Thursday, April 17, 2014

Dealing With Pushers - Ask Ian

Found a couple of videos from a tennis pro whose name is Ian.  I Don't know much about him but his advice seems very sound.  In the video just below this comment he talks about how to deal with players that push the ball rather than hit with pace and how to best deal with that situation without over playing the ball.

Ian's second self help video deals with the mental pressure of the game and how best to over come a mental defeat.

I hope you like both of the videos; sometimes hearing from somebody other than your coach or a friend helps you open yourself up to a bigger picture of your game and how best to play.  God bless and enjoy!

Performing Under Pressure - Ask Ian #2

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Why Doesn't The U.S. Have More Men Players???

Hello Everyone!!!

I know it's been a LONG TIME since I've posted anything and I'm sorry about that, but here's my first post since 2013, and the question is where have all the U.S. Men Tennis Players gone (or maybe more to the point is, why don't we have young men coming up to replace them)?

I've been reading and listening to different reason's why we don't have more men wanting to be a Tennis Pro on the Tour, and apparently there are many different reasons for this phenomenon.  Reasons vary from the USTA just isn't doing their job to tennis has just grown so big around the world that the U.S. just hasn't been able to compete.

Some retired professional players and coaching pros have stated that different countries just go through slumps from time to time, other factors are that many of the other countries (such as those in Europe) have just invested more in the game not only because of popularity in their country but because these countries recognize the benefits of tennis to their economy. In other words foreign countries have recognized the benefits of tourism, promoting not only the country, but businesses in the country. 

The U.S. struggles in the aforementioned arena because we have been blessed with so many other sports for men (Football, basket ball, etc), that our men tend to levitate towards these others sports. The irony seems to be that because we have so few successful men in tennis right now that younger men tend to look at tennis as a passe sport, therefore these younger guys have no interest in playing let alone playing at the pro level.

Another thought in Unite States tennis is the financial drain on the family and the work it takes to become a pro player for the U.S..  Kids have to start at such a young age and the families have to have the finances to be able to afford them to play (and of course there's no guarantee that the investment will pay off for the family), as well as the several hours of practice (or dedication) it takes to be a top player is just too much for many young people today.

So in conclusion, the lack of money, time, and inspiration men's tennis in this part of America is in direr need of revival.  But the question seems to be, "how do we breath life back into the sport" into a sport we once dominated? 

If any of you all would like to comment I would be happy to hear it.  Thanks for your time in reading this and have a great day!  Take care and God Bless!  -Garth

If you would like to respond you can email me at stjoetennis@gmail.com