The mission of the USTA is: "To promote and develop the growth of tennis." In the local area, we can now add, "To promote and develop the growth of its junior development program" and the first step in this growth is to promote an extensive free program. The USTA is now in the junior development…
I just got home from watching the NY Sportimes v. Boston Lobsters featuring James Blake. Now I realize that it is always nice to go to an event where big names are playing, but this is good tennis. More so, its a fun, family friendly atmosphere that should be supported by anyone and everyone in the tennis world. …
For starters, every child is different and unique. However, as a baseline, the USTA has done a comprehensive study on world class players and what level tournaments they played as juniors. What they came up with is that a player has the most long-term potential if they have a 2:1 win/loss ratio. This means for every…
While watching the Wimbledon Men’s Final between Rafael Nadal and Tomas Berdych, I heard NBC broadcasting legend Dick Enberg ask John McEnroe about a comment made by Andy Murrey after his semifinal loss that "Nadal’s ball just feels so heavy on my racket." "What?" Enberg asked, "does that mean?" McEnroe’s insightful response was, "sometimes the…
Not Important For Getting Better In A Drill Group: 1) Exclusively playing with better players – When a parent says their child wants to be in a group that is stronger than their level, this tells me that the child wants to artificially feel like he/she is stronger than he really is or maybe the parents…
I just came back from the USTA High performance camp in Boca Raton, Fla. Several of the best 11 and 12 year olds from across the country, as well as their primary coaches, were selected to participate, including a student of mine, Brenden Volk. I have a few observations from this experience that I would like to…
An interesting comment was made to me in 1995. I was having a little give and take with some of my California college teammates when I mentioned that I won an Eastern Sportsmanship Award when I was a junior. My roommate and #1 singles player commented, "Winning The Eastern Sportsmanship Award means you are the best…
It’s now official. Now that the Spring Break trips have begun and it is also possible to play on outdoor courts again (at least in the Berkshires—if you’re somewhere further south, you may have been playing outside much longer), the spring season has begun, and the restlessness of the winter has ended. In comparison to…
A lot of times people want to go out and seemingly do well for their young child. "Who are the best coaches in the area?" They may ask their friends. Truth is, the coaches who are known as top coaches are top coaches for a completely different demographic than the one a 6-8 year old…
I was recently at a dinner party at a friend’s apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. I got caught up in a conversation with some guy who said that he worked in the city as some sort of financial or investment banker. I wasn’t quite sure what he was talking about, because I…