HomeTennis instructionWhy Does the USTA Expect to Create a Number One Player?

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Why Does the USTA Expect to Create a Number One Player? — 17 Comments

  1. Javier has hit the nail on the head in many of his points in this article. I’ve been asking USTA to offer parent education for the masses for about 10 years now. They are starting to listen, I think, as more of us parents take to the social media scene. If you’re going to blame uneducated parents for the lack of US champions, then, for goodness sake, educate us!

  2. I agree with a lot of what it is mentioned, if not all. Also, keep in mind that just as players are individuals, so are coaches. Coaches have different personalities and ways of teaching and just because someone was an amazing player doesn’t necessarily mean that they are amazing at coaching. It is more about finding someone that your kid connects to and listens to and there needs to be good chemistry which is not an easy thing for a governing body to judge or measure. There is no perfect formula, no perfect coach, and it is pretty obvious that no perfect association. On the other hand, yes parents need to be educated but if a parent really wants to learn the game there are many many resources out there that can help them understand the game. It is more about the fine line between being a parent and a being a parent/coach. Keeping your child motivated by supporting, understanding, and having good communication is key.

    To me the main thing that I see in kids in the US is a lack of “hunger”. And yes, those “hungry” kids tend to end up in other arenas such as football/basketball which are much more affordable sports.

    • Haus, just to clarify, I’m not talking about educating parents in the nuances of the game of tennis. I’m talking about educating us in the nuances of developing a junior player and the junior competition structure, various pathways, and the realities of playing college and/or pro tennis.

  3. I thought this was a great perspective given from a parent. I am a coach by profession and sometimes we do not see how the other shoe fits. As a coach I am critical of myself, by measuring the sectional/national performance of my students. I think many coaches need to take a look at themselves and the products of their coaching. I can say that I worked in a facility with a former Top 10 ATP American player and former USTA PD Regional Director and coach. In the 2 years I worked on adjacent courts I can’t really say he produced as much as top 75 in the Nation junior. Consider this and example of the name and price tag doesnt measure up often.

  4. on top of all this… What do you think of the new 12U (8U and 10U) rules regarding the three different kind of balls (red, orange, and green dot) for training the future talented tennis players? Where at some places you need to be boxed for your age but not for your abilities or talent… ie. a talented 10 yr old would have to play a tourny with the orange ball just because he/she is 10.

    • Ro, Yes, your point… is an issue. However ‘talented ten yr olds’ can, and do play the u12 sections at tournaments. Many do quite well. Depends on the region and the number of youngsters who play tournaments/compete. In our region there are not enough entries to make a U10 group oftentimes so they join the u12’s. Truly, the low compression balls/ half courts etc. are for 8 and under! This mini tennis is for them and does enable many to participate and continue tennis! The 9 and 10 year olds, who practice regularly, are committed, and then excel,the ‘regular balls and courts’ become vital to their progress. The USTA got the ages wrong and should correct. It’s ‘8 and under’ for the mini tennis and LC balls.

  5. Great article. Parents new to this sport don’t know how good the coach is or if they are teaching the proper way! That has been the most frustrating aspect. I think your solution to that issue is right on along with making it more budget friendly to get good coaching!

  6. Thanks Javier! This is a GREAT article! I would like to say that though tennis seems like an individual sport and requires individual training, it really is a “team sport”. Though many juniors dream of one day playing professional tennis, all those articles we have been reading over the years prove the likelihood that they won’t.

    What juniors tennis players do end up wanting to do is play for their High School team and possibly have a chance of playing in college. Though singles is a dominant portion of the line ups, the players desire to be a part of that team and most LOVE doubles. When we are all older, we may play on adult leagues that are also team format.

    Parents, coaches, USTA, etc, etc, etc spend all this time, energy, and $$ trying to figure out how to build the perfect system, when there are far too many opinions out there to get anywhere close. I’ve had many ideas myself over the past 20 years. Some work and some don’t, but at the end of the day I love developing children and watching them learn and play.

    With that being said, my opinion is a “10,000 courts per year” initiative. For 10 years, the USTA should buy property and build 10,000 courts per year for 10 years. Do NOT hire the Academy coaches who only “train tournament players”, but hire ones who have proven to be supporters and developers of the 10U juniors and are even larger supporters of a team tennis format. The USTA should not charge those coaches anything as long as they are introducing tennis to kids in their area and do not charge $50 an hour for private lessons and $20 per hour for group lessons. This is also a far better way to educate parents because you are training them at the beginning stages. Go with the “If you build it, they will come” mentality and don’t worry about the next American champion. Let’s just develop LOCAL champions!!

