Discussion About College Tennis - The Idea Behind CAtennis.com

CAtennis.com came about from several discussions with juniors, parents and other coaches regarding junior development and college tennis in particular. Too many times, we found ourselves repeating the same information over and over and thought it would be more efficient if we could create a platform for people interested in raising the level of play for those with an interest in tennis and, specifically, juniors.

We expect that our authority will be challenged but, hey, if tips from the "names" are more to your liking - even if they are completely rudimentary and useless (e.g. keep your eye on the ball; move your feet; bring water on court on a hot day; put topspin on the ball if your shots are sailing) - there's not much we can do about that.  We hope that that kind information helps you out with your game. If, however, you are already familiar with those concepts and are looking for something more substantive..something that you can sink your teeth into, then perhaps you would consider giving us a chance.

With the foregoing in mind, here are some issues to consider regarding college tennis:

1. Scholarship distribution. Division 1 schools allocate 4.5 scholarship for men and 8 for women. This is not a trade secret nor is it confidential information. It's a simple fact. With an average of 100 schools (let's just go with a round number for the sake of simplicity) that means that every given year, there are 450 scholarships available for men and 800 for women, right? Technically correct; PRACTICALLY speaking - WRONG. Not every one of those scholarships will be "freed up" every year. In other words, the number of available scholarships for any given year fluctuates with the number of seniors who are graduating and who are liberating some money for incoming freshman. In some years, that number may be 1-2 per team; in others it may be 0. Therefore, the number of available D-1 scholarships per year is probably closer to 100 for men and maybe 200 for women. Still like your odds? 

2. Scholarship odds. Even assuming that you're one of the top 100/200 (nation) graduating seniors, you still have to consider the odds of actually getting a "full ride". In other words, it's one thing to receive a letter of interest from the coach, another to be good enough to play in the line-up and, yet another for getting your education (or part thereof) covered. This is because graduating seniors are not just competing against players from US, but also players from Canada, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay, Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Czech Republic, Serbia, Croatia, Romania, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, UK, and about 100 other countries. Even if you take 1 or 2 players from each country, that adds 200-300 players into the pool for competing against them. OOPS!!!! guess what?! You're not just competing against foreigners who have graduated in the same year as you but also with people (foreign AND domestic) who may be 1, 2 or 3 years older and have international/ATP experience (NCAA eligibility rules subject to change). Did I forget to mention the transfer students? How silly of me. Yes, some players may be OK when they graduate but will peak somewhat later. Maybe they only got decent training or more serious about the sport at a later point in their life and are just now catching up. These people may go to a junior college for a year or two and get better. So, the reality is that now you have a pool of at least 500-600+ players (for men) competing for the afore-mentioned number of scholarships. And, some of these players don't care if the school has/hasn't a good football program or if the town has a cool "college vibe" or some other nonsense that's deemed important by US players. They just want to come to the US, get their school paid for and have a chance to a better life than the one available back home. Scared yet? There's more.

3. Diminishing programs. Let's be honest here, tennis is the center of our universe but it's not exactly a revenue generating sport for colleges. Programs may be cut due to lack of funds in the annual budget, NCAA violations, Title IX issues or other reasons. We're not here to advocate one way or another but this just another thing to consider when figuring out the odds as your "dream school" might not have a program 2-4 or 6 years down the road. So maybe instead of 100 scholarships, a couple of years in the future there may only be 80-90 scholarships available/year. That has a further effect on the odds. 

4. Rankings. Chances are that if you're been around this game for a while, you've heard two sides of this issue: rankings are important v. rankings are, for the most part, meaningless. Here's one thing to remember when thinking that rankings will get you into a top program: each school, depending on its caliber and coach's level of interest, looks at rankings similar to a flight controller looking at a radar screen. Some coaches will only look at top 10 in the nation players; others may expand their horizons to top-30, top-40 or top-100. Once a player enters the coach's "field of vision" the evaluation doesn't simply stop there, however.

