It has been a while since I last wrote. Little kids, being a Dad now, you know how life goes!?

Well I am back and I have missed writing because it challenges me to think deeply and sparks my creativity.

I want to explain my thoughts on why certain people choose to play tennis, why it can become the foundation for lifelong success in many ways, and how the need for the lessons tennis provides is increasing in our accelerating technological age.

First, we have to discuss a concept called time preference. Time preference is simply how much people value present satisfaction over future satisfaction. A person with high time preference has a preference for immediate consumption. The opposite is a low time preference which indicates a person is willing to delay gratification for future gains. There is a famous Stanford marshmallow experiment that identified that children who were able to delay gratification tended to attain levels of success throughout their lives.

Tennis is likely the most physically, mentally and emotionally demanding sport in the world. On top of that it is an individual sport. In order to really excel at high levels of tennis you need to have high time preference traits. One needs to be willing to do boring, repetitive, and detailed technical work. One needs to put countless hours into strength & conditioning. One needs to prepare mentally and emotionally for competition.

Using tennis to develop and learn the lessons associated with these traits does wonders for youth. Realizing the work they are doing and habits they are developing pay off 6 months or a year plus from now is powerful. Contrast that with the technology we interact with. Those apps are designed to give us immediate gratification and farm our attention, stimulating low time preference traits.

I believe you are wise enough to be able to draw your own conclusions as how playing tennis can develop positive traits at impressionable ages. This also does not mean that technology is bad, in fact it can be used to enhance training and coaching. I believe the kids who have or learn to develop low time preferences also tend to be the ones whom play tennis and do so for a lifetime.

We are preparing to move outdoors when spring finally arrives!?

If you wish to join us in the spring, registration is now open.

Looking to the summer, Fox Chapel will be replacing the tennis courts this year. While we await the construction of our new facility summer training will be hosted at Shady Side Academy. As soon as I finalize the dates information will be released.

In more exciting news, the Jon DeLuca Memorial Fund will be sponsoring 2 players to attend the advanced training this summer. If you wish to learn more, apply, or donate see the Google Form below.

https://forms.gle/UkmbUohcUbFZeqra8 – Apply for the Jon DeLuca Scholarship

If you wish to join us for indoor tennis this winter the registration page is now open.

We will again be in Monroeville on Wyngate Drive.

It appears we will be able host camp at Fox Chapel High School again this summer. The court project will be completed in the Spring/Summer 2026.

You can see all the details at the Summer Tennis tab at the top of the page or register here.

Spring will be upon us before you know it.

We plan to move outdoors again for tennis in April.

If you would like to join us all the information and registration is at the link below.

When people think about their children playing tennis often the image of competitive tournaments and the college dream comes to mind. The competitive junior tennis scene is a fantastic journey in and of itself but this weekend I was reminded of the most important reasons to play tennis.

This is a picture of Al DeLuca. He was born in 1936 which makes him 87 years young. Mr. DeLuca and I met and became friends through tennis. He has played tennis his entire life and it has had a profound impact on him. He still hits tennis balls every Sunday with players in the program and has become a mentor to both them and myself.

This weekend in the frigid temperatures he still drove out to Lakevue to play. In doing that I was reminded of the real reason you want your children to play tennis. A quick Google search shows all of the studies stating that people who acquire the skills of hitting a tennis ball tend to play the sport for a lifetime. Studies show that playing tennis also adds approximately 10 years to your lifetime. The health and mental benefits of playing tennis are astounding!

Mr. DeLuca thank you for your inspiration to others. This past weekend you reminded me of the gift that coaching tennis truly is. I wish competitive success to everyone. Even more important is my hope that tennis helps them hopefully live a long and healthy life!

I am happy to announce we will move back outside on Sunday, April 2nd and continue through June 4th.

For more information or to register please click the link below.

Spring 2023 Tennis Information

Information on the Summer Camp is also tentatively out and can be found at the link below.

Summer 2023 Tennis Information

We will be having tennis classes indoors at Lakevue beginning November 6th until we can go back outdoors in the spring.

Complete details are at the link below.

Winter Tennis Registration & Information

We will begin doing clinics at Lakevue Athletic Club on Sunday’s beginning November 8th.

Elementary Aged Players 11am – 12pm

Middle & High School Aged Players 12pm – 2pm

I plan on keeping the number of players limited due to COVID-19 so please register early if you wish to join us.

All the information and online registration can be found here.

Winter Tennis 2020 Information & Registration