I spend a great deal of time trying to prove the worth of Red, Orange and Green to others. But recently I decided to stop trying so hard. You see the fact is that it makes sense. It’s the other side of the coin that doesn’t!

When JP McEnroe stepped out with the Max 200G a few said … “Hey that’s crazy .. get your wooden MaxPlys out!!”  So where are we now! When they changed tennis balls from white to yellow because it helped players see them better no one batted an eyelid.

When new acrylic surfaces were introduced, and hawkeye, and sports orthotics, and polyester strings the same reaction, and yet after a few sniggers people had to eat their words. We must grasp the fact that the world does keep spinning every day and it spins forwards, not backwards and what was in the past gets replaced by what will come, a better and more considered option!

The fact is we make changes.. or as we prefer to say “evolve” all the time. So I am throwing the ball back and saying … this ROG system makes perfect sense to me and most every coach that has tried it so you “Yellow Ball Purists” .. show me why kids tennis should not evolve!!

Finally let me leave you with this quick (slightly altered) statement

“The greatest limit to mans potential is not fear or lack of opportunity, but the illusion of knowledge!”

From Dave Colby – Manchester Athletic Club, MA, USA

For me this was a week to remember. I had a group of kids that play two times a week and are 6 and 7 years old. They all play on a red court and are developing quite some skills. We started the lesson with picking a pro player that they wanted to be that lesson. Of course Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are mentioned, but one of the kids wanted to be Pete Sampras (my idol when I was young). The funny thing is that Pete Sampras officially retired in 2003, the year this kid was born. When I asked this kid why he chose Pete Sampras, his answer was: “Because you told me to look at some tennis clips on tv or on YouTube and I liked the way how he hits his serve…”. To be honest I forgot that I gave them that assignment a couple of weeks before and this kid just did what I told him to do.

Let your kids be a proplayer and see how it improves their tennis, simply by having a role model/tennis hero and being inspired, even when they are 6 or 7 years old.

Another group lesson I had this week, was a group of 8 kids that are 5 and 6 years old and are playing once a week since 6 months now. This was my first lesson that day so I set up the court with 4 little nets (I just hadn’t put them in the right positions) and a couple of buckets with balls. In each bucket were different type of balls. One with red, one with orange, one with green and one with yellow balls, meant for the other lessons I had that day. I started talking with one of the parents and some of the other parents started playing with their kids. When I finished talking to one of the parents, I looked at the kids and they were placing the nets into the right spots, they were making little courts with throw down lines, grabbed the red balls (they could have grabbed yellow balls, but they didn’t) and started playing with their parents. They were calling the lines and keeping the score. They understand the rules and were even giving feedback to their parents to stand behind the lines and getting in a right ready-position. THEY WERE ALL TENNISPLAYERS!

This reminds me of something Abraham Lincoln said: Do nothing for your child that they can’t to for themselves. (In this particular case, setting up the courts). Now I know for sure they can play on a proper court, even when I’m not there. These kids made me very proud that day!!!

Next task; getting them to bring a simple tennis bag (backpack) and let them be prepared for the lesson by taking a bottle of water with them and a couple of other things. To be continued!

Kind regards,

Tim de Rooij,

Headcoach TV Nieuw-Vennep, The Netherlands

FROM JASON LINDERMAN, HOT SHOTS AMBASSADOR….

The following email was received from a parent from Jasons program. At 10am on a rough day it made me smile and cry all at the same time! Dont ever underestimate your capacity to change lives!

From Jason!

Below is an email I recieved highlighting the success of what I learnt from you. I am  having great success with Hot Shots and really enjoying working with this age group Its working and we have loads of enthusiastic kids and parents!

Thanks!

From a Mum!

