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  • Junior Tennis Tournaments in Arkansas: A Parent’s Guide

    Arkansas is a hidden gem for junior tennis families. The scene is welcoming, the competition is honest, and your kid can develop at their own pace without getting swallowed by mega-draws. The trade-off is a smaller in-state pool, which just means thinking regionally from the start. Here's how it works. Your USTA Section: Southern Arkansas…

  • Junior Tennis Tournaments in Arizona: A Parent’s Guide

    Arizona is one of the best states in America to raise a junior tennis player. Year-round sunshine, a deep pool of competition, and a tournament calendar that barely sleeps — the desert is a genuine junior tennis hotbed. That also means the fields run deep and the learning curve is real. Here's your parent's roadmap.…

  • Junior Tennis Tournaments in Alaska: A Parent’s Guide

    Tennis in Alaska takes a special kind of dedication — and that's exactly why Alaskan junior players tend to be tough, resourceful, and genuinely in love with the game. The tournament path here looks different than in the Lower 48: it's indoor, it's seasonal, and it rewards families who plan ahead. Here's how to navigate…

  • Junior Tennis Tournaments in Alabama: A Parent’s Guide

    If your kid just caught the tennis bug in Alabama, you're in a good spot to start. The junior tournament scene here is friendly, affordable, and big enough to keep things interesting without the cutthroat pressure you hear about in other states. Here's how to get your young player from their first local event to…

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  • The Slice: The Shot Juniors Neglect (Until They Need It)

    The slice is the most under-taught shot in junior tennis. Coaches spend 90% of lesson time on topspin groundstrokes, so most kids reach 14 with a slice that’s either nonexistent or a panicked chop. Then they play their first opponent who hits heavy, deep balls, and they discover — usually mid-match, usually painfully — that…

  • The Serve: The Shot Your Kid Fully Controls

    The serve is the only shot in tennis where nobody interferes with you. No opponent rushing you, no bad bounce, no surprises — just your kid, the ball, and the toss. That’s what makes it both the biggest opportunity and the biggest frustration in junior tennis. A reliable serve wins free points and holds games.…

  • The Forehand: Your Kid’s Money Shot

    If your kid only ever learns one shot properly, make it the forehand. It’s the stroke juniors hit more than any other — most kids will run around their backhand just to hit one. A reliable forehand keeps them in rallies, wins them points, and builds the confidence everything else grows from. A broken one…

  • Footwork: The Invisible Stroke That Decides Everything

    Here’s something most tennis parents learn too late: at every level of junior tennis, the kid with better strokes often loses to the kid with better feet. It doesn’t matter how beautiful your kid’s forehand is in a basket-fed drill. In a real rally, if they’re not in the right place at the right time,…

  • The Backhand: The Shot That Decides Matches

    Here’s a pattern you’ll see if you watch enough junior tennis: at 10, every kid runs around their backhand to hit forehands. At 14, the kids who are still doing it are losing — because their opponents figured out that the backhand side is where matches are won. The backhand doesn’t need to be a…