The following post is an excerpt from the Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible
Available through most online retailers!
THE “PROS AND CONS” OF HIGH SCHOOL TENNIS
Playing high school ball is a rite of passage issue for the high performance athlete. The benefits of high school tennis lean towards life experiences rather than excelled tennis growth. There are exceptions to any rule, so let’s take a deeper look at this interesting question.
The answer is a bit complicated. It greatly depends on your child’s level, needs and goals. It also depends greatly on the level of the possible teammates and coaching staff at your child’s high school. Some high school teams I work with are better than most college teams.
Is High School ball right for your athlete?
Mark is a student of mine. He is a SCTA sectionally ranked player in the top 20. His national ranking is around 60. He is diligent about his tennis and spends about 20 hours training extremely hard every week. He has reached the semis of three national events and his long term goals are to play for Peter Smith at his dream school USC.
His dad is a former player and they are certain he will play a minimum of two years on the ATP futures and challenger tours after college. At his high school, there is one other fairly serious player on the team. The high school coach is a super nice guy. He is the biology teacher. He is coaching because he used to play high school ball and enjoys the game. The coach runs an “optional” fee based 6 week pre-season training camp. Of course, paying and attending greatly increases an athlete’s chances of playing varsity for the team. Now let’s review the positive and negative sides of high school ball for Mark and his family:
POSITIVE Side to Playing High School Tennis:
Plenty of Court Time!
On non-match days, they hit about 2 hours a day, grooving strokes, running through tennis drills and exercising. On match days they play matches and watch team-mates play matches.
Wonderful Team Atmosphere
Although tennis is an individual sport, playing high school tennis provides the players with the benefits of team sports. Such as camaraderie, cooperation and social interaction skills.
Fun Peer Group Socialization
Team tennis encourages players to be more sociable in different environments. They have to deal with different people, who may or may not be their friends. The van trips alone, to and from matches are a blast.
Big Fish in a Small Pond Experience
Mark feels average participating in nationals at his ranking level. At high school he is the king! Even the cheer leaders know him.
Low Cost
Mark’s parents wrote a check for $650.00 to the booster club for the whole 4 month!
Less Driving To Lessons and Tournaments
Mark’s parents don’t have to worry about driving him anywhere.
NEGATIVE Side to Playing High School Tennis:
Developing Bad Habits
After spending four months on court with less devoted “hobbyists”, Mark develops bad work ethic issues, poor shot selection and poor mental toughness.
Quantity versus Quality Practice Time
Most often Mark is goofing off with intermediate teammates or even assisting them with their games. While on the court, he’s even texting friends and making plans for Friday’s party.
Quality of Match Level
Mark wins 8 out of 10 matches 6-0. Winning most matches easily may be great for his ego but not for his long term development. Mark needs a competitive environment to continue to grow and improve.
College Scholarship Factor
According to top Division 1 coaches speaking at my seminars, Coaches look at national rankings and ITF rankings. They don’t consider high school ball as a High Performance Level.
The Success Formula
Remember that the success formula is spending approximately 20 hours of serious training every week for approximately 10 years. Is playing high school tennis for 4 consecutive months 4 years in a row in Mark’s developmental plan?
Rebuilding the Level
It actually takes an additional 2 months of serious physical, mental and emotional training after the high school season ends to re-establish the high level Mark was playing before the season. Now, factor in a six month loss in training time. As Mark chose to de-stress and have fun playing high school ball for 4 months. His rivals who have chosen to skip high school tennis have continued to improve their games as well as their rankings.
Bottom Line: Playing High School Tennis
It is important to reiterate that most high school age players are not as devoted as Mark. Others may be just as serious but need to de-compress and simply play social tennis for a season or two. If so, I recommend playing their freshman year to get a little famous at their new school and then again their senior year after they have signed their letter of intent to play for their college.
I encourage taking some time to consider all these variables. If your child is more of a “hobbyist”, high school ball is one of the best experiences available. However, if your child is a phenom, a compromise may be in order. It may be best to have a meeting with the coach and/or athletic director and organize a win-win schedule. Often top players and their parents can negotiate a workable schedule with the high school coach.
For elite players considering high school tennis, the following three topics should be addressed (negotiated) prior to committing to the high school season:
1) Skipping most practice session in lieu of their private sessions.
2) Scheduling to only play the tougher rival matches.
3) Playing enough matches in order to qualify for the season ending state championships.
The two teaching professional organizations of New England, USPTA and PTR, partnered with USTA New England to host their annual High School Tennis Coaches Conference at Longfellow Tennis and Health Club on March 2nd. Despite a typical snowy New England day, 70 coaches attended to network and learn. 
