In entry level baseball, players use a shorter, lighter bat and hit a softer ball off a ‘T’, effectively letting kids play the game immediately. It may be years before players develop to the ‘kid pitch’ stage of using regulation balls and bats, and wood bats are used only at the highest levels of the game. Similar entry level structures exist in basketball and hockey, shorter baskets, smaller balls, no live line changes etc. But for years, tennis has asked entry players to start the game on a pro sized court with a pro ball and a way too big racquet. QuickStart combines the right size racquet on the right size court, a low compression ball and a smaller net, letting kids play the game and enjoy the game right away.
The rally focus is very important in the QuickStart orientation. ‘Fed balls’ are an important piece of the developmental chain, but allowing kids to hit with each other and play games over the net is more fun and an equally important part of development. The QuickStart program facilitates this and is a great addition to entry level tennis. This summer, ATA offers 10 weeks of QuickStart summer camp for young and new players.
]]>Our 2007-2008 program was divided into the following levels:
ALL STARS
JUNIOR DEVELOPMENT
JUNIOR ACADEMY
JUNIOR ACADEMY/JUNIOR DEVELOPMENT COMBO
ACADEMY LEVEL 2
ACADEMY LEVEL 1
In 2008-2009, our program will be divided into the following programs:
QUICKSTART ALL STARS
JUNIOR DEVELOPMENT
JUNIOR ACADEMY
JUNIOR ACADEMY PLUS
JUNIOR ACADEMY/JUNIOR DEVELOPMENT COMBO
ACADEMY LEVEL 2
ACADEMY LEVEL 2 PLUS
ACADEMY LEVEL 1
These levels inside the ATA program are designed to serve the needs of players as they move up the developmental ladder as tennis players and tennis competitors. Each level has specific goals in the following areas
-Technical Skills
-Tactical Skills
-Mental Skills
-Physical Skills
-Competition Experience
-Leadership Skills
ALL STARS and JUNIOR DEVELOPMENT lay the foundation of skills for a player to begin competing in tennis. JUNIOR ACADEMY and upward are for players who are committed to tennis as “their sport” and who are committed to growing as competitors. This commitment manifests itself in a number of ways
-Volume of training per week
-Consistent work with an ATA primary coach
-Coachability
-Commitment to participation in junior team tennis
-Commitment to consistent tournament participation
Each of the programs offered are in place to allow players to succeed and move forward. There is no time line like there is in school, where each grade is usually one year long and then on to the next. Some players might spend 1-2 years in ALL STARS, 1-3 years in JUNIOR DEVELOPMENT, 1-2 YEARS in JUNIOR ACADEMY, 2-4 years in ACADEMY LEVEL 2 and 2-5 years in ACADEMY LEVEL 1. Some students may fly through the levels, especially if they start a bit later. What an 8 year old can do in 1 year and what a 13 year old can do in 1 year are two very different things because of their respective physical, mental and emotional development.
If you are interested in learning more about how the ATA program works, or how to best move your child through the program, please contact me or any of the ATA coachesand we would be more than happy to help you through this journey. Remember, as I always say, the sport of tennis is more like a marathon than a sprint.
]]>This morning, 2nd on after 11am we are going to watch ATA's Ashley Weinhold in her first round match in the junior portion of the USOPEN. She is playing singles and doubles. This draw features the top 64 junior players in the world, 18 & under. Ashley plays a seed today, but I'm not sure seeding means that much in this tournament since many of the girls have been playing primarily a professional schedule. We will also try to catch the Roddick and Federer matches today. Lots of great tennis at the USOPEN today.
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Chadvetdze is #6 because she has a 105+ mph serve that she can put wide or down the middle or into your ear. She has one of the best backhands in the world that is hit as hard as most pros forehands with excellent spin and depth. Her overall depth on all shots and her overall committment to hitting a high quality ball every shot simply was too much for Ashley to handle...today. A month from now, a year from now, 18 months from now might be a different story. As each player makes the transition to new levels, whether that's from ZAT to champ or champ to super or super to national or national to international or international to professional, there is always a period of time of gaining experience at that new level as the player learns what is necessary to be sucessful. It's called paying your dues. Everyone has to do it, Ashley paid some dues today to become a professional player.
