12 BENEFITS OF WALKING

Walking brings significant health benefits to body and mind. Research shows that regular walking contributes much to your overall health and fitness in important ways:

1. Strengthens your heart

2. Delays or prevents major diseases or illness

3. Reduces blood pressure and the risk of stroke

4. Reduces cholesterol

5. Strengthens joints and bones

6. Helps control weight

7. Improves mood and self-esteem

8. Contributes to “brain fitness”

9. Gives you energy and a good night’s rest

10.Relieves stress and worry

11.Improves balance and circulation

12.Boosts immune system

9 health benefits of eggs:

9 health benefits of eggs:

1. Improve Concentration 
- Good nutrition affects a child’s ability to learn. Research has shown that eating a balanced breakfast that include eggs can improve children:

A.Concentration level 

B. Math and reading skills
C. Attendance
D. Behaviour
E. Test scores

2. Maintain Healthy Weight 
- Eggs are the best source of complete protein which contain all essential amino acids for human body. They helps control the rate at which the body absorbs calories. When managing your weight, choose foods that provide the maximum amount of nutrition for the least amount of calories. Eggs are a great nutritional value for those trying to lose weight and maintain healthy weight.

3. Brain Development 
- Choline, a substance found in egg yolk, stimulating brain development and function. Since it necessary for brain development, but is not produced by our bodies in sufficient amount, a continuous new supply must be provided by our diet. Two large eggs provide the adult with the recommended daily intake of choline.

4. Improve Eyesight 
- Lutein and zeaxanthin are antioxidants found in egg yolk and are believed to help improve eyesight and reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration (leading cause of blindness in people over age 65 years) as well as the risk of cataracts.

5. Prevent Blood Clots 
- Eating eggs may help reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke by prevent blood clots. An important antioxidant called selenium found in eggs inhibit clot formation in a dose-dependent.

6.Healthy Pregnancy 
- Choline is an essential nutrient that contributes to fetal brain development and helps prevent birth defects. Two eggs provide about 250 milligrams of choline, or approximately half of the recommended daily intake for pregnant and lactating women.

7. Strengthen Bones 
-Egg is an important source of vitamin D, which is important in bone strengthening and improving immunity.

8. Maintain Healthy Hair and skin 
- Eggs contain protein and sulfur which together help in the promotion of healthy hair and skin.

9. Prevent Breast Cancer 
- A study found that women who consumed at least 6 eggs per week have 44% less risk of developing breast cancer.

25 ULTIMATE TIPS FOR BETTER LIFE!!!

25 ULTIMATE TIPS FOR BETTER LIFE!!!
.
.1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every
day.&while you walk, SMILE.
It is the ultimate antidepressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10
minutes each day.

3. When you wake up in the morning, Pray to ask God's
guidance for your purpose, today.

4. Eat more foods that grow on
trees and plants and eat less food
that is manufactured in plants.

5. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, broccoli,
and almonds.

6. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

7. Don't waste your precious
energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past,
negative thoughts or things you
cannot control.
Instead invest your energy in the
positive present moment.

8. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch
like a prince and dinner like a
college kid with a maxed out
charge card.

9. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

10. Life is too short to waste time
hating anyone. Forgive them for
everything !

11. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

12. You don't have to win every
argument. Agree to disagree.

13. Make peace with your past so
it won't spoil the present.

14. Don't compare your life to
others. You have no idea what
their journey is all about.

15. No one is in charge of your
happiness except you.

16. Frame every so-called disaster
with these words:'In five years,
will this matter?'

17. Help the needy,Be generous !
Be a'Giver'not a'Taker'

18. What other people think of
you is none of your business.

19. Time heals everything.

20. However good or bad a
situation is, it will change.

21. Your job won't take care of
you when you are sick. Your
friends will. Stay in touch.

22. Envy is a waste of time. You
already have all you need.

23. Each night before you go to
bed ,Pray to God and Be thankful
for what you'll accomplish, today !

24. Remember that you are too
blessed to be stressed.

25.Share this to everyone on your
list to help them lead a happier
life...!!!!

