New Year's Resolution - The GIft of Self-Improvement

Happy New Year!  As it is the dawn of a new beginning for each of us this year, I would like to take this opportunity to encourage every tennis player and tennis parent to resolve to give themselves or their children the gift of self-improvement.  What better way to ring in the new year than to add that elusive 10mph to your serve?  Or learn that slice backhand that would leave your opponents dumbfounded?  Or maybe master some patterns of play that will dominate your singles opponents tactically?

Bobby Knight, former Indiana University, and Texas Tech University Basketball Head Coach and renowned hot head said correctly, "The only way for a player to improve is to change."  Oh, how true this is.  Keeping your game at the status quo will only serve to give you a birds-eye view to a tapering off of good results, and a front row seat to watching both lower level players and your current peers speedily pass you by as you lay stuck in the mud.

A "change," depending on what it is, may take a week, or may take 6 weeks or 8 weeks to master.  Longer if you only practice it once a week.  When determining what exactly to change, consider your long term goals.  As an example, if you are currently a 3.5 adult and your goal is to be a 4.5 or 5.0 player, and you serve with an eastern forehand grip, then you need to address your grip ASAP else you will never reach your goal.  If you want to be a 4.5 player but have eastern grips at the net, your grips and subsequent technique must be changed in order to reach that goal.  Technique is very important as far as level of play.  Better technique expands the number of tactical plays in your toolbox that are at your disposal, as well as the types of shots you are capable of producing.  The difference between a 4.5 player and a 3.5 player is not just athleticism, it is better technique.

For junior players, set 4-6 goals that involve a change of some sort.  They can be technical, tactical, emotional, or physical.  It is good to employ some of each type.  Challenge yourself.

Every player should be aware that major changes such as grip changes will initially set you back.  Beginning those changes now is important, especially for adults.  Remember that Adult Gender Leagues usually start in March or April depending on the level.  So you have 2 months right now in order to affect some sort of change to your game.  Another great time to make the appropriate changes is after adult league season has finished in May or June.  Remember that if you play Adult Gender League, mixed doubles has ZERO effect on your rating. (Combo has zero effect also, no matter what).  If you are concerned with changes to your game affecting your ability to keep or improve your rating, make sure the change occurs around the adult gender league schedule.

When implementing your changes, it is vital that your focus shift from winning at all costs, to ensuring you are practicing your changes.  If you instead focus on winning only in your matches, you will never implement your changes - players will always resort to hardened muscle memory if they are not thinking about practicing their changes.

So gift yourself, your significant other, or your children the gift of tennis self-improvement this New Year.  Their games will be better off due to your beneficence.  

Tennis and Weight Loss

With the Holidays upon us, and New Year's resolutions days away, it seemed fitting to blog about tennis and weight loss.  Rather than mince words, I will make this very brief.

Playing more tennis will not make you skinnier, will not burn off the fat you currently have on your body, and won't make you eat less.  In fact, the exact wrong approach to weight loss is to talk about exercising MORE.

It is a case of math.  Let's say you are 20lbs overweight.  In order to lose that 20lbs, you will need to have a caloric deficit of 70,000 calories over time.  Now consider that a game of doubles burns off a maximum of around 300 calories a match, provided that match is physically demanding.  If you don't move much on the court you will be burning less.  A match of singles burns approximately 450 calories, providing once again you are moving quite a bit.  The caloric burns are assuming a vigorous match with high physical intensity.

So, how many additional doubles matches do we need to play to burn off that 20lbs? 70,000 calories/300 calories per match = 233.3 matches!!!  If you are a singles fiend, you need to play 155.55 additional matches!  Remember this is IN ADDITION to what you already play.  There are only 52 weeks in a year, so as a doubles player that means playing almost 4.5 additional matches a week.  A singles player needs to play 3 additional matches a week.  This is what would need to happen if your goal was to lose 20lbs this YEAR.  It also assumes your daily caloric intake is not exceeding the intake necessary to maintain your current weight.  Now, imagine the insanity if your goal was 6 months!

The point is you don't have this kind of time, which is why resolutions based on exercise always fail in regards to weight loss.  It's great for the fitness industry, but it makes very little common sense.

Most of us don't have the time to play tennis every single day.  Imagine if you are one of the few who can and still want to lose 20lbs.  You'd never leave the tennis court to meet your goals!