“My 7 year old lost his way this year. He was unwell and admitted to hospital for a ti m e. He lost some of his motor skills, and his confidence. His behaviour became very difficult due to frustration.  He lost his enthusiasm for ball sports. Everyone who knew him felt  sad for a little fellow who was regarded as being a happy boy with a real spark for life; who rollicked through his days at 100 m iles per hour. Through the support of his Hot Shots coach and the suitability of the programme for development of ball skills, he has regained his ” mojo” and is focussing again. He recently enjoyed participating in the December RED BALL Challenge 2010. He (and his 9yo sister) beca me so enthused about tennis that they would get up at 6a m , have their beds made, set the breakfast table and pack their school bags on tennis days. The best thing for him about the Red Ball Challenge was being part of a team and helping each other and going out and having fun together. I wonder if this is what Pat Rafter is after for the next generation of kids that wants to play for Australia …being able to bottle that enthusiasm for the team ; playing well individually but also being able to celebrate a team mates’ success as well.”

From a very appreciative mum .

#1 Right Stuff – Courts and Equipment are scaled to the appropriate size of the child. When children are just starting out we want to make it easier for them to play, not more difficult. Using the yellow ball on the full sized court makes it much tougher for them, especially as they are smaller. In no other sport is a six or seven year old child expected to play on an adult sized field or court!

#2 More Skills – Balls bounce lower and some (red) fly slower also, allowing players to develop technical skills faster. Using these balls means that children can learn more not less. As they develop they transfer these skills, as they move
from court to court, adding more coordination and complexity.

#3 No Extremes – As balls are hit in the appropriate strike zones more often players are less likely to
develop extreme grips and techniques that might limit their future development both tactically and technically.

#4 Play Quicker – Players can serve, rally and score faster. This means that children feel like they can really play the game and have more fun. They are also much more likely to practice as they can play without the coach, can play with you, and with their friends.

#5 Play and Stay – Players Stay in the game because they can actually play it (not a bunch of random other games). They learn the real skills required to play, and the coaches don’t have to makeup games that involve a ball and racquet but don’t actually resemble tennis at all.

#6 More Balls Please – As they can rally they will hit over 100% more balls than a player standing in line, being fed balls by the coach. No longer do children have to spend more time picking up than they do hitting. As a result they will improve much faster and also develop the essential tracking and receiving skills required for tennis.

#7 Tactical Mastery – Players develop a greater tactical awareness of the court and opponent sooner as they have the time to integrate the position of the opponent into a decision making process rather than just “winning the collision” with the ball. In short they get to “make the ball do what they want it to” and not just “cope” with the oncoming ball.

#8 Ticking all the Boxes – Red, Orange and Green tennis provides a systematic approach to developing different skills as ball trajectories change and court dimensions requires new or more advanced levels of technical and tactical skills. Players learn skills in an order meaning that they develop fewer gaps in their technical and tactical skills, or game styles.

#9 Move it – Players movement patterns are more realistic. For example 85% of shots on the tour are hit within 4 steps of the starting position. On appropriate sized courts this is very similar. Players can learn to be “on balance” and use realistic footwork and movement patterns. Also as more balls come back and rallies are longer they learn that recovery and being ready for the next shot are essential.

#10 No Robots – Players can develop a variety of game styles and skills that better suit their personality. The slower balls and smaller courts mean that players can play in all areas of the court, coming to net more often and learning to attack and defend more appropriately.

It’s said that children are our greatest teachers. So to have a child of your own is truely a blessing. I have always said that my daughter taught me way more about kids than any training i ever attended..

So here is a true life story that underpins the principles of every drill for Red players you ever run….

It was May, she was 6 and I was a tennis parent for the first time!

Excitedly i took her to the club where a trusted and enthusiastic coach stood ready to receive the new crop of which Ella was just one. It all seemed to start fine and I observed from a distance. Teaching a tennis coaches kid has to be pretty intimidating for any coach and also i have always tried to get Ella to stand on her own two feet… (failed much of the time but this was my strategy!)….

The lesson came to an end and I moved to greet my daughter who had a quizzical frown, where once a smile had been.

“Was it fun? Do you want to come next week?”

“No Daddy!” came the immediate and quite deflating response… “It wasn’t PROPER Tennis!”

“Why?” …. to be honest i had watched from a far and although this was no master coach session I was interested in her perception!

“Well!”….. I have noticed that sentences that start with “Well” always leave me feeling like I am the child and she is the parent… It’s like when my mother calls me “Michael” instead of Mike.. I knew I was about to be told!!

