10 & Under Tennis has been a “hot button” topic to say the least in the world of tennis coaches.  It has become so sensitive because the United States Tennis Association (USTA) mandated that ALL tournaments for children ages 10 and under must be played on smaller courts and with low compression balls.  It has upset established and accomplished coaches across the country because they have students under the age of 10 who can and already do train and compete with regular balls on a full size court and they feel it is a step backwards for their players’ development.  At the same time we have established and accomplished coaches who think this is the best thing ever for transitioning kids into the sport of tennis and competitive junior tournaments.  Most people take one side or the other but in my opinion the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.

There are two main reasons why I am posting my opinion on this topic.  First, I want to share with parents my viewpoints because as consumers they need to know where I stand so they too can make informed decisions.  If nothing else I hope it conveys how I genuinely care for the best interest of any child who I have the opportunity to coach.  As the saying goes, “No one cares what you know, until they know you care.”   Second, I am putting this up for other coaches as well if it helps them in their quest for finding out what is best for the children they are working with.  Now on to my opinions about 10 & Under Tennis…

First, we all have to remember that a child is not a little adult.  Children are developing every single day, physically, mentally, and emotionally.  They are very different from competitive high school players, collegiate and professional athletes. What works for older children and adults at their stage of development does not necessarily work for children.  It is a child’s long-term development that coaches should be most concerned with over any short-term gains.  Short-term gains are great do not get me wrong but I believe a coach should never lose sight of the long-term objectives.  I look at it as though I am always developing long-term tennis players, athletes and people.  That being said from a strictly physical development sense I do not agree with the mandate forcing children who wish to play competitively to utilize low compression balls and smaller courts.  At the same time I also am not against using smaller rackets, courts and low compression balls for training and competition either.  The truth lies somewhere in the middle.  Let me explain in a simple but meaningful phrase, Development is Age Related, Not Age Determined.  Think about it like this, the typical baby walks at about 12 months of age, some walk earlier and some later.  My point is you would not hold a baby back from walking just because they are not 12 months old, nor would you force a baby to walk who is not ready just because they are 13 months old.  The average is 12 months but it is not something that is set in stone.  Development is age related, not age determined.  I would say the same is true for the development of tennis players.  The key is being able to distinguish between a child’s “calendar age” compared to their “training age.”  Some kids have more experiences with tennis or just progress faster than others for what ever reason and have a higher training age compared to peers with the same calendar age.  I should note that kids can have a higher training age for reasons you may not even think of like they played tennis for fun with their parents and now want to play the full game or they sat and watched their brother or sister take lessons for years before they even picked up a racket.  This means some children are ready for a full size court and regular balls before the age of 10 so why hold them back?  Other kids may not be ready so why push them forward?  Again the focus is on long-term development so there is no need to try and rush anything.  If long-term development is the focus from the beginning I think champions can develop both with and without ever using the 10 and under equipment and competitive format.

Second, I think the 10 & Under Tennis initiative can actually be a great asset for the game and let me explain why.  I personally believe it takes 3 different kinds of coaches in a player’s development to fully blossom.  This is not a concept specific to tennis in fact I think it has a wide variety of applications.  First, a child must have a coach who teaches them to Have Fun and Fall in Love with the Game.  After a child falls in love with the game they are intrinsically motivated to continue dig in deeper and then move on to the second coach who Teaches the ABC Fundamentals Flawlessly and TIrelessly.  If they are ready but fail to move on from just having fun their development will stifle.  I should note that moving on to the second coach is not for everyone.  Learning the nitty gritty fundamentals of tennis or anything is not always fun but it is that intrinsic motivation that keeps them going.  Once the fundamentals are mastered over a long period of time the individual must move on to the elusive third coach to see their fullest potential.  The third coach is The Motivator who gets a child to believe deep inside themselves and push beyond their perceived limits and maximizes their potential.  These are the world-famous famous coaches like John Wooden in basketball or Chuck Kriese in tennis.  If you think about it these 3 different coaches are true for development in sports, music, and even in academics.  Think about the little child who had the fun home piano teacher, then moves up to the more serious and strict teacher, and finally off to a performing arts school where they become inspired to compose their own works of art.

I also believe this process in not necessarily always 3 different people or coaches.  Experienced coaches can play different roles to different children at different times in their development.  I know for one I do just that.  What I try to accomplish with players of different calendar and training ages is different, but you have to take the time to get to know your students to be able to do that.  I also should mention that I categorize players by their training age not their chronological age.  Chronological age is a good ballpark figure because development is age related but the training age is really what is most important in deciding what type of coach I need to be for that player.

