Tennis needs to branch out and become more accessible

For 37 years, I have been in love with tennis. It’s in the score, so there’s no real choice there.

Throughout that time, I always tried to pick the brains of tennis coaches and parents.

It wasn’t necessarily to develop the next great American men’s tennis player, but to improve my game.

And one father/coach who I befriended years ago did just that, changing my forehand and serve. From there on, I never did feel like I should lose a match if I was fit enough. But that was in the past, I had my day.

Fast forward 10 years later and I have two sons who are also in love with the sport. Not like they had much of a choice.

Max is 10 and has won several green ball tournaments, which is not quite real tennis. He’s probably months away from taking the next step.

He’s played tournaments for years and just now seems to finally have developed the mentality for it.

I taught him how the father in my past taught me and he has instincts I never had. Still, he doesn’t listen to me anymore. And finding a tennis coach is expensive.

The struggle has been real as I’ve called tennis clubs, who have wanted us to spend thousands of dollars to have Max play there.

So, we’ve gone to different clubs, different clinics. We finally found a teaching pro in Allentown, who ran classes and USTA teams on a drop-in rate. These aren’t exactly private lessons, but group practices. While his mentality may have changed, I’m not sure his game has improved as much as it could had we found something more private and affordable.

Even his travel soccer team only cost $200 for the entire year. That’s enough to get one session at a tennis club.

Could he be the next, great American tennis player and I’m stunting his growth by not giving in?

Probably not, but at the same time is there any wonder why American tennis has struggled to find a replacement for Andy Roddick?

It’s simply not accessible enough compared to other sports. Sure, the USTA offers an abundance of grass roots programs, play days, tournaments, etc. Still, though there is a disconnect between tennis pros, tennis clubs and the USTA.

If you listen to tennis clubs and tennis pros, Max should be taking classes 3-5 times a week to get ready for yellow ball tournaments because that’s what his opponents will be doing.

That’s also called specialization and it’s not so easy for some families that live on a budget. Instead, we play every day. He goes to Allentown once a week. He still wakes up every morning, asking if we are playing. I will let you know how it turns out. *** Max has a brother Ben, who does not quite have Max’s instincts for tennis. Still, he loves it and is a really, good athlete. He has great technique on his forehand and serve (better than Max), but can’t hit a backhand. Still, he’s only 8 and can compete with Max when he keeps his emotions in check.

However, I have not been able to keep him on the same path as Max because there have not been enough accessible programs for him to be a part of. He went from orange to green ball without playing a tournament. He took some classes, but usually when he went to an orange ball class, he was being pushed to green ball.

Now, he’s 8 and playing green ball with his brother despite not having a backhand or any real strategy.

The really, good orange ball players are training five hours a day. The other ones can barely rally. There is no middle ground.

Ben might not love it as much as Max, but he certainly loves beating his older brother.

Soon though it will be time for school and flag football. Tennis will be put on the back burner a bit because it’s just too expensive.