The 1, 3 and 6 day a week junior tennis player

In this episode I cover the different types of players and how much they commit or invest in their game. From 1 day a week activity/casual player, 3 day a week Club player and 6 day a week aspirational committed player. 

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Transcript

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Coaches, Rick here from The Art of Tennis. Welcome back. This is episode 11. Today we're going to be discussing the three types of clients you have, three types of tennis players, and how often they play per week and how that changes how you manage them. So look, most of your coaching program or academy or school, call it what you like, most of it will be full of people playing once per week. Alright, so who plays once per week? So you've got the the triers at a younger age. The parents go, oh, let's play some tennis. Tennis is a nice safe sport, it's great for girls and boys. Let's let's sign up for tennis lessons. Okay, so they sign up, maybe it's $250, $300 for a term of tennis, it's a group lesson, and they play once a week. Maybe it's an hour a week, would be say an average for this situation. Younger kids might be 30 minutes or 45 minutes. So these are your once a week players. Now let's let's talk about once a week players. So are you gonna become a champion playing once a week? Of course not. There is no chance that you're gonna become a champion playing once a week. That doesn't mean you shouldn't do it because it's not like we we not like everyone does tennis lessons to become the next Carlos Alcaraz. It's it's pretty rare, right? So some people want to do tennis lessons because they want to learn a sport that they can play for their whole life. So they take the once-a-week lessons, they learn the basics, maybe they then play again with their their parents on on holidays, or uh maybe they have a hit with a friend every now and again, but really they're just getting a taste. Okay, it's like a sampler pack. They're getting a taste test on what tennis is, and they will learn at a reasonably slow rate. Tennis is quite technical, uh, it takes a lot of muscle memory to get your you know, you get your strokes right, and also a little, it takes a lot of practicing the actual point play to understand where you should hit, where you should stand, and things like that takes some time. So, what should be your focus with your once-a-week player? You want them to really enjoy it. So the focus shouldn't be on push, push, push, push, come on, come on, come on. We need to go to the next level. Um, it should be on engagement and and and getting them to get the love of tennis enough that maybe they go to the next stage and become a little bit more interested in tennis. Because once a week, as of as I mentioned, you're not going to improve very rapidly. You are going to improve and you're gonna have some fun for that hour every week. So they should be learning, learning something, okay, improving some part of their game, and they should be practicing it in rally-based coaching, and they should be have smiles on their faces, right? So by the end of the lesson, they're having a good time, and they they they're sort of looking forward to that next Thursday at four o'clock when they have their lesson again, and it becomes a nice, nice part of their week. Uh, perhaps they do other sports, they do other activities, maybe they do footy, soccer, dancing, cricket, surf club, all sorts of things, and maybe some of those other activities they are more committed with, and tennis is their supplementary. Or maybe they only do once a week with two activities, and that's that's their that's their activities, or maybe tennis is their only activity, and it just gets them out of the house uh to to get some get some exercise, get some sunshine, um, and enjoy that little section of their week. So you really want the focus to be on engagement and wanting them to capture that love of tennis. Then I often think that it goes from once a week and it really sort of skips two times a week and goes to three times a week. So you're more committed players. So in in Perth, in Australia, or in most of Australia, we've in club land, we have you know, junior club, which means that you've gotten good enough that you can serve a little bit, um, you can sort of play some rallies, and you're ready to, you know, you're ready to play what we call penance, which is just like playing in a league against other kids. So this this means that once a week they're going to have their league on. All right. For us in Perth, it's Sunday mornings, they play for, you know, there's a summer league and there's a winter league. So you've got your league on there, um and you're keeping training once a week with your regular group, but probably that group goes from a hot shots group and crosses over to what is a squad. All right, so a squad, squad just means uh it just means that the kids are all closer in standards and it's selected. So we're picking kids who are have reached a certain level to come together for that squad training. So your squad training, you've got that once a week, you've got your weekend once a week. So you're at two, but when you get to this stage, there's a bit more accountability to your game, meaning that you know you're getting to the weekend, and if things are working well, it feels great, you're winning. So, but