over there stop you from doing what you want to do...We'll keep doing our thing and you'll get there".

After that I asked him to order me some new Oreo Vapors and the new Nike Winter Federer Collection, lol.

 

[goran_ace]

Well, of course he would tell you that. Half of being a teaching pro is the sales aspect. You don't tell anyone they are bad, they just need more lessons. You tell good players they can be even better if they sign up for more lessons.

As a sidenote, why didn't you just order that stuff yourself from tenniswarehouse ?

 

[pabletion]

"If I had your body, your life, your opportunities and youth, there would be no one who could beat me. I would be out there every morning at the crack of dawn. I'd kiss the ground, kiss the tennis court, and thank God every day that I had this opportunity.
"You dont even understand what you have. You only have one chance to go through this life and see how brightly your candle will shine. It's all in your life. It's all in your hands"

-Jim Pierce

Read it again..., and again......., and again and again.

If you want it and willing to go after it, do it.

 

[Mick]

My private coach is my group coach =p A few months ago he told me that it is very possible for me to become a tennis professional. When this thread was first started, I called him up and asked him, "Seriously Ricardo...what are my chances of really becoming a tennis professional. You know Tennis Warehouse right? Well they have a message board and I asked some people if I haul ass in a short period of time and become a professional. Most of them said that my chances a slim and that I will not make it." He then told me, "Don't let those people over there stop you from doing what you want to do...We'll keep doing our thing and you'll get there".

After that I asked him to order me some new Oreo Vapors and the new Nike Winter Federer Collection, lol.

well, i am sure you realize that if he agreed with us, he would not be able to make future money in the coming months and years with you as his student

 

[Tennisman912]

In regard to the original question I think the easiest way to think about being a pro in any sport is this. What are the skills of the
top players in the sport? For tennis the first serve is going to average 120 - 130 mph, second serve kicker will probably be 90 - 100 mph, ground strokes topspin on both sides 80 - 100 mph. If you think about it this way your goal should not to be a pro but to obtain pro skills and then the rest will take care of itself. The only thing is once you get these skills you will have to compete against players who have the same or better skills.

Being 3.5 now to be honest to get to the next level you will have to do a lot of work on your own to find out what clicks for you. There are good websites which can help with mechanics and you might find a coach to look at your game. Don't make the
mistake of hitting balls 4 - 5 hours a day; get the skills listed above then you can practice hard. Always practice with a purpose and strive to develop good mechanics. I would also suggest cross training in other sports such as soccer or basketball which will help with your tennis conditioning.

You make some valid points here but even if you do develop the physical skills to play at the advanced or professional levels, you still need the mental development to be successful. Some may argue this is even more important than the physical skills because everyone at that level has strong strokes, unlimited endurance and so on. The difference is who is willing to grind out that tough win when they are not playing their best, the one who knows the right shot to hit at the right time, the one who doesn't beat themselves when opportunity knocks and so on. This is much harder to teach people and IMHO is pretty hard to teach. You either learn this and develop it as your game grows or you don't and you struggle at the higher levels. It comes from tons of match and on court experience. Go hit with that 5.0 and you will notice how they seem to know where you are hitting your shots before you do. That is because they do know. They know what to do and where to be and it is developed to an instinctive level. Now think about a pro who does the same thing, but a couple of orders of magnitude better. This is very important to your tennis as the level goes up.

Regarding hitting 4 hours a day to develop those physical skills or as much as possible probably will not yield the results you want. Blindly hitting with friends only reinforces whatever habits you have now, which probably are not sound enough to take you to the highest levels of tennis. You have to develop the proper techniques for all strokes before tons of practice grooving your muscle memory is going to help in a large way. Nothing holds back more recreational players than having faulty technique and not being willing to make changes for their long term improvement. Think Pete Sampras when as a junior he switched from a two handed to a one handed backhand. He started losing to people he had always beaten previously. I read Novak Djokovic also switched from a one hander to a two hander. Not many will start losing many matches against players they used to beat to ingrain a new stroke. Are you willing to do that? Are you willing to develop a game based on your physical gifts and strengths even if it makes you lose a lot for a year or two? Things to think about.

Good luck

TM

 

[LeeD]

I don't think we can assume every player who isn't coached is going to adopt wierd and technically bad strokes. Some spend time talking to local A -Open players, spent the time talking to top 50 Pros, and are old enough to know good strokes from bad strokes.
But all that talk is "coaching", whether professional or amateur, so the road is still tough, one out of several hundred thousand applicants barely peak into the pro scene, and about half of them have a chance to become a financially successful TEACHING PRO!
"peaking into the pro scene" ...maybe means making some money in Q's or first rounds, travelling to multiple tournaments and Q's, spending the $$$ and time for very little rewards.....

