In the spirit of exposing a group of high performance junior tennis players to “embraceable” challenges, I recently set up a good-natured exercise to see how they would react to a particular challenge often faced in matches: Dishonest calls. The activity was simple: I asked each member of the group in my session to take…
I remember not too many years ago, coaches and tennis teaching pros commiserating over the lack of growth in our sport and the recurring comment was: “Those darn video games are killing our sport and kids think they’re actually playing (exercising) these virtual games.” Well, kudos to USTA who has launched the best-in-class system that…
"So … does my child have talent?" I cringe when asked this all too frequent question for a few compelling reasons. First, I defer to child development experts who agree that, at a very young age, it's virtually impossible to distinguish between real physical talent and precocious development. Most talent evaluations are misleading because a seemingly…
Whether it’s money, health, work or sports, goal-setting is an essential component to success. All goals take time and effort to reach, and planning is required to make meaningful progress. Goals can be slow to achieve, but amazing when we succeed. Understanding this for tennis makes it all worthwhile. Tennis goals can be a little…
It’s Monday morning, and my inbox is filled with e-mails from parents whose child has just played in a tournament over the weekend. Most e-mails lament about how the results could have gone better, including what could be done to change what appears to be this “monster inside” of their usually mild-mannered child. “You don’t…
Paul Annacone was born and raised on the East End of Long Island before going on to carve out a decorated career in the sport of tennis. The Long Island native graduated from East Hampton High School before moving on to the University of Tennessee, where he would win the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Player…
One of the first things I tell parents who bring their kids to my program is: “Please don’t talk to me about winning and rankings.” When they talk to me about getting their kid to the top 20, or to make their varsity team, I just shake my head in frustration. Kids have different levels…
For the past 10 years, I have taught, volunteered and observed at various tennis clubs around the United States. All of these facilities offer 10 & Under Tennis programs for youth tennis players, so I have witnessed firsthand how to run these programs. There are two main challenges I face on a daily basis as…
The new year brings a chance to set goals for the following playing season. Most professional tennis players do this religiously. There is ample evidence that establishing goals and writing down a plan is effective for game improvement. After years of working with the highest level tennis players on Long Island, this is what I…
The first tournament for a young tennis player is oftentimes quite daunting. Most kids start playing tournaments because they've been deemed "good enough" or “tournament ready” by a coach or parent, and come in with an expectation of success. As we know, success in terms of "winning it all" is extremely rare for tennis competitors,…