By Brianna Adamovsky
In Southwest Florida, tennis academies compete left and right to secure the top notch junior players. Then there is the pressure to keep these tennis prodigies in their academies. With parents eager to see results, tennis instructors do not have the luxury of waiting for their kids to move up in the rankings. In other words, if they do not have their players ranked high, the parents of their juniors will quickly move on to the next strongest academy. It does not matter whether they have helped a particular child on and off the court, the child must have a high ranking or many parents will remove him or her from the academy.
If an academy does not have at least one junior rising star, they have to worry that their players will leave for greener pastures. Coaches make sure to travel to tournaments near and far to monitor their young stars perform. Perhaps one of the most difficult areas coaches must be concerned about is the potential of their competitors using aggressive tactics to steal one of their students. As soon as a competitor sees a student without a coach, they approach the player in an aggressive attempt to recruit the player to their academy. In addition to providing a few tennis tips and advice, a competitor will even use the scholarship word or the free word to entice the top prospect.
Each tennis academy in Southwest Florida offers excellent instruction and has coaches with profound tennis accolades. Therefore, from a tennis standpoint, the young junior players will definitely improve their game. However, parents eagerly move their children from one academy to the next when they do not see immediate success and high rankings. This causes instability for the athlete and many times a loss of love for the game. If you are looking for a tennis academy or personal instructor, make sure to discuss with the instructor their coaching style, vision and tactics before selecting your coach. Also, observe the instructors’ current players at tournaments to get a feel for their impact and style of play. This will be a good indicator as to how the players are trained.
The level of competition is not only high on the court, but also lies in the strategies used to obtain and retain young junior talent. So if you are considering a tennis academy or tennis coach, make an educated decision and don’t be naïve to the competition that exists among the clubs and academies. Feel confident in your decision and use the competition to your advantage by prospering from the skilled training and guidance.
