Why Would You Want Your Kids to Play Tennis?
Tennis parents, look at these facts and make your own calculations:
- Odds of becoming a tennis pro 2 in 10000 or 0.02. That does not seem possible.
- Break even for a pro is #150 or approx. $160K year. Dad, how much do you make a year?
- It takes 4-8 years to reach top 200, at a cost of $160K year that is between $640K-$1,28M.
Mary, how much is our house worth? - Cost to train per year approx. $12K low end by age 15, you spent easily in 5-6 yrs. Roughly $60K.
How many mutual funds can you buy with 12K per year? - Only 7% of top world 100 juniors will be tennis pros and only 1% will be top 20. Top in the world, not in the USA.
Hey John, did you win state yet? - Until you win, you need to front end all expenses, ouch! But, I only make….
10,000 hrs. spent by age 18 with odds of 0.0002? 5 hrs. day for 10 years, I should learn to code…
Javier Palenque
When one looks at the cold facts, there is absolutely no reason what so ever to aspire to be a professional player, and the cost and investment of time is just mind blowing. Add to this list the randomness of injuries, bad coaching, mental factors etc.
These variables and experience combined with the real facts make the decision to pursue a pro career delusional. But, none of those horrible stats are why I encourage both of my kids to play tennis and to play it extremely well.
I want my kids to play tennis, because I feel that there is no other sport that will prepare them for a life where they need to practice everyday, compete every other weekend, win and lose, laugh and cry, become part of a team, make friends and of course exercise daily and learn their nutrition in an obese country, and last devote their daily life to better themselves knowing full well that there are many other players better than them.
You see, when my kids are practicing hard every day, I on the way home, make sure to relate the practice to life in the future, let’s say he was on fire that day working towards a big competition, I tell my son how I’m preparing for a huge presentation at work or pursuing a business account that we need for the business. Sometimes, also he has to deal with a big loss. Well, at work I also have those experiences and often have to deal with them. Their tennis experience If properly focused will help them in the future, I assure you.
As I look forward a couple of years from now I see my kid at 15, practicing very hard, being fit, focused, worried about how to increase the speed of his serve, savvy with in nutritional and working extremely hard everyday towards a goal, as opposed to other kids in his class, who with too much time in their hands, are looking for ways to get high, getting in trouble, out of shape, drunk and planning orgies, etc. I think tennis keeps them, focused, determined, challenged and by the time they turn 18 ready to be champions in life.
Through tennis, I will have taught them the value of time and how to use it. You see at 18 my kids will have learned the principles needed to succeed in life: independence, self reliance, decision making, hard work, balance, determination, standing up after a big fall, disappointment and joy, they will experience the cost of winning and the sacrifices needed to get there, they will learn from losing and having to get up from it and understand that losing is only feedback. In essence, they will be properly trained to succeed in their lives.
Unlike other parents, who falsely dream a pro career for their kids and the riches tennis will bring, I use tennis to make my kids better citizens, better sons and daughters, someday a better father and mother, better people all around. Better Americans. While it would be great to get a scholarship to a great school, emphasis on great academic school, not any school that has tennis. I have to plan for that eventuality as coaches make little money.
We know that the time we spend together, the adventure of tennis made us closer as a family, kept us working towards a common goal and made our journey as parents and kids the most enjoyable way to spend time together, to bond, to get better, to grow as champions, to make new friends, to travel and stay in lousy hotels because that’s all we could afford, to play younger and older competitors and to laugh together. To live the journey of this experience we know as parenting and life.
Wow, it seems to me that I have found a way to prepare my kids for their professional careers and it is not in tennis. I’ll take tennis’ horrible odds, knowing full well that for my kids there is simply no other way I would have chosen to spend our time together, to prepare them for when they leave our nest, to be able to fly for themselves and be champions in their own life. I love you tennis, I love you. Javier.
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Thank you Javier for sharing your thoughts about your approach to preparing your kids for life through tennis and that is the same approach that I’m having in raising my kid….
When I tell this to other parents of potential high level kids, they all agree…until they experience the rush of results. I try to warn them that this is only the adrenaline of ‘instant gratification’ and some will agree again….until the next time…..
Thank you for a great article, it is so hard to see parents that are pushing kids to the pros at a lower tournaments where kids are willing to cheat to win, they don’t want to deal with an unhappy parent. Some of this disappears as kids go into the nationals and ITF but it is still there.
As a teaching pro and parent the best reason a kid should play tennis is they love the game. Let that love take them where they choose to go. A recreational league, high school team, college or the pros. They will let you know where they want to go.
My best days are having kids on court that are enjoying just hitting a ball over a net, sometimes it is a foam ball and it is hit back to them. Just this week I had 20 first time players ages 7 to 14, they all were hitting the foam ball over a mini nets with some adults thrown in, they all had smiles from ear to ear. We as teaching pros and parents need to remember that is the reason people start the game and love it. There needs to be fun and enjoyment even if the kid in a nationally ranked player
Please share the article, I believe that the more people read a personal view the more likely it is it will be in peoples contiusness and the better they will act, and tge better kids we have and the better tennis players we have. Share.
Javier
Well said. On the professional level the reward in tennis is minimal compare to other sports. It is also a sport that’s truly physically and mentally demanding. However, like you said, it is a life preparational sport. The time and effort, the wins and losses, the lessons to be learn from each and every outcome truly helps mold the character and individualistic of the kid. Tennis is a sport that can really prepare an individual in what lays ahead of them. Building our kids and their futures with strong self esteem. This is also why we have these blogs, being able to share thoughts like what Javier just did. That’s why we encourage our kids to play tennis. Well done Javier and thanks for sharing.