She can take what she learned today and apply it to both the women's doubles and mixed doubles. She will be playing both of those events, in addition to the Girls singles and Girls doubles. She will be competing throughout this week and next in all 5 events in this Grand Slam. I believe she is the only player for a second year in a row playing in all five events.
Ashley says thanks to the many of you who have sent best wishes and positive energy.
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Ashley plays the #6 seed Anna Chakvetadze, who is currently #6 in the WTA world rankings. Chakvetadze has five years of tour experience. The pundits are saying Ashley does not have a chance, but we all know that on any given day, any athlete can have a great day or a lousy day. If Chakvetadze has a lousy day and Ashley has a great day, the pundits will have to eat their words.
To give you an idea of start time for tomorrow…third matches up today are finishing right now at 5pm New York, 4pm Austin time. We expect Ashley to go on sometime tomorrow between 3 and 5 pm New York time. You can track it on the USTA website which has live scoring and you can catch it on television on USA network.
]]>We also caught up with Lee Hamilton, the executive director of the USTA. Lee is a former president of the Texas Section of the USTA and before that former president of the Dallas Tennis Association and an Ashley Weinhold fan. Lee has promised to be at Ashley's match tomorrow.
Tomorrow's order of play will be released between 5-6pm New York Time, check back later for Ashley's match time.
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We are getting ready to go out and support the young Americans in the draw.
Yesterday I visited the USOPEN weight room for a workout. It is about 4 times the size of the ATA gym, with lots of equipment for the players to use. While I was there both Justine Henin and Jelena Jankovic did a workout. While their time in the gym was not that long, their focus was very clear.
As Ashley goes through the last 24 hours before her match at the USOPEN, she will try to do everything right. She will try to relax as much as possible, get a good meal tonight and a good nights sleep. She will get a short practice in prior to her match and then wait for the call.
More later today....
]]>http://www.usopen.org/en_US/scores/schedule/index.html
First matches go on at 11am. We will try to watch Alexa Glatch who Ashley is playing girls doubles with and Donald Young, who Ashley played Mixed doubles with last year. We will also try to see some of the big names of tennis today
The schedule for tomorrow should come out sometime this afternoon and I will post it to this blog as soon as it comes out.
]]>After arriving Saturday afternoon, we all met at the US Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows. The first order of business is getting credentials. These are badges that you wear around your neck that get you access to various areas of the tennis center. Coach and Player guest credentials get you everywhere except the locker room. This is a great perk because it allows you to go into the players dining room where you can rub elbows with Roger Federer or Raphael Nadal, both of whom I saw in the dining area. Also the prices are subsidized in the players dining room, so you don't have to play $12 for a hot dog.
After getting credentials we went to practice. The practice was on court 19, probably the furtherest you could get from the center of the facility. (I guess this is where 1st time main draw players get assigned). Ashley and Madison Brengle (another young lady in the same USTA program with Ashley) had 1/2 the court for 45 minutes and that is it, the next group comes on and boots you. The girls practiced hard for that 45 minutes as you can imagine.
Afterward Ashley and Madison went to the USOPEN players meeting while Guy, Lisa and Coach Des Dunes and I met to discuss next year's program for Ashley.
John and I took a trip to the tournament directors office to talk to the practice court scheduler. Because Ashley is playing a top seed in the first round, we pled her case to get some practice time on one of the stadium courts where she might be assigned to play. All the courts were taken except Louis Armstrong from 8-9am. We grabbed the opportunity. We told the girls that the only time available was 6am, they reluctantly agreed to a 6am practice and were delighted when we let them know it was actually 8am. After that we departed the tennis center, Ashley was invited to a party hosted by Wilson, which she attended and was there with some of Wilson's top pros like Roger Federer.
