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..