Rules Changes in Tennis Benefit Youth

The United States Tennis Association (USTA) continued its push to make the game of tennis more accessible and fun to youth on Monday, announcing that starting January 1, all 10 and Under Tennis tournaments must follow the guidelines set during the summer of 2010.

Those guidelines make the sport “sized right” for kids, meaning the racquets are lighter and smaller, the balls are lower-bouncing and the courts are smaller. Ten and Under Tennis is currently offered around the country, but not required in a tournament setting.

“Tennis has been somewhat intimidating. People think you need to take lessons, you need to find a pro,” said Kurt Kamperman, Chief Executive, Community Tennis, USTA. With 10 and Under Tennis, “kids can get started in the game right away instead of spending months or years trying to learn skills on a big court with the same equipment that [Roger] Federer and Serena Williams use.”

The kid friendly racquets come in 21, 23, and 25 inch models. The lighter racquets let kids focus more on their swing instead of struggling to hold the racquet. Combined with lower bouncing tennis balls on smaller courts, kids are playing, and more important, rallying right away.

“Scaling the sport down to the size of kids allows them to be successful right away and allows them to have more fun and start playing much sooner as opposed to taking lessons forever,” Kamperman said. Younger kids have a desire to be competitive right away. Sports like baseball, football, basketball, and soccer have made their games kid friendly with smaller equipment and courts for years, allowing them to join teams in leagues at very early ages. Consequently, youth have been more drawn to those sports.

Patrick McEnroe, General Manager of USTA Player Development, told The Epoch Times in an August interview, “We are a little late to the party in downsizing our sport to make it more attractive to young kids. Obviously if young kids are having fun and enjoying it, they are going to want to keep playing.”

Tennis is the fastest growing traditional sport since 2000 according to Kamperman, making proper development a high priority for the USTA. It is no secret the USTA would love to see some of these kids develop into the next great tennis star, but gaining new fans—a far more likely scenario—is just as desired. “People that play the game tend to follow the game as well,” Kamperman said. “We think it will really help to create lifetime tennis players and also fans.”

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