    Regarding Lisa’s comment, I have heard your name in many USTA circles and it seems you have quite an influence with the USTA. With the many years of experience you now have regarding the USTA and junior tennis, it seems you can assist a great deal with educating parents now. Maybe pass my idea to your connections with USTA national and see what they think.

    Thanks!

    • JasonF, thanks for the shout-out! I wish I had that kind of influence with the USTA! All I can do is to keep writing about these issues, then hope the folks at USTA read what I write and respond and act on the things they deem helpful.

      As for your idea of building 10,000 courts each year, in my area of the country (Atlanta), it’s not a lack of courts that’s the issue. We have plenty of tennis courts. However, maintaining them properly so they’re playable can be a huge issue. So, maybe you can amend your idea slightly to include a line-item for court maintenance? Just a thought . . .

    • Jason… yes. Tho indoor courts are critically needed (tournaments! Rain etc.) in most parts of the nation ( cold/snow etc) and WHOA… a big expense. And yes maintenance a problem to address on the existing courts in many areas! and then… staffing locally, not USTA only academy—agree! Looks like the funds are going to one big centralized area for training in Florida however and the roof/cover for the US Open in NY.

  7. I agree with most of the article. Many of us have suggested building a bridge from recreational to competitive tennis, building a larger pool of players, rather than restricting the pool by taking some of those players and sending them to USTA training sites.
    Like every one else, I have my own bious and asked why not build bridge over high school tennis. For years their response was same as many of you. High school is recreational not competitive. Why? Where do those Americans who play baseball, basketball, football golf & soccer come from? Could the reason be that is not the case in tennis, is because some tennis Pros and the USTA compete against us.
    I have heard the above arguments and ask, why not get your Board of Ed to open up those courts to local Pros, when not in use? Why not help train those high school coaches, we (Florida High School Tennis Coaches Association) do annual training and in December we will start bringing the training to them. Why not get your Pro organization involved? We partnered with the USPTA Florida Region and do training together.
    Our most recent discussions with USTA/Florida produced a change of direction in our discussion; informing us they are no longer interested in developing competition, their emphasis is now on recreation. How sad! Not that they might be changing direction because they recognize there failure, but that their ego is such that since they could not do it, they do not see the advantage of supporting other possibilities.

  8. Javier, thanks for launching this discussion thread with insightful ideas from your experience as a parent and a coach. U.S. tennis player development appears to be at a precipice of sorts, and many of us ‘stakeholders’ have passion for contributing to an awesome PD plan.
    I too as a a parent have ‘passionate ideas’ ready to implement (and believe I’ve garnered some wisdom over the years/educating myself/playing etc.)

    My motivation is both for my child to have the best USTA experience with opportunities to reach her potential as possible, and for the development of the sport inclusively for all the nation’s youngsters. This requires the USTA PD to align with this vision but the trajectory is now-single purposed (select a few ‘with talent’ for RTC’s and of course the giant training center being build in Florida for 2016.)

    Yes, agree the focus/drive of PD should be off the notion of ‘creating the next star-champion’ as Javier stated. Needed: more inclusive leadership (USTA) that addresses the comprehensive changes needed to promote our young athletes and their potentials. Yes, remove barriers such as ‘logistical’ as the article describes and accessibility (namely cost). Great breakdown of costs in the article!

    If EVEN these 2 areas had USTA financial support to make them happen–that could prove to be fruitful. We all know all the ways and means that PD didn’t succeed these past few years. Learn. No blame. Move forward. Positively.

    Russia with ‘Spartec’ program is effective for 2 main reasons 1.) identifies players from a young age who meet the hand eye coordination/athletic ability criteria and then 2.) with the few that are selected and who drill under austere conditions while waiting patiently for courts(indoor),the hunger-passion builds and is instilled as ‘a great winner’s attitude.’ Guess what: They get to observe the advanced players and learn! When you wait while conditioning hard to be ‘of age’ AND can find court time to train, you bet there is drive and endurance deep inside them. Then they go to other training academies in Europe and America.

