Tips From the Tennis Pro: What’s the Rush?
I called a parent today to inform him that his child didn't fit into an Orange Ball Class and would be a better fit for a Red 3 Class. Luckily for me, the parent seemed open-minded to the idea, but felt it would be hard to explain to his child the "demotion" from Orange Ball to Red Ball.
In the age of Red, Orange, Green, Yellow (ROGY) progression or Ten-and-Under Tennis (TAUT) programs, most club pros face a wide range of understanding between the skill acquisitions needed on each color to the next ball color. As a result, the child walks off the court with a negative experience, feeling defeated or blaming themselves and feeling that they are "just not that good.” This leads me to ask in today's junior tennis programs: What's the rush? Is a program supposed to make you think you're better because we are using yellow balls or is a program viewed as better if my child is winning more tournaments? While the majority of juniors who tackle the game will not become Serena Williams or Novak Djokovic, there will be a developmental learning curve for the remaining population of junior tennis players.
Why can't the TAUT specialists be TAUT specialists? It is already tough enough to change the perception that tennis can be taught with lower-compression balls and with a "game-based approach.” Why are we constantly battling to explain the importance of hitting the ball at the waist level with an appropriate grip, versus an extreme western grip so that they don't have to hit balls above their shoulders?
The Red, Orange and Yellow Balls in these programs are not meant to "slow" a child down or "hold back" their game. The USTA and other related organizations have designed a way to keep young players involved in the game longer and have fun at the same time. The court and equipment are scaled to size to allow the child the opportunity to play tennis "like an adult," but on a smaller court. TAUT programs seem like a brilliant concept until the naysayers think that teaching with traditional yellow balls is the best way, or even better, "the player will get used to it.”
The next time you are confronted with the decision of placing your child into a program, ask yourself which side you would rather be on: The side where my child is progressing and developing where he should be or the side where my child is winning more points during the "King-of-the-Court" game and deserves to be on the Orange Court?
I rest my case.
