Junior Tennis

As a coach, I counsel many families about how much tennis children should train at different ages and whether to cross-train in other sports and it’s a common question on my podcast, The Prodigy Maker Show. The bottom line is that every kid is different. Some can play tennis exclusively from the...Read more

About two years ago I went to watch one of my students play a USTA Eastern Section tournament. It was a 12U event, his opponent was a nice little player and it was a close match. However, I noticed right away that the kid kept looking at his watch before and after every point; it looked strange. It...Read more

In the summer of 2019, some of the best junior tennis players from across the country gathered at the Winward Lake Club in Alpharetta, Ga. for the USTA Girls 12s National Championships. The tournament is one of the more prestigious ones on the junior circuit, and can provide a real test for the...Read more

As a director of tennis at clubs and programs for more than 20 years, I’ve seen all the sides of tournament play … as a player, coach, tournament director and USTA official. Unfortunately, the number of players participating in tournaments these days is lower than in year’s past. Part of the issue...Read more

When Shawn Mitchell Yon was in the first grade at P.S. 295, he was introduced to the game of tennis through a program run at Roy Wilkins Park in Queens. “I was one of the few kids selected to try out for the program,” he recalls. “The school transported us to the site and I’ve loved the game ever...Read more

The local tennis community boasts some of the top coaches in the world, and with this wealth of talent available, New York Tennis Magazine took the opportunity to pick the brains of some of these coaches. These instructors share their thoughts on a variety of tennis topics and issues, ranging from...Read more

Earlier this summer, SPORTIME Amagansett hosted the fifth annual Johnny Mac Tennis Project (JMTP) Pro-Am. The tournament brings together 128 players, including many former professional tennis players, for a day of fun and competitive tennis, with the goal of raising money for the JMTP. “It’s just a...Read more

To excel in sports, considerable attention is paid to factors such as coaching, nutrition and fitness, but there is one area that often gets overlooked: VISION. Studies have shown that elite athletes have superior vision: they see better, wide peripherals, better depth perception, and better eye/...Read more

There is a dirty little secret in the cloistered world of competitive junior tennis: Cheating and gamesmanship are rampant—and nobody is doing anything about it. For many children and parents, the first exposure to the junior tennis circuit can be a shock because junior tennis is one of the few...Read more

Since its inception more than two years ago , the USTA’s Net Generation initiative has made its mission to get more kids playing tennis, and has attempted to reach this goal through fun and unique events throughout the year. A major aspect of this initiative takes place at the end of the summer...Read more