The only sure fire way to lose the weight you are looking for this year is to REDUCE the number of calories you intake.  Every caloric deficit of 3500 calories means you lose 1lb.  Eating is something we do every day.  Therefore reducing what we intake is the BEST way to lose weight.  Again the math works.  If we have a caloric deficit of 500 calories every day, it would take 70,000 calories/500 calories per day = 140 days for us to achieve our goal of losing 20 lbs.  That's roughly 4.5 months.  If you increase the caloric deficit to 800 calories a day, then it will take you 87.5 days to reach your 20lb weight loss goal, which is approximately 3 months.

So clearly DIET is how best to approach weight loss.  The first thing you need to know is how many calories you need to intake in order to MAINTAIN your current weight.  There are numerous sites online where you can plug your information in.  Once you have this number, start calorie counting.  It may be as simple as eliminating processed sugars, beer, and soda.  Fruits and vegetable have very low caloric numbers so keep that in mind.  Determine the minimum number of calories you feel comfortable eating per day and stick to it.  Exercise your will power.  You will find your weight loss goal within reach.

In summary, exercise is not an effective method to induce weight loss.  Reducing dietary calories is the best way to make a dent in that additional poundage you desperately want to shed. 

A Holiday Tennis Poem

Five days before Christmas
My Combo team had a match
If we beat team Rod Laver
Then first place we'd snatch

Half our team left town early
The holidays were callin
Our captain was screwed
He called me a ballin'

"Not one four o is in town
To partner you with.
Three O Jim is still here,
Your chances a myth."

"Every time I am scheduled"
I replied with a frown
"I play with a three o
No four os are in town.

This means we are six five
And my chances are slim
In this seven five league
To go out and win."

The day of the match
I went to the mall
Sat on Santa's lap
He said I had gall

To steal precious time
From small girls and boys
To ask that he give me
Three wishes not toys

So I said "Dear Santa,
My partner is weak
He can't hit a forehand,
His volleys are meek.

His first serve is awful
It never goes in
Could you tell him less pace
Isn't the 8th deadly sin?

Crosscourt I prefer
To his down the line errors
This man wages war
But can't instill terror

He volleys the ball
Like he's bashing your head in
Yet none find its target
Don't think that he's aimin'

So if you and your elves
Could give him some calm
Magically transform him
With a wave of your palm

You'd make all my Christmas
Wishes come true
And we'd have a good chance
To win at number 2."

And so that evening
I walked on court 2
Hopeful that Santa
Had remembered to

Fulfill my Christmas wish
And give my partner some pill
That would make him much calmer
And increase his skill

Twas not meant to be
As we lost one and one
Santa granted me nothing
Not one wish- not ONE!

As we packed up our things
I looked in my bag
I saw something odd
An envelope with a tag

I grabbed it and what
Did my eyes come to see
But a book of ten lessons
Not for my partner, but me!

A note was attached
And in it Santa said
"Don't blame your partner for losing
It's all in YOUR head

Your serve should be bigger
Your forehand more stout
You choked five returns
When the score was ad out

You were out of position
More than just once
It was really abysmal
You looked like a dunce!"

And then I realized
I should worry about me
Make my game much better
And perhaps I would maybe

Win more often than now
And be a better player
Instead of blaming my partners
And being a naysayer

So thank you Coach Santa
You sage tennis elf
For reminding me to always
Shine my ire on myself

Why Adults and Juniors Should Play Each Other

                It has been my experience that in general, adults do not want to play matches against kids, because either they feel their level is not up to par, or simply because of the age.  In most cases, the adults link the age of the child to the level of the child, which at its core is illogical.

                Age is simply a number used to identify how long we have lived, and to give us a measurement of how old we are when we die.  It has nothing to do with the ability level of any player.

                There was an article in Tennis Magazine a year or two ago, where the author, a 4.0 male player, played against the #1 12 and under girl player in the nation.  The 4.0 adult male player lost that match 6-4,6-0, and the 12 year old was being nice.  One cannot look at the age or the size of the player and determine that there is no way that player can be competitive with you.  If that were true, Justine Henin should never have won a major, much less 7, nor Martina Hingis winning 3 of 4 slams when she was just 17.

