USPTA Member Changes

[johnyandell]

Guys,

The USPTA has decided not to renew our agreement. So what that means is that after Dec 31 you won't be able to login on through your membership.

In Mid December, we will begin offering a special USPTA subscription and I hope all you guys will continue with us! You're a real strength on this site.

John Yandell

[uspta2712824457]

RE: USPTA Member Changes

John,

This is upsetting news. As a big advocate of your site and a proud member of the USPTA I really have to shake my head at this decision. But I'm glad to hear you are offering a special subscription to USPTA Members. Consider me the first on board. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Kyle LaCroix USPTA

[johnyandell]

Thanks Kyle, that's fantastic. I am myself a proud USPTA member. Didn't push too hard for details but obviously there is a competing product now, tennisresources.com

It's been a great run and we continue to have a strong and positive partnerhsip with everyone in Houston.

[uspta990770809]

Competing products

... Didn't push too hard for details but obviously there is a competing product now, tennisresources.com

It's been a great run and we continue to have a strong and positive partnerhsip with everyone in Houston.

That's really disappointing. Not because I will have to pay a subscription fee, but because I won't be able to say to other USPTA members, "Hey, check this out. It doesn't cost you anything as a USPTA member." They are making a big mistake. Tennis Resources is a nice source of information...for anyone that doesn't want to think at all. Simple drills, some of which are very good, but most of which is not thought out and backed up with the video evidence the way the technical stuff is here on Tennisplayer.

Plenty of us will continue to support the site. There's too much good stuff.

don

[johnyandell]

Thanks Don. They are doing me a favor financially, even after I offer members a 50% discount. But I agree I liked being able to share the site with my professional colleagues at no cost to them. Times change and who knows what the next move is. But thanks for your support!

[GeoffWilliams]

I played Nick Saviano at the Chabot tennis club, in a 35s match, after I beat the older Streeter. Nick got really pissed at me, when I used the aussie psych on him, "My, you are really serving well."

He slammed a ball into the ground so hard, it went 50' up into the air, and said, "If you can touch my serve!" Not cool. He acted like I had tried to kill his kids or something, after the psych.

http://www.tennisresources.com/index.cfm?area=video_detail&vidid=3622&ATT=&basicsearch=1&media_name=&rv=1

[johnyandell]

That's funny. Nick does have a temper. Who ended up winning that?

[GeoffWilliams]

He won the match, and I was upset about that! He has a temper alright. You can just see it in his face. Kurt Streeter accused me of not being 35! After the firestorm here, I rewired the Chabot club, as it was burned to the ground, with nothing left but the courts. There was a mangled set of wires sticking out of the ground, running to the court lights, which I figured out, and rerouted to the new club house, which has a three phase main. I hired Herman Bauer to help me, and trained him to be an electrician, partly on that job. (Signed him off on his license, and promptly started losing clients to him.) I filmed the inside walls, before they sheet rocked the club. He refused to shake my hand, all due to a little common psych job... Took it personally, when all I was doing was giving him a compliment on the aces he had hit on me.

[uspta2712824457]

That's really disappointing. Not because I will have to pay a subscription fee, but because I won't be able to say to other USPTA members, "Hey, check this out. It doesn't cost you anything as a USPTA member." They are making a big mistake. Tennis Resources is a nice source of information...for anyone that doesn't want to think at all. Simple drills, some of which are very good, but most of which is not thought out and backed up with the video evidence the way the technical stuff is here on Tennisplayer.

Plenty of us will continue to support the site. There's too much good stuff.

don

Don,

My thoughts exactly. Tennisresources.com is nice... some great videos and drills. Over time I'm optimistic that it will develop into a great database full of teaching ideas. But quite frankly, it does not compare to the information and analysis that tennisplayer.net provides. As a tester for the USPTA, I'm responsible for the certification and educational process for many new applicants. At the end of the testing process when all is said and done, I usually go through my speech about how to make the most of their membership, getting involved, and continuing their education through the USPTA network. And when it comes to education and making yourself a better teacher, Tennisplayer.net always got a huge plug.

Sincerely,
Kyle LaCroix USPTA

[uspta990770809]

One other point

Don,

My thoughts exactly. Tennisresources.com is nice... some great videos and drills. Over time I'm optimistic that it will develop into a great database full of teaching ideas. But quite frankly, it does not compare to the information and analysis that tennisplayer.net provides. As a tester for the USPTA, I'm responsible for the certification and educational process for many new applicants. At the end of the testing process when all is said and done, I usually go through my speech about how to make the most of their membership, getting involved, and continuing their education through the USPTA network. And when it comes to education and making yourself a better teacher, Tennisplayer.net always got a huge plug.

Sincerely,
Kyle LaCroix USPTA

Kyle,
one of the other things I didn't say above was that when I recommended (strongly recommended) the site to all my new students, I was proud of the fact that this site was the an unofficial chat room for members of the USPTA discussing the game and that this quality kind of represented the quality of USPTA members (oh if only that were true).

don

[uspta2712824457]

Your last line says alot Don.

One of the many things I wrestle with as a tester and an active teaching professional.

I actually visit tennisplayer.net multiple times a day. Sometimes as a safe haven from the chaos around me. It is quality stuff.

Without trying to sound to mushy I can say that with Thanksgiving quickly approaching...Tenisplayer.net and my access to it are a few of the things I'm truly thankful for.

Hope everyone has a great Holiday. All my best.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA

[uspta1629374181]

Letting go of USPTA, Holding on to Tennisplayer.net

Well, I'm "just a kid's tennis teacher" so maybe I don't need or fully deserve the USPTA certification I have. In any case, I've finally decided to let it expire because the 200 bucks a year isn't paying me enough dividends in return.

Oddly enough, the one last reason I was thinking of keeping it another year was for the Tennisplayer.net resource. Now that reason is gone so I guess the answer is to let go of the cost of ongoing certification, and keep with Tennisplayer.net instead.

It's a great resource that I never would have fully appreciated if I had not first gotten it "free" via USPTA.

[uspta990770809]

Well, I'm "just a kid's tennis teacher" so maybe I don't need or fully deserve the USPTA certification I have. In any case, I've finally decided to let it expire because the 200 bucks a year isn't paying me enough dividends in return.

Oddly enough, the one last reason I was thinking of keeping it another year was for the Tennisplayer.net resource. Now that reason is gone so I guess the answer is to let go of the cost of ongoing certification, and keep with Tennisplayer.net instead.

It's a great resource that I never would have fully appreciated if I had not first gotten it "free" via USPTA.

Ultimately, we are all just "kids' tennis teachers". Some of the most challenging sessions for me have been trying to teach a beginner or intermediate youngster how to do some of the most basic things that you always take for granted with advanced or elite players. It can happen because they just haven't spent enough time hitting balls, or they can arrive with some bad habits they adopted to deal with rackets too big and balls always bouncing above their shoulders; they might even just not be that talented. At the same time, getting through to those kids and seeing them develop a real ability to play and enjoy the game can be more satisfying than moving a high ranking junior up a few more pegs on the never ending ranking ladder. And if you are someone using Tennisplayer to try and do a better job being just "a kid's tennis teacher", then you are on the right track toward being the kind of member the USPTA always needs more of. Sad that the USPTA is letting this go, but they do still have other good services. Perhaps, at some point, you will want to come back to it.

don

[johnyandell]

You guys are making me feel good!

[uspta2712824457]

John,

Glad we make you feel good. I think I can speak for most of us when I say you make us feel great with every new article and video footage.

Keep up the great work and USPTA sponsored or not, we'll follow you.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA