Little mo question

[jamisfoes]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and tennisplayer.net. I'm very impressed with the content.

My junior is 6. I started him at 4 years old and progressed him through red and orange balls quickly. He is currently rallying with green dot/ yellow balls.

I have my sight on the next year's Little mo when he turns 7. My question is why is little Mo's U8 the only division that allows players that are two years apart? Meaning 7 year olds and 8 year olds can play in it.

I have been trying to find good 8 year olds hitting videos and try to identify the level of competition he is going to be facing. The best 8 year old hitting video I found was an old footage of Shapovalov.

[paddleguy1]

jamisfoes I have two children that both play high competitive tennis. My son actually won the US Open doubles title this year in the juniors. They both came up through the little mo system. I think it’s wonderful because you can advance from sectional to regional to nationals. They even have an international tournament. They do 8’s, 9’s, 10’s and 11’s. Which is great because at that age one year makes a huge difference. USTA does it by every two years. You will totally enjoy it. But remember...(I wish someone would have told me this) don’t worry about results when they are at such a young age. Focus 100% on development. It’s really hard to remember when your own children start competing. Make it fun... AND how you react when they win or lose will most likely determine how much they will love the sport. Let us know how it goes!!!!

[hockeyscout]

How about just not getting caught up in this system or caring how anyone else is doing?

If parents have an attitude of indifference kids succeed, and if their kids are the same - even better. Tennis is life - you lose a point and another ball will come over the net with a whole new set of opportunities - see winning/money/fame/politics come with a whole new set of problems - breakups, divorces, sickness, health, bankruptcies, stock market crashes, injuries, theft, perjury, fake lawsuits, paternity issues - its life. Indifference, and following your plan through good/bad is what matters. You learn two things as a winner - "this to shall pass" and "god gives and god takes." Watch the Jordan documentary on Netflix - all is not as it seems.

The results of this tournament don't matter - if anything I would not even bother sending him - play against him yourself, save your cash for university/business when he is 18, match play him against 10 - 12 - 14 year olds, then older adults that are 30/40/50 that will force him to think tactics to beat them and when he is the best player in his club/village and can beat the men when he is 15 to 16 start thinking about these tournaments so you can get a bit of exposure to college.

One summer I went and hit with the father/brother of a girl who was a Wimbeldon winner - best piece of advice I ever got was from him - he said to me my kid is what she is and that will never change - keep the pressure off her, let her enjoy tennis with no expectations, keep your kid in the village till she is 16 or 17, don't chase trophies, keep her out of trouble, play a ton of hours under your current system, don't bother with these academies, focus on the school, keep her away from the phones/computers, practice hour after hour, when she can beat the best 30/40 plus men in her village match her up against bottom feeder 1500 men/top 10 Junior boys - time will show you all and it will be simple to see if she has the goods or doesn't. You don't have to waste your money - and, I 100% agreed with the guy.

All these pretty $60,000 academies, Little Mo's, press clippings, daddy's cash - it won't buy him a game - all that will buy him a game is him getting his butt kicked day in and day out, learning to thrive and adapt, putting the ego out of it.

Don't compare your boy to anyone else, every player develops at a different rate - trust in the local competition at your club and the pro's - their is always an older kid that can kick your kids ass, an older man that can out-think/out-chip/out-slice/out tactic him and a top 1500 that will beat him 6-0, 6-0 and 6-0.

What more do you need?

But, the key is attitude of in-difference - generally speaking science shows the pro athletes are the 2-3 kid in every family - reason for this is the young ones learn attitude of indifference by getting beat all the time by the older siblings and face heavy competition in all phases of life - so, set that up at your local club, make everyone there your son's little brother - and from their its a game to see who he can lose to 6-1 all the time, all you need for development is players who are steps ahead of him - never let them win - teach them they will earn what they get in life over a long period of time by doing the right things patiently, set the fun up in small bell shaped curves improvement and when he is 16 or so he will understand what it is to truly win in tennis and in life.

Hey Don Budge you there - Moe Norman - attitude of in-difference LOL - that is his thing. Best golfer Canada ever produced. He missed - he said, whatever, next, next, next till he was good.

[don_budge]

Hey Don Budge you there - Moe Norman - attitude of in-difference LOL - that is his thing. Best golfer Canada ever produced. He missed - he said, whatever, next, next, next till he was good.

You bet I'm here hockeyscout. Speaking of Moe Norman...I'm doing my best imitation. Practicing up to 4 hours a day. But to the point...you nailed it. The junior game is a waste of time considering the investment and commitment that some are gullible enough to put into it. The hockeyscout school of thought is something to the effect...develop the athlete first and then mould them into the tennis player of your creation. You have to have a vision and the federations and the academies don't have that kind of mentality. Not that I am aware of.

Ninety-nine percent of the kids are really not ready for competition in the complicated world of tennis at such a young age. That being said they do mature at different rates. It all depends on what your goals are. But if you get them competing at such a young age it will stunt their growth and limit their potential for the future. The professional game these days is largely just a derivative of the dysfunctional junior game. All of these big strong players still clutching to the two handed backhand like the little blankey they used as a pacifier as a child. Only one player equipped to play the all court game from any given point on the court.

Excellent post...and not for everybody. But hockeyscout isn't aiming at the herd...he's got a little teeny tiny window in the corner of the net that he is aiming at. A man with his own idea is an odds on favourite to being a contender.

[doctorhl]

Hockeyscout’s analysis hits the mark. There are so many variables to greatness and we all can give examples of great juniors who peaked early, then reached a plateau. The youngster should enjoy the ride and thrill of competition. The most important match one should ever experience is..... the next one! In my lifetime, competition in tennis was as close to a “ band of brothers” that I ever got to witness. Sadly, professionalism is robbing youth of this chance to collect stories. I remember Rosewall, Laver and others fondly talking about their pre Open days and how they enjoyed traveling together, beating each other’s brains out, and then meeting most of the players at the bar for bonding time!! They had collected a lifetime of incredible stories and friends that pros today do not get to experience very often.