The coach will then determine HOW the player got there. For example, is this a top-30 player with a 30(W)-3(L) record, or is this someone who "bought" their way into the top-30 (e.g. 164(W)-130(L) record)? To a "top" school, what good is a player who's lost 130 matches?! That means that there are at least 130 players in the nation alone who can beat him (and that's only the players he's played against). The school wants to know that it can count on the player at 5-5 in the third set with the team match tied at 3-3. Someone who's lost as many matches as he's played - but simply traveled more and played more tournaments - is not a "lock" in these situations. The only points that really matter, therefore, are either ATP points or WTA points. Everything else comes down to winning ("if College X has player Y, can my recruit beat player Y so that our school will beat College X?"). Needless to say, a number of players and parents will think that they know better...that they have found just the right wool for pulling over the coaches eyes. They will find out the hard way how wrong they really are.

5. Level of tennis. Ultimately, your level of tennis is determined by who you beat (not how many close matches you lost or how matches you lost at big events). Therefore, it's important to start getting addicted to winning early. Set the standard by dominating your back-yard first, then try to be the best in you club, then in your town, then in your county, then in your section, then in your state, then in the nation. Learn how to win and focus on developing your game. Entirely too much energy and money is spent on chasing "national" points. Before signing up for a "big" tournament, have an honest discussion with yourself: am I in a position to push 4-5 rounds into the main draw or am I simply wasting everyone's resources? Am I only going there to collect a tournament T-shirt and player's badge? Have I done everything possible - physically, mentally, technically and tactically - to improve? Have I dominated my local events and playing this tournament is the next logical challenge? Am I willing to become cannon-fodder for superior players and provide them win a "W" and a confidence boost? If I don't have a good result, can I bounce back from it? Am I willing to put in additional hours on the court? Is this what I really want to do with my life or am I doing this simply as an excuse to not get "A+" in school work? Do I enjoy tennis for the purity of the game or is something that I'm doing to put on the college application? Etc. 

To summarize: tennis is hard. The reality is that if you want to be recruited, make the team AND get a college scholarship, you better be good; REAL GOOD. With the competition being spread among players from so many countries, your goal (particularly as a male) should really be closer to become a professional player. The college ranks are full of players who may have played on the tour for 1 or 2 years and simply were not good enough to break into the ranks where they could become self-sufficient from the earnings. Logic dictates that a college coach (especially one a top tier program) will, more likely, favor a world-class/accomplished player over a junior with a couple of tournament T-shirts to his name. This is particularly true if competing programs have managed to acquire one or two world-class players.

Therefore, our advice, for players with BIG dreams, approach tennis as you would mountain climbing: ATP/WTA = Himalayas; college tennis = Mt. Baldy. Who is a more accomplished climber - the one who has striven for the highest peaks or the one who is aiming for half-way?! Tennis is no different: some players who push for ATP rankings might not make it but they would have worked harder, longer and more serious than players who look at tennis as a mere after-school activity. This is the completely un-sugarcoated reality and it's not intended to scare anybody away from the game or dissuade them from following their dreams. It is, however, intended to assist some players in focusing their objectives and priorities. Cue in the Rocky Soundtrack and get to work 'cause time's awastin'.

Overcoaching: Stop Trying To Save Them

The goal of every player is to become their own coach. Tennis coaching has turned into a multi-million dollar business. How can this be? Was this always the case?

No it wasn't. Tennis coaching is a very fraudulent business. Barriers to entry are extremely low, anyone with a heartbeat, two legs, and work ethic can break into the tennis industry. Tennis coaches can be found in every city across the United States, each with their own philosophy on how to become a champion. The supply and price of tennis coaching over the years has increased, but to no fault of the coaches themselves. The blame is placed on the naive parents who drive the business, looking to gain an edge on their fellow competitors. Parents are supplying a steady income to coaches across the country, hoping to save their children at every corner.

A lot of coaches perpetuate the problem, living paycheck to paycheck, listening and agreeing with the needs and wants of each parent (not to mention giant egos and narcissism) and pushing for more private lessons. In order to stay afloat, some coaches will say or invent just about anything to sound like they can mold and predict the future. Unfortunately, a lot parents are simply too inexperienced to know any better (most are non-athletic living vicariously through their children) and hope to be proactive by Yelping the best tennis coach in town (usually a fraud if he is #1 on Yelp).

