Success in a Tournament Does Not Come “A la Carte”

Strokes
Most tennis careers start with a lesson of forehands, backhands, volleys, grips and a few serves. The first thing a teaching pro sees is hand-eye coordination, athletic ability, and for me, if the child has the ability to learn. How does the child listen and learn? Are they quiet, paying close attention to the subject or do they change the subject to themselves?

Delivering the beginning stages of strokes is directly connected to the willingness of the student to be a learner and push through this tedium to get to the playing level. As strokes improve, they move to cross-courts and other drills. This is similar to the music student’s transition from notes to scales.

Practice
Is the child and parent willing to move to a practice group in addition to their lesson? When the student says they don’t like group lesson and would rather have another private lesson, this is the beginning of selective learning. Alarm! What parent would arrange a second weekly music lesson for a child who won’t practice?

Training should start when lessons begin and parents should insist if you want to play you must train. Strength, flexibility, quickness, stamina, balance and focus are all benefits of training. The student who trains from the beginning learns faster. Why would you want your child to compete without developing these attributes?

Match play
Match play is a no brainer. These are all necessities in the development of a successful tournament player. If your child isn’t screaming for match play, they won’t be prepared for tournament play technically, physically or emotionally. Technically, you find where improvements are needed under pressure, physically you test your fitness in a way you cannot in the training room and emotionally you only begin to scratch the surface of the stress dealt with in tournaments. The real cool cucumber will never get enough match play and conversely the child who says, ”I’m okay” and doesn’t want match play will not be prepared for the stress of tournament play.

Tactics
Tactics are where children’s better physical attributes and strokes meet competition and strategy. Each of the attributes build upon each other to get to strategy. Though strokes and practice in conjunction with fitness one builds competence. When tested in competition, this brings one to the dawn of strategy. Without this the base of the development the competitor has an incomplete foundation which will crumble against well developed and tested competition.

Frequency of play
Frequency of play and frequency of competition are variably intertwined. Players at the highest levels will be playing five or six days each week. They should have a plan for competitions four to six weeks in advance with breaks for rest and work on one’s game. Rest on a daily basis is very important. They are still growing. Lack of rest can also have a detrimental effect on focus.

The level of play should find success equal to your invested time. If you have lost 90 percent of your matches, you are playing at the wrong level. If you are winning more than 75 percent of your matches, you should consider moving up. If you are just winning or losing, you are at the wrong level and can learn more at a higher or lower level depending upon your situation.

Parental influence
Parental influence can be either elevating or deflating. The word to avoid is “too.” Parental stress can be greater than competitive stress. I have always felt the key is not to let a child feel competitive outcomes are more important to you than the child. Listen carefully to the child and you will get all the information you need regarding being too pushy or too detached.

Time and dedication
Lastly one must be at peace with the time investment. Competitors need to be single-minded, focused and in charge of their preparation. At the same time, you don’t want to breed entitlement. A parent told me recently “He takes up all my time now, but I will get my life back when he’s in college.”

Children and parents who have followed this outline have been overachievers. Those who have been selective participants have not found the same success. These are necessities and not options. When you exclude selectively you diminish not only your foundation, but your ability to transition at the higher levels. If you are planning on playing in college you will have to do these things. Think of it as training for your brightest future.