Talent ID will become more important to USTA Player Development, as QuickStart enables us to recruit and retain more and more young athletes and teach them the skills of tennis at a much younger age.
When we try to identify Talent at a young age, we are looking for three things. We are looking for young athletes that love to play and compete, regardless of their proficiency in tennis. Secondly, we are looking for advanced hand to eye coordination that translates to racquet skills and the ability to control the racquet and the ball. Thirdly, we are looking for young athletes who like to move and go after every ball.
Having said this, many great tennis players are late bloomers, and the USTA Player Development system is fluid, - allowing for players to bloom based on their maturity and physiology.
Talent ID happens in three ways:
Our National Coaches identify young athletes at camps and tournaments throughout the country and we begin to track them.
Coaches in our Sections, and specifically coaches on our Section’s Coaches Commissions identify young athletes in their programs, or at eight and under tournaments and contact our USTA National Coaches, - and we begin to track them.
Tournament Directors or parents send the National office a DVD of a young athlete with promise, and we begin to track them.
How do we nurture Talent?
We nurture our talent in two ways:
We support the player, their family and their coach by giving them coaching and training support.
We invite the young athletes to our Player Development Camps at USTA Regional Training Centers or USTA National Training Centers.