Wednesday, March 6, 2013

What an eye opener 10 & Under tennis really is!

The other day, a colleague and dear friend of mine invited me to observe his practice session with two of his players. As I entered the building, I saw all eight courts at this particular facility full. All kinds of lessons were going on; private lessons, group lessons and semi-privates. It was a good sight, so many juniors in one location in attempts to perfect their craft. As good as it was to see these courts full of players, my eyes started to shift to one particular court.

Forehands hit crisply cross court, then backhands, a slice was thrown in from time to time escape the defensive position and a volley to finish the point; an actual, well-constructed tennis point was being played. The beauty of it was that it wasn't just one, it was MANY! I took the one available seat to
watch these player's practice session and was mesmerized by the quality of play from these players. As I looked to see who the coach was that was training them, it did not surprise me to see my good friend leading the charge.

The two players were two boys ages six and seven. Their play was more consistent than the other seven courts with older players. Not only was the length of the rally longer than the other courts with older players, but the quality of stroke was also better. These two facts had people who were walking in the club stop by and check out the wonderful play from these youngsters. "Wow!" exclaimed one person. "How old are they?" was the response of another. "They are so good", was the response of most. All the people who walked by, stopped with curiosity and left amazed at the success of these two young players.

What was their success? The coaching? The equipment? Their hours of training? The answer is YES to all three.

These boys play a lot because they love it! 
          
          They love it because they are good at it! 
                   
                    They are good at it because they have been put into a favorable position by the coach  
                    in using the appropriate equipment for the players. 

This is the skill of coaching! I was more than pleased to see my colleague utilize his vast knowledge to grow his players.

Coaching is knowing the ins and outs of technique, tactics, the mental and physical components of the game, but the most important one is putting the players in the right position to learn all of these. Traveling to different programs I have seen some amazing technicians, some extremely smart people with Xs and Os, but it is rare you can find a coach that applies these concepts along with savvy to know where to put the player to maximize their success.

When we all play tennis, we enjoy the idea of rallying the ball back and forth and hopefully winning the rally by hitting a winner or by the mistake of the opposition. I have, to this day, never met someone who would rather fetch balls instead of actually engaging into a rally. This is the foundation of our sport. 10 & Under Tennis does exactly that. My colleague was able to place these two boys in the most successful position to develop their game by utilizing the right equipment along with sharing his knowledge of the game with them.

I was lucky to be invited to watch these two players in their practice session. As you can tell, I am a BIG proponent of 10 & Under Tennis and sessions like the one I saw are so much fun to watch. I as a spectator had a lot of fun, the people around me watching were also engaged, and the coach was well into the session. How do you think these two boys felt as they were hitting?

Sport is suppose to be fun, I am sure this ideological concept was met that day :-)))

to learn more, visit: http://www.10andundertennis.com

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