September 2008 -- I've just returned from the USTA annual meeting in New York, and I was interested to learn that the QuickStart Tennis Play Format has jumped to USTA's No. 1 priority on its list of programs. During the meeting, QuickStart Tennis was the main topic in speeches by USTA President Jane Brown Grimes, Executive Director Gordon Smith and Chief Executive of Community Tennis Kurt Kamperman.
The fact that QuickStart was the main topic of conversation was exciting from the standpoint of the promotion of graduated tennis equipment and courts and the potential to target American youth at an early age. This is something USPTA agrees with wholeheartedly - so much so that 14 years ago this month USPTA introduced its flagship program for teaching children 10 and under - Little Tennis
®, which incorporated low-compression balls and graduated equipment and courts. What is a little disappointing is that the broader industry did not recognize the need to support the development of America's future tennis players or the value of Little Tennis. With the right industry support, the program would have given us a 14-year head start on developing more players and future American champions.
After USPTA's initial introduction of Little Tennis, we followed it with an extensive three-ring manual and a companion Web site at littletennis.com. Everything in the teaching program, including the detailed lesson plans and activities in the manual and on the Web site, focused on graduated equipment and tennis courts. In fact, the courts recommended 14 years ago were the same 36-foot courts being recommended today.
This being said, there have been some questions about USPTA's position on QuickStart Tennis
Play Format as it relates to our own Little Tennis
teaching program. Specifically, we've been asked if we support QuickStart and the answer is definitely "Yes." In fact, this is probably a great time to set the record straight on why and how we've supported QuickStart as a play format for young children, especially since it is another tool to draw young people to tennis and contributes to their long-term development and involvement in the game.
Little Tennis has been the umbrella program for not only its own event, but for all other graduated teaching programs that our members or nonmembers wish to use. QuickStart Tennis Play Format was initially introduced in a meeting attended by then-USPTA President Ron Woods and me, as a series of well-organized tournaments, junior team tennis and events for children 10 and under. We agreed with USTA that it would simply be another way of promoting play and competition with graduated equipment since it was nothing new from a teaching standpoint. We also agreed that any programs that targeted young children and the use of graduated equipment and preparation for future tournament play, including Little Tennis, PTR's Munchkin Tennis, Joe Pro Teenietennis, or any other programs, would be encouraged to use the graduated specifications of QuickStart Tennis Play Format.
During the same meeting with USTA, one of the main points we discussed and agreed on was that QuickStart would
not be introduced as a teaching program, and especially not one that forced people to play with certain graduated equipment based on
chronological age versus ability. USPTA does not believe in, nor will it adhere to, chronological age mandates and neither will the American public.
In the meantime, some people involved in USTA's QuickStart development and introduction have a personal desire to tie graduated equipment and court sizes to
specific ages for the purpose of teaching children. This means that the racquet sizes, types of balls and size of the courts used to teach children are based on
chronological age alone, which is similar to the teaching systems used in England and some other countries.
This type of training technique has not been used extensively or supported in the United States and it's something with which the USPTA Education Committee disagrees since it believes that the skill levels of children and their physical strength and size should determine whether they learn and play with graduated equipment at a particular level or be allowed to play with full-size equipment and on full-size courts. The committee also believes that this is something on which American kids and their parents will insist.
As tennis teachers we often see 10-year-olds who are perfectly capable of beating 12- and 13-year-olds, and most teachers don't believe in relegating the play of these talented children to 60-foot courts or smaller racquets. This subject is something USPTA debated with and convinced USTA officials to avoid in its rollout of QuickStart Tennis Play Format.
As a result, USPTA agreed to support QuickStart as a play format and promote the format through our vast network of division conventions and at our World Conference. Since then, all of our divisions have incorporated QuickStart Play Format/Little Tennis lectures at each of their conventions. The simple compromise was that USTA speakers would recognize all other established teaching programs that have been promoted for years by other groups (and/or individuals in tennis) and promote QuickStart for its graduated courts and equipment through a series of tournaments.
USPTA helped promote QuickStart Tennis Play Format in many ways, including division e-blasts, brochures and promotions in division newsletters. As far as USPTA is concerned, we have always supported the initiative to promote a play format that would get more kids playing tennis, and we believe we have the complete support and understanding of the directors of USTA as to our respective positions on this program and its place within a comprehensive teaching program.
USPTA has developed many great programs over the years - like Little Tennis - and, more recently, a few others we sincerely believe can boost our entire industry's efforts to target specific playing markets and grow tennis at a much faster rate.
I hope to meet with USTA to explain our newest initiatives, including our High School Coaches Resource Center, our new Parent-Coach program and several other projects that target specific markets and address player development. We hope that by sharing our ideas now, we will encourage more cooperation among tennis organizations for the greater good of our industry and, as a result, more tennis participation overall.
