Sixty-three percent of American households are living paycheck to paycheck, and fifty percent of those households are unable to handle an unexpected expense of $400 if it were to occur right now. Despite their enthusiasm, it might be challenging to convince them that tennis is a beneficial activity for their children to participate in. What can we do to improve this scenario?
The cost of participating in tennis is significant.
For example, today, a young family could easily afford tennis rackets and balls, but other expenses related to the game are still plenty. Many active tennis players cannot afford the fees for lessons or court time. In addition, when both parents work, it’s often difficult to even get the kids to lessons. The fact is most families can’t afford or don’t have the time to support playing tennis, or so they think…
Then there’s the difficulty factor…
It takes a lot of practice and patience to learn all the different facets of the game.
Tennis takes a lot of mental energy, because you have to remember the score in your head and know when to change sides. You have to anticipate where your opponent will hit the ball, whether you should stay back or rush forward and so on. Experienced tennis players need to learn how to manage all of this before they step onto the professional leagues or they’ll be eaten alive. It’s hard to play tennis. It takes a lot of practice to learn how to hit the ball. You need to know how to hit a forehand and backhand while the ball is in play. It’s normal to spend a lot as you advance your game to the higher levels. In addition to weekly lessons, you might need a coach who travels around with you to practice or give feedback. You might also want to take additional, more practical physical training and do other kinds of personal development.
Tennis is also extremely difficult to play competitively because it is a precision game.
Playing tennis at a competitive level requires near perfect technique.
In order to understand the difficulties involved in playing tennis, you must first understand that tennis is a very expensive sport. If you are looking to play tennis casually, then the cost will not be very high; some tennis clubs even have programs that charge a small amount of money for people who want to come and play. However, in order for the sport to be taken seriously, individuals need to purchase racquets, strings, shoes, travel expenses and other equipment.
The costs start to add up fairly quickly…
Another difficulty in playing tennis is that it requires a significant amount of practice and training to become a successful rallyist. A rallyist needs to develop skills in order to compete with their opponent in a rally, namely different grips and spins. Furthermore, different footwork techniques, body placements and other techniques are also required. For instance, a tournament player may manipulate their position and body so that their opponent can’t score against them. By studying their opponents weaknesses professional tennis players are able to create strategies along with the help of their coaches to create a winning game plan for every match. Often times in pro matches whether you win or lose comes down to only a few little miscalculations. Being able to capitalize on the even the smallest opportunity is what separates the winners from the losers.
With this knowledge, they can beat their opponent with confidence and style.
The barrier to entry is high in tennis.
The oldest and most established of the major sports, tennis is a clubby sport that relies on connections to get in the door. Years of expensive training is required to produce talent in tennis. When you combine that with the massive expense required to get involved in the sport, it’s no surprise that only people with connections or money see success in it. Or so it may seem.
It’s true that the most successful tennis players have had coaching throughout their careers. But it would be naïve to think that those players had the same coach from the very beginning. Tennis is constantly evolving, and even the best coaches have to stay current with the game and keep learning. They can’t just become expert coaches and teach only one way for the rest of their lives. They need to stay creative and constantly work to develop new ways of teaching. A player who always has the same coach will never get coached in the new ways of tennis.
You can’t help but notice that the best tennis players, of all abilities, are followed closely by a team of trainers who travel with them; they teach them acrobatic moves, they stretch them while they eat, they make sure they get their juice and bananas in between points, they bring them their clothes, they give them massages, they give them water after they’ve just been through an intense practice. It’s not just the physical side of the game that requires dedication; you need to be committed to your schedule for training and playing and you need a team around you that’s going to help you stay committed.
- Developing greater power results in greater consistency.
- Power is illustrated by the ability to hit shots with depth, height, and accuracy.
- Greater power also results in a more powerful serve and return.
- Developing greater consistency results in a more effective overall game
- Which comes with an effective serve, and an effective return of serve
- As well as an effective volley, and an effective shot to the middle of the court.
It’s not too bad if you’re only playing for fun.
In fact, you can practice most of your strokes for free. You can play some tennis without a coach and without memberships to clubs. It is possible to practice on public courts. You will have to buy balls, rackets, and shoes in addition to paying for coaching sessions and club memberships. On the other hand, tennis does not have to be so pricey if you want to get good at the game.
Tennis is a wonderful sport to play for recreation.
It’s a great way to keep fit and to have an enjoyable and competitive game.
- Committing to play tennis can deliver a lifetime of benefits.
- It is great exercise and it is an excellent way to meet new people.
- It is wonderful that tennis is a low-impact and year-round competitive sport.
Finally and most importantly, I have found that the game of tennis is not just about the game of tennis. It is about the physical and mental exercise it provides, about the lifelong friendships and good times that can be had. It is about the lessons of being a good sport and of overcoming adversity. It is about the body getting a break from a sedentary lifestyle. It is about the opportunity to explore new hobbies and interests. Ultimately, it’s about having fun!