“Well Daddy in tennis you have to keep the ball between the lines! One time I hit the ball over the fence and coach said Great Follow Through!… Is he crazy does he not know the rules!?”

Ok I kinda get this I thought .. the kid gets it .. KEEP THE BALL IN THE COURT!

“Then Daddy, I had to stand around with my arms out like a star! The coach hit the ball right too me and i just had to swing. Daddy c’mon I have seen tennis on the TV and you are supposed to move around, not just stand in line! It;s not GOLF Daddy”

Good Point I thought… Tennis is all about MOVING!

“And you know in Tennis Daddy there are supposed to be two people on either side of the net making the ball go back and forward! The only one on the other side of the net was the coach! And is he married to that basket? He never moves anywhere without it!”

Ok .. TWO PEOPLE!

To this day I have never forgotten this simple and yet enlightening conversation. It told me not just how the game should be presented but also kids want the game to be presented. It’s now the cornerstone of every drill we do at evolve9…..

www.seriouskidsstuff.com

Sylvester wakes up to the familiar chatter of children in the house and around the village.  He knows it must be getting late and he really must hurry up and catch up with his friends. He hears a soft sigh next to him, and realises that his younger brother, Davis is still asleep. It had been hard to sleep last night: it had rained, and  drops of water that filtered down through the holes in the roof of their one-roomed shack. They had to stay up and place pots to collect that precious water, so that they would be able to keep some for use for a few days. When the rain finally stopped, their mum managed to dry up the floor and lay their mat and they finally fell asleep, huddled close together to keep warm under their makeshift blanket.
Sylvester shook Davis and when he didn’t get a reaction, he whispered fiercely in his ear, “Sadili, utaachwa!” (Sadili, you will be left behind). Davis opened his eyes, and smiled with expectation.
They quickly rolled and shoved their mat under their mother’s bed, folded their blanket as best they could and balanced it on top of the stool near the bed, where it hung precariously on top of their school bags. Sylvester picked up a tin cup, dipped it in a bucket of water, while Davis carefully lights up their kerosene cooker in the corner of the room. They quickly heat up the water in the tin and add some tea leaves, and clean up around their dwelling as best they can. Their mum had as usual, left early to buy vegetables from the wholesale Gikomba market to sell in Kibera, and this meant that they would have to take care of themselves all day.
Sylvester dips a small cloth in a sup of water and proceeds to wipe himself, and his bother does the same. That’s all the cleaning they will get that day, water was too precious to waste, but they knew that once they got to Sadili, they would be checked for cleanliness before they could be allowed to join other children in playing. They dress up in their Sadili kit and, after carefully locking up the door, run down to the makeshift bridge where the rest of the gang are waiting impatiently.
This is going to be their style everyday this December holiday. Leaving early in the morning to get to the Sadili courts to practice tennis before everyone else gets there. This is often as early as 7 am. That way they get to play for at least two hours before they get to join other kids for group training for about one hour. There are often so many kids coming to learn tennis, that Sylvester and Davis cannot get enough time on the courts. On time, David counted about 63 children waiting to get on court. But the gang of friends have learned that the best way is to rush in any free time available, like when its a water break for another group, or between sessions, however short a time it is. In the afternoon, the big boys and girls play, and Sylvester and his friends love to sit on the side bench and watch, while his brother sometimes gets a chance to help the coach pick up the few balls to keep the session running. This group are called the “Otengas” (Eagles), and every little ten year old dreams of being one someday, because they get to travel and play tournaments, and some have even left to live in other countries. And they have their own racquets, which they carry in big bags. Sylvester and his friends have now graduated from playing with plastic balls and wooden bats on dust, to sharing a couple of racquets on a court, but he often wishes that he could really get more time on court, so that he can practice more and play more. The other day, they were taken to a room and they got to watch other kids play a match. It was very exciting, but they also noticed that those kids were only a few on a court. At Sadili, if you play your best and perform well in school, you can get promoted to the next level. Everyone wants to go up, there are seven levels, and most of the gang are at level 3, apart from Sylvester, who is at level 4. He hopes that one Sadili will have many courts, and he would get to play as much as he wishes to, so that one day, he can also get to cross the city and see what the world looks like outside his little village.
But for now, he is happy that they all have somewhere they can play anytime they want, a safe space for kids, and that is always available at Sadili Oval.