                The most important factor in improving one’s game is playing players of your own ability.  Ability level does not discriminate by age or size.  If you are good enough, then you are good enough.  If a boy is 8 years old, but can beat every 3.0 man in Tallahassee, should not the boy then be able to play with a 3.5 man, and not be discriminated against?  After all, adults want to be challenged to improve, just like junior players do.  If the 8 year old boy is a challenge, then the adult has the opportunity to improve by playing them.  Playing against a like-aged player will not guarantee your ability to improve; rather the opponent must be of like ability.

                The NTRP for adults is precisely designed to address the adult’s desire to play people of their own level, regardless of age.  NTRP does not discriminate players by age at all.  If a 90 year old is good enough to play 4.5, the results will show, and the 90 year old will be playing 4.5 League.  What is the difference if the player is 10, 30, 50, or 90?  None, if you simply look at the player from an ABILITY standpoint.

                In tennis the only thing any player cares about is playing players at their level or a little bit better.  Junior players are more than capable of playing competitive matches with adults, both on the winning and the losing end, provided that ability levels are matched up correctly.  If an adult of any level can walk out on the court with a 12 year old girl of the same level and play a close, competitive match, who really cares that the girl is 12?  Obviously if the match is lopsided for EITHER player, then the ability levels are not even, and the players should not be matched up any longer.  But, once again, this has nothing to do with age, but solely with ability level.  So if the 12 year old girl is beating all the 3.0s in town badly, then the junior player should play against 3.5 women.  Likewise if the 12 year old girl is losing badly to 3.0 women, then the junior should play 2.5 women.  The same is true for adult vs adult matches, as this is the precisely the algorithm used by the NTRP system.

                Adults and juniors can and should play with one another.  It will expand both players’ sphere of competition, and give both additional challenges.   It gives both more match play opportunities.  And when the adult and junior are matched properly, it gives both the competitive matches they are seeking. 

                So what is it that prevents adults and juniors from playing each other since it makes perfect sense?  My experience is that it is the adults that balk at playing the junior players, not the other way around.  Adults have the false belief that a junior player will either not give them a good match, or that the junior player will embarrass them.  In the former, the adult player thinks the match is a waste of time based on age, or that they are too good for the junior player, again based on age; and in the latter case the adult feels that if they should lose to a young player, that it would be too embarrassing to continue.   .

                Age is just a number, and does not predict ability level at all.  It may somewhat influence what that ability level is, but at the end of the day, the player’s level is the player’s level, whether they are 8, 21, 40, 70, or 100.

                In many cases, good junior players have a hard time finding kids their own age to play with, precisely because it is the ability level that is most important in development and not the age.  In these cases, these players need competitive matches with anyone at their ability level to prepare for tournaments.  This is why the junior player will seek out adults to play.  They are just like the adult, in that they want competitive matches. 

                So at the end of the day, I would encourage every adult player to accept offers to play with junior players.  It is the tennis professional’s job to ensure that the ability levels are matched up correctly, so trust their judgment.  You would trust their judgment with a new unrated adult player, so do so with the junior player.  If the match is lopsided, you will not be asked to play that player again, lest your ability levels find a way to meet again.  I implore you to treat every junior player the same way you would treat a new adult player that has just moved to town.  You find out their alleged level, and play them to see if they are someone that will give you a competitive match going forward.  You do not judge them by their age.

How To Determine What Side You Are Stronger On In Doubles

Below is a checklist that will tally your strengths related to the side of the court, and give you an idea of what side you should be playing.



The "multiplier" multiplies the number of checkmarks for that item.  If, for example you check off "Deuce" for pressure points, you must count 5 for that item, rather than just one.

Add up each column of the checklist, ad and deuce, and then score each side using the multipliers.  The side which has the greatest score is the side you should likely be playing on in your matches for you to play your best.

Selecting the Doubles Partner Perfect For You

As mixed doubles season, and adult league approaches,  players will be searching for the person that is the "perfect" partner for them.

Who you play with is the single most important factor in whether or not you succeed as an individual in doubles.  Play with someone whose game does not make your game more potent, and you likely will be on the losing end of the result more often than not.

What factors go into determining your partner?

1. Know your strengths and weaknesses
You must be honest with yourself when listing these.  The best way to learn what your strengths and weaknesses are, is to ask around.  Your opponents that you play frequently will certainly give you their opinion.  The fact is we are very objective about ourselves.  We are either too hard or too easy on ourselves.  Your opponents won't be.  Ask 5-10 people what they think and take the consensus.

