I had the pleasure of meeting with Virgil Christian from the USTA national office in White Plains to discuss Quickstart Tennis and the USTA’s commitment to the program. For those who do not know, Quickstart is the USTA’s version of a program for teaching Juniors that has been popular in Europe for years. Justine Henin, as well as many other fine players was brought up with a version of the program and if you ever get to see video of some of these programs it will knock your socks off.
I have been a strong proponent of Progressive Tennis ( Canada’s version) since I first became aware of it about five years ago. We used the appropriate balls and shortened the court and the results were dramatic. Last summer, my son Matt taught all the programs for Branford Park and Rec with Quickstart , including adults and everyone had a great time and learned a lot. Most important, however, is that they were learning to play the game of tennis!
The thing that amazes me is the people who want to know when their children will be playing with “ real balls”. Do their kids play t-ball on a high school field or play biddy basketball on a 10 foot hoop and a regulation court? The answer, of course, is no and any parent would complain if their child was forced to play under such ridiculous conditions.
Why is it then, that people are not getting it as far as Quickstart goes? There are a few reasons.
1.) Many so-called ”tennis pros” are resisting using Quickstart because of laziness, cheapness, or sheer stupidity. They continue to play “fruit salad” or other time wasting games or spend all their time teaching “form.” What these people fail to realize is that the most important things new players, at any age, need to learn is to make consistent contact with the ball, to be able to direct the ball, and to rally. You can’t play tennis if you can’t rally. Period! Once players learn to rally, you can teach them tactics and shape their strokes.
2.) Almost everything about the way we all were taught was wrong. Did you know that 80% of people who start tennis do not continue playing. We can see it with junior programs .Kids get tired of lessons, lessons, lessons and finally give up altogether. They don’t play matches, they don’t play on a team and it’s just not fun. When kids sign up for youth soccer, baseball, basketball, etc., there is an expectation of playing games. Kids learn teamwork, tactics, strategy as well as the skills needed to implement these things. For most teaching pros, strategy is a dirty word. All they want to do is correct form. Form, by the way, that these kids would have if they learned how to rally first!
3.) Many people, pro and student alike, are afraid of anything that challenges their belief system. For the same reason that many people would not admit the earth was round even well after it had been proven, many people don’t want to think that everything they thought about how to learn the game is wrong. What they are missing is how simple and enjoyable it is for teacher and student when students are taught in a new, dynamic, fun way.
I know that this might be a shock to some people but not everyone who takes up tennis will be a great player, have great form, or get a college scholarship for tennis. Just like other sports, some people are good, some are great, some are mediocre and some are weak. The beauty of tennis, however, is that you can enjoy and play the game regardless of your level. Our goal as teachers has to be to get everyone to be as proficient as they can be at playing the game so that they can enjoy and participate in the best game around.
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