Author: Steve Jones
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Sleep to Win: The Tournament Sleep Rules Nobody Tells Tennis Parents
Here’s the most underrated performance enhancer in junior tennis, and it’s completely free and completely legal: sleep. Not a new racquet. Not a private lesson. Sleep. Most tennis parents obsess over training hours and think about sleep never. Meanwhile the research keeps saying the same thing: well-rested kids react faster, decide better, get injured less,…
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The 20-Minute Match-Day Warm-Up That Actually Prevents Injuries
Watch any junior tournament and you’ll see two kinds of warm-ups. The first: kid arrives five minutes before the match, hits six forehands, two backhands, three serves, says “I’m good.” The second: a real routine — movement, progression, serves last — and a kid who walks onto the court already warm, grooved, and calm. The…
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The Tournament Week Playbook: Exactly What to Train (and What to Skip)
Most tennis parents get tournament week backwards. Monday through Thursday, the kid barely practices — homework, life, whatever. Then Friday night panic sets in, and suddenly it’s a two-hour “cram session” the day before the draw. That’s the single worst way to prepare for a tournament, and it’s incredibly common. Here’s the truth: you can’t…
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The Flat-Hitter’s Cliff: Why Kids Who Win at 12 Disappear at 15
Every junior tournament has one. The kid who wins everything at twelve. Perfect timing, flat lasers off both wings, doesn’t miss. The parents of the kids he beats whisper about academies and sponsorships. Then at fifteen, he’s gone. Not injured — just… losing. Losing to kids he used to double-bagel. By sixteen he’s playing high…
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Post-Puberty Tennis: What Changes When the Body Changes
My son grew four inches between March and September when he was thirteen. Four inches. His shoes went up two sizes, his forehand went into the next zip code, and his ranking fell off a cliff. For about six months, he played like he’d never held a racquet. Shots he’d hit in his sleep at…
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Topspin, Explained for Parents: The Shot That Decides Your Kid’s Future
I used to think the best kid at the tournament was the one who hit the ball hardest. Flat, screaming forehands, lasers down the line. It looked like real tennis. Then I watched that same kid play a sixteen-year-old who hit these heavy, looping balls that jumped off the court like they were angry. The…
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US Open 2027: Start With Our Complete Family Guide
We’ve given our US Open coverage a big upgrade: everything in this post now lives in our flagship US Open 2027: The Complete Guide for Tennis Families — tickets, Fan Week and Kids’ Day, the junior championships, practice-court autograph strategy, what to pack, and a full money-saving playbook. Read the complete US Open 2027 family…
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Wimbledon: A Tennis Parent’s Guide (The Ballot, the Queue, and Kids at SW19)
The 2027 Championships (June 28 – July 11) are Wimbledon’s 150th — a once-in-a-generation edition of the most famous tournament in tennis. It’s also the trickiest slam for families to get into. Here’s exactly how it works. The Ballot: How It Works (and the 2027 Window Just Closed) The Wimbledon Public Ballot has run since…
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Roland-Garros: A Tennis Parent’s Guide (Tickets, Paris Planning, and the Junior Draw)
Clay, Paris in late spring, and the most intimate of the four majors — Roland-Garros is the thinking fan’s Grand Slam, and with a little planning it’s a wonderful family trip. Here’s the parent’s guide to the 2027 edition. When Is Roland-Garros 2027? Sunday, May 23 to Sunday, June 6, 2027 at Stade Roland-Garros in…
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The Red Ball to Yellow Ball Roadmap: When Is Your Kid Ready to Move Up?
My daughter was seven and absolutely demolishing red ball. Rallies of twenty shots. Tournaments where the other kids could barely get it back. I was already picturing her with a yellow ball, and honestly, a little part of me was picturing Wimbledon. Her coach said: “Not yet.” I was annoyed. He was right. The ball…