We met at the girl's hotel this morning at 7am. One of the perks of being a main draw player is that you have an official car at your disposal. So we had a car pick us up at the hotel and drop us at the US Tennis Center. We arrived at 7:30am. We were the first players and coaches at the tennis center this morning, something all our players can relate to. We then went to Louis Armstrong Stadium. It is the smaller stadium and holds about 9,000 people when completely full. We used the whole 1.5 hours of practice and the girls did their normal routine and then played about 15 games..about a set and 1/2. This was a great practice due to a number of factors: 1) the girls did not have to share the court. To get the stadium to ourselves for an hour and half is a true practice luxery at the USOPEN, usually only afforded to top seeds.
The rest of the day the girls have off. We will plan a practice for tomorrow and will go out and support the other young American players what are competing in the draw. The schedule for tomorrow should come out later today, check the USOPEN website.
Ashley's first round match will take place some time on Tuesday.
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In working with junior tennis players, each of them has varying levels of talent. We can classify, for tennis purposes talent into four areas: physical, technical, tactical and mental. Players who are very talented in one of these areas often times need help developing the other areas as they often rely on their given talent. Usually that talent only gets them so far and then they need to develop other areas to continue to move up the junior tennis ranks.
Peter Drucker, the father of modern mangement said: "There seems to be little correlation between a man's effectiveness and his intelligence, his imagination, or his knowledge...Intelligence, imagination and knowledge are essential resources, but only effectiveness converts them into results. By themselves, they only set limits to what can be contained"
If talent were enough then the most effective and influential people (and tennis players) would be the ones with the most talent. But consider this:
More than 50% of all CEOs of Fortune 500 companies had a C or C- average in College.
65% of all US Senators came from the bottom half of their school classes.
75% of US presidents were in the lower half club in school.
More than 50% of millionaire entrepreneurs never graduated from college!
Clearly talent isn't everything.
Maxwell says the following:
"Everyone has Talent"
"Develop the Talent you have, not the one you want"
Anyone can make choices that will add value to Talent"
He lists 13 key choices that can be made to maximize any person's given talent:
Belief lifts talent
Passion energizes talent
Initiative activates talent
Focus directs talent
Preparation positions talent
Practice sharpens talent
Perseverance sustains talent
Courage tests talent
Teachability expands talent
Character protects talent
Relationships influences talent
Responsibility strengthens talent
Teamwork mutiplies talent
Maxwell's formula is Talent + Right Choices = A Talent-Plus Person
"The talent-plus people are the ones who maximze their talent, reach their potential, and fulfill their destiny."
We will be using this book this summer with our players in the Academy Program to help them become Talent-Plus athletes.
]]>Some of what we hope to impart to our students is encapusulated in Natalia Ginzburg's "Little Virtues". I was reminded of it seeing many of our college students coming back to ATA. Here is a quote I like and what I hope is some of what we are imparting to our students:
"not the litte virtues but the great ones. Not thrift but generosity and an indifference to money, not caution but courage and a contempt for danger; not shrewdness, but a frankness and a love of truth; not tact but a love for one's neighbor and self-denial; not a desire for sucess but a desire to be and to know."
End of the year party, Sunday, June 3, Commander's Point.
]]>All Stars/Pee Wees: These players under 10 years old need to get on the court before it gets too hot. We are providing an 8am-9:30 mini camp and an 8am-11:30am half day camp for players in this level. Players sign up for camp a week at a time. Tennis skills, competition and athletic skills are all stressed in the All Star Camp. Some of the more advanced All Stars may wish to consider the CATA tour 10 & under tournament competition.
Junior Development: These players can improve the most this summer. They are usually old enough to tolerate a good volumne of training and are ready to make a move in their tennis. If a child is between 11-15 years old and really wants to improve their tennis, our all day camp: 8am-11:30am on court, 11:30-12 lunch, 12-3:30 on court will provide a tremendous level of improvement in a short amount of time. For those younger JD players, just the morning camp would be appropriate. Junior development players should definitely be trying to compete in CATA tour events and should begin playing in the lowest level of statewide competition. Zone Advancement Tournaments or ZATS are the first level of statewide competition, divided into 12 & under, 14 & under, 16 & under and 18 & under age groups. In addition, JD players should be preparing to be on a competitive team tennis team in the Fall.
