In today’s “fast food” society kids are very used to everything being done very fast and receiving instant gratification.  Because of this, many kids are now being drawn towards sports that can be played with little or no true skills as a beginner.  For example, you can organize a group of five year olds on a soccer field and give them a ball and they feel like they can “play soccer”.  This does not mean they are good at it, it just means they feel an instant sense of accomplishment because they are “playing soccer”.  Tennis, on the other hand, requires kids to learn how to hit the ball over the net, keep it inside the lines, and position themselves correctly in order for the kids to feel like they can “play tennis”.  In this age of fast food and instant gratification many kids do not have the patience to begin our great sport.

Some tennis professionals feel that this is a disadvantage to our sport.  I believe that tennis should be marketed as a tool for kids to learn skills valuable for life in the future.  Patience and self-motivation are becoming a lost art.  Coincidently, one of the most common complaints by employers today is the lack of work ethic in their employees.  To become a good tennis player work ethic and self-motivation are necessities.  Most kids want to practice very little, but improve very rapidly.  If they are not accomplishing what they want at the rate they expect they quit and move on to another activity they want to try.  What is this teaching are kids about life?  If it difficult quit and find something easy?!  Tennis is a sport that will teach self discipline, work ethic, personal confidence, sportsmanship and the ability to overcome adversity under pressure.  It is our job as tennis professionals and tennis parents to help our kids understand that if you want to accomplish things in life and tennis you have to go through some difficult times and work hard to become the best you can be at what ever you do.

One of the greatest benefits of tennis is the fact that players must be able to think for themselves and solve problems under pressure without the aid of coaches or teammates.  The over-scheduling of kids today is unbelievable.  Every hour of every day is scripted out from school to play time to sports practices to sleep.  Kids do not have to come up with things to do for themselves, the parents and coaches do all of the planning for them.  As a coach, I see many kids lacking in problem solving abilities because they never have to be creative and come up with solutions for themselves.  Because tennis is an individual sport, players must be able to come up with adjustments and strategies on their own to outsmart their opponents.  Junior players need to call their friends and set up their own matches, play just for fun or bring their parents out to hit with them.  They do not need to wait for their pro to set up matches for them or have their parents drag them out to the courts.  They need to take responsibility for their own progression.

Tennis is a great sport that emphasizes valuable lessons in life.  Players need to give tennis attention, dedication, and court time if they want to excel.  This “time given to succeed” should be a valuable lesson to everyone who wants to succeed not only in sports, but also in life.  As the great Vince Lombardi said, “I’ve never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, did not appreciate the grind, the discipline.  There is something in good men that really yearns for, needs, discipline and the harsh reality of head-to-head combat.  I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour – his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear – is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the filed of battle – victorious.”