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Physical skills versus life skills
Marcus is a gifted tennis player from Phoenix, Arizona. At the age of 16 he has incredible athletics. He is 6’3 ‘and is torn. His speed, agility and endurance are of the charts. His tennis -specific skills are also above average. He has a huge serve and a murderous forehand. Marcus’s Utr floats around 10.8. College Coaches Recruiten should be played for him, but sad for Marcus and his people, tennis, tenni studies, tennis are not offered.
The red flags that quickly identify the experienced college coaches are underdeveloped character traits and life skills. You see, Marcus cannot communicate with others, and if he does, a storm of pessimism floods everyone around him like a dark cloud. Regarding his life skills, the coaches of the college quickly assume that he is too late for their meetings, unorganized and blaming others for his fall. Marcus On the court, irrational anger, reckless shot selections and a lack of perseverance, adaptability and resilience, even in the practice game game. Due to Marcus’s underdeveloped software, his D-1 College Dreams will not be released. It is within the job description of coaches and parents to teach positive character traits and life skills, together with their tennis skills.
High -quality tennis is the combination of four required skills: character skills, life skills, athletics and tennis -specific skills. Custom training focuses on all four these components; However, the degree of focus is based on the specific needs of the athlete. It is the job description of a progressive coach to effectively navigate the control of all four these skills.
- Character skills
Character skills are productive personality traits. These habits include empathy, interpersonal skills for communicating and effective dealing with others, a positive-optimistic attitude, ethics, morality and leadership characteristics.
Life skills are defined as the possibilities to thrive within the challenges of the daily life of an athlete. These include cognitive skills for analyzing performance and personal skills for organizing development plans and managing themselves.
Athletic skills are defined as the physical qualities that are characteristic of well -completed athletic individuals, regardless of the individual sport. Athletic skills include upper and lower body strength, fitness, endurance, speed, core balance and agility.
Tennis skills are the specific skills that define a specific athlete with high performance. Experts in this area have a complete tool belt of strokes, tactics, strategies and of course emotional construction to compete with the higher regions of the game.
I mainly work with National and ITF ranking juniors, university athletes and young touring professionals. Athletes at this level are successful because of their skills management. In my world of powerful athletes, statistics are important because they help adjust the athlete’s training regime.
With regard to statistics, the following are the typical percentage ratios from physical skills to life skills that I have seen in the three primary phases of Junior Tennis. I am convinced that positive character traits and the development of customized life skills have the secret key to maximizing the athletic potential.
At the age: 7-11, Junior athletes I work with, possessing:
- 10%: Medium physical talent, medium desire, medium dedication.
- 40%: Medium physical talent, maximum wish, maximum dedication.
- 10%: physically gifted, maximum desire, maximum dedication.
- 40%: physically gifted, no desire, no obligation.
In this introductory phase there is nothing more heartbreaking than the estimated 40% of the gifted athletes that I see with zero desire or work ethic (aka life skills.)
At the age of 12-15, Junior athletes I work with, possess:
- 25%: Medium physical talent, medium desire, average dedication.
- 45%: Medium physical talent, maximum wish, maximum dedication.
- 5%: physically gifted, maximum desire, maximum dedication.
- 25%: physically gifted, no desire, no dedication.
In this development phase, the average talented athletes start with adapted development plans and good life skills made by life. At the same time, the gifted athletes with a poor cherish and the development of life skills are falling out.
In the centuries: 16-18, Junior athletes I work with, possessing:
- 10%: Medium physical talent, medium desire, medium dedication.
- 70%: average talent, maximum wish, maximum dedication.
- 20%: physically gifted, maximum desire, maximum dedication.
- 0%: physically gifted, no desire, no dedication.
At the top of the Junior Tennis Food Chain Trump Skill Skills Trump Physical Talent. The results (victories and rankings) depend on how well the parents and coaches deliver the four skills and how skilled the athlete is in assimilating this information.
While youth sport researchers often say: “Life skills are deliberately taught, hopefully not caught.”
The following chapters will identify the hidden benefits of life skills and character structure. Life skills and positive characteristics are essential elements that have been found in The soft science of tennis.
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