List all your strengths and weaknesses in terms of strokes, sides, movement, tactics and mental/emotional fortitude.

2. Find someone who is strong where you are weak.
It is important for you and your partner to compliment one another.  If you are a weak mover, find a partner who is a great mover.  If you struggle returning serve, find a partner whose return of serve is a strength.  If you are a streaky type of player, it would behoove you to find a very steady player to partner with.  If you are a volatile personality, you need to find a calm person to play with.

3. Don't get caught up in whether or not you "like" your partner.
You don't have to be great friends to be great partners.  All that is necessary is that you and your partner understand that you are working together towards a common goal.  Great friendship, can be a detriment to the team dynamic.  You must be able to tell one another when mistakes are made, and must be free to tell each other to "step it up" when play is poor.

4. Don't be overly concerned with "how" they play, or how they look when they play.
If for example, you love serving a volleying, but your partner never ventures to net, don't immediately axe them from your prospective partner list.  There are plenty of tactics that can be employed in order to maximize your teams' effectiveness.  If a prospective partner's game looks unpleasing to the eye, don't dismiss them.  Ask yourself what they do well, and see if it compliments your strengths.  Just like picking stocks for your portfolio, you need to be unemotional making this decision.  You aren't looking for a clone.

Once you lay out your strengths and weaknesses, then lay out the strengths and weaknesses of your potential partners.  A great doubles team's strengths and weaknesses should fit together like a perfect puzzle.  Find the one player whose overall characteristics supplement and compliment yours and try playing with them for a season.  You will be shocked and amazed at who disappears from your list, and who remains as your perfect partner.

It is important to note, that to truly have great chemistry with any partner,, you must play with that partner exclusively for quite some time.  It is truly a commitment.   A great team knows what shots each other play in certain circumstances, without any formal communication before hand.  The unspoken bond between two partners is what carries them through the tough moments on court, and raises their playing level at the end of the day.    

How the USTA Determines Your End of Year Rating

Year End Ratings came out earlier this month.  

The age old question.  How does the USTA "computer" determine who gets bumped up, who gets bumped down, and who stays at the same level?  Many people believe it to be random, that it doesn't make any sense, or that there is some magic way to "beat the system."

From 1999-2001 I was a USTA NTRP Verifier.  That meant I was trained in how the NTRP works, what to look for in players to determine their "real" rating, and was certified to conduct NTRP verification clinic which the USTA no longer does anymore.

In order to understand how the NTRP system works, you must first understand the term DYNAMIC NTRP RATING. Every player in the NTRP system, both the computer and self rated players, have a dynamic NTRP rating.  It is dynamic because it changes with every match you play, AND with every match your opponents play.

Being a 3.0 rated players does not mean your dynamic NTRP is 3.0, in fact there is an extremely low probability that it is. A 3.0 player's Dynamic NTRP is 2.61-3.10.

2.5 - 2.11-2.60
3.0  - 2.61-3.10
3.5  - 3.11-3.60
4.0 - 3.61-4.10
4.5 - 4.11-4.60
5.0 - 4.61-5.10

When a player self rates, they are placed in the middle of the above ranges, and their dynamic rating starts there.

Only the following matches count toward your rating -

Adult 18+ Gender leagues
Adult 40+ Gender leagues
Adult 50+ Gender Leagues
Senior Adult Gender leagues

Mixed doubles ONLY counts if all you play is Mixed doubles.  And these ratings have an "M" after them, and are treated like a self-rated rating ("S") for the purposes of disqualification in Adult Gender leagues.

NTRP Tournaments ONLY count if all you play are tournaments. These ratings have a "T" after them, and are treated like self-ratings ("S") for the purposes of disqualification in Adult Gender Leagues.

I will come back to disqualifications in a minute.  I need to explain to you how your dynamic rating changes with each qualifying match you play.

When you play a match, and the captains have entered the results online, the computer knows you, who you have played, if it was singles or doubles, and the dynamic ratings of every person involved on the court.

