In describing the relationship with his athletes, basketball coach John Wooden said “I often told my players that, next to my own flesh and blood, they were the closest to me. They were my children. I got wrapped up in them, their lives, and their problems.”
The coach-athlete relationship is another fundamental aspect of excellence in tennis coaching. However, not all coaches agree on how close this relationship should become. Some believe it is a mistake to be friends with the players they are responsible for. Others believe it is because of a friendly relationship with their players that they are successful. Each of the three coaching levels (juniors, college, and professional) will be distinct in the amount of authority necessary to facilitate moving people towards their own excellence. However, what is clear from the coaches’ responses is that common to all successful relationships is a sense of compassion and caring for the person, not just the athlete.
"I think the biggest thing is caring about the person, and not just what the player is accomplishing, caring for them and not just for yourself as the coach. Of course you take pride in your work. But sometimes it can become more important to you that your player wins so that you can look good versus what’s best for him. And there can be a lot of that in coaching…the result is putting undue pressure on the kids. The players sense that, and it doesn’t produce positive results. The key is bringing something from within (them) and getting the person to perform because of what’s inside. It can start because of responding to you because they know you care. You don’t want it to be “Well, he’s going to be angry or upset if I don’t produce.” So instead of pushing it from outside onto them, it’s bringing it out from within them. That’s much more important because they learn what they can accomplish, whereas the other (way) all they’re doing is knuckling under pressure."
Your child should bring court appropriate shoes (not running shoes), water/liquids, tennis racquet(s), sunscreen, hat/visor, snack (camps only), jump rope (class specific) and a positive attitude!
If class is cancelled due to weather, a message will be recorded and left on the office telephone line and/or someone will be in the office taking calls.
Each student is allowed 2 make-ups per session. Make-ups must be redeemed within the session when the class/classes are missed and may not be rolled over into the next session.
4 Star Tennis Academy does NOT give refunds. We may give out credits on a case by case basis.
You will be given a credit for the missed class that can be put towards any 4 Star clinics for your child once they recover or towards a class for another family member.
If you aren’t sure where your child fits in we encourage scheduling an evaluation with one of our tennis professionals. Call either office and we will be happy to set that up for you and your family.
Evaluations are usually scheduled for the first 5-10 minutes of a given class. Your child will come and hit with a coach and at that time the coach will be able to tell you what classes to enroll in.
All of our tennis professionals offer private lessons. It is up to you and your child to choose which coach you would like to work with and then at any time you may speak with them directly to set up lessons.
You may also call our office and we can suggest a pro for you.
Each class is a little bit different but in general 4 Star Tennis Academy strives to keep the pro-student ratio under 5 kids to each pro.
We strongly encourage family to stay off the courts and watch from designated viewing areas. However, for some of our younger students we realize that sometimes parents may need to be on the court for a short time until the little ones are more comfortable.