 

[Deleted member 56360]

Well, of course he would tell you that. Half of being a teaching pro is the sales aspect. You don't tell anyone they are bad, they just need more lessons. You tell good players they can be even better if they sign up for more lessons.

As a sidenote, why didn't you just order that stuff yourself from tenniswarehouse ?

He gets things 40% off for me.

 

[BullDogTennis]

My private coach is my group coach =p A few months ago he told me that it is very possible for me to become a tennis professional. When this thread was first started, I called him up and asked him, "Seriously Ricardo...what are my chances of really becoming a tennis professional. You know Tennis Warehouse right? Well they have a message board and I asked some people if I haul ass in a short period of time and become a professional. Most of them said that my chances a slim and that I will not make it." He then told me, "Don't let those people over there stop you from doing what you want to do...We'll keep doing our thing and you'll get there".

After that I asked him to order me some new Oreo Vapors and the new Nike Winter Federer Collection, lol.

Tennis pro is a broad term my friend...a tennis pro could be a TEACHING pro...not neccesarily a worlclass player...or technically if your playing for money and making any money off it at all (any open tournaments for prize money) you could be considered pro...

 

[Deleted member 56360]

Tennis pro is a broad term my friend...a tennis pro could be a TEACHING pro...not neccesarily a worlclass player...or technically if your playing for money and making any money off it at all (any open tournaments for prize money) you could be considered pro...

.......:-|

 

[BullDogTennis]

Your chances are great if you do what is required to be a Worlds Expert in tennis. Namely, you need to practice 10,000 hours at tennis. Of course at age 14 that is going to require quite a commitment on your part. Get out a calculator and see if you are interested in the commitment you'll need to get in the hours before age 18 or so.

assuming he doesnt have any hours, it would take 3.5 hours a day EVERYDAY to reach 10,000 hours practicing in 4 years...(if my math was done correctly, which is deff. in question! ha)

 

[LES]

Dude, why are you asking for advice in here? It's not like anyone here has experience about going pro.

Just go to an academy who's turned out pros and see if they'll accept you.

 

[nadalfan4life]

Oh...well should I just stop playing now then? What's the point?

College tennis seems boring to me...It's not something I like watching or feel like doing. Guess I'll have to think about this for a while.

I was even thinking of making a living off of tennis.

But you could get a college scholarship for tennis.

 

[Ken Honecker]

Aside from the actual tennis part of the equasion like most sports it will come down to whether you have the physical talents to suceed. Not that I know any top 100 players personally but I bet the majority of them can dunk a basketball and run a 40 yard dash in less than 4.8 seconds. Does either of those look like attainable goals when you reach your full growth? Or look at it this way. Are you faster than all your friends, can you out jump every one of them? Are you the first player chosen when chosing teams for a pickup game? If you can't answer every one of these with a resounding yes then your chance of making a lot of noise on the court is very, very, small.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

Dude, why are you asking for advice in here? It's not like anyone here has experience about going pro.

Just go to an academy who's turned out pros and see if they'll accept you.

One doesn't need to be a pro to recognize that his expectations are not realistic.

 

[GuyClinch]

I dont know about you, but if that was me and I was 70 and never got to chase my dream of playing pro basketball.... I would definitely blow my cash trying to become a great player, maybe end up on the national over 70's team or something.

Better than sitting around in some retirement home wondering what could have been.

Yeah sure. But you altered the dream to make it become perfectly realistic and reasonable. Likewise the OP can try to play in college and the USTA league. <g>

Pete

 

[magmasilk]

Oldie but goodie ... a must read for any tennis fan and appropriate to the thread ...

"The other fourteen-year-old [mid--west] hotshots and I knew that our fishpond was somehow limited; we knew that there was a national level of play and that there were hotshots and champions at that level. But levels and plateaus beyond our own seemed abstract, somehow unreal -- those of us who were the best in our region literally could not imagine players our own age who were substantially better than we." - DFW

http://www.esquire.com/features/sports/the-string-theory-0796

 

[LuckyR]

assuming he doesnt have any hours, it would take 3.5 hours a day EVERYDAY to reach 10,000 hours practicing in 4 years...(if my math was done correctly, which is deff. in question! ha)

Arithmetic is not my optimal field but I am getting 6.8 hours per day

 

[Mick]

i am playing at least 2 hours a day, every day of the week, and by the year 2023, i will become a tennis expert :shock: