As a tennis professional for many years, I’ve had the opportunity to utilize many coaching advances to help my players. I have developed over 20 players who went on to play professionally and over a hundred who played college tennis, many at the Ivy League and Division 1 levels. It has been extremely rewarding to see my players develop both as athletes and as individuals.
The Advantage Tennis Junior Development Program has two assets in particular that I feel are extremely important in helping youngsters develop and make the most of their abilities.
The Advantage Tennis Junior Development Program provides a complete developmental pathway. Beginners start in the Red Ball Program and can move into the Junior Development Program and then the High Performance Program and USTA Eastern sanctioned tournaments as their skills improve. This can all be done in the same supportive, familiar environment with coaches who can guide them and their families through the process. I can’t emphasize enough how critical these elements are in developing skilled, happy, confident individuals and tennis players.
Advantage Tennis Clubs regularly hosts sanctioned junior tournaments where players can hone their skills and gain ranking points right at their home club. Their coaches have the opportunity to see the players in actual tournament matches. This is crucial in giving coaches the information they need to guide a player’s development. Almost no one plays the same in matches as they do in practice. Families often have to pay a coach to travel to tournaments to see how a player and their opponents perform under tournament conditions.
Players in the Advantage Tennis Junior Development Program have the luxury of home court advantage, and their coaches have opportunities to see them compete.
Learning to play tennis is much more than simply hitting balls. Tennis is a game of physics, geometry, and psychology that can be played successfully by a wide range of body types. You only have to look at the success of Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz or Aryna Sabalenka and Ons Jabeur to see that height and big muscles are not prerequisites as they are in basketball and football.
Good coaching takes into account a player’s physical, mental, and emotional strengths and develops the player’s game to maximize them. The most important element for success for a competitive junior player is having the right team behind them and ensuring that the team members understand their roles.
The team consists of The Player, The Coach, and the Player’s Parents. The responsibilities of these team members are:
→The Player – Give a full effort at all times, be open to learning, and understand and appreciate the value of the contributions made by the other members of their team.
→The Coach – Provide instruction, mentoring, and a positive role model, and guide the player and their family in setting appropriate goals and understanding the junior tournament system and developmental pathway.
→The Parents – Offer unconditional love and support to their player, financial and otherwise. Model appropriate behavior at all times. No criticism of the player’s game or matches.
With this team in place, the player will have the education and support to develop as a player. Tennis is not just about building great athletes but about fostering life skills such as discipline, resilience, and teamwork. The lessons learned on the court extend far beyond it, helping young players grow into well-rounded adults who are equipped to tackle challenges in any arena. Embracing tennis as a lifetime sport means investing in personal development, creating lasting relationships, and cultivating a lifelong passion for an activity that brings joy and fulfillment at every age.
Go out and ace ‘em!