If you played a singles match, the computer compares your dynamic rating with your opponent's and plugs them into an algorithm and spits out the expected score.  Example my NTRP rating is 4.41 and I play someone whose NTRP rating is 4.30.  The computer plugs our ratings into the algorithm and determines I should have won the match 6-4, 6-3.  If the expected score is met, no one's dynamic rating is affected by the result of this match.  If my opponent loses, but loses by a score BETTER than than expected score, their dynamic rating will go up a few points, and mine will go down an equal amount.  If they win, theirs will go up even more, and mine will go down an equal amount.  If I win AND beat the expected score, my dynamic rating will increase based on how much I beat the expected score and my opponent's dynamic rating will go down an equal amount.

When you play doubles, the computer adds your dynamic rating and your partner's dynamic rating, and then does the same with your opponent's dynamic ratings.  It then determines an expected score based on the algorithm.  The rest is identical to the singles description above..

So you can see WINNING is not what causes your dynamic rating to increase, nor is LOSING what causes your dynamic rating to go down.  It is all about did you do better or worse than the expected score the computer determined.  This is why you can lose all your matches and see your rating go up, and why you can win all your matches and have your rating go down.

So as you play Adult Gender League, your rating changes throughout the season.  75% of your rating is determined by how your results compare to the computer's expected results of your matches, and 25% of your rating is determined by your opponents' results against their opponents.  This means that as your opponents' dynamic ratings improves, yours does also, and conversely, if your opponents' dynamic ratings decrease with each match, yours goes down also.  This is how the algorithm determines HOW good your result over someone is.  Example, On day one of 4.5 league, I play Bob, and beat the expected score handsomely, and Bob had a higher dynamic rating than I.  Initially this looks lie a great win.  However, as the season progresses, Bob does not meet or surpass ANY expected scores for the remainder of the season, and consequently his dynamic rating goes down with each match.  Now his dynamic rating is below my own.  Now my result the first week, does not look so great, and my dynamic rating will decrease.  Conversely, If Bob beat every expected score for the season, his dynamic rating would be increasing, and that result I had in week one against him start to look even better.  My dynamic rating will increase because of this.

Many of you that play league will notice that when the USTA releases the "pre-bump" list each year, that sometimes players on that list don't actually get bumped up when the end of year ratings come out.  I know a few players that as happened to.  It is because Nationals are going on and your opponents' results matter at that competition.  If your dynamic rating is very close to the edge, the four matches at nationals that your opponents play could make or break you..    

Now you know how your dynamic rating is determined, and you know the range of dynamic ratings for each year end rating.

At the end of the League year,  you will get a year end rating.  It will either have a "C" for Computer Rating, net to it or a "B" for Benchmark Player next to it.  A computer rating means you generated a year end rating and did not win the local league at the level of your new computer year end rating. A Benchmark Player is someone who DID NOT GET BUMPED UP but remains at the same level, yet was on the team that won their local league.  No computer rated or benchmark player can ever be disqualified from league competition going forward.

Now I'd like to discuss the differences in the Self rating (S), Mixed only rating (M), and the Tournament only rating (T), as they pertain to Adult Gender League play.

Self Ratings, Tournament ratings, and Mixed only ratings are treated identically by the USTA as it pertains to Adult Gender League play.  All three ratings are subject to the USTA 3 strikes and you are out policy.  Only Self ratings, tournament ratings, and Mixed only ratings are subject to the 3 strikes and your out policy for disqualification.

3 strikes and you're out is simple.  If you have one of the three rating types mentioned above and you have 3 wins that beat the expected score   by an amount determined by the computer algorithm, you will be automatically disqualified from the current level of competition, and all your wins for your team are vacated.  This can ave tremendous impact on what team ends up winning the local league.  A myth, is you must have three wins by 6-2, 6-2 or better and that those matches are all considered strikes.  Rather, it is by how much you beat the expected score.  You meet the computer's threshold 3 times, you get DQed.

Self rated, tournament rated, and mixed only rated players can also get DQed if their dynamic rating goes .10 over the maximum dynamic NTRP for the level they are playing.  If, for example, a self-rated 3.0 player's dynamic rating exceeded 3.20 (remember the range for 3.0 id 2.61-3.10) during the season, he or she would be automatically disqualified, all their wins vacated, and they would be forced to play at 3.5 the rest of the year.  This usually results in the player not playing the remainder of the Adult league season.