By Dr Liz Odera

When the going get tough the tough get going? But when it’s kids how do we create this type of desire and love of  challenge ?

One way is to use the safe zone. This idea is a pretty simple one. Create a task at two levels.
The first level is the safe zone. A level at which the child will definitely be successful.
The second level is the challenge level. You can make up a good name for this like ” ultimate challenge” or “mission impossible”.
All you then have to do then is alternate the task between the two levels, doing it first in the safe zone and then in the challenge zone.

Kids will still see a level of success but can also choose to step up and try the challenge when they want. Ironically by giving kids this choice they will often choose to spend far more time being challenged than you might first imagine, and choose a much harder challenge than if you use only a progressively harder and harder practice..

Ok you may be thinking! Well of course having kids stand in lines means that they wont make as much progress!

A child who actively rallies diuring a lesson will hit 100% more balls than a child that stands in line waiting to be fed by the coach. But actually its the other aspects of learning that I am referring to.

A child who rallies will understanding the tactical context of what he is trying to achieve. He will not only hit the ball but also know where he is trying to get it there and why! Technical skill rather than just technique will be developed.

A child who rallies and plays points will develop a need to develop the technical skills so that they can execute the tactics. NEED is an important issue it drive much of what we learn. I have 9 Spanish CDs in the car and on my ipod. I have been trying to learn Spanish for 4 years, but actually I never go to Spain or South America. Although I would love to speak the language I have no need. So other things take priority!

A child who rallies also thinks that they are a tennis player and this is massively motivational. The rally lights the spark and adds importance to the need that was created.

You see prioritising simple rallying over refined technique as a first step is not just physically better (more repetitions and better group management) it is mentally better (creates context, need, and importance)…

Dont forget that its not about how we can teach but how we can help kids learn!!

I have just finished Drive by Daniel Pink…another great recommended read from e9. The book is about motivation and the value of intrinsic over extrinsic rewards when dealing with students, staff, kids etc… It was a really valuable read and I took many lessons from the book on how to deal with my coaching students and also my coaching staff.

The premise of the book was immediately reinforced to me when running a tournament last week.  An eight year old had entered our tournament, it wasn’t a sanctioned tournament or anything too serious, but is was a big deal for this eight year old.  And he was having a ball, winning 1 match and losing 2 close ones in a round robin format.  One of my measures of enjoyment in tournaments is how kids come off court, do they run off to report their score, or do they ‘droop’ off…this kid was running off whether he had won or lost and was enjoying a great social time with the other kids in between matches.  At the end of the tournament his mother asked if he had won a medal for competing.

From the lessons learned from “Drive” I knew this was classic extrinsic motivation – a carrot to get the horse to perform.  According to the research from Daniel Pink’s book this type of motivation will only work in the very short term.  This boy and his mother were used to everyone on the football team getting a medal for participation.  But surely the best motivation was the challenge and enjoyment of competing and playing the tournament.  I felt like the mother had let her son down, he didn’t want a medal…he wanted an entry form for the next event.

I’ve been trying this intrinsic type of motivation lately.  When kids ask “what do we get if we do / win this???”  I reply “you get get the satisfaction of knowing you’re improving, your skill level is growing and you’ll be in your school ‘A’ team if you keep working hard.” 

A drill I have been using lately with green ball kids [aged 9 - 11] is the 30 second drill – where players must hit as many shots with a partner from the baseline in 30 seconds [it is a drill copied from Andre Agassi] practising consistency with intensity.  The goal was to reach 20 shots [Andre usually got 30+].  The kids were getting 17, 18 all the time, they couldn’t quite reach the goal.  They were determined, desperate, focused…it was great training.  They didn’t reach the goal – but they weren’t disappointed, they were positive they could achieve the goal next time they worked at the drill.  And the next day we worked at the drill and they did achieve it… there was no reward…except for the great satisfaction the kids got from their ability to reach a goal that seemed just out of reach, and the confidence that gave them.

By Rufus Keown

Melbourne, Australia