SHAMEFUL BEHAVIOR

It's a rainy night in Georgia <the very best kind> & we're reminded of this past weekend in Chattanooga @ the McCallie John Strang Championships. First of all, the weather caused extreme chaos to a very well-planned tournament but the weather was only the half of it. Due to a combination of events, the very unhappy TD said it was the worst McCallie tourney he'd ever experienced.

"I wish that I was not here."

So began Vice President Joe Biden's address to the families of the men who were killed in yet another senseless attack - this time in Chattanooga - exactly one month ago this past Saturday. How shocking to learn that the McKenzie Arena where the VP spoke was almost empty but the traffic on many of the surrounding roads was at a standstill. Even more disturbing was the reaction we observed when this inevitably impacted the junior tennis tournament.

We've been around junior tennis long enough that we still can't believe it but we surely expect this fact: Weather <or any other factor that is completely out of their control> will be blamed 100% on the hard-working tournament staff.

Can't tell you how many self-absorbed, downright narcissistic junior tennis parents rolled their eyes & loudly complained that they & their child were being inconvenienced. You would think we could at least shame them into understanding how out of line they were by explaining that the VP was in town to express his condolences to the families of men who'd lost their lives...but no such luck.

AND THAT IS SHAMEFUL.

Not trying to generate any controversy whatsoever...
but we observed way too much horrible behavior on the part of adults who are supposed to be setting examples for the players.

BIG CHANGES @ WINDWARD

BIG THUMBS UP FOR CHANGE IN JULY 2015: 

The new owner @ Windward Lake Club <from SC> didn’t know what a gigantic mistake he was making but it didn’t take him long to learn what so many of us already know. 

Thankfully, he removed the LOSERS, we no longer have to HATE Windward Tennis Academy <LOL> & we are happy to resume our support of the great people at this great academy!!!

Not only that, we are VERY EXCITED to learn that our friends COACH CHARLES BYRD & COACH HENRY DARKO are the new co-directors of junior tennis the Windward Tennis Academy!!!

Accordingly, we're THRILLED to return to Windward Lake Club for the G12 NATIONAL HARDCOURT CHAMPIONSHIPS for the

8TH STRAIGHT YEAR!!!

BIG THUMBS DOWN FOR CHANGE IN JANUARY 2015: 
As you may know, we have proudly supported & highly recommended Atlanta’s BEST junior tennis academy for the past 9 years but EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, we are severing our relationship – 100% – with the WINDWARD TENNIS ACADEMY.

Our good friend DAVE POWER retired last week, causing a ripple of changes that we believe are bad for junior tennis in Atlanta. Certainly we no longer want anything to do with Windward & one of the best things about being self – employed is we get to choose the people with whom we spend our time. ENOUGH SAID.

All the best to the players who train there, to the coaches & all remaining staff.
Thank you for your support & your friendship over the years
& hope our paths cross again going forward!

YAHOO for National Showcase Series!

We've been keeping a gigantic secret since at least last August (& I'm not good at keeping secrets so that's saying something!!)---At last, we can speak openly about the exciting National Showcase Series for 2013!!! We got the heads-up earlier this week from our friend Julie (love her name) Wrege at Tennis Recruiting Network that the announcement would FINALLY be made so YAY for that.

You can find answers to your ranking and all other questions at the TennisRecruiting.net site (we just want you to be aware of the showcase & to let you where we'll be!) but suffice it to say that we FULLY SUPPORT this brilliant solution for two very good reasons:
 

1) They recognized that players would be left behind as a result of the USTA changes; and

2) They stepped UP on behalf of those players by offering them a CHOICE: Let the PLAYERS PLAY and let the parents decide WHERE THE PLAYERS PLAY!!!