Parents of performance players

Parents of performance players, If your child is playing a lot of tennis and looking to reach a good level then you will have to look in the following areas with in the coaching program.

1. Track record
History does tend to repeat itself! The best way to judge a a coach/academy or program is to look at what it produces or has already produced over the years.

How many players do they have that have made it into the qualifying or main draw of the national championships in the past few years? If the answer is none and they are billing themselves as being a high-level performance academy/program. You might have look around a bit more. 

Bear in mind though that a few academies/coaches specialize in different age groups, for example a centre may not have any players in Nationals, but they may have got lots of players started and then passed them on to other centres  where they have done well.

Don’t just look at the standard of players that a program produces also look at the type of player and person that the program produces. If the players are motivated, happy and love their tennis then there are clearly some great things going on at that venue.

2. All round program
As players improve they need an increasingly rounded program to carry on succeeding. 

For a player to reach their potential their tennis program needs to be first class, but they will also need a great physical program, nutritional advice and mental skills work. 

A program where the player has a team around them providing this all round advice is the one to look for.

3. Personalized  goal setting
Maximising your potential is an individual journey. It is great to train with the support of a team of coaches around you, but to really improve players need individual goals that are specific to their game. 

A program for better players should provide individualized goals for each player at least once per term. The whole of the team around the player should then be aware of these goals and work towards them.

4. Consistency in coaching team
As tennis grows the numbers of kids in the program grows and so does the size of the coaching team. 

This is great in some ways, but it can lead to a player working on court with a wide variety of coaches in any one week. In my experience this rarely works, I would always look for consistency in terms of no more than 1 or 2 coaches working with a player in any week plus perhaps a strength and conditioning coach.

Note: Frequently changing the coaches or academies will not lead your child anywhere.

I advice every parent to invest lot of time before deciding a particular coach/academy for your child. It would be better if you can find a camp which is about 15mins & a maximum of 20mins away from your home, even if you are driving during the peak traffic time. If the academy is far off, you might consider of relocating to a place near by as this would save you lot of time,energy,fuel and most importantly your child will have extra rest or he/she is tired with the travel. If you have a option of sending your child by a Bicycle, then this would be the best.

It take lot of time (minimum 10 years) and effort from the coach to understand and develop a player. So do not expect results over night. Give the coach a opportunity to develop your child.Just because some player in your child's category is performing and winning tournaments that doesn't mean that your child is not being trained properly. Who knows, your child might start dominating the circuit with in the next few months. If your child is not performing, first try to evaluate your child rather than evaluating the coaches capability. Every child is unique, they have their own style and they take their own time to develop before they start performing.

All you need to do is to just decide a good camp for your child, see if the coach is optimistic, make sure you are paying your fees on time and make sure your child is getting proper nutrition & rest.

Above all, it is your positive attitude towards the coach and your child which will make a huge impact on your child development.

All the Best.

CAREER PATH FOR A JUNIOR TENNIS PLAYER

The Junior World Ranking circuit has acted as a stepping stone to many current top players. Research into past end of year ITF Junior World Rankings has shown that 40% of the players in the top 10 went on to break into the top 100 on the men’s or women’s professional rankings.

Research on the ITF Juniors Top 50 Ranked Boys have proved that : 60% made it into the top 300 ATP Rankings, while in the Girls 70% made it into the top 200 WTA Rankings List.

It clearly indicates that, Reaching the top 50 of the ITF Junior World Rankings is a good indicator of success in the Pros and therefore, players looking to become professional players should in most cases try to first prove themselves in junior tennis before focusing exclusively on professional events.

A recommended career path for a top national junior boy or girl to follow would normally be:

·         First attain a top 5 national junior ranking in the country,
·         To then focus on playing the ITF Junior Circuit and try to achieve a top 50 ITF Junior World Ranking. This ranking will ensure direct acceptance into the Group A events (including the four Grand Slam Junior Tournaments).  
·         A junior working to achieve this top 50 ranking should also try to play some weeks of professional events per year for experience.
·         Once the player has achieved a top 50 ranking in juniors, he/she should then focus on improving their professional ranking by playing mostly ITF Men’s/Women’s Circuit events, along with the prestigious Group A Junior events. As shown by the statistics above, once the players have proven themselves in juniors, they have a reasonably good chance of making it into the top levels of the professional game.

