September 1, 2006
|
Ladies, please see a great way to combine fun, pleasure, and tennis with Wynne Tournaments (see their ad at the bottom of our newsletter). Kim Shanley, Publisher
American Tennis: Continuing Comments Dave Smith Last month, I wrote “American Tennis: Where is it going?” as a commentary on the unmistakable disappearance of American men and women among the world’s elite. In writing the short piece, I had no idea it would strike such a cord among TennisOne readers. Never has a newsletter had the response and depth of reaction that this one had. And, as such, it has prompted this second of an unintended series on the subject!
I should note here that in my first piece I alluded to more references regarding the men’s game. I think most people will agree that a similar paradigm shift has occurred in the women’s game as well. We don’t see a lot of U.S. women today following in the footsteps of the Davenports, the Williams Sisters, or the Capriati’s. So please know that I am referring generally to both sexes. Money Issues The vast majority of those who wrote responses agreed with many of my points. Yet, there were a number of people who wrote with additional opinions. One very legitimate, specific point of contention was mentioned more than once: MONEY. More specifically, there were three points defining tennis in terms of money: The cost of playing tennis; the cost of learning tennis; and the amount of money tennis pros earn compared to other professional sports. Let me share my experience and thoughts on these issues. Cost of Playing Tennis In terms of playing tennis, the sport is probably one of the least expensive. In the most frugal sense, tennis can be played with a racquet from a local thrift store, a few used balls procured from a local tennis club or found outside the fences or in the bushes around public tennis courts. At the same time, you can play on public courts usually for free. Granted, the quality of these three components can be summed up by the phrase, you get what you pay for. Even if we look at purchasing a nice racquet and play regularly with a new can of tennis balls, you are not going to be out more than a few bucks each time you play on a public tennis court. Compare the cost of a decent set of golf clubs ($150 to $1000!) and the typical $40 to $125 green fees and suddenly the cost of tennis doesn’t look so bad! Certainly, the rise of golf’s popularity compared to tennis would dispel the issue of cost as being a factor in the demise of tennis in terms of popularity. The cost of playing tournament tennis can be significant; one person countered my article by saying that the cost of traveling to tennis tournaments is a major factor in prohibiting more players from participating in the sport. Certainly, this can be argued. However, if you compare the cost of traveling to any other sports’ tournaments, similar cost will be incurred. Attending softball, basketball, or golf tournaments would all have similar travel costs and such tournaments can be similar to a typical tennis tournament. Cost of Learning Tennis The cost of learning tennis can be argued to be a factor. Certainly, private lessons can add up. At $50 to $70 or more per hour, this method of learning can be costly. However, we see similar costs for golf lessons. (Tack on the $5 to $8 per bucket of practice balls and you can easily spend much more for golf!)
Compared to the cost of other lessons, (piano, singing, sports camps, etc.) tennis lessons can be similar. Certainly, group tennis lessons, clinic, and camps can be much cheaper. We train a number of top juniors in such clinics with only a few augmenting the clinics with private lessons. Clinics usually run about $5 a half-hour in our area. I usually recommend players seek private lessons initially so they gain a true understanding of what they are working on. After a few of these private lessons, group lessons with an occasional private lesson as maintenance can provide ample instruction to continue on a steady path of improvement. Potential to Make Money On the subject of prize money, it can be argued that most team sports have much higher salaries among a higher number of players. I agree with this statement. However, as my prior article pointed out, the number of good to great athletes competing in team sports is significantly higher. Thus, the competition for those spots is usually very stiff. A "good" athlete probably doesn’t even stand a chance among such high-caliber competitors. And, as I mentioned, few great athletes go out for the typical high school tennis team.
I believe great athletes would have far better chance at making it big in tennis because of this very concept. And consider all the minor leagues in such team sports. There are tens of thousands of wanna be pros fighting for the chance to make in the big show. Yet, the odds are, few will ever make it out of the lower ranks. In tennis, the players make their own fortunes. Those who have the potential—then maximize that potential through dedication and hard work—can create their own success. I believe that if a larger number of great athletes took to tennis, we would see a change in the status of U.S. competitors. Next month, I will address some of the other valid points many of our readers presented including court surfaces, training techniques, equipment and the USTA…among others! In the meantime, I invite all readers to share their thoughts on this subject. Perhaps we will help come up with a plan to invigorate tennis and reinvent the U.S. tennis professional! (Click link to purchase Dave Smith's Book Tennis Mastery, at tenniswarehouse.com.) As always, we would love to hear from you! Questions, comments, personal experiences all create helpful dialogue for everyone! Please click here to send us your email.
If you wish to be removed from our newsletter list, please send an email to newsletter-unsubscribe@tennisonenews.com and leave the subject line blank. A confirmation email will be sent to you, and you will be removed from our newsletter list once you reply to that confirmation.
|
|
Ken Dehart talks about when to change the direction of the ball. Latest Improvements to eTennisTeam Click to see a free sample of TennisOne's Slow-Mo™ videos. |