We've already added FOUR events to our 2013 calendar---hoping to add more--but we'll be offering our popular video services at THREE out of the first FIVE events!!! The showcase kicks off very soon with the Costa Mesa Open Classic in Costa Mesa, CA for BG18s (which starts on 12/26). That's great for players on the west coast -- but it's also waaay too far awaaay for your HIGH-TECH friends who <HEART> the Southern Section.

Fortunately, the very next event is the Georgia/Alabama Open in Dothan, AL for BG18-186s (which starts on 3/30). We're EXTRA excited to return to the Westgate Tennis Center for the first time in at least 3-4 years..since the demise of the National Open for BG14s that was always so much fun in February. TD Don Bryan is one of the good guys who gets it - check out his response when I contacted him via email to ask permission to offer video services during the tournament:

"Of course. If there's anything you need, just let us know.
See you soon!"

What about the very next showcase event? The Bluegrass Spring Junior Open in Louisville, KY for BG18-12s (which starts on 4/6). If you know us, you know how much we LOVE our home-away-from-home at The Tennis Club at Springhurst. TD (& tennis father) Chris Mather is absolutely one of the best - he TOTALLY gets it - check out his response a few years ago after we offered video services during his tournament:
 

"What an awesome video service for tournament players!!
If you have YET to get a video of your match, you should know that HIGH-TECH TENNIS is the BEST!! Video is such a great learning tool --- so look them up at your next Southern tournament!!"

We'll have to skip the next showcase event, which is the Ojai Junior Tennis Tournament in Ojai, CA for G18s & BG16-14s (which starts on 4/26). Again, great for players on the west coast but not so much for HIGH-TECH friends...but the North Georgia Open in Rome, GA for BG18-12s (which starts on 5/25) is right up the road!! We haven't been to Rome in YEARS but when I contacted TD Robert Sasseville for permission?

"I don't anticipate a problem with your filming at that event."

Our schedule is jam-packed during the summer but we'll revisit the showcase for the Bluegrass Fall Junior Open in Louisville, KY for BG18-12s (which starts on 9/21).
 

Let the PLAYERS PLAY and let the parents decide WHERE THE PLAYERS PLAY? This brilliant solution has our FULL support & we'll do whatever we can to make it successful!

You can believe me when I say WE KNOW crappy tournaments...
If we're going, it ain't crappy (been there, done that)!!! Just as in all walks of life, ALL TOURNAMENT DIRECTORS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL---enough said.

 Meantime, we're spending a few quiet weeks in paradise... We're doing loads of planning for our 2013 calendar which includes several USTA events (mostly in Mobile & Louisville), several National Showcase Series events, several weekends at the National High School Tennis Team Championships, several Experience Tennis Technology events, several HIGH-TECH SPORTS VIDEO events...
We can't wait to see YOU on video in 2013!

On a personal note....

Hearing the news about little kids being murdered in their elementary school classrooms felt a little like hearing about 9/11..
Shock, disbelief, anger & extreme sadness..
Then we went to war to get revenge..
So I guess we'll be going to war soon..?
So many are dealing with such unimaginable pain today..
Moving forward with mundane tasks seems trivial & insensitive..
Wish we could find a way to live in the world without senselessly killing each other.. :( Sending much love to comfort those affected by recent tragedy in CT...
May the sweet victims rest in peace with the angels forever.

Our FIRST EVER Fall Southern Closed

Everyone knows we love Kentucky in December (and we're totally looking forward to our FIFTH STRAIGHT Winter Southern Closed which will be here before we know it). But how would we feel about Kentucky in November? hmm... We just got home last night from our FIRST EVER Fall Southern Closed --- and we really weren't sure what to expect --- but we'll try anything once so we hit the road with fingers crossed. How did it go? Well, you gotta read on...for this exciting tale of our tournament travels! :)

We arrived at the host site (Louisville Indoor Racquet Club) just in time for registration. We considered several locations inside the club before we chose the best spot to set up our home-away-from-home for the next 5 days. So far, so good. But then we identified a few negatives that would make the tournament even more challenging than most...