Guru Purnima - Respecting All Our Teachers & Expressing Our Gratitude.

On Guru Purnima a guru’s glow is at its height and merely being in your guru’s presence can have amazing effects on your evolution and inner world.

Today, on the Guru Purnima, remembered all my teachers from School and all the coaches who have helped me in building my career.  A Guru is someone who guides you through darkness and is the light in your life.

Guru Purnima is one such festival that is celebrated for the Guru or the teacher. This festival is mainly meant to serve the guru or the teacher. Gu means darkness and Ru means remover of darkness( light) .

So who is a Guru? A Guru is someone who guides you through darkness and is the light in your life. Guru is that thread that binds your ignorance with knowledge and gives you complete enlightenment. A Guru is a guiding force in our life. He/she is someone who is there for you always and forever guiding you when you go wrong and forgiving you when you make mistakes.

A guru has the phenomenal potential of taking you beyond, not just from the pains and difficulties of life but beyond yourself. The guru is not just a physical being; guru is the energy, considered even higher than para brahma, the Divine Consciousness.

A student/ shishya should always consider the words spoken by his guru as a mantra.

A guru is the only steady feature in our life, which is there for us whenever we need them. It is our humble duty to spend day thinking for them and about them, so that we can make life a better place to live in.It is only the Guru who can help us achieve a cause with a touch of finality. With able leaders and teachers who lead us to a world beyond, society would surely be a paradise to live in.

Lets thank all our teachers who have made us what we are today and salute them for their grit, determination, and faith in us.

Careers in Tennis

As your child develops, your attention may turn to thinking about opportunities which are there to stay within Tennis and build a career.Parents often ask me if their child can become a Professional Tennis Player or they just simply ask "Dose my child have enough to reach on top"?? Frankly, my answer would be "There's still a long way to go".

I understand that the parents do look in for a positive answer when they ask me but just because a player is good or they are performing well doesn't necessarily mean they have the ability to get on top at the Professional Level. 

Consider this,If a player is good at 12-14 years of age, there is still up to ten years before anyone will know if that player will be a top international player and possible earn a living from the game. A lot can happen in those ten years including , technical improvements and growth development or lack of motivation/interest levels, injuries,social pressure,parental and family circumstances and may be even tournament results might go flat.

To know more about this I would like you find a answer to this question. "In the last 20 Years, How many ITF Junior players ranked #1 have made it into the #1 rankings in the ATP or the WTA rankings??

Before you actually find a answer to the above question, I am here to discuss about possible careers in Tennis,though playing tennis professionally is often the preferred choice,there are also plenty of other opportunities to have a career in sports. Just because a player cannot make it on Top of the World Ranking doesn't mean that he/she is not fit for Sports. There are many other ways where a player can still make a career out of Tennis though he/she is not a Top ranked Tennis Player.

Here are a few possible ways a player can make a career having Tennis as his/her background.

·               Becoming a Professional Tennis Player.

ITF $10,000 Futures events are probably the best place to start. There are many ITF Futures Tournaments which are held every week across the globe. The player will have the opportunity to earn a ATP or WTA ranking while they perform in these tournaments and then they may move on to higher tournaments which offers higher prize money and more ranking points.

·               Earning a College Degree through Tennis Scholarship in USA

Taking your child's Tennis and Education to a higher level can be tricky,especially if you are trying to do both at the same time.I really do recommend parents and players think hard before coming completely out of education at a young age.

So if your child is passionate about tennis,want to continue to play and train to a high standard along side academic study then University Tennis is the best route for you. This offers a fantastic experience , new friendships, excellent training opportunities/facilities, good competition and a wide range of education courses that can also be flexible in learning.