Final thought.  You will never be able to find out your Dynamic NTRP Rating.  The USTA does not want people to know it.  The only way you can hope to find it out is if your team makes it to Regionals, Sectionals or Nationals and you or someone you play gets challenged because the other team thinks they are at the wrong level.  Only Self rated, Mixed only rated, and Tournament rated players can be challenged.  If this happens, you might be lucky enough to see your dynamic rating on a sheet of paper next to your name as the USTA officials determine whether or not to disqualify someone..Aside form that, you will always be in the dark about your dynamic rating, and all your teammates' dynamic ratings, and your opponents' dynamic ratings.

MIxed Doubles Etiquette

With Adult 18+, Adult 40+, and Senior mixed doubles getting ready to ramp up in a few months, I wanted to use this blog post to go over the "unwritten" rules of mixed doubles.  In USTA mixed doubles, each level is a combined rating, where it is possible that the highest rated player is 2 levels above the lowest level player.  This, at times, can be a recipe for injury.  So without further ado, here is a concise list of what you should and should not do in Mixed Doubles league.

1. Men should not hit an overhead at their female opponent, if she is at net, on purpose
This is a general rule for men, and applies in all cases, except possibly where the man is rated two levels below the female.  Example - A 3.0 man hitting an overhead at a 4.0 woman.  The thought process here is Men can hit the ball much harder than most women can react to it, so it is a dangerous proposition. This is definitely true for situations where the levels are close (within .5) or where they are even or the man is the higher rated player.

As a coach and player myself, it is my philosophy  that hitting at people gives them a chance to play the ball back, so I try to avoid that type of play no matter who I play against.  The better tactical play is to hit to their side, but away from them.

2. Females - ditch the net on any overhead smash that your male opponent gets
In conjunction with my first point, women need to ditch the net if the male player gets an overhead.  Go back to the baseline, to a safer position. 

3. Men should tell their female partner to ditch the net if they hit a lob to their male opponent and he can hit a smash.
Self explanatory given #1 & #2.

4. Men should not hit huge serves to their female opponents.
This again has a safety element.  Females in general cannot react quickly enough to the fastest male serves at similar levels.  At lower levels, men can still hit 100+ mph serves, but have zero control as to where it is going, so it is very possible to hit that bomb 12 ft long and hit the woman with the serve.

It is good etiquette for the man to spin his serve in (hit your spins as fast as you like guys) when serving to the woman.  Save the cannonball for your male counterpart.

5. Men should avoid ripping down the line shots directly AT the female, when she is at the net. 
Safety is the reason her as well.  If you know you can crush the forehand or backhand up the line, make sure you save that for your male counterpart, or if the woman leaves early to poach.  If she isn't poaching, try a lob, go crosscourt, or take something off the ball (pace, or hit a slice or topspin ball at her feet) if you still want to go at her.

If you can demonstrate you have control, you should be able to get the ball by her down the alley with no fear of decapitating her. 

6. Females should not expect or rely on their male partner to take over the court.
From an athleticism standpoint, the better athlete or better player should take over the court, not the male.  This means that the female on the team may both be the better athlete and better player, and thus should take over the court.

7.  Still play the percentages even though it is Mixed Doubles.
I'm sure you've heard this before - "Play the skirt."  Basically it means that you should play the woman as much as possible.  The most important thing in doubles of any kind is to play the percentages.  If the risk of hitting to the female outweighs the potential reward of doing it, you should not do it.

So there you have it.  Mixed doubles can be fun, but it also can be much more dangerous than normal gender doubles.  If you follow these guidelines, your matches will not only be fun, competitive and challenging, but more importantly, they will be safe.

Junior Tennis Philosophy - Play Your Peers...A LOT

After going to watch some of my students play in the local level USTA tournament this weekend at Tom Brown Park, I was once again reminded of what i consider to be missing here in Tallahassee Junior Tennis Training.

As many of you know already, lessons and clinics are great tools to help players improve their technical and tactical skills, and serve as a means of physical training.  The more you do, the better you will be, so the logic goes.  However, what every junior program in Tallahassee is missing - and I mean every one of them - is an environment that promotes and cultivates players to play one another AWAY from the clinics and lessons.

Rarely, do we see two junior players playing a practice match (2 out of 3 sets).  Troubling still, is the unwillingness to play a peer for either fear of losing, or because "I'm way better than them." This, unfortunately, is a mindset that is cultivated and allowed to grow at the programs your children attend.

