Hi…my name is Rufus and I’m addicted to evolve9 and the e9 facebook page. These resources are crucial to all coaches who deal with young kids because there is so much more to Hot Shots / Mini Tennis / QuickStart than just different balls, racquets and courts.
This weekend I was forced off the court but it gave me the chance to observe some other youth sports in action which reinforced how tennis has come along way and how it has a long way to go, in Australia in any case.
I walked past an Oz Kick clinic for ages 7 & 8, for non-Aussies this is Aussie Rules Football, our most popular sport. 8 different games were crammed onto one full sized field with kids “playing” 6 a side. That’s about 100 kids [plus about 100 parents watching and helping] on one field – it was brilliant. The coach / umpire seemed very well versed in how to run the match, with such small teams everyone got an opportunity and those with poor skills the coach / umpire made sure they got an opportunity. I’m pretty sure everyone scored a goal – but I couldn’t see any score being kept. I walked another 500 metres and another Oz Kick clinic was being held on the next oval – we have some stiff competition in Australia for the best young athletes.
The next day I wondered past the same oval where a “full sized” game of soccer was being played between kids no older than 10. 11 a side, although it may as well 3 or 4 with a few big, strong, fast kids controlling the game. The coach patrolled the side line with his arms folded yelling himself hoarse; “Timmy I told you three times, Johnny stay on side – stay on side” he screamed. Aside from the select few there was no skill on display – kick the ball as far forwards as possible with no passing or tactics.
I walked away, still hearing the coaches yelling for several blocks thinking how we can give our young tennis kids a better experience. In the space of 2 – 3 years kids had gone from a modified experience to the full blown struggle – to my coach’s eye the enjoyment level was at polar opposites. This is not dissimilar to general practice at our tennis academy, not so long ago. 1 – 2 years of modified tennis [Aussie Mozzie or Mr Pee Wee] and then straight into to it…want to play competition – “can you serve, rally and score on full court using adult rules?…NO…oh well give it another couple of years.”
I don’t go to junior state and national tournaments much anymore, when I do I see coaches and parents with arms folded as close to the fence as possible, kids just hitting the ball forwards and tournament referees and directors with the most threatening manner. This is the experience we have to avoid and I have many players who as soon as they are exposed to culture are put off [some thrive of course.]
I understand that at some stage the jump has to be made to these cut throat events [this goes back to Ronald’s question of how long can we keep kids on Green balls] – but let’s prepare the kids first, at least so they can pack their own tennis bag! I am suggesting smaller team based events – managed by skilled coaches to get these kids on the competition pathway and sent into the great wide world when they are ready, remembering that chronological and biological age can be a very different thing.
One thing I hate about our sport is a perception [right or wrong] that to make it you have to give up everything else before you are a teenager, call it the Agassi / Sharapova / Kournakova syndrome. If you’re not hitting 1000 balls spat out by a coach with a shopping trolley of balls [or a ball machine called “dragon”] per day you can forget about making it to the pro’s. It is perhaps the individualistic nature of the sport – the battle at a distance – that makes players, parents and coaches so fixated.
This is why evolve9 is my great hope. I believe a player can come through this system building skill upon skill; learning how to play the game; building a love for the game; competing in positive and challenging environments and end up a really well rounded athlete with “normal” parents [who don’t watch every ball you ever hit] and no obsessive compulsive behaviours [bouncing the ball 23 times before serve]. They can have other interests; they can have an off season or at least not play competition every weekend; they can develop their own individual style based on mental and physical strengths and embrace the great role models competing in the sport today and in the past.
I urge you keep adding your thoughts to the e9 facebook page and sign up to the e9 webpage – download “Growing Kids, Growing the Game” [which got me started] and keep giving kids the best chance to love tennis.
My final story I wish to share with you regards two of my best clients. They gave up AFL as they were in a team [18 per side] where no one would pass them the ball, they were often on the bench and the coach ranted and raved to the point where players were left in tears, these guys are 10 year old twins. Now they take lessons, compete and practice their tennis. They aren’t the best athletes – but recently one of them won our “Future Stars” modified competition season [out of over 50+ competitors]. This is a separate issue to performance players which I know many of you are passionate about – but this is a great story for my program!

Ok.. I want to be a bit controversial.. I have long felt this but the last week has made me sure of it more than ever.. I invite you to debate it as much as you wish but it is something i believe..

One of the biggest problems in tennis development ( and i use this phrase to talk about developing players .. so please don’t think that this is not about performance .. because it absolutely is!!).. is that too many systems take players and separate them from the environment rather than try to use the environment and ensure it is supportive.. In past posts i did use the phrase “It you want them to survive the frost then don’t grow them in the greenhouse!”.. not i am adding something.. “if you want you child to be successful don’t grow them in a pot either!”

Your job as a teaching pro / coach is to create a team of players that all push along together.. one players on their own will not succeed in most cases .. they will fall away or seek another team.. you see when we develop young players it is so easy to get excited about the superstar but even the #1 in the world needs the #2…

Add to this the fundamental human need to belong and the path to successful programs is to run teams, behave like a team and compete like a team.. even the best teams have their superstars so don’t think that this excludes the individual . .. just as Wayne Rooney is the star of the Man Utd team .. so some children will shine within the team… you see a team supports individuals basic fundamental human needs…

So lets look at the two models out there for children’s sport.. individual competition and team competition.. and ask the big question.. Why is there a need to get young kids to compete as individuals under 10? What would be different about the matches if they were team based? Would the players compete with less intensity or less drive? Or perhaps when the going gets tough would they knuckle down and try their best not just for themselves but also for their team mates?

This takes us back to growing the garden (environment) where children can all flourish.. my plea to you all is don’t idolise the one superstar in your program.. parents will do this anyway .. instead build a team or players who all push each other .. In days gone by the nations that we truly consider to be successful are not those that produce just one player but have a crop of players all coming through together..  Thoughts please?

Had a good week and have been very busy both with coach education and mentoring this week. Not so much coaching! But two things  keep coming back to me time and time again. At first they may seem to conflict but actually they are a really true reflection on the role of a coach working with young kids.

1) Our role is to focus on learning!

2) Purpose is everything!

As coaches we use many tools. Progressions, teaching aids, technical analysis tools and teaching systems. And yet learning happens as a result of many influences. A serve for example develops best when a child has a number of different skills in place. They must be coordinated above the head, develop a solid throwing action, coordinate both arms both bilaterally and unilaterally, have great stability through the core, neck and shoulder and then.. have the relevant motivation to practice and refine these skills to act upon the technical and tactical input provided by the coach and the environment.

They learn best through a vareity of experiences, by association, as well as by opposites.. and no matter what we think its not best done with quick fixes..

On the other hand we can’t say that our job is to just play lots of random games and activities and hope players will develop. Purpose is everything! I have been impressed by the number of clips and resources that are appearing on the net around kids tennis.. but at the same time disappointed that many do not clearly state the purpose of the activities.  You see purpose is the map and no matter how much we want kids to have fun .. they all want to be as good as they can be!

Our job is about patient direction! I like the story of the 3 little pigs for this one.. building a little player is not about building the straw house or the stick house … that will collapse under pressure later .. its about building the house of bricks that will provide both progress and stability .. and yet you must be brave not to take the short cuts.. you must make solid progress and with real purpose…

It’s what we are all about at evolve9. This week we added 35 new clips of drills on our video library. All of them have purpose clearly stated. We hope this will help you to develop your map!