Ask Coach Wolff

I thought that Gary Weiner (of TENNIS: EUROPE) had some fascinating insights on how kids should be introduced

to tennis at a young age, and that parents need to educate

themselves on how all-involving a kid’s ranking in the

USTA is.  What was eye-opening was that kids (and quite

honestly, their parents) can manipulate where a youngster

is ranked by simply playing in a lot of tournaments, and

of course, getting credit for walkovers when an opponent

either forfeits or is injured.

Gary also made it quite clear that in order for a player

to be good enough in a top collegiate program, such as the

Ivy League, or even the Division III NESCAC schools,

a kid has to be one of the top ranked players in their

section.  In other words, it’s extremely competitive.

And Weiner pointed out that lots of US college coaches

simply go to Europe to find talented players to fill out

their roster.  I wonder – what are the European tennis

coaches (and the parents there) doing better than the

American coaches and tennis parents? Hmm….