I believe the 10 & under initiative really fits well as a tool the first coach can utilize to get children to fall in love with the game.  It is not the tools themselves that will make kids fall in love, I believe that has more to do with the culture and environment the coach creates.  The smaller equipment is certainly not necessary to have fun, there are several ways to do that as people have been falling in love with the game for ages.  But if it can be utilized as a tool for immediate success which leads to a child feeling more confident in their abilities, which leads to the perception of them having fun then the benefits are obvious.  In fact, I believe that the more kids we get having fun with tennis the more will be internally motivated to stick with it and move up to the second coach and work tirelessly on their fundamentals.  Those who master the fundamentals because they possess the necessary internal motivation laid in the foundation of fun will then move on to the elusive third coach who puts on the finishing touches.

10 & Under Courts at Tennis Center in College Park

Finally, I think that playing tennis before the age of 10, whether with smaller equipment on a size-reduced court or regular balls on a full size court is great for young children regardless of whether they stick with it or not.  Young children specifically under the age of 10 become more and more coordinated with every single physical experience in their life.  When kids play tennis they learn to run, jump, accelerate, decelerate, track, strike, and tons of other athletic skills that are applicable to anything.  Young children who have success with developing athletic skills are more likely to perceive sports and exercise as fun and hopefully that will set the foundation for children to live a healthy and active lifestyles.

In summary, I do not agree with mandating that all kids with the calendar age of 10 years and under play with and compete with smaller rackets, courts, and low compression balls.  I say that because development of a tennis player is age related, not age determined.  Some children are 8 years old but have a higher training age than their peers and they should not be held back.  At the same time kids under the age of 10 who are just seeing if they like tennis I would not hesitate to utilize the smaller rackets, courts, and low compression balls because my goal as a coach is for them to have fun, have perceived success, and fall in love with the sport which lays the foundation for their long-term development.

I just finished watching the movie the Karate Kid and I was reminiscing because it was one of my favorite movies, along with Ghostbusters, as a kid.  Watching it now as an adult I realized how deep a lot of the lessons in the movie really are.

The older I get the more I look for significance in the things I do.  I have evolved a ton as a coach over the years, with the help of some good mentors.  In all the work I have done training athletes the most memorable moments have come not from the wins or losses but from the times when I have been able to positively impact someone’s life through my coaching.

Tennis has taken me to places like the JTCC.

Tennis has been good to me and not in terms of match wins, but in what it has taught me about life.  Along with doing my best to deliver top notch training and instruction I also try to be like Mr. Miyagi and impart value in the lifelong lessons that come with learning the game of tennis.  These lessons include things like developing a work ethic, dreaming and pursuing dreams, learning from setbacks and success, developing perseverance, diving into opportunities, teamwork, cooperation and so much more.

Many of these same lessons are taught in other more popular team sports but I think these lessons are very different in tennis because of the mainly individual nature of the game.  This is a major part of the reason why I personally believe tennis is such an amazing sport because an individual competes for themselves, plays the game as an expression of themselves, and must have incredible intrinsic motivation and drive to reach the highest levels of the game.

If you are a parent reading this realize that regardless of your son or daughter’s successes on the tennis court there is no better game, in my opinion, to teach them so many of the valuable lessons they will be able to utilize to be successful in life.  If you are a player and reading this, realize that there is so much more to your training than hitting the ball, doing some fitness, and playing matches.  There are lessons tennis is teaching you every single day that you will not fully be able to understand until later in life.

On November 14, 2012 I had a wonderful opportunity to talk college tennis recruiting with world famous coach, mentor and friend Chuck Kriese and the Head Coach at Notre Dame, Bobby Bayliss.

Famous authors regularly use 3 different conflicts mankind can face in their works.  Those conflicts are Man vs. Man, Man vs. Nature, and Man vs. Self.  A tennis player can go through these same 3 conflicts in a tennis match, with very different results.

Man vs. Man is the only conflict that a player should be in during a match.  A competitor needs to keep the focus on their opponent and nothing else.  Keeping the conflict as Man vs. Man keeps the mindset right for a peak performance and win or lose it leaves no room for excuses that ultimately hold back growth.  The only excuse for a loss is “today my opponent played better than me and now I need to learn from that experience and get better.”

The battle of Man vs. Nature in the context of a tennis match is when a player focuses on things like the wind, sun, court surface, strings, etc.  As soon as a player shifts the battle of the tennis match away from Man vs. Man to Man vs. Naturethe match is just about over and an implosion is impending.  This conflict also limits what a player can learn from the match to better their games.