normally this inspires those those kids, those junior club players, to play an extra time per week. Now, how does that work? Now, they've got one squad, they've got one competition. Now, this will either go uh a couple of different directions. One, private lessons. Now, private lessons are are clearly the fastest way to learn tennis, like far, far quicker than squads. You get the chance to be able to get your game customized by the coach, right? You can work on specific areas that are right for you. So, private lessons are a little bit expensive, I guess. Um, but if you've got a player who's committed into junior club, then often, quite often, that player will go, all right, we want to do maybe a half an hour lesson or 45-minute lesson, maybe an hour lesson, but maybe 30 or 45 minutes if they're early stages, you know, if they're eight to twelve years old. Um, so they're gonna maybe do the private lesson or they might do a second squad, right? They might have a, you know, you're gonna have more than one squad per week that's suitable. So some kids might choose to do the two squads and the competition. What's another option? They might just they might do uh they might do some type of training session or hit session with their team. Now, this might not be you as the coach running it, it might be a a private session that they organize with their team to have an extra hit, which is also great. And as a coach, you should always encourage the extra hits. Now you might not make money from it, but that's really not the point. The point is that if they're coming down independently and playing and practicing, then you're already winning, okay? Because a lot of kids these days are so structured and families are so structured that kids, unlike the olden days, or all the way back to the 90s, um, kids don't really just go and play with friends, you know. They don't just go, oh, let's go and play some tennis, which I know I I used to, even though I was a little bit um where I was located. We weren't so close to many people, but um, you know, my parents would drive me to have a hit with somebody, you know, as a teenager, and I'll have a hit with a friend, and you know, it's a that's a it's a free session, but you're also working on your game. So a lot of kids might lean towards that extra, extra hit with a with their teammates, um, maybe with their parents, and things like that. So your three times a week player, um, they're really pretty committed to tennis. They're not dedicating their full life to it, but that they're committed, it's going to be a big part of their identity. Um, what do you do? Well, I like to play tennis. Um, I play in a team and I train, and you know, so as a club player, how good can you get? You can get pretty darn good because you've got the trifecta of of of competition, of let's call it technical training, which in a squad it's it can be technical. Uh at Scarborough, we we we go heavier on technique in winter in our squad sessions, and then we go more match play, point play, constraints-based drills in in sort of the summer. So it's periodized a little bit that you're picking in in the summer season, uh, a little bit less technique, but you're getting that, and then maybe you're getting another an extra hit session outside of that, right? Where you're just doing another practice. So you've got competition, you got your your your extra hit practice session, um, and you've got the squad session, which is you know, really working on your game. Or if uh if you do do the private lesson option, then you're getting good heavy technique practice there. You've got a coach who's really mentoring you. So private lessons are are more than private lessons are more than just the coaching. You know, you're effectively entering a mentor relationship with that student, and you you should take that responsibility seriously because you're a huge impact on their life, uh, and everything that you say or do um can have a pretty big ripple effect on on both their game and their their confidence and their enjoyment, etc. So if you're that three-day week player, whether it's privates, squads, your own hit, and then competition, you're getting a really nice blend of different tennis activities. Now, the three times a week player, I've coached players who've done the three times a week who get state rankings, all right? Not top five. It's unusual to be, say, a top five state ranking if you're playing three times a week. The sportiest kids, and look, I love the sporty kids who are kind of good at lots of different sports, and when they're young, actually play a whole lot of different sports. I'm not not so big on specializing from too young. I believe you should be doing either other sports or other activities or throwing the frisbee or or you know, just trying things out because all of that can help your tennis anyway. Um but really the three times a week player, uh, they can become top 20 in the state if that's sporty and they learn quick, right? And they often those kids in the competition they almost they almost accelerate through that learning process. They might lose and they knuckle down and improve a bit. So you're helping them in their training, but there's a competition for that really competitive sporty kid will really accelerate things for them. Three times a week players can become a really great player, can become a division one junior player in any age group, 