SD Newsletter Fall 2011 final.indd - USPTA divisions - United States ...

JOIN THE BAND WAGON
GET ON BOARD THE 10 and UNDER
TENNIS INITIATIVE!
The USPTA World Conference on Tennis was held in
Saddlebrook, Florida last month. Patrick McEnroe
was a featured speaker for two days of this seven
day conference. Patrick is currently head of player
development for the USTA. One of the major points
that Patrick and his staff from the USTA made was
this: most people who try tennis (children and adults)
stop within the fi rst 30 days. The degree of diffi culty
is very high; the learning curve very steep.
The new QuickStart program is an initiative to help
grow the game of tennis. They are encouraging all
teaching pros to get on board. The program involves
using:
Softer balls
Balls come in four soft forms with graduating
degrees of bounce: foam, red, orange
and green dot. The balls range from a 50%
to 80% bounce height of a yellow ball. The
softer balls stay longer in the hitting zone for
beginners, making it easier to rally, better for
stroke development and better for standard
grip development. The team at USTA player
development is encouraging all pros to stay
away from the western forehand grip with
their students. “It is not a race to the Yellow”
is a refrain often repeated by the development
team.
Smaller court
The smaller courts (dimensions of 36’ x 60’)
are being encouraged for all beginners, all
under 10 players, and even mentioned for
use by senior players. An analogy was made
to the “silver tee” in golf. Seniors often stop
tennis when their ability to run slows down.
With shorter courts and softer balls, they can
play on!
by Dophie Poiset
Clubs are being encouraged to paint “blended
lines” on their courts. The smaller court version
is painted in a lighter color so it is not
noticeable by players using the standard full
court lines. Grants to paint blended lines are
available from the USTA.
Shorter racquets for kids
Shorter and lighter racquets for children have
been used for many years. It puts the ball
closer to the hand for better feel and greater
control.
Other sports are years ahead of tennis in this regard:
basketball, soccer and baseball all have smaller courts
or fi elds for kids; basketball uses a lower net; baseball
uses T-ball and slow pitch for beginners; swimming
uses the shorter side of the pool. Let’s all get on board
and help “grow the game”!
Dophie is the Regional Vice President for the
San Diego Division of the USPTA and is the Club
Manager and Junior Program Director at the
Rancho Santa Fe Tennis Club.
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