    I suppose these kinds of conditions/approaches cannot exist at the gigantic USTA Florida center. It’s a model that works for them. What aspects/ approaches CAN be inculcated?

    Yes finally, as Lisa/Parenting Aces has spearheaded, parent education and support. And coaches too. Communication is the key for coaching and KNOWING your student athlete’s temperament because what motivates each is different. Mental strengthening is key! IMHO this should be a far larger development area. Must include winning positive attitude, and far more match strategy ( although as Chris Evert states, at some point you gotta develop this core strength in yourself).

    USTA PD vision to lead coaches and programs in each region to orchestrate regular practice match play between clubs, as stipulated by Javier. With support, coaches will learn that this benefits all the players ( including their own!). Let go of fear-based training all together. Parent education also, (to stifle their ‘delusions of grandeur’ to mitigate ‘coach jumping’ when they see something different/promising at ‘the drop of a hat.’ Understanding a good match-up of styles and communication between child and coach is vital and then lends brevity to the whole situation.

    Best take away: ‘Tennis is an individual sport requiring a team effort.’ Thank you! And my contention: do it at the grass roots level–do you need a governing body to lead you by the nose for everything? Create your own ‘best practices’ and see who flocks to your club. Say yes and thank you for financial support for any part of the above mentioned, if allocated. It always helps;)

  9. Candace – you make some great points! You don’t need a governing body at the grass roots level to lead you by the nose for everything. That’s a great starting point.

    In my opinion, there are 4 common themes within the junior tennis footprint.
    1. We overlesson & underplay.
    2. We put rankings over development.
    3. We play the blame game.
    4. We have false expectations.

    I could expand on each of these and even insert a few more, but this post would never end. The important point to note is, as parents (life coaches), we have the power to manage these themes, and if you can, you put your kid on the happy path.

    Yes, tennis is expensive as are most competitive sports. With that said, managing the money is key, and everyone’s financial situation is different. Here’s an exercise for you… Assuming you already had equipment, try and design a training plan as if you had no money. This will force you to get creative. Then modify your plan based on different monthly commitments ($100, $400, $800, $1,000, etc…).

    For example, using the article’s plan, let’s say I had $700 month available… I would cut the privates in half (1 per week) and I’d eliminate the group lessons. Next I would form my own drill groups or hitting partners and weave matches into those sessions. Matches, matches, and more matches is key. And if you have to play with parameters to make it even and fun, then do it! I did something similar to this with my kid from age 7-13. I’m not saying it was perfect, but it worked for our family.

    My $.02

    • George, your ‘four themes’ are succinct(unlike me…yes we could all write a book HA!) and they have great merit. I appreciated knowing what you tried and that it had good/some success. Yes, ‘happy’ is under-rated! Every move forward is progress. I especially see that ‘we coaches’ over train (lessons) and provide too few opportunities for practice match play. Create this at the local club level as we come to value it increasingly, and then decide to include more, and let us know some of the results (effectiveness/progress). Thank you.

  10. I have a question regarding the USTA regional training centers. How are players selected to take part in these? Is it strictly based on rankings only?

  11. Javier’s article is pretty much on the mark. Many of us in Australia have been saying similar for quite sometime. Australian programs are very similar to US ones. Consequently we have been getting the same poor results over the last ten years.
    Most people in this country seem content that we have a great event …The Australian Open. It hits the spot once a year as a highlight on most peoples social calendar, brings tennis into the headlines for a fortnight and then disappears until next time around.
    Simply we have given up on producing champions!
    We tend to pay huge amounts of money to use ex players on the payroll. It justifies the system! These players are often extremely good at their roles however we are talking only of the top 2 percent of talented players.
    It’s what happens to the other 98% of players that matters. This where champions originate.
    There are many facets to having programs from where champions evolve. My humble opinion is that there are not enough people with adequate background experience in senior positions in our organisation. Consequently when Javier suggest that the ruling body needs to identify coaches etc who provide the expertise required I shudder. Who makes these decisions?
    Too often the coach’s motivation is money! That’s the one thing major thing stopping that minute pool of kids who may have that burning desire we are looking for.
    Think we need some serious discussion in this country on what worked in the 90’s yet was consequently shelved because the reasons were not understood by those at the top. Mention it these days and it is pushed aside as too simplistic by those who really don’t understand!