13s, 15s, 18s, can become a division one player in seniors. Yes. Just all right, it takes a fair bit of work to get to that level. Reason is tennis is people do start young, they do a lot of training, they do a lot of lessons, and so you're competing against others who've who've spent more hours on their on their technique and their and their match play, and it's sometimes a bit hard to catch them. So my story, um, I guess I was a three times a week player for nearly my entire juniors. Uh, where I grew up in the Adelaide Hills, it was very seasonal tennis. You played in summer, and you played, you know, for me, I played footy in winter. Uh, the tennis courts would have netball poles go in, tennis nets go, see you later. So if you wanted to play tennis, then you'd have to set the nets up, and you know, it was a bit of a tricky process. So those in the the city kids who I used to compete against in junior tournaments, they didn't have that, and many of them were were were training a bit more than three times a week. Now, I did have for me, I used to do a private lesson once a week. We're talking from say 12 years old. Um 30-minute private lesson. Uh, we had McDonald's squad. For those uh Aussies out here listening to this, you would remember McDonald's Squad. We'd get the uh the McDonald's, they would they would give you the little McDonald's uh patch thing that you would sew onto your shirt, and you know, you would uh be branded up like a racing car driver with uh with McDonald's and whatever else was on there. Uh so for me as a three times a week player, I was very competitive and you know I reached the top 10 state ranking for my age. I did reach nationals, but really I was a B level player compared to those top guys. Um but eventually, and I think I was 14 and my dad, as an earth mover, went and decided to carve into the hill and build a tennis court for us, right? So I was lucky that he built that tennis court, build a wall, and so my three times a week got accelerated maybe a little bit higher. Maybe it was four or five times a week because I would have a you know, I might be able to get an extra hit with dad or I would hit on the wall for a little bit, right? So, but the generally that three times a week player can become a great club player. Uh in exceptional circumstances, they can reach let's call it the American College Scholarship level. Um, probably not the top schools, more likely a Div 2 or 3 or uh the other system in America, not NCAAs, NAIA, where maybe you don't need to reach quite as high a level to play there. Um, so if you're playing three times a week, this is possible, but it's more realistic that you're just a strong junior club player. Um, and tennis is a wonderful part of your life, right? So your focus on these guys should be for us, we we make the focus on your club, all right? Trying to make your tennis club the strongest club, trying to make your team the strongest team. So the focus is a little bit less on the individual and more on okay, well, you're playing for the team, okay, let's do it. Let's let's see how we go this week. And so when a kid comes to their lesson and I go, how did you go on the weekend? And they go, Oh, I lost 6'4, 6'2. I go, how did the firstly how did the team go? And they're like, oh, and if they say I'm not sure, I'm like, well, what are you doing, mate? You're playing in a team, you need to know how your team goes first, and then I might say, Okay, so what about your singles and your doubles? How did they go? So you want to get them in the mindset that they are playing as part of something bigger than them and working on their you know, helping and supporting their team. So let's go to the next one. Now, again, I think it doesn't go a bit like one goes to sort of three days a week, from one day a week to three days a week. The next level is your dedicated young player. Uh, I'm gonna call that six days a week. So we have one, three, and then six. Now your six day a week player, and notice I didn't say seven day a week player, because you shouldn't be playing tennis seven days a week, right? If you you need one day of rest for your body, for your mind, for your soul, um, you're gonna burn out if you're playing every day. Kids, kids need time. Um I'll say to play with their friends, it's probably it's probably more like playing on their iPad or phones, but anyway, point being they they need downtime. Um, they also have homework, they also have family commitments. So you can't play seven days a week, it's it's not gonna, I don't think it's conducive to helping them anyway. Um, so you're six days a week, maybe even five days a week, that that's gonna be a very dedicated tennis player. Six days a week. Now, how are we breaking six days a week up? Now, probably we're looking at two to three squads per week. Okay, two to three squad training. Now it might be an hour and a half each, uh, maybe two hours, depending on how old you are. So you've got the two to three squad training. Now, private lessons, one to two. Okay, don't need three private lessons a week. It's expensive for the family budget, and it's just not needed. It's sort of overdoing the technical side without them doing the sparring with other kids, etc. So you got, you know, maybe one, two would be high, but once a week private lesson, maybe it's a little bit longer than uh if you're a club player, instead of 30 minutes, it might be 45 or an hour. Um, and