ExRx.net

1st in response to another post about their son's anger on the tennis court. My question is how are they able to compete at the higher levels with anger on the tennis court? I thought there are rules; for racquet/ball abuse and bad language. Professionally it works loose point, point, 3rd offense loose match. For example my 16 yr. old son threw his racquet and hit some wild balls. He was suspended from his public high school tennis team for a week. 2nd offense is suspension for the remainder of the season. The coach treats all offenses as equal. My son received both. 1st offense was throwing his racquet. 2nd offense was returning a dead ball in anger and it hit the opponent.
With my son he is a good kid, calm well controled. But his competetive nature and his ability to play the sport fairly good for basically little to nothing of regular time in the sport..can cause him frustration on the court when hes loosing point/match. I am concerned he may not get this anger issue under control with only one chance per school season. Im looking for any kind of help to offer him. Some of which are to play more matches. Focus on the ball, have more plans when plan A dont work may help. Take the racquet out of ur strong hand and move it to the weaker one. I do not believe he has any other *root* issue but the competetive spirit of himself and for his team. HELP anyone?

Some people just get frustrated when they play competitively - it's not necessarily the fact that he's not playing enough. Racquet sports seem to bring out the worst in some people... I went to a regional badminton match at the local high school, and watched a girl hit her leg with her racquet every time she lost a point. Her leg was black and blue by the end of the tournament.

Maybe he needs to play more often without any pressure - just go out and hit the ball back and forth, have a good time.

maybe he should play a sport where physical contact is permited. such as lacrosse, fast paced, lots of finese and handeye coordination, and very aggressive

I certainly dont play competetively but I play raquetball with friends and I can get pretty competitive and I found moving the racquet between hands can be a huge help between points. For some reason, I think people can get a death grip on the racquet and it causes all this tension to be built up.

As for playing a game with more contact, that doesnt always help because it is a different type of anger, an inward frustration that basically can only be resolved with better play or more self control. Hitting someone may be a temporary relief but the tendency could return when the individual is not playing the sport.

Learning to take a step a back and release some tension is something everyone can benefit from in a lot of situations.

thanks for the thoughts and suggestions. We all would like to think (including himself) this wont happen again. Because of the strict coach, he may never play with one weeks suspension and next offense suspension for the season. There doesnt seam to be a level playing ground. Im not finding any other school to be so strict :( I want my son to obey his coach and play to win but loose like a gentleman BUT the reality for a young high schooler..is he's having a problem dealing with the competative nature of the sport, his desire to play at a high level and the fact he blows maybe under pressure when things dont work out as he had hoped for. Yeah, he needs to play more before the next school season begins. I like the idea of putting the racquet back and forth...and taking a step back. Any other ideas from experienced players with this problem?..please post.

Well, if he wants to be a top level competitor at anything maybe he (and others like you or the coach) should work to develop a strategy for each game.

Often, the anger at lack of performance occurs when a player doesnt really have a strategy and is making decisions as the game is played which can result in poor play and therefore anger.

If he has a strategy mapped out ahead of time along with some secondary plans depending on what is working then he can come back to those in his mind when he feels the match is going poorly. This can prevent frustration because it is easier to recall a premade plan that come up with one as you play and I imagine it can take into account more variables and therefore just help him win more, which always helps with frustration.

At the end of the day, losing like a gentlemen involves knowing you played your game and you got beat my a better opponent who played a better game. He should wait to identify flaws until after the match is over as to not create more anger during the match. The flaws can be analyzed later and his game strategy adjusted and by leaving this negative feedback until after, he can remain more focused on playing his best game.

This may sound a bit robotic but in reality, when you are trying to make the step from a amateur to a elite performer, you have to keep it simple until you have the experience to make more in game adjustments. This really only comes with time and usually involves making some adjustments and losing big a few times before you can adjust and win big.

What are some good ways to train for tennis? I know actually playing tennis, but I don't have access to a court 24/7. I want to be on the school team next year, or at least try out without making a fool of myself. So what are some good ways to train for tennis?
__________________
spam

Work on strength, conditioning and metabolic endurance. As you get closer to the season, focus more on skills training.

Here is one where the user came back 3 days later and added the spam links. This is quite sophisticated. They must think this forum gets a lot more views than it actually does.

Only begun, the Spam Wars has.

exrx.net has a lot of google juice cause of the workout diagrams

But exrx has ironman and he wields his computer axe almost as mightily as his tounge.