How To Make Your Child A Tennis Superstar!

HOW TO MAKE YOUR CHILD A TENNIS SUPERSTAR

There are a lot of tennis parents out there who are wondering, “How can my child become the next Agassi?” Well first of all, they can’t. Agassi was the best player ever. So give up on that dream right now. But if you want to know how your kid can become the next Roddick (not so good) or Jankovic (even more not so good) then read on. Being a tennis pro for nearly 15 years, I find it hilarious when a parent whose child takes a whopping two classes a week is surprised when, after a year, their budding superstar still can’t beat Willy, the best friend who took four lessons 2 years ago and plays with a racketball racket. “What gives?”, they ask. “Why can’t my son beat Willy?” Well first of all, I hear Willy’s pretty good. But really, it comes down to the two “T’s”. Time and talent. The less one has of one, the more they better have of the other. Let me put it to you plainly. While your child is taking two group lessons a week, some other child is taking four group lessons a week. Assuming all else is equal, who do you think is going to be better?

But in Willy’s case it might be as simple as the kid having talent. I see athletic kids come in all the time and destroy my extremely *unathletic* lesson who I’ve been teaching for two years. It used to demoralize me. But then I realized – talent trumps all. A few years ago they had a serve station at the U.S. Open where you could measure the speed of your serve. Some rando walked up who had never played tennis before and blasted a 145 m.p.h. serve. That’s as fast as Andy Roddick. The Sportscenter hosts rightly questioned, if some rando can serve as fast as Andy Roddick, how hard can this sport be? Well, of course we don’t know if that serve went in (the station was a booth) and I’d be surprised if this guy could hit even 2 out of 100 145 mph serves anywhere near the court. But it teaches a great point. Talent trumps all.

This leads to the classic conflict of a tennis parent: Seeing your child for who they are verses seeing them for who you want them to be. Rarely have I met a parent who can accurately judge the talent level of their child. They see only their child’s killer drop shot (while ignoring the previous fifteen backhands that went into the net). This results in parents constantly pressuring pros to move their children into more advanced classes. If there’s one thing that I can tell you about tennis pros, it’s that they’re pretty good judges of talent. When they believe somebody is ready to move up, it’s usually the right time. Parents have to understand that moving a kid into a class undeservedly has a trickle down [up?] effect. Parents of kids in this higher class now believe that the level of the class has diminished, and they then demand to have THEIR kids moved into a higher class. This continues all the way up to the top, where if too many undeserved kids get in, then the top kids, aka the ranked players who sell the program, jet off to another facility. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen this happen. So the next time you ask a pro to move your kid up, you better be damn sure he/she can handle it, or else you’re going to get a lot of crooked stares from me or the pro you’re dealing with.

So then what should you do if your kid isn’t good enough to move up? It’s very simple. Do as many of these three things as possible:

1) Practice more outside of class.
2) Take a private lesson(s).
3) Play tournaments.

All three of these things prove to a pro that your child is dedicated. And it is almost impossible not to improve under a regimen that includes them. I promise you, tennis pros aren’t cruel (well, most of them aren’t anyway). They see things for what they are. If a child is consistently dominating a class, we’re not going to keep them there just to spite you.

So this brings us back to our original question: How can your child become the next Roddick? Well lucky for you, I’m going to break it down for you into one simple paragraph. So get out your pencils (or your printers) and take note. Follow this regimen and you’re going to get the most of your child’s talent (if they have any that is). Here goes: First, start your child at around age 5 or 6. Put them in one or two group classes a week. After a year, add a half-hour private lesson. In six months, make it an hour private lesson. When they hit 8, try to have them in 3 to 4 group lessons a week, as well as one private lesson. At 9, have them play their first tournament. Aim for about five tournaments that year. At ten years old, they should be playing six days a week, 8-10 tournaments a year, and *at least* one private. At 11 or 12 is when things begin to get serious. If you really want to compete at the highest level, you will have your child playing at least 12 hours of tennis a week, plus 15-20 tournaments a year. His/her ranking will improve and the tournaments will get tougher. Set up practice sets with other highly ranked players in addition to his group/private tennis schedule. At 14 they should also add a regimen of 2-3 hours of off-court activity a week. Running, weights, cardio, whatever. Try to get your child in the best training programs in the city. If he/she is the best in the program, you’re not at the right facility (be honest though – are they *really* the best?). From there, if your child really has talent, good coaches will take over. They’ll begin to structure your child’s schedule for you. They can then determine if they’re good enough to go straight to the pros, or if college is the more logical route. Top tennis players practice at least 4 hours a day and include a daily off-court workout routine. These days, that’s par for the course. Still interested in your child becoming the next Roddick? Well, then go for it. But if I may suggest – don’t push a child who doesn’t want to be in the sport. It almost never works out. Keep it fun, set achievable goals, and always support them. It’s not your life. It’s theirs. Who knows, one day you might be sitting at Wimbledon holding up a sign that says, “I told you so!”

Til then, GO OUT AND HIT!