A proper "program" will have each player playing a couple practice matches (again 2 out of 3 sets) each week, minimum.  There needs to be a HEALTHY distribution of the type of matches each child plays.  Out of 4 matches, 2 should be against players where the result is approximately a 50/50 proposition, 1 against a player where the likelihood of victory is slim, and one where the likelihood of victory is very high. So a 50%, 25%, 25% distribution should be encouraged.

If players only played players better than them, no one would play anyone.  Playing only players at your level does not raise the challenge high enough for players to see where their games may need serious improvement.  Playing players of lesser ability is the practice grounds for new technique and new tactics in a n environment where there is little pressure.  So each type of player is extremely beneficial to the growth of your player.

Any good junior program will have players playing various games, and points, and maybe even short sets against each other.  This is wonderful for practicing tings, but is insufficient preparation for tournament play.

It has always been my observation that the programs in Tallahassee - and again, I mean all of them - use the tournaments as a means to gain experience playing matches.  This is an incorrect method of development.  Match practice,should occur in practice matches before each tournament.  Tournaments should be the EXAMS, and tools used to gain TOURNAMENT experience.

Ask any of the better players in Florida at each age division, and to a person they will tell you how many matches they play each week.  They aren't using the tournaments as a way to get experience playing.  The prepare to play in and win the tourneys they enter.  This is the correct mindset of development and practice.

So ask yourself if the program you send your kids to are encouraging your kids to play practice matches against a diverse group of partners, and then ask yourself if your junior program uses  tournaments are a means of practice matches or an exam.  The answers to these questions may shock you.

Target a handful of tournaments each year as the EXAMS.  Play practice matches in the 50%, 25%, 25% distribution every week to two weeks.  If your child starts doing this routinely, I guarantee your child's results will begin to see a significant improvement..

Mastering Doubles - Moving with the ball at the net (Offense & Defense)

So you or your partner have managed to start the point.  The ball is in play and on your opponent's side of the court. Now what?  If you are at the net, where do you move?  You and your partner are one up one back. First we have to distinguish between offense and defense.

In general, Offense is when the ball is played to the baseline person, or to the feet of the opposing net person  This means move forward & CLOSE THE NET.

In general, Defense is when the ball is played to your teams' baseline person, or when your baseline person plays the ball to the opposing net player in such a way that the ball is above the net wen it is struck.  This means MOVE BACK TOWARDS THE T or STAY THERE.

On offense there are two rules for covering your half of the court.

1. When you are cross court from the ball, hug close to the center line.
2. When you are down the line from the ball, be directly across from where the ball is being struck 

What does this mean and are there exceptions?

Baseline to Baseline
The following illustrations show the proper movement of BOTH net players in the situations where the ball is played to the baseline player of the opposing team.









 

Note in both examples that A1 is directly across from where the ball is being struck in space, and B2 is in the defensive net position at the T.

Now the exceptions:


Here A1 is still across from the ball, even as it is played close to the center of the court.  In this situation, B2 must retreat to the center of the service line in order to give B1 an angle to play cross court.

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In the above exception the ball is going to be struck from outside the singles line.  B2 has retreated to the T, but A1 does not move into the alley.  Instead they hug the singles line and FACE the ball.

Baseline to Net
The next scenario involves the situation where the baseline player on your team plays the ball to the opposing net player.  Prior to this, you should have retreated to the T or to the center of the service line on your half of the court, as shown in the earlier examples.

There are two situations that can occur if the baseline player chooses to hit a non lob up the line that does not result in a winner.  Both scenarios result in the opposing net player being able to play the ball.



Above is shown the Defensive position for team A.  If A2 is able to get the ball down the line and forces B2 to strike the ball below the net, A1 must move forward and play offense.
 
Note that A1 has moved forward anticipating the fact the B2 must hit up when they volley.  If A1 can pick off B2's shot, A1 should play the ball to B2's side of the court, since B2 has the least amount of time to react.  This, of course, is provided A1 plays the ball from above the net.

If B2 is playing the ball from above the net, then A1, simply remains in defensive position as illustrated below.



Now you are ready to be an effective net player, and play offense and defense.  Next post will be on when and how to poach/ pick off balls.