Dear Students and Parents,

Another Winter Jr Program has concluded, and I felt it was a good one for all.  I am including this letter with the 2010 Spring Junior Program information because I am making some material changes to all my future programs, hopefully for the good of all.  The key reason for this change is FLEXIBILITY for those truly interested in learning to play quality tennis.

Obviously everyone is  limited in how much time, money, and effort they have to "put" into getting good at anything.  I, personally, would like to see dozens of kids and adults become infected by the game of tennis, as I was 50 years ago.  However, this is not the case, but a few are.  A few are in the process of becoming that "bitten" and potentially more could decide at anytime to go "whole-hog" wild about the game.  Therefore, I want to offer a program structure that can easily and fairly accommodate the wide variety of interest from those who decide to take up the game of tennis.

Tennis is a team sport in high school and playing on the local team for boys and girls should be a common goal.  It is a great opportunity to get to play some of the many matches that it takes to become a real tennis player.  The big difference is that tennis like golf is also an individual sport.  Most people will peak in their participation in true team sports like soccer, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, and football in high school or college.  This holds true for many other individual sports like swimming, gymnastics, cheerleading, wrestling, track, cross-country, and others.  For the only two true globally popular lifetime sports of tennis and golf, this "peak participation" pattern does NOT hold true.  Peak participation in these two sports often comes in retirement, after age 60, when individuals finally gain the time to play them.   Which of these two is best?  The one you choose is the answer - you simply can't go wrong with either.  They are both fun to learn and play as a kid, they are great social sports for college and the early years of marriage, they definitely are the best for the corporate business career environment, and they simply

Until death, tennis players and golfers are looking to improve their technique.  If this were not true then why in the world are there approximately 75,000 tennis teaching professionals and somewhere close to the same in golf.  Because tennis and golf are forever-challenging!  No golfer or tennis player ever thinks he or she has truly mastered his or her sport.

This year there will be 61 total tournaments in the US, - FOR 90 & OVER MEN!  The 2009 U S T A National 70 & over tournament was a 128 draw.  The U S T A recently added 95 & over as the oldest age division.  Fifty years ago when I was a 12 year-old kid, the oldest division was 75 & over.  Do you see a trend here?  My parents are 88 and 86 going on 87.  They are active and live independent of others with both still driving.  They taught my sister (64) and I to NOT smoke, ever, to drink alcohol only in moderation, if at all, and to simply stay active and NOT become stagnant by watching too much TV.  When I was a kid, we had NO video games, we played outside from morning to night, coming home only for meals.  How many times have you heard this or something similar being discussed by us "Baby Boomers" ?

Parents!!!!!! DO YOURSELF A BIG FAVOR!  Get started playing tennis!  Add to those activities you can do with your kids - FOREVER!  Keep them involved in those sports that are lifetime in their nature.  Tennis fills the bill, and that's why I have adapted my program to accommodate a wider range of participation per week, as each child moves into the more advanced groups, they will decide where they want to spend their most precious of resources, TIME.  If they get bitten by The Tennis Bug, I know I can accommodate them with this expanded program.  If they decide to budget their time between tennis and other worthwhile activities, the added flexibility will allow that approach.  Remember the essence of the book, Talent Code, by Daniel Coyle, "ONLY THOUSANDS OF HOURS OF DEEP PRACTICE RESULTS IN GETTING REALLY GOOD AT ANYTHING!"  I am trying to provide the environment (opportunity) to make everyone's participation DEEP PRACTICE in tennis.

So starting Monday, March 8th my Spring Tennis Program and all future sessions will offer five-days-a-week two hours per day training.  Billing in the advanced program will be based on the average weekly attendance computed from the taken attendance. - ALL FEES DUE AT END OF EACH 4-WEEK SESSION.
If a student averages less than 1 day per week - billing at the single day rate of $15 per day for everyone!
If a student averages between 1 and 2 days per week - billing at a rate of $50 per 4 week session
If a student averages between 2 and 3 days per week - billing at a rate of $70 per 4 week session
If a student averages between 3 and 4 days per week - billing at a rate of $90 per 4 week session
If a student averages between 4 and 5 days per week - billing at a rate of $110 per 4 week session