College tennis in America is huge with three separate Divisions/Associations organizing competition. The scholarships prove very attractive to the players and hundreds of players have gone through the system over the last twenty years.

The decision to play full time tennis on the men's or women's circuit or to choose different career can be decided during the university period and the player must be well equipped to make these important decisions depending on standard, interests and ambition. After 4 years of University Tennis/Education, with a Degree in hand your child will be matured enough to take his/her own decision about their career.

 Here’s the list of few Indian Tennis Players (Presently active on the
Professional Tennis Circuit) who preferred attending a University on a Tennis Scholarship before they actually made their mark on the Professional Circuit.

1.      Mahesh Bhupathi                                      University Of Mississippi

2.      Somdev Devverman                                 University Of Virginia

3.      Saket Myneni                                            University Of Alabama

4.      Sanam Singh                                             University Of Virginia

In order to play college tennis, your child should start preparing towards it from 11 standard or the early your start the better. This will give them ample time to prepare for their SAT Exam and also work on their Fitness, Game, Ranking, Attitude,Work Ethic, Punctuality, Sportsmanship, Presentation & Communication Skills.Though getting a 100% Scholarship is achievable, it requires a lot of work in order to achieve it. In order to get a good scholarship in a good University you are required to achieve a good SAT Score, have good playing standards, decent ITF Junior World Ranking / National Ranking and also good presentation and communication skills.

·               Becoming a Coach

Tennis Coaching is a rewarding career as you inspire people to start playing the dame and empower then to fulfill their potential. Everyday is a new challenge, from young children picking up a racquet for the first time through to players chasing grand slam success, every player requires a coach. If you are passionate, there are a range of tennis coaching jobs suitable for you.

            If you want to become a tennis coach, you will need to look into gaining tennis coaching qualification.

Average Income per annum for a normal/ club tennis coach

                        India :                          Rs. 3,00,000 - 4,00,000 lakhs

                        USA                            $    50,000 – 70,000

·         Becoming a Tennis Official

Organizing and officiating at tennis competition can be very rewarding and also great fun. ITF Officiating provides training for those who want to become certified Chair Umpires,Chief Umpires and Referees.

·               Becoming a Strength and Conditioning Coach ( Career in Sports Science)

Demand is growing for sports scientists and performance consultants, as society in general develops a greater awareness of health and fitness issues around work. Your degree will have equipped you with a good knowledge of the sports and exercise industry and enabled you to look at the science behind fitness, as well as giving you an insight into related areas such as nutrition, psychology, management and finance – plenty to make you an attractive prospect to potential employers.

            Qualified sport and exercise scientists can earn between $40,000 and $80,000 a year.

Experienced sport scientists working in high levels of competitive sport can earn $100,000 or more a year.

  

·               Becoming a Sports Agent/manager (Sports Management)

Sports agents lead exciting lives filled with travel,high powered parties and events and of course up close and personal access to athlete and sports teams.They have a deep understanding of sports recruiting and drafting and they are excellent negotiators willing to take big risk for their clients.

In the Sports Agent business, the saying goes "you get paid when your athlete gets paid." The amount agents make varies with the athletes they sign. Successful sports agents can make over a million dollars per year. 

·               Becoming a Sports Journalist/ TV Presenter/ Commentator (Mass Communications)

·               Thousands of jobs in Tennis / Sports Industry which requires at least one major sport as a background.

Apart from the above available jobs, there are jobs which are offered by the Government of India for outstanding Sports persons in India. Though these jobs are not highly paid when compared to other above listed jobs, they do provide a lot of security and benefits.

I personally would recommend any parent or player to choose the option of "Earning a University Degree in USA through Tennis Scholarship". This option provides a solid foundation for your child in what ever line of career they choose.

Parents and Players, If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me.

My email:  harshatennis@hotmail.com  

"All the Best".

Major Obstacles for Tennis Parents. Questions to ask yourself.

To contribute to the success of a coaching program, parents must be willing and able to commit themselves in many different ways. The following questions serve as important reminders of the scope of parents’ responsibilities. You should be able to honestly answer "YES” to each one.