The first was the alternate sites. With the exception of our favorite club in Kentucky-The Tennis Club at Springhurst-the other sites were not close together AT ALL. No problem-we'll just focus on LIRC and Springhurst and apologize to those at the other sites. Great plan - EXCEPT that 50% of the players who signed up for Day 1 of the tournament were playing at alternate sites. :( We just hate to say "NO" to good customers who are also good friends so we said "YES" - where there's a will, there's a way.

Next, we discovered that the curtains at LIRC were super-tall, meaning I couldn't reach the top of them...which meant that I couldn't lend a hand to help Danny if/when I had a free moment. No worries-we hired a teenager to help Wednesday morning and (tag-team) a local tennis pro to help Wednesday afternoon and Thursday afternoon. Not only could these helpers reach the top of the curtains, they also had cars they could jump into and they live in the area so they had no problem cruising over to the alternate sites. Problem solved!

The final issue was the HUGE fee we had to pay to LIRC for the opportunity to provide video services to our customers. We usually avoid those tournaments that charge a fee (we work to keep our prices low, low so every player can use video to their advantage) and since we're responsible for our expenses (you can imagine that driving all other the southeast and spending so many nights away from home really adds up), well, the margins are just really small---especially since we never really know whether we'll even make 50 cents!

As it turns out, our numbers were

 OFF THE CHARTS!!!

When the folks at LIRC approached us on the last day to find out whether our trip had been worthwhile, I told them we'd done very well. They said that was good for them and good for us...a WIN/WIN.

I said it really wasn't about us...it was about the players.

And it was VERY GOOD for them!!!

One of the many positive things I'll remember from this trip was when I asked 37 players a very serious question: "On a scale of 1-10, how happy is your life?" Most reacted with stunned silence, then comments like "Do you mean now that my match is finished?" or "I never thought about that before!" and I had to clarify that I meant IN GENERAL and I would only accept ONE WHOLE NUMBER (no decimals, no approximate # or #). I think the results were sooo interesting (considering these were junior tennis players, most of whom travel around the south at great expense to play a game): TEN: 9, NINE: 7, EIGHT: 16, SEVEN: 3, SIX: 1, FIVE: 1. I kinda expected the numbers would be higher...and I especially loved the ones who quickly answered "TEN-OF COURSE!" My childhood was very different so I can't really say what my answer would have been...?

How wonderful to receive loads of warm hugs and happy smiles! How about this from a sweet 10-yr-old little sis of a junior player and customer from Cary, NC: "HI, MISS JULIE!!! I'm SOOO glad to see you, I've missed you SOOO much, and can I help decorate your signs like always?"

Another positive: I was soooo touched to receive two gifts from two very thoughtful customers. COFFEEEEE from my favorite mom of two sweet girls from Mississippi and home-made cookies from a very special mom of a great girl and recent recruit from Louisville!!!

Finally, I don't think I'll ever forget spending several hours on a Saturday night with a brand new friend: 6-yr-old Ruthie (the sibling of a player in our LAST match of the day). I wish I'd taken a picture of her but I was too busy guessing the name of her sisters, her brothers, her parents, her pets - one dog, two cats, one turtle, one horse - and then guessing her favorite color, and her birthday. SMILE!!!

Not sure if we'll make the trip up next year (NEXT Thanksgiving is a long, looooong time away) but GREAT THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO MADE THIS TRIP UNFORGETTABLE - and a special shoutout to our pal Coach Chris Mather for being such a great friend to HIGH-TECH TENNIS in general (and to Danny & me...XOXO).
Thanks for the great support and we'll SEE YA SOON!

Racism In Junior Tennis? Sadly, YES.

 

When it comes to tennis in general (not to mention junior tennis, specifically), it seems there's an endless list of problems that must be solved. It's kind of like my TO DO LIST - I may cross off an item here or there but mostly I just add to it! We are not listing the problems here because #1 - we are not experts and #2 - we may run out of ink, LOL but what we are doing is sharing our observations from 7+ years in the trenches with competitive junior tennis players.

