Many children grow up dreaming how they can become a tennis champion just like their heroes of the court. Is it the product of training and good coaching, or are there certain inborn abilities that determine who makes it and who does not?
Many reputable tennis clubs, like Tennis World Rushcutters Bay have excellent coaching facilities. But is this enough? Do you need inbuilt qualities to start with in the first place?
Children’s Aptitude
Many gifted kids at school were always the first to answer teacher’s questions, they excelled in certain subjects, even though they had not had any extra lessons than the rest of the class. They just had a special gift, that elevated them from the norm, and any extra teaching just enhanced what they already had.
Sport and tennis in particular is similar, perhaps even more complex. A genius in mathematics is brilliant when it comes to solving equations, but can be really poor in foreign languages, history and other subjects, not to mention physical education.
Skills Needed For Tennis
If someone wants to be brilliant in tennis, then they need to be above average in many different skills.
Physical – Speed, stamina, reactions, coordination, dynamic balance, hand-eye coordination, strength.
Mental – Concentration, emotional control, thought control, winning mentality, self-confidence, motivation, problem-solving skills.
Technical Skills – Forehand, backhand, serve, volley, overhead, return, net play.
So normally, to become a tennis pro the player must already have the necessary raw skill and be gifted in most of the above. But it is by nurturing this raw talent with training and good coaching the player will develop fully.
If however these skills do not exist, then the chances of reaching the higher echelons of the tennis tree are low, no matter how much coaching and training is given.
Even in some of the world’s best tennis academies the pupils do not dominate the ATP and WTA tours, why is this? The simple answer is that every one of those players lacks some gift, some natural talent in one or more crucially important skills for world-class tennis. And even with the fantastic coaching in the academies, they cannot reach the top level.
Players Limit
In other words, certain players reach their limit, just as they reach their limit in growth and cannot be forced to grow any taller.
In the same way, a player can reach their limit in speed and no effort in training whatsoever can alter it.
The gift must always be there, the coaching, training and years of playing can only develop these gifts to their maximum level – to their limit.
A player lacking talent and some of the skills mentioned above can never reach world-class tennis, even by putting in extra hours with an expert coach.