Can I let my child make his/her own decisions?

• An important part of growing up is accepting responsibility for one's own behavior and decisions. As your child matures, you should offer suggestions and guidance about but within reasonable limits, you should let your child go his or her own way. All parents have ambitions for their children, but they must accept the fact that they cannot dominate their children's lives. Sports can offer an introduction to the major parental challenge of letting go.

Can I admit my mistakes?

• You must be convinced that the proper response to a mistake or not knowing something is an honest disclosure. When you make a mistake, you must not hesitate to admit it and openly discuss it with your son or daughter and this in turn will help your child to accept their mistakes and they might seek you advise as well.

Can I give my child some of my time?

• You’ll need to decide how much time can be devoted to your child's sport activities. Problem arise when parents are very busy, yet are also interested and want to encourage their children. Never ignore your child by telling them that you don’t have time. If you really wish to, you will make some time doesn't matter how busy you are. Make every effort to watch at least one match or accompany them for a tournament once in a while and observe how your child is motivated to perform while you watch. Never promise more time than you can actually deliver, this will only lead to your child's disappointment.
• Remember, devoting to much of your time to your child is not good either.

Can I accept my child's triumphs?

•    This sounds easy, but it’s not always so. Some parents don’t realise it.Fathers in particular may be competitive with their sons. When a players plays well in a match appreciate them for their efforts rather than pointing out minor mistakes or describe how others did even better.
•    Note: Fathers please stop boasting about things from your own sport achievements. Your child is playing in a different era.

  Can I accept my child's disappointments?

•          In addition to accepting your child’s accomplishments, parents should support their children when they are disappointed and hurt. This may mean watching them play poorly, or not being embarrassed, ashamed, or angry when your 10-year-old cries after losing. When a disappointment occurs, you should be able to help your children see the positive side of the situation and teach them how to move on.

Can I show my child self control?

•         Parents are important role models for their children's behavior  It’s not surprising to find that parents who lose control of themselves often have children who are prone to emotional outbursts and poor self-discipline. If you are to expect sportsmanship and self-control from your children, you need to exhibit the same qualities in your own behavior.

Can I share my son or daughter?

•          This requires putting your child completely in the coach's charge and trusting him to guide the sport experience. This responsibility doesn't mean that you can’t have input, but the coach is the boss! If you are going to undermine the coach leadership , it’s best for all concerned not to have your child in the program.

Remember, communication with the coach and child plays a very important role in your child's development.

Benefits of Sleep

In my previous blog, I discussed about importance of sleep. I hope some of you have started making necessary changes in your lifestyle and started giving more importance to sleep. Now here are a few Benefits of Sleep.

Ø  Improve memory:

                "If you are trying to learn something, whether it’s physical or mental, you learn it to a certain point with practice," whether it’s Language or tennis —you’ll perform better after sleeping.

Ø  Live longer:

                Sleep also affects quality of life. "Many things that we take for granted are affected by sleep," "If you sleep better, you can certainly live better. It’s pretty clear.

Ø  Be a winner:

                If you’re an athlete, there may be one simple way to improve your performance and that’s sleep. Players who tried to sleep at least 10 hours a night for seven to eight weeks improved their performance and had less daytime fatigue and more stamina. Roger Federer sleeps 10hrs a day rather that 8hrs which is actually 2hrs more amount of sleep than required for his age.

Ø  Improve your Grades:

                Children between the ages of 10 and 16 who have sleep disordered breathing, which includes snoring and other types of interrupted breathing during sleep, are more likely to have problems with attention and learning. Also, college students who didn't get enough sleep had worse grades than those who did.

Ø  Hyperactive Kids:

                "Kids don’t react the same way to sleep deprivation as adults do," adults get sleepy, kids tend to get hyperactive." Children aged seven and eight who get less than about eight hours of sleep a night are more likely to be hyperactive, inattentive, and impulsive. "So not surprisingly how we sleep affects the brain."

