TENNIS DEVELOPMENT A LESSON FROM WORLD CUP The World Cup for soccer is proof that format for Davis Cup should change. Davis Cup should be played in a condensed format every four years opposed to a spread-out format over each and every year. It will create more energy and excitement for our sport. It was interesting to listen to the round-table discussion on ESPN on the future development of soccer in America. Certainly the same discussion is on-going about tennis in America. One panelist, a former world class player, had two questions. He said the answers to his two questions would determine the success of soccer in America. His questions were: 1) How will the game of soccer be taught to six year olds? 2) How will the game of soccer be taught to ten year olds? These two questions have been addressed in tennis throughout the world. The ESPN panelists stated that in USA soccer technical development starts too late. Tennis training, like soccer, is typically just glorified babysitting in the beginning stages. The ratio of one game to one practice (per week) is not the formula for success in soccer and game based training is not the formula for success in tennis. Soccer has some built-in advantages over tennis. For one, it is easier for young kids to pass a soccer ball back and forth. It is much more difficult for young kids to rally a tennis ball back and forth. Most definitely, the transition tennis balls (red, orange and green dot) are effective training tools. Yet the balls dont teach technique, teachers do. The one word that was repeated the most in the soccer discussion was technique. The word is forgotten in tennis. Young tennis kids need to have form tournaments. They also need a series of progressions to become technically proficient. The checkpoints and visual images need to be standard for learning a base of stroke-production. For example on the serve: salute position, twist, up should be a tennis language emphasized over pizza position, pull, down. In little kid soccer the only two players on the field who know where to be are the goalies. The other twenty players just chase the ball and form a non-developmental cluster. Tennis tactically is just as bad. Kids camp out at the baseline because they are too small to cover lobs and passing shots. Impulses become habits. No net skills or instincts for net play are acquired. Growing up with a father who was a hockey coach, I often heard discussions on hockey development. I have a brother who has written ten books on the subject. The development of any sport is built on education. Skills and drills are the protocol of developmental coaches not saying yes to can we scrimmage (play) coach. Tennis technique needs to be taught ASAP. Yet real young kids should start with basic gymnastics to acquire fearlessness and coordination. Then team sports, like soccer and basketball, need to be played. The goal should be to train a tiny-tike to become an athlete from the get-go. A stop watch, skip rope, track and numerous physical challenges like a game of tag only running backwards are needed opposed to playing a game of tennis with a palm up serve and fluffy light orange ball. Beware of specializing in tennis at too young of an age. But also beware of not learning technique from a very, very young age. Our Great Base Initiative and our Great Base Backboard should be adopted for players of all ages, especially kids 4 to 8, by the USTA for the future development of tennis in the US. Heres the order: 1) will 2) skills 3) drills 4) thrills. Tennis is not a computer game that gives instant gratification. Thanks for sharing. Steve Smith
Posted on: Thu, 03 Jul 2014 11:57:13 +0000
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