How many times have we all observed a player getting upset, mad, angry and pissed?  I say quite a few times, and that definitely include my children.  I will provide the definition for each of these words.   Upset is defined as thrown into a state of disarray or confusion.  Mad is defined as affected with madness or insanity; marked by uncontrolled excitement or emotion; very foolish.  Anger is defined as great confusion, belligerence aroused by a real or supposed wrong.  Pissed is defined as aroused to impatience or anger.  I have seen my daughters take their racquet and slam it against the heel of their tennis shoe.  What if they missed the heel of  their tennis shoe and hit their ankle?  Was the few seconds of rage over a missed point worth six to twelve months or more recuperation for a shattered ankle?  How often have you observed a junior player screaming at their opponent?  The angry opponent has now informed her adversary, you now have my permission to kick my posterior because my anger has placed me in a state of insanity; perhaps confused sounds a great deal better than insane.  When the junior tennis player acts this way, does the parent immediately confront him or her?  Is it better in the eyes of the parent to just stand their blind to this horrible behavior or as a parent do we react not condoning this negative behavior?  Would you report your child to the referee if you saw her cheat or make a bad call?  Would you sit or stand by and do nothing?  If your child threw their racquet in anger or broke the racquet, would you react by telling him, he has to retire immediately because his behavior is unacceptable?  If you saw your daughter call a ball out, and you could clearly see the ball was in, would you make her correct the call?  Or would you ignore the call and hope she can still pull off a win?  Is the win more important than sportsmanship?   Is the win more important than doing the right thing?  We don’t want to kill the spirit, but how do you channel this energy for a positive outcome?  I think the junior player has to realize there are consequences for his/her actions.  If there aren’t any, what is the incentive to change?  What messages are we sending to our children?  Is it okay to act like a nut, as long as you win the match?  You can rest assured, this behavior will not improve over time, and it will become far worse as he/she gets older.  The parent dictates the tone of acceptance for this behavior.  We teach them young to realize they will have losses, and in order to become better at anything you will experience defeats.  However, there are lessons to be learned from a loss.  It’s by far easier to be a gracious winner than a gracious loser.  That’s why I admire Nadal so much, he’s gracious when he wins or loses.  Losses make it clear what part of your game needs work, whether it’s mental or physical.  That is part of the learning process.  Development should always be the focus.  If you win by cheating, screaming and hollering, throwing your racquet, calling your opponent names, there’s no reason to change in the child’s mind if the parent congratulate him/her on their victory.  I can only teach by example.  By doing nothing and saying nothing I am in essence condoning this bad behavior.   Bad behavior is definitely underrated in junior tennis and that’s ashame.

Serena was down 4-6, 0-4 against Victoria Azarenka, number six in the world! She won the match, and ultimately the Australian Open for a record five times!  Elizabeth was down 0-3, tied the score 3-3.  She was Ad-In next game.  Jennifer called the ball out.  Elizabeth said, “The ball was in.”  Jennifer responded, “The ball was wide.” Elizabeth immediately left the court to get a referee.  That was a smart move on Jennifer’s part.  Upon Elizabeth’s return, she never recovered from that bad call.  Elizabeth has to realize, you cannot resurrect a point that has already been played.  It’s over, dead, move on.  Elizabeth could not, move forward and elected to focus on this loss point.  Wow, Jennifer is incredibly brilliant!  Jennifer realized she had to take her out of the game mentally.  What better way than to make a crucial call at a pivotal moment.  Jennifer did not want a repeat of their previous match that lasted over three hours with a score of 1-6, 6-2, tiebreak 7-10, against at the time a 12 year old.  Jennifer is awesomely intelligent!  Guess what?  Jennifer won the match 3-6, 1-6.  I’m going to let you in on another secret, give her a low ball and see what happens!

Mary has been hitting with older kids for quite some time.  She loves hitting a ball with pace.  Mary realized that if she popped that ball in the air, it was either a smash overhead, a forehand, or backhand winner.  Mary did not lob her opponents.  Very rarely are the girls in the 12s hitting with pace, basically there is no pace on the ball and it literally floats through the air.  Is this game boring to watch?  Absolutely, I can only imagine how difficult it is to play someone that shoot balls to the moon.  Is this tennis?  Heck no!  Does it win matches?  Heck yes!  Ask Mary what she thinks of a lob and a look of total disdain instantly appears, complete with clinched teeth, furrows in her eyebrows and some of her braids literally raise and stand at attention!  Well, not exactly, but you get the picture.  With that said, give her a high ball.  I guarantee you, she will not like it!  Maybe more than her braids and eyebrows will rise to the occasion.

We will keep you posted regarding rescheduled air date.  If you haven’t seen the first one, please check it out below.

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Based on the True Life Story of Yvonne, Mary and Elizabeth Profit.

Recently divorced Michelle moved back to her small hometown in Michigan for a fresh new start.  Always striving to give her daughters the best of everything, Michelle worked hard so her girls could attend private schools and participate in gymnastics, dance tennis and swimming lessons.

When her daughter, Nina was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes, the family’s world was thrown into chaos.  Not only did Michelle find herself fighting for her child’s life, but she also had to take on the Michigan public school system and Child Protective Services.

A vicious cycle of events spiral out of control.  Hospital emergency rooms, arrest warrants, accusations of discrimination, courtroom dramas test every fiber of Michelle’s being.  But the determined mother holds tight to her courage and the love and devotion to her daughters only make her more committed to do what’s right.  NEVER GIVE UP proves that David can still fight Goliath and prevail.