  

Ø  Maintain Healthy Weight:

                "Sleep and metabolism are controlled by the same sectors of the brain," "When you are sleepy, certain hormones go up in your blood, and those same hormones drive appetite."So, if you are thinking about going on a diet, you might want to plan an earlier bedtime too.

Ø  Lower Stress Levels:

                Stress and sleep are nearly one and the same—and both can affect cardiovascular health. "Sleep can definitely reduce levels of stress, and with that people can have better control of their blood pressure," sleep effects cholesterol levels, which plays a significant role in heart disease."

Ø  Lower Depression:

•                 "A lack of sleep can contribute to depression," You get more emotional stability with good sleep." “If you sleep more on the weekends, you simply aren't sleeping enough in the week,"  "It’s all about finding a balance.

Importance of sleep.

In the world of Strength and Conditioning, every one gives importance to all the details like Training Programmes ,latest training methods, sets, reps, best equipment, facility  and so on- All this stuff is very important but if you don’t have the basics and underlined principles in which sleep is the #1 priority your training programme needs some serious amendments.

                Sleep, without a doubt is something which everyone struggles with from Elite Athletes, Top executives, normal person who wish to improve body strength and lose body fat/weight, college students, high school kids and even housewives everyone struggle to sleep.
               

4 Reasons why sleep is very important:

Ø  Physical Recovery:                         

You have to give your body a chance to recover after you workout. Even if your training and nutrition programme are perfectly designed – Sleep transforms all of it. If you are not sleeping right you are not giving your body a chance to recover.

Ø  Cognitive Recovery:                      

Just like your body your brain needs to recover as well. If you are not sleeping properly it can have a huge impact on your mood, drive to train, concentration while playing and other factors…all have impact on sleep.

Ø  Immune System Recover:           

By not sleeping properly you are putting a huge load of stress on your body which results in slowing down of your body after a period of time. That extra 2hrs of sleep which you are neglecting/not getting at night will have huge impact on your health over a period of time.

Ø  Hormone Regulation:                   

This is a huge one: Everyone talks about hormone imbalance but nobody would like to know about the main reason behind hormone imbalance and here lack of enough sleep is probably on main reason why people have hormone imbalance. To manage all your hormones to function properly….the best way is to get enough “High quality sleep”.

                So no matter what your goal is…Improving your athletic performance, loosing body weight/fat, improving your strength or to maintain a healthy lifestyle “SLEEP” need to be top priority.

Amount of sleep required depending upon the age.

·         Babies:                                 16 hours

·         3-12year old:                       10 hours

·         13-18year old:                      9 hours

·         19-55year old:                      8 hours

·         Over 60:                               6 hours

Progression & Periodization

Exercise progression means continually overloading the body's system by changing the exercise stimulus. Increasing weight and/or repetitions is one way to progress, but shouldn't be the only way. Your body adapts to one particular type of exercises within 4-6 weeks, after that you'll experience diminished return from your exercise program as you continue doing similar exercises and a similar range of sets, repetitions, time under tension and stability. In the case of aerobic fitness, if you continue training in a steady state. You also expose yourself to the same kind of repetitive stress injuries as factory workers when you continually do the same exact movements and work at the same intensity.  Periodization is changing your training program at regular planned intervals.

For best results, most people should Periodize their training and cycle between 2-3 different phases of training on a 4-6 week basis. If you've been focused on stable training such as machines, lying on benches and/or sitting through your workout, try standing.  It increases core activation and targets a greater cross section of muscle fibers. Once you've mastered standing, progress to exercises on a single leg, or with balance boards and balls. Then come back to a more intensive stable strength training routine. Or try plyometrics to increase power.  Another option is to include different types of training within each week.  Instead of splitting between muscle groups, try alternating workouts between strength, stability and power.

The same above concept applies to players while they are playing tennis. Players need to make their practise sessions challenging rather than hitting back to back rallies while they are standing at one particular place. Make sure to monitor your performance for every 4-6weeks.If there is no improvement,you need to restructure your training programme. Remember, If you are doing any activity over and over at the same intensity there will be no progression after a period of time and might as well lead to a injury.