*Think of any financial crisis, bubble, hedge fund manager promising 20% return on investment year after year (same idea as tennis)*

Prior to the tennis boom of John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors, coaching was not the business it is today. Players simply went to the club, competed with whoever was around (old ladies, hacks, juniors, anyone with a heartbeat - but mostly against other juniors), and rarely took lessons. Most players picked up tips from watching others compete at the local club, college matches, or good players visiting in the area.  They were hungry about learning the game and became true scholars of the sport. A certain pecking order was established within your geographic location where each and every players goal was to climb the ranks. Competition within your club was vicious (those results mattering more than a tournament); nobody was there to help you with technique or to save you (unless you asked and were hungry to win and were willing to put in the extra effort). One learned through observation and experience - which is much more meaningful (longlasting) than having a lesson paid for by your parents (short-term bandaid). The information ingrains itself much deeper when the players discovers the aspects of the game rather than being forced the concept. 

Lessons are overrated (especially more than one private lesson a week). Most players played as many sets as they could. The great players would play anyone, anytime, amounting up to 10+ sets a week (the best players didn't care with who, they would make it worthwhile). Competition breeds champions (point system in today's USTA rankings do not promote competition). Lessons do not breed champions. Parents, please stop trying to save your children (not just in tennis, but everything!). Seek to adopt a more detached attitude when it comes to practice sessions and results (not healthy).  In addition, please stop coddling them and protecting them from unwanted losses in practices. These are learning experiences and no player in the world has a 100% W/L record (most hover around .500). Let them learn to cope and adapt. Tennis does not have to be a complicated sport and the players are the ones who win championships, not coaches.

*Big apology to all tennis coaches, but we can't expect to have tough players if we are always saving them (because we need a paycheck). Tennis coaches, like players, will learn to adapt and survive. Our primary responsibility should always be on developing players and doing what's best for them while maintaining honesty and integrity towards the students and parents.

Balanced Approach

Once again, maybe because of our high standard of living (and greater relative disposable income that other nations) or the  pressure to "keep up with the Joneses" (or some other form of guilt) it seems that modern kids are forced into way too many weekly activities. Be it tennis, soccer, baseball, drama, street Jazz, music (singing and instruments), video games, school, play-dates, religious rituals and a dozen other endeavors, the children often do not have time to relax and properly reflect on their activities. The player may love tennis but his mind might not be on it 1 hour before the lesson or an hour following the lesson because, during those times, he is engaged in some other activities. The players race from place-to-place in some neurotic pursuit of excellence at all these activities. Often time, they become overwhelmed and burnt out with everything resulting in negative consequences such as drugs, resentfulness and other anti-social behavior. Parents often sign up the kids for all these activities in the pursuit of a balanced life. But is it?!

My advice would be to figure out EARLY whether the goal is to have little Johnny or Suzie become a "Jack of All Trades and Master of None" or an expert at one MAYBE two things. I'm all for being a well-rounded person, but if the goal is to be not just good but great, the parents and players must understand that there are only 24 hours in the day. With 8-9 hours of sleep, 8 hours of school, 4 hours of homework, a couple of hours of driving, eating and getting ready for school/athletics, the day doesn't hold enough hours to do EVERYTHING (and that's not even counting videogames or other relaxation activities).

Furthermore, the mind needs a certain time to "get in gear" in order to understand the concepts that the coach is seeking to impart. To ensure that he gets most out of the training, the player needs a good 30 minutes of mental preparation before every practice and, maybe, 15-20 minutes after the practice to reflect on the workout and absorb the information. When she is yanked around from activity to activity, the chances are that she will be thinking about school while she's doing tennis; thinking about tennis while she's doing music, thinking about music while she's doing homework; thinking about homework while ding drama; thinking about drama while playing soccer; and so on. It goes without saying that energy levels will also be diminished if appropriate breaks are not available. 

In addition, it is important to understand that the US players are not just competing against themselves but also players from other countries; players from places where the emphasis is put on one activity (besides school) rather than 5-6. So while the US player practices one hour of soccer, one hour of tennis, one hour of music, etc. per day, a foreign player will play 3 hours of tennis (and maybe some soccer "for fun" - as a warm-up or wind-down activity). In a year, the foreign player will have at least 600 extra hours of tennis. After a couple of years, the average foreign player's level will be "off the charts" when compared to US players. So if you want to the child to stand out at SOMETHING, focus on that one thing and engage in the other activities for pleasure only. Don't let such activities (or other societal pressures) interfere with your success at tennis (if tennis is indeed a priority and not just another notch in your activities belt). 

