Love Every Level

Few parents still throw their kids into the deep end of the pool to teach them how to swim. Why, then, do parents still hand their children 29-inch tennis rackets, point them toward adult-sized courts, and expect them to be successful?

That’s the question MAC Head Tennis Coach Paul Reber and other leading industry professionals have been asking themselves for years. “I know myself, and when I get a little better at something, it gives me more confidence. It makes me want to do more of that thing,” Reber says.

“You see some of these kids come in with so little self confidence, but if they stick with it, they get better. Our job here is to create tennis players. By helping build confidence and technique at every level of play, we’re shaping kids who will love the sport, and will continue playing the game. Some parents are so focused on getting their kids to the next level, but what they should focus on is rallying. If your kid can have a hundred-ball rally, I don’t care what ball they’re using, that’s amazing.”

When Reber took over MAC’s Tennis program three and a half years ago, it had already begun the journey toward scaling its approach to youth instruction. A range of court configurations cut the area of play down to sizes manageable for a variety of age levels. Four levels of tennis balls bounce to different heights, and tennis racquets start at 19 inches and gradually increase to regulation size as kids grow into them.

In addition to cementing the club’s commitment to this progressive path, Reber shrank class sizes to improve instructor-tostudent ratio. He standardized the schedule for age/ability level classes, decreasing competition between coaches for students, and worked to enforce prerequisites in an effort to ensure the strongest players get opportunities to help them grow. For instance, Tournament Competition Camp now prioritizes athletes who’ve actually played in tourneys.

He also made it his business to bring on the kinds of coaches that he knew would encourage retention and inspire the kind of trust in parents and kids necessary to see the growth he envisioned. “Hands down, the first reason that kids keep coming back is because they like the coach,” he says. “The second reason is because they either like the sport, or because their friends do it. If they’re thinking, ‘I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else right now’ when they’re practicing, they’ll come back tomorrow with a smile on their face, and probably get a little better at this game.”

Talk to Stu, Sadie and Evie Young, and you’ll hear Paul’s principles echoing from their mouths. All three are part of the tennis progression that moves kids from red- to orange- to green- to yellow-ball play, Reber says the Youngs are a great example of what happens when families trust in MAC’s system and work with coaches to ensure impressionable players are improving at the right clip.

“I feel like I’ve become a better tennis player,” says 11-year-old Stu. “I’ve gone through red and orange ball, and now I’m at green ball, and I feel like this is exactly what they’re supposed to do. They prepare you for the next stage.”

“I feel more connected through tennis here,” his twin sister Sadie says. “I’ve played a few other places, and when I think of playing tennis, I think of playing it here. They’ve given me the opportunity to get better, and I like how easily you can see your improvement.”

While Stu and Sadie are both at the green-ball level, which means playing on a full-sized court, 8-year-old Evie is still working her way through the orange-ball classes. “I was excited to move up a level from red ball,” she says. Her mom, Rachel, adds that by the time kids are ready for the next tier of play, they’ve grown so confident in their ability at the previous tier that it can seem like old hat. “Moving at the pace Coach Paul recommends definitely helps them get their strokes down well.

The technical side of hitting the ball at a slightly slower pace really sets them up for long-term success.”

“Tennis is a very fun sport,” Evie says. “When you start learning when you’re younger, it’s easier when you’re a little bit older.”

Stu adds, “I really like seeing the ball go where I want it; hitting a great, hard serve, and then being ready for when it comes back. It’s like tennis flows with me, flows through me, and I just keep going with it. I feel like playing more tennis!”

The only way to get these precocious kids to stop talking about their love of the game is to ask them, “Who is your favorite coach?” That causes the kind of mental gear grinding one might see in children asked to pick a favorite parent. They love Marco Piñeda for his caring and enthusiasm, Waldemar Holowetzki for pushing them to be their best, Maureen Harwood for her sense of humor and ability to make constructive criticism fun. Tato Zedginidze’s hug-tempered discipline, and Carol Sandoz’s kindness and attention to technique don’t go unnoticed, either.

All of them appreciate the new opportunities Reber has brought to the program, especially Stu and Sadie, who are thankful for the tournaments and other chances to improve, show off what they’ve learned, and occasionally face next-level opponents.

“In my opinion, there is no substitute for good technique,” Reber says. “I don’t care what level of tennis player you are. If you are going to play this game for a long time and hit a lot of balls, you better have good technique or your body is going to break down.”

Aside from setting kids up for future success, he adds that working the multicolored ball system MAC has in place is a great way to have fun as a family. “If you use the correct size court and ball, parents can hit with children of any age, and it can be fun for everyone. If you want a sport that you can all do together, tennis is a great one, and you can do it anywhere.” WM