Pushing your children grow up to be Tennis Professionals

Parents need to understand that their children need to enjoy the game in order to make sure that they grow professionally. It is just not possible for a player to carry performance pressure and perform especially in a game like tennis where everything is individual.This is the reason why I always make sure that the players are trained properly in a fun atmosphere everyday.No doubt, I tell them to be punctual and make sure that they are disciplined, while they are training I do push them to their limits in order to perform better.The more the players enjoy training the more effective the outcome and the effective outcome ultimately leads to performance. Remember becoming a Professional Tennis Player is not like running a 100 meters sprint, its a Marathon, the ultimate finish line is  not visible unless you are about to finish the race.

This is a excellent article which I came across about pushing your children grow up to be Tennis Professionals.

Please click on the link below to read the article.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324183204578565400657393068.html

Sports Injury Prevention

According to recent research, specializing in one sport at an early age, isn’t what’s going to make your child an elite athlete – diversifying participation in a multitude of sports and not playing year-round, as promoted by the STOP Sports Injuries Campaign, though just might.

Recent research published in Sports Health: A Multidisciplinary Approach, analyzed articles from 1990 to 2011 looking for information about whether sports specialization actually helps or hurts kids.A research which was recently conducted on 519 tennis players ages 10-18 who spent, on average, 11-15 hours/per week training.

The results highlighted that kids who specialized in tennis were 1.5 times more likely to get an injury, regardless of their total training time. Performance was also investigated by the researchers and the studies illustrated that in sports like cycling, swimming, and skating, those who started significant training around age 15 were more likely to become elite-level athletes (defined by podium placings in European competitions and top-10 results in World and Olympic events) than their peers who started training earlier.

“Kids often receive pressure from their parents or coaches to be the best in one given sport, when in reality participating in free play and a multitude of sports from an early age is the best strategy to create an outstanding athlete.

Indian Tennis Coaches need to concentrate more on the 10 & Under age category

I recently attended the 10 & Under World Tennis Coaches Conference at the Hilton Head Island, USA. I  had a opportunity to meet some of the best 10 & Under Tennis Coaches from across the Globe. Though the majority of the participants were from the various states in USA a few of them have managed to fly from Europe and Australia as well. Myself and two coaches from Japan were the only representation from Asia.

During the conference there was a lot of things which were discussed about the development of  players especially in the United States. For a moment I was surprised, that a country like United States is now struggling to produce a decent players who are capable of competing at the higher level. Not to forget that this is the country which has produced number of Grand slam Winners in both Men’s and Women’s Categories. You can find excellent tennis coaching facilities as well as World Class Coaches at every corner of this country.

A lot was discussed about the development of tennis out of which I have come to a conclusion that if a country like USA is able to restructure its whole tennis coaching programme, so can India. We Indians are a masters in technique of any given sports. The only problem is that our youngsters fail to take their performance to elite level because of various reasons and there is a huge drop out rate between the ages 16-19.

Though over the last 4-5 Years India has been able to produce some quality players who can perform in Singles but these players are yet to prove that Indians are really capable of competing against the best players in the World.

In order to produce a World Class players from India we need to bring in more number of players to play tennis at the 10 & under age category and then work on the player development from there. "I think the local coaches needs to spend more time searching for talent. "We need kids with hunger, and you can't tell  that there aren't plenty of them with the skills and the ambition to succeed. They need to see tennis as a cool sport, they need to be drawn to it. Otherwise, they are going to choose some other sport."

There is going to be no instant cure. It's a fact of life that youngsters from Central Europe and Asia have more ambition to succeed at a sport like tennis. It's also a fact that tennis life that Spain and France have discovered the secret of producing a steady production line of talent. There is no secret formula. It's just good coaching, clay courts and endless local tournaments.

Its high time that coaches in India have to start working together towards bringing in more number of players to take up the sport at the 10 & Under age group and things will start falling in place over a period of time else we will need to convince ourselves that to the fact that the likes of Novak Djokovic will lead a Uzbek-Kazak-Serbian-Russian takeover of tennis. You have to love the sport — really love it.