Give Your Son/Daughter a License to Tank

Some of the best tennis players have been coached by their parents. It's not for everyone. However, if you are going to coach your son/daughter beware of the phrase "Just go for your shots. Just go for it. Don't hold back." Only two things can happen from such vague advice, a very favorable outcome where its lights out tennis or a very quick 6-1, 6-1 loss. For any great player, this is far too much risk to assume to achieve a victory.

The moment you say, "Just go for it," you have given the player an easy way out if things don't go perfectly. No matter how well intentioned the advice may be, the player will not interpret it the same way you do. This is why it is very dangerous for parents who have never competed to give such poor advice. The advice shifts the responsibility from the player to the parent.

After another quick loss, the players snaps to his/her parent, "You told me to go for it!!!" Without the parent understanding what they have done, they have given the player an easy way out. Instead of having to face the music, the player can now shift all the blame to their parents (or coach for that matter).

The goal of every match is not to beat Serena or Roger, but to find a way to win on that specific day. Practice matches are the time to "Just go for it" and push outside your comfort zones. When it comes to tournament play, you play the percentages. You fight, scratch, claw, adjust, adapt, survive, compete and maybe if you are lucky, some of the "Just go for it" shows up at the right times.

The best remedy is to not give such advice unless you want to give them a license to tank.

Fragile and Sensitive Players

What do you do when someone hands you a box marked "FRAGILE?" On the top of the box in giant lettering is "Please Handle With Care." Naturally, you are very careful with the box, making sure you have your legs beneath it when you gently lift it off the ground. You take every necessary measure to not rattle the contents inside the box and give special attention to making sure no outside influences come in contact with the box. You treat the box as if it were a little baby that needs protection.

Unfortunately, most tennis players are very fragile. Most tennis players are sensitive (including some of the best juniors in the country, college players, minor-league professionals, and pros for that matter). Little ripples cause their boat to sway out of control, derailing their oars dipping into the water. I equate tennis matches to a water fight in the pool between two children. Johnny splashes chlorine into Ben's face. Ben splashes chlorine into Johnny's face. This goes on for a few minutes until one starts to cry. Tennis is the same idea, who can take the stinging of chlorine in their eyes longer? Whoever is tougher usually wins, plain and simple.

How does one become less sensitive? I promise you if someone could be less sensitive, they would do it right now. Nobody likes to be called sensitive and soft. Everyone wants to be tough, strong, and brave. The best way to wrap your brain around this sensitivity/fragility issue to look at it from a different angle. The angle I am proposing is from a scientific point of view. Science has proven we have two sides to our brain- one that is logical (does all the planning, making rational decisions and so forth) and the other that is emotional (it has strong urges to react to things- happy or negative). The bad news for tennis players is the emotional side is far more powerful than the logical side.

Since tennis is a contest that is antagonistic in nature where two players are calling each others lines, emotions come into play. A normal person will give into their emotions causing their tennis to seesaw up and down like a rollercoaster. Very few players can actively control their emotions and nobody is ever fixed. Sometimes a parent or coach will say, "I think Johnny has fixed his attitude." Nobody is ever cured, its an ongoing battle between the logical and emotional sides of the brain where the logical side must dominate the emotional side. Like an alcoholic who has been dry for six months, the sudden urge to relapse is always looming in the background. One can never be trustworthy of the emotional side as it has an irrational mind of its own. It takes a very abnormal individual to be able to manage their emotions under stressful situations, usually it is innate and part of their genetic makeup.

If you want to stop watching the same movie over and over again in your losses, be aware of what it means to be a human being. Think about when you practice, you practice under very little stress and the muscles are relaxed. But if your emotions are a rollercoaster, your fine motor skills will be slightly off, thus causing errors and mental mistakes.

The most successful players are not fragile, but anti-fragile. Now imagine a box marked "ANTI-FRAGILE" and on the side in giant letters it says, "Please Throw Against a Concrete Wall." You pick the box up and throw it against the wall with all your might. You pick it up again and shake it violently. You kick it, you jump on top of it, you try to break it. Nothing happens. Nothing. This is a very robust box.

One could argue a tennis player deemed "ANTI-FRAGILE" takes it one step further. Shocks to the system make the player stronger. The toughest and least senstiive players are able to get stronger and tougher in stressful situations.