THE 3AM THEORY

By Paul Dale | www.3amtennis.com After 50 years of coaching competitive juniors internationally, I've noticed something troubling: most 11-13-year-olds arrive at my court with games and strokes that crumble under match pressure. I imagine they've spent hundreds of hours perfecting their swing mechanics while overlooking the fundamentals that actually determine match outcomes. Here are my four non-negotiables for this critical development age. These aren't suggestions—they're the foundation every competitive junior needs to succeed and be in place before they turn 14. Non-Negotiable #1: TIMING (The Ground Fundamental) The Swing Myth That's Destroying Young Players Every coach obsesses over swing mechanics. Back swing early. Follow-through high. Racquet head speed. But here's what I have believed for years now: the players' swing is not a fundamental. It's highly personal and must be built and kept unique to that player.  Work on the fundamentals , no...

If you’re a junior tennis player or coaching junior players focusing on the right skills can make all the difference. Let’s explore three essentials that can make all the difference to a junior career and set you up for your next step in tennis. 1. The Value of Underspin Underspin is one of the most useful tools in tennis, but it’s often overlooked by young players and their coaches. Underspin keeps it low and controlled. Mastering underspin gives you a significant edge in several parts of the game: Approach Shots:  The art of moving forward in the court and putting pressure on the opponent is missing from a lot of junior games. However, if you can't move forward to the net when the opportunity arises later at the professional level your game will be severely limited. Underspin keeps your approach shot low and forces your opponent to hit up, giving you an easier volley and making it harder for them to pass you at the net. Volleys: When volleying, underspin helps you create fee...

HIDDEN POTENTIAL In his best-selling book Hidden Potential, author Adam Grant describes a previously unknown chess team that surprised everyone by winning the US National Schools Chess Championships.  To do so, they overcame schools that had been playing chess much longer, and that had been much more successful.  It turns out that a teacher at the school decided to introduce chess to his students for the first time. Initially, his goal was to get the children enthusiastic about chess. He achieved this  by having them start matches from the game's final stages rather than from the beginning. He guessed that starting from the beginning with all the pieces on the board would be boring to them and perhaps turn them off chess before they fully understood the game. The children soon began to enjoy playing chess and as his young players got better, he would add more pieces at the beginning until finally, they were starting normally, with all the pieces on the boar...