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About Jim Leupold
Expertise
I feel very confident answering any questions regarding technical aspects of the game -
from stroke production to strategy. My strengths, because of my extensive training, is
keeping the game very simple, energy-efficient and effective, eliminating injuries and
mistakes at the same time.
Experience
I've been the director of tennis and teaching tennis fulltime for 23 years, 21 at one of the top tennis resorts in the US and the world, the Desert Springs JW Marriott Resort & Spa in Palm Desert, CA. I've traveled to 20 countries around the world, playing and teaching tennis and performing comedic and entertaining tennis shows. I work with Peter Burwash International (PBI), a company which trains professionals for 400 hours before the first lesson can be taught. That's compounded by continuing education, including a mandatory 60-hour annual meeting and 360 educational newsletters from PBI professionals received every year.
Organizations
Peter Burwas International (PBI), the world's foremost tennis management company with 90 professionals in 20 countries worldwide
Education/Credentials
I received a B.A. in Journalism in 1985.
Awards and Honors
* Tennis Magazine's Ten Greatest Tennis Resorts - twice
* Tennis Magazine's 50 Greatest Tennis Resorts - every year since 1990
* TennisResortsonline.com - Always in the Top 75 Resorts in the world - always in top 25 and as high as #3.
* PBI Rookie of the Year runnerup
* PBI Most Improved Professional of the Year
* PBI Professional of the Year
* Desert Springs JW Marriott Resort & Spa's Customer Service Manager of the Year
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You are here: Experts > Sports > Tennis > Tennis > tennis
Expert: Jim Leupold
Date: 10/6/2008
Subject: tennis
Question
i am 11 years old and playing tennis since 5 years. how much important it is to win matches at this stage?i just qualify and loosing in main draw first round. but people around says i am a good player. it is necessary to go to tennis academy at this age to play professional tennis. i practice 2 hrs daily.
thanks
Answer
Winning matches at any stage is obvioiusly more fun than losing, but we truly do learn more from losses than from victories.
A friend of mine who was ranked as high as 42 in the world lost something like 15-straight matches in his first 15 clay court matches in Europe.
Pete Sampras, one of the very best players of all time, re-tooled his game at age 14, he lost a lot of matches, and his ranking went way down, but he had his eyes set on the future, and the changes certainly paid off.
I would have to see you play matches to know why you're losing them, but every time you play, you've got two potential outcomes; you're going to win or you're going to lose. It's that simple.
Do you need to go to an academy at this age? No. Practicing two hours a day is great, but it also depends what you're practicing. You've got to make sure that you're truly beginning to understand the game; what causes the various mistakes on your shots; how do you develop a strategy against a certain opponent, learning how to play defensive, neutral and offensive tennis at the correct times, etc.
There are a lot of players of all ages, especially young players and quite a few young players who have been to some of the academies, who hit the ball pretty darn well but don't know how to play tennis. That may sound weird, but they just don't know when to use certain shots, how to construct a point and how to figure out opponents.
Part of this depends on where you live and what kind of competition and training you have in your area. You certainly can become a very good tennis player without going to an academy. On the other hand, when you're 15 or 16 years old, it might make sense to go to an academy part-time or even fulltime, but you and your parents will have to agree it's the best thing for you overall, and you'll want to spend a lot of time picking the best one for you.
What does your coach say about your losses? Do you have a good feel for what your strengths and weaknesses are in your game? Are you working on your weaknesses and improving your strengths? What type of player do you want to become? What is your favorite style of play? Why are you losing the matches you're losing? Do you lack strategy? Are you just making too many unforced errors?
My advice is to keep playing. Play those who are your ability or a little bit better than you most of the time. It also doesn't hurt to play those who are not quite as good as you - for them to get good experience and for you to "practice" how to win and to gain some confidence.
There are so many things involved, and I'd love to help more if you have more specific questions/comments about the matches you are losing. It could very well be that you're simply playing better players part of the time as well. That happens.
Best of luck.
Jim Leupld
PBI Director of Tennis
Desert Springs, A JW Marriott Resort & Spa
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