Junior Academy: These players are already seasoned competitors. They should be using the CATA tour events to build game point, set point and match point experience. They should be actively competing in ZATS or Champs tournaments as well as local open events like the ATA SPENCO open in June. They should be training a minimum of 15-20 hours per week during the summer, depending on their age. Either a full day or half day camp for a good portion of the summer is appropriate for this level.
Academy players: These players are competing at a high level. The summer is a time to make a jump in level by training hard and continuing to compete. Most Academy players will train at least 20 hours per week, depending on their age. Many will be traveling across Texas and the United States to seek out the best competition and to test themselves against the best players Texas and the United States has to offer. Players can make significant progress in technical, tactical, physical and mental areas during the summer.
Primary coaches should be consulted about the right training and competition plans for your junior tennis player to help them reach their goals.
]]>I think that question: "What did you do in practice today?" gets asked a lot and probably does not get answered in a complete fashion. A typical practice works on many things and players often rotate through a good number of drills, courts, coaches and other players as practice partners. What I have found is that players often time latch onto one of the things that happened at practice and talk about that. Sometimes that is something amazing that happened, other times it is complaint about who they practiced with. In order for you to more fully understand what happens at practice, I would like to use yesterday as an example:
As an example, yesterday's practice looked something like this:
3:30--Players arrive, fill out daily goal sheets (which they find in folders that hold their long term, intermediate and short term goals, as well as articles handed out). Players warm-up--we ask them to warm-up with the first person they see, and not wait around for their best friend.
3:40--Players come in from warm-up (the last one in has to do 10 pushups, so it is a competition to get into the staging area near the ATA ball) We talk about the goals for the day and an outline of what will happen.
3:40-3:52--3 sets of 10 hits in a row, with each partner on your court, three drills: cross court, down the line, and 1 person at the net and one person at the baseline. Each court has a leader, in this first set of drills we normally assign an older, more experienced player as the leader with a group of 3 younger or less accomplished players. The leader does the count of shots and when any pair on a court gets their 3 sets of 10 the whole court moves to the next series. Once they have completed 3 sets of 10 on cross court, the same group moves to down the line and then to one up, one back. The first court to complete the three series calls out and every one comes in (again, last person in does 10 pushups) This series usually takes between 9-12 minutes. We have a record time and the players know it and want to beat. Additionally, their is pride in being the first court done with the three drills.
3:52-4:00 Same drills with different partners. This time players go out with peer group age or skill players on each court with one of them assigned as leader. Three drills, three sets, everyone comes in, last person does 10 pushups.
4-4:15 Games based on the concept of winning two or three or four points in a row. Players are paired up into groups to compete. The idea is to win a single point in the game, you have to win consecutive points, either 2,3 or 4 in a row. This forces the players to see the connection between points and to try to interrupt an opponents flow of points to keep them from scoring.
4:15-4:30 Team singles games, 4 players on a court, one vs one, the winner stays in the loser moves out and their teammate moves in, you can stay in for a maximum of three in a row. Players compete for a game to 7 or 11 points. Score is kept, top two finishers on each court move up a court, bottom two finishers on a court move down a court, the same series of games is repeated 3 or 4 or more times as players move up and down by their results.
4:30 Additional players join practice, they fill out goals, warm-up and we start another series of drills usually. Yesterday, Younger players compete in sets, older players meet with Coach Newman to discuss an article about the Bluffton University baseball team bus crash.
5:15-5:30pm Older players return from fitness center, Two rotations of 3 drills described earlier all players.
5:30-6:30 Older players in gym for fitness or sets in preparation for tournaments, Younger players sets in preparation for tournaments
6:30-7:30- Continue with sets, (depart for 3:30 starters), as players come off sets they rotate into drill/competition courts with coaches. As players leave they complete an evaluation on the day's practice.
7:30 4:30 starters depart
I will, from time to time, try to give you reports like this for you to see the structure of practice.
Some questions to ask your player to help prompt them about giving you more feedback about practice?
What did Coach Newman talk about at practice today?
How many different groups of kids did you practice with today? Who were some of them?
What was your daily goal today? How did you evaluate yourself today Physically, Technically, Tactically and mentally? (Each player has a sheet each day to write down a goal and to evaluate themselves at the end of practice)