FAQ's about tennis

I get asked questions from parents often, and find that other coaches get the same questions. So, here are some frequently asked questions and some frequently responded answers. More to come next week! :)

1. When should my child start playing tennis?

Honestly, the earlier, the better. It really depends on what your goal is. If your child is around six and you're thinking of getting them into the sport, six is actually a good age to start working on introducing the game to the youngster, in short periods of time a few times a week. If your child is fourteen, it also isn't too late. Any age, whether you are six or forty-five, can start the game of tennis and get some healthy fun out of it. However, if you wish your child to be competitive in the game, the sooner the better. The sooner the child gets on the court, the more we as coaches can expose them to correct technique. At Seminole High Performance, we personalize the exposure the child receives to the game of tennis depending on a.) expected performance level and b.) the child themselves. Every child is different, and different times, length of exposure to the game, and technique instruction is necessary for proper accommodations.

2. Should my junior tennis player be playing nationals or ITFs?

First off, nationals are tournaments that give you a USTA ranking, and ITF's, of International Tennis Federation tournaments, give you a ranking on a different system, so they are not equivalent. National tournaments have a great advantage: they are all in the United States. ITF's, however, can be hosted in numerous countries around the world, and sometimes can get expensive to travel to. Both are extremely competitive, and both provide ample competition. If your goal is to go pro, ITF's are what you want to focus on. If your goal is to go to college, USTA tournaments give more exposure to potential collegiate athletes to the college coaches that can easily travel to these tournaments. This isn't to say ITF's are not good for college exposure. When I played, I played primarily ITF tennis tournaments, and I was still recruited heavily by colleges. What you don't want to do is expose your child to both equally. While playing both is not bad at all, playing one primarily will give you the necessary tournament count compared to other players that allow you to climb the rankings in either one or the other. Someone who plays every ITF that is in the US and in the vicinity (Caribbean, South America) and gets to the quarters and semi's each tournament will be higher ranked than a player that plays a few tournaments and wins them.

3. How often should I play in groups versus privates?

This answer really depends on who you are asking about. If you are asking about a younger player who is just beginning tennis, it is best to get a few days a week of group clinics and equal, if not more, privates in. Privates allow a coach to work personally with a player to set their grips, techniques, footwork, and form correctly. While we do this in group clinics as well, the individual attention a private lesson gets you is far superior to that of a group lesson, which cleans technique but does not often set it. Playing in groups gets the player exposed to hitting with others and experimenting with their shots with more live ball drills, incorporating footwork, form, and technique into many of the drills. Without proper technique, footwork, and form, the player will miss more and become more frustrated.

For students who have already been playing for a few years and have some experience with tennis, a few more group clinics a week than privates works just fine, but this also depends on whether the player's technique is set correctly or not. If not, then a little less than equivalent exposure to groups and privates may be necessary. For example, if the player plays three times a week in groups, two private lessons a week may work best. For those who have the correct technique set, one or two privates a week works best so that the coach can always allow individual attention to keeping the technique correct and continuing work on bettering the games of these learning players.

For advanced players, it seems like less privates and more groups would make sense, but this is where private lessons become as essential as group clinics. Competitive players around the world often have exposure to private coaches that work with them on a daily basis on top of match play and group instruction. This becomes essential for competitive players as they move up in their tournament play and as they get older. Privates become more about advancing the players and strategy work as well as keeping the player in tip-top shape rather than technique work, which happens but more seldom than, say, a beginner would have. I can tell you the importance of privates from my own experience. I played in group clinics everyday in New York when I lived there, and played with my dad, who is my coach, a few times a week when we could get it in, or about an hour a day if it was possible. Moving to Florida allowed me to take school online and focus on tennis, which then turned from about an hour a day of play to five hours of practice, with three in the morning and two in the afternoon, often times with individual attention all morning. This training really made my the player I was in junior tennis and later on in college.

More to come next week!