Bigger Better Tennis - Paul Dale

Many coaches are involved in the daily task of developing junior tennis players with the goal of them reaching the top of our game.  A very important question for those involved in junior development is “When we develop junior players for the future, what in essence are we trying to develop”? What is the goal? A simple question with profound implications to the way we approach each on-court session. For years my goal or mission statement when training junior players was to create a player with “Perfect Defense on Wood, and Perfect Offense on Clay”.  Think about that, defense on the fastest surface and offense on the slowest surface. Probably the fastest surface you can play on is a wooden floor indoors. Think of the problems you are faced with on fast wood.  · Returning serve: requires exceptionally fast reflexes and compact strokes · Teaches a player the skills of staying relaxed enough in the hands to adapt quickly, but firm enough on contact to stabilize the racquet ·   Fast