Hi ,

I want to tell you a short tennis story and ask what you think.

A while ago, I coached an 11-year-old boy named Harrison. His dad brought him to me for private lessons. His dad really loved tennis and wanted Harrison to be great at it.

Harrison had a beautiful one-handed backhand. It needed some work, but he had real talent. I love seeing that kind of backhand - it’s rare these days.

But there was a problem…

Harrison didn’t really like tennis. He wasn’t excited. He often looked tired, and he didn’t try very hard. I had to be super creative just to keep him moving during our lessons!

His dad wanted him to do 3 private lessons with me each week. But I said NO.

I suggested Harrison should join a group class to play with kids his age, and do one or two private lessons with me.

Even though it was hard to keep him focused, I enjoyed teaching him.

Soon after, I had to move back to Romania, so we stopped our lessons.

I still wonder… Did Harrison keep playing tennis? Did he learn to love it?

Now, I want to ask you:

Should parents push their kids to do sports, even if the kids don’t enjoy it at first? Or should kids choose on their own - risking it might be too late to go far with it?

Reply to this email and tell me what you think. I’d love to hear your opinion!

By the way, if you want to improve your backhand, I made a course called Ultimate Tennis Backhand. It has step-by-step lessons, drills, and tips for both one-handed and two-handed backhands.

It’s only $47 - that’s less than one private lesson!

Also, just posted:

I made a video showing how I taught my 8 and 9-year-old daughters to attack short balls. 

It includes drills and techniques you can try too!

Are you a coach? Check out my 200+ Essential Tennis Drills collection. It’s great for beginners, advanced players, singles, and doubles.

Enjoy tennis!

Cosmin Miholca

WebTennis24