Staying Confident When Moving Up A Level In Tennis

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Do you have a junior player who is just aging up into a new division and maybe struggling to feel confident in that new division? Hi, I'm Dr. Patrick Cohn. In today's session, I help a parent who's wondering what the strategies are to regain or remain confident when you're aging into a higher division. Here's a question I received from Randy. He said, how did junior players who are just aging into a new division? My son is about to turn 11 and will be playing in the 12 and under for the next two years. Feel confident. By the way, he was a victim of negative coaching and bad experiences in the 10s. What are the strategies to regain a positive attitude and confidence when aging up?

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Randy, this is a great question and something that junior players with struggle all the time because you're constantly aging up into the new division. However, as you get up into the 14s and 16s and 18s, it seems like it's the same players that you're aging up against. So he will have more information about how to play those particular players. The key I think here is to start slowly and allow him to play in what we call local tournaments. Here in Florida we have local and super series and then designated. We even have rookies. But if he's been playing in the 10 and unders, he's probably ready to go up and play in some of the local tournaments and get a little confidence and momentum going in the local tournaments before he jumps right into the Super Series events. I know a little bit about this because I do have a daughter that plays in the juniors here in Florida. So there are quite a bit of challenges because at this level kids are maturing differently. So you know, although he might be 11, he's going to be playing against a mature maybe 12 year old that has six or eight inches on him. So that can be intimidating for players as well. The key for me from a mental game perspective is to help him focus on his strengths and what he possesses as a player rather than making a lot of comparisons to the other players. That's very, very important that he doesn't focus on what other players have and what he doesn't because that'll hold his confidence down in terms of the negative coaching and bad experiences in the 10? S. I'm sorry to hear that. That can often linger on very long with a player. I mean, I've certainly worked with athletes in that position where they were a victim of negative coaching and thus struggle with a lot of negative self talk and self critical behavior because they learn that from that style of coaching. The key for you as a parent I think is just to be very positive and supportive and reinforcing of what your son's doing and be careful not to jump on the self critical bandwagon or the criticism. In other words, be careful of pointing out the mistakes and the errors and the problems that he's having in the matches because that only accentuates or extends that self critical behavior. Instead, having help him to see what he's doing well in the matches, whether it's serving or whether it's volleying or whether he hits a couple good forehand winners, point out those things that he's doing well that he can pull confidence from instead of focusing on what he's doing wrong. Thanks for the question and good luck in the 12 and under.

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