“How Long Has She Been Playing Tennis?”

playing tennis

At a recent tournament, my daughter’s opponent’s mother approached me to enquire about her tennis experience.

After a brief introduction, she asked me the question that I honestly dislike answering:
“How long has your daughter been playing tennis?”

The reason I dread this question is that I consider it to be irrelevant…

Take, for example, two kids who both have been playing tennis for 2 years. One of them practices almost every day while the other one does only once a week.
That makes it obvious that the one who practices more often is the better player, even though they both have been playing tennis for… 2 years.

As a tennis player or tennis parent, you probably have encountered people who asked you this same question – how do you feel about answering it?

I make sure that when somebody asks me this, I’ll tell them the story I just described above. (:

And by the way, in my opinion, the right question to ask is: “How passionate is your son/daughter about tennis?”

Cosmin Miholca

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.

Parent and Child Relationship in Tennis

parent/child relationship in tennis

As I was working with my students the other day, one of the parents was constantly pointing out to his daughter the mistakes she was making.
Only because the respective parent was a good friend of mine, I did not invite him to leave the court. But I did have a friendly conversation with him and his daughter:

I took them aside and explained that it is okay to make mistakes as long as we learn from them.
It is impossible to play tennis without missing shots once in a while.
But as long as we take a few seconds to evaluate the root of our mistakes, we’ll turn the mishit into a lesson.
We should not dwell on mistakes, we should learn from them and move on.
Our mind has to be clear of any negative thinking. Whatever happens, we must turn it into a positive experience.

Is it hard? Yes, in the beginning. But with a bit of an effort, we condition ourselves to stay on the positive side which in return attracts peace of mind and enjoyment for what we do.

Recommended for tennis coaches:
The beginning of summer is the time for introducing tennis to new players. Camps are a great way to show kids how fun tennis can be.
We have a special section inside the Tennis Drills and Lesson Plans program, dedicated to running a successful 5-day tennis camp.

Cosmin Miholca

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.