Category: Topspin & Technique

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…

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…

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…