Attention Parents! Tennis is the Best first Sport

This story is about another example of the scientific community confirming what many of us lifelong tennis lovers have believed for years — that tennis is not only the best sport to play for a lifetime, but that it is also the best first sport for children to learn as well.

It’s an important and logical consideration. After all, it makes a great deal of sense for parents to encourage their children to select a first sport to learn which will develop the greatest number of skills required by the greatest number of other sports and activities. The chart on this page presents a very convincing argument.

Here are the tennis-specific notes and definitions to help you better understand.

Throwing— We all know that the service and overhead motion in tennis is identical to baseball and football. It shouldn’t be surprising to note that when baseball players or quarterbacks take up tennis, they serve like Pete Sampras.

Catching — It has long been understood that the soft-hand skills required for volleying, as well as drop shots, lobs, and other touch shots in tennis are terrific catching skill-builders for other sports.

Striking— Anyone who has played tennis knows how much easier tennis makes learning all other racquet sports. In fact, studies have proven significant carry-over from one racquet sport to others, as well as to other striking activities like baseball and hockey.

Running & Striking— This very specific skill is one of the most challenging features of tennis, and one of the most valuable skill-builders a developing athlete can master. In this area, most other sports don’t compare at all.

Movement Rhythm— Sports educators are now broadly beginning to emphasize the importance of rhythm in sports, although dance teachers have long expounded it’s benefits. Because tennis is a continuous rhythm activity, it offers many timing and rhythm benefits not available from many other sports. It may be interesting to compare soccer and tennis in this regard. In tennis, players are constantly involved with the ball; however in soccer, a center halfback, for example, will only be in contact with the soccer ball about two minutes in a full court 90-minute soccer game.

3-Step Movement Patterns— At a recent multiple sports conference, a featured speaker spoke about the 3-step movement principal for sports like kicking in soccer and football. In tennis as well, leading coaches are pointing out that almost all baseline movement can be covered in three steps.

Aerobic— Although tennis is accepted as more anaerobic than aerobic, the aerobic benefits of playing tennis are very high as compared to other sports such as baseball or golf.

Anaerobic— There was a recent comparison of calories burned by different activities over a 3-hour period. Competitive and moderate tennis scored near the top of the list. Why? The on-going high level of anaerobic activity in tennis compares quite favorably to all other sports. This makes tennis a wonderful first sport to build both stamina and strength in ildren.

Team-Building— Most junior tennis classes are organized in a group learning environment, encouraging a team atmosphere within an individual sport. And, what is perhaps the most exciting tennis event of the year? Davis Cup play — a total team experience.

The Sport for a Lifetime— The final point of interest on our comparison chart is to consider which of the sports listed can be played for a lifetime. After all, it makes sense to invest the most time and resources in an activity which pays the highest dividends. And tennis does just that.

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Tennis Tip: Be Positive with your words

Do you sometimes feel like you’re sounding like a broken record with your athletes? If you are getting a little tired of hearing the same things come out of your mouth- it’s a safe bet that your players are starting to tune you out. Here’s a list of 23 *new* ways to say “Good Job” to your team. 1) You’re on the right track now! 2) You’ve got it made. 3) You’re really working hard today. 4) You are very good at that. 5) I’m proud of the way you worked today. 6) That’s the best you’ve ever done. 7) I knew you could do it. You are learning fast. 9) Couldn’t have done it better myself. 10) You did it that time! 11) Nothing can stop you now. 12) That’s the way to do it. 13) You’ve got your brain in gear today. 14) That was first class work. 15) That’s better than ever. 16) You must have been practicing. 17) Good job, (person’s name) 18) You outdid yourself today! 19) Good going. 20) Now you have the hang of it. 21) Sensational! 22) That’s the way! 23) Aren’t you proud of yourself? I’m a big believer in catching kids doing things RIGHT. It’s way more fun to call out a kid doing something correctly than one doing something wrong (for you and the kid). But as coaches, we usually spend more time pointing out mistakes than pointing out the good.

Monthly Tennis Tip: Motivating Kids.

In my 20 + years of working with kids, I have learned that there are 3 ways to “reward” an athlete for good
performance:

1) Tangible Rewards (medals, athletic letters, stickers)
2) Communication Rewards (praise, publicity, smiles, thumbs up)
3) Activity Rewards (playing a game instead of doing a drill, getting to take a short rest, being able to keep playing)

It’s a good idea to use ALL 3 types of rewards as part of your motivation strategy.

Some kids will do ANYTHING for a tangible reward, others could care less about earning a medal. Some kids grow up in very critical households, so having a coach say they did something amazingly well will keep them working at their full potential day in and day out. And finally, some kids love to be singled out and given an activity reward in front of their peers.

Can you see how this three-pronged rewards approach might help your coaching?
It’s way more fun to reward a kid doing something correctly than one doing something wrong (for you and the kid).

See you on the court!

Tony

Tennis Tip: Think, Prioritize, Win!

Developing correct priority thinking when learning and playing tennis is essential. For instance, take consistency and hitting winners. Both should become a part of your game plan. But the mental priority should flow from consistency to hitting winners in a winning strategy. Attempting to hit winners without a base of consistency is like trying to build a building without a foundation. You may get a building up but it’s not going to last very long!  Any veteran of the game clearly understands that winners are the reward of consistent play. Consistency creates and maintains an environment for the opportunity to hit winners, exactly like a foundation creates an environment to construct a strong building.

 Here is a drill I do to condition a player’s mind to prioritize:

While at the net volleying to an opponent on the baseline, the net player is not allowed to hit a winner until he has hit two or three consistent shots to the baseline player. After the second or third ball the net player is free to pick a shot and hit a winner.

Consistency first, winners second!

 Although this is a simple concept, getting players to part from hitting winners prematurely in match play can take years. Even when warming up players tend to hit many winners. How in the world are you and your opponent supposed to warm up if you are slamming winners all over the place?

It’s time to add another piece of the big picture to your tennis mental repertoire. Hitting winners does not win matches, hitting with consistency and control wins matches. Your game plan is to not hit winners to win. Your game plan is to strive for consistency, then stand firm on that consistent foundation and blast away at any winners that show up!

 See you on the court!

Tony