The battle of Man vs. Self is when a player focuses on internal struggles with things like their technique, confidence, or injury.  Again as soon as a player shifts the focus of conflict away from Man vs. Man to Man vs. Self the match is just about over.  The time to have conflicts with self is on the practice court, pushing yourself to improve.  Practice and training days are about yourself and matches are about your opponent.

Credit to Friend and Mentor, Coach Chuck Kriese, for sharing this one with me…

Check out the video above and find out how tennis players can utilize a script and dress rehearsals leading up to a live performance or competition.

I guarantee these are steps that MOST junior players are missing in their training because they are overly focused on their strokes and technique.

If you like it you’ll probably like this as well…The Tennis Parent’s Bible.

The tempo of points in tennis has become so fast even at the junior, high school, and other competitive levels the open stance two-handed backhand is an essential tool for a player to have in their toolbox.  Often when I watch players the shot I see them having the most difficulty with is the backhand and I do not think it is because their backhand is weaker than their forehand.  Instead, I see players struggle with the backhand because they simply cannot hit it where they know they should be.  When a player is in a neutral or even defensive position they have to hit the backhand crosscourt and ideally across their opponent’s shoulders.  Hitting the ball across an opponent’s body keeps them from being able to hit a high percentage shot into the open forehand side of the court.  The problem is you cannot stand with the hips perpendicular to the net and strike the ball effectively cross court when it comes with significant pace and spin.  It is much easier to hit the ball crosscourt with the hips open or parallel to the net.  It takes 2 steps to move and hit an open stance backhand and 3 steps to hit one with the hips perpendicular to the net.  Remember that the tempo of the points becomes faster as athletes advance in both age and skill so you can imagine how taking that one extra step can take away from very precious time.

Most coaches teach youth open stance forehands from the very beginning and if you look long-term most competitive players never have a problem hitting forehands crosscourt from neutral or defensive court positions. It only takes two steps to get to the ball when players use an open stance and with the hips open and parallel to the net it makes it mechanically easier to hit crosscourt.  However, from a young age many coaches teach players to stand perpendicular to the net for all of their backhands.  I believe that if we teach youth to be able to hit backhands with an open stance from a young age they will develop into more all around players in the long-term development.

Please do not take this blog post that I am against teaching backhands or forehands in a stance perpendicular to the net.  There certainly is a place and time for it as in the pictures above where Nadal is hitting down the line from an offensive court position.  What I am advocating for is that the more skills an athlete is exposed early in their development to the more tools they will have in their arsenal long-term, which really is what is important.  The demands of the game at higher levels require athletes to hit in the open stance on both sides of the court and teaching that skill from a young age is giving children the skills they will need for success down the road.

Plain and simple all players go through 4 stages of skill development in tennis.  I thank Chuck Kriese for sharing this concept with me.  It is applicable to so many things…

4 Stages of Skill Development:

1. Unconsciously-Incompetent
2. Consciously-Incompetent
3. Consciously-Competent
4. Unconsciously-Competent

Ultimately we want to get out players to the unconsciously-competent stage but you cannot skip any of the other stages along the way so let me explain exactly how you reach the final stage.

When a player is brand new to tennis they have absolutely no idea how to stroke the ball along with no conscious thought about how to correct their technique and improve.  In essence, a true beginner is unconsciously-incompetent with their skill set.

Then a player is shown what to do correctly in a lesson, clinic or by a friend, parent, or coach.  All of a sudden they have knowledge about what they are doing correct and incorrect.  They now possess the knowledge of what to do but still cannot yet perform the skill effectively.  The player is now consciously-incompetent.

Then by deliberately practicing the skill over and over again with conscious effort they continue to improve.  The player reaches a point where as long as they are thinking about the specific steps of the skill they can perform it competently.  This player has reached the consciously-competent stage.

Finally, with repetition, repetition, repetition eventually the player is able to perform the skill at an unconscious level.  In other words they can perform the skill without having to actively think about it.  The athlete has reached the unconsciously-competent level.  The player truly owns the skill and it is embedded in their subconscious mind.  This is the critical level players must reach to compete at higher levels of the game.  When a player truly is unconsciously-competent their strokes will not break down in pressure situations and they can focus on strategic aspects of the game, which is exactly where a player’s attention should be in a match.

So the recipe for making a skill unconsciously-competent is simple, excellent instruction, conscious effort of the athlete while practicing the skill, and tons of repetition to cement the skill into the subconscious mind.