then you've got extra sessions. Now, those extra sessions might be a paid hit session. So a hit session is normally not coaching, not instructional. It is with an older teenager, maybe someone in their early 20s who play well, and you're basically hitting with them at their intensity uh for a for a session. So, you know, the rate for that session is lower because it's not getting the instructional value, but you are getting the sparring value. So hit sessions can be really good once you're doing a private, and once you're once you're doing your squad and your competition, a hit session can fill that out quite nicely. You're also probably looking at another competition opportunity, right? Now, that competition opportunity may be just playing against again, maybe a teammate, maybe a fellow passionate player who you just play a set against or a couple of sets. Really important. So you're probably trying to double your competition from one to two days a week. Your squads are going to two to three days a week, uh, and then your private, you know, one or two days a week there. Now, as a six-day a week tennis player, you're getting to school holidays and you're doing tennis tournaments, right? You need to be playing tournaments all the time. Um, don't do the whole holidays, but my advice is still leave a few days free in the holidays and play for half of the holidays. But you need to play to work on your game, and the whole thing is is really feeds each other. So you do the competition, and suddenly you're gonna get more out of your next lesson, and it goes from there. So the six-day week tennis play, what else are they looking at? Now they need to be looking at some conditioning type work as well. All right, you need to make sure the body is strong, that you're fit and fast and agile, and a committed player is gonna involve this as part of their week. All right, they need to be seeing uh a physio or Cairo to make sure their body is in good condition because there's no point uh pushing and playing, you know, 10 to 15 hours a week if your body's breaking down and you're missing out on that that that time to develop. So you've got to make sure your body's in good condition. You're probably starting to look at some more mental skills, some you know, um, some visualization and breathing techniques and um different ways to set your set your mindset up for success when you when you're playing matches. Okay, you're dealing with a lot more adversity here because you're probably pushing yourself higher and higher. Um, so you're gonna have setbacks. All right, you go to a higher level, oh, lost there, back we go, work on the game. But the six-day week player, you know, they they are committed to becoming the best they can be. Now, depending on who this is, if you play six days a week, look, I would say that you are you're going to reach a division one level if you're playing six days a week, even if you're not naturally sporty, you've got to be careful because some kids struggle with coordination and it doesn't quite work out for them. But if you're semi-coordinated and you train, then you can reach a division one, you can reach that top 20 state ranking and go from there. But really, um, if you're six days a week and you're trying to maintain that, you should be aspiring for something higher than that. You should be aspiring for definitely a you know a top 10, top five type state ranking. You're working on your you know your UTR rating, and you know, you've got goals. Those goals might be, you know, might be the college tennis and might be reaching the low levels of pros to start having a having a crack in in tennis there. Um, but really it's it's a very committed player at six days a week. So, from a coaching point of view, how do you manage that? You you need to you need to nurture them through that journey. You need to talk to the parents, you need to talk to them regularly, um, and understand that this commitment, you know, that requires commitment from you as well to help them on their journey. You're not gonna have many six-day week players unless you're running a you know an elite academy only. Um, so if you're in a club, you might have five percent are these these players, all right? Or five, yeah, something like that. And they're the ones playing all the tournaments, um, they're doing a lot of the training, they're obviously good clients to you. Um, but again, be careful not to dedicate your whole life to just those players because you know you've got to feed that system with kids who are who are young and up and coming. So you need you need the feeding to lead into some of these players. So don't don't forget to don't forget those type of players as well, right? Um, but there we go. So we have the once-a-week player um who is participation, we have the three times a week player who's the the junior club player playing in a league and and and really enjoying their tennis, and then you have the six times a week player who is your aspirational player, who is who is aiming to get the the most out of their game, and you know, they're aspiring towards um, you know, some other other tennis goals as they get through their through their teenage years. So that's it. It's just an interesting look at the different types of clients or tennis players that you're gonna have at your your club academy coaching school. Um, that's it from me. We'll uh see you next time. Cheers.