By reflecting on what we see, we are shining a light of awareness on areas that may not get the attention they deserve. Sometimes things need to be said so that positive change can occur...at least that's our hope. Please remember the very last thing we want to do is generate any controversy whatsoever...
After all, if junior tennis players win, we ALL win!

As you may have guessed, first I gotta SHOUT OUT some great news about our friend Miss Taylor Townsend and her most recent opportunity-of-a-lifetime: She was invited to participate on Team Elton John for the WTT Smash Hit event in Pittsburgh, which meant that Taylor got to team up and play doubles with one of her IDOLS: fellow-lefty Martina Navratilova!!! What an amazing experience for an amazing kid!!! You will surely remember that I was and still am OUTRAGED at the treatment of this CHILD by Patrick McEnroe and the USTA. This is my opinion and my blog so I'm entitled to write whatever I want to write but if you don't think racism had anything to do with that horrible situation, I think it's time for you to wake up...

Back to the positive: I could go on and on about the reasons I'm crazy about this girl but let me just share a comment that she made at the event: "If it weren't for my sister, I may not be here today!" I'm telling you - this Taylor T is something special...and I'm not just talking tennis. She has a very special soul and we saw it when she was just 9 YEARS OLD! :) So hats off to you, Taylor T and to you too, Big Sister Symone---another very special person! But the BIGGEST shout out goes to Momma Townsend---Shelia, your daughters are beautiful girls AND the world certainly needs more of the beautiful people they are becoming! :)

We recently went to the Raleigh Bullfrog and, as you may have heard, it was a really, really rainy experience :( which meant hours and hours of waiting for dry courts on Sunday-the one and only day that wasn't 100% washed out. This left me with a ton of time to talk with customers (big surprise-that's one of my specialties-and I love talking to people) but I didn't love what I heard that day. In fact, it was very disturbing to me and I just haven't had a chance to share it until now. I'd share observations in this blog pretty much every day if I could - but there's this little thing called the mortgage, LOL. Anyway, without revealing any names (which I never have and will never do), I'll repeat the story as I understood it and please keep in mind that I wasn't there to witness or hear any of this personally:

This happened at the airlines on the way home after a BullFrog Southern Designated tournament in the Southern Section. When our customer attempted to board the plane with her tennis bag, she was prevented from doing so and told that she had to check the bag and pay a fee for doing so. When she (and her parents) pointed out that there were several other players who had boarded the plane ahead of her with the same bag, she was told that those were not tennis bags - they were car seats. What??? Car seats??? You cannot be serious!!! She told the airline personnel that those were not car seats - they were tennis bags - and she had the SAME EXACT ONE!!! Faced with such an obvious mistake, you'd think the airline personnel would have backed down and apologized for their error...

but you'd be WRONG.

Our customer was the ONLY ONE on that plane who had to check her tennis bag (AND PAY A FEE) to do so and hope you're ready for the big shockeroo: she was also the ONLY ONE on that plane who was African-American.

Her parents (particularly her father) were understandably LIVID and they demanded a refund and a letter of apology from the airline personnel when they arrived at their destination... I'm happy to say that their demands were met but of course THE DAMAGE HAD ALREADY BEEN DONE.

Try to imagine how YOU'd have felt if you'd been treated the way this young lady was treated!!! THIS HAPPENED IN 2012!!! Yes, racism is alive & well in junior tennis today. This is just one of many examples out there and we really hate that...We really, really do. :(

"Be kinder than necessary because
everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."

The Curse Is Broken!



We've been in business---and going to Macon several times a year---for 6+ years...I wish I could explain why but we almost never have a positive experience there...The only explanation is that we're cursed when it comes to junior tournaments in Macon.

We arrived on Friday (after watching FED come back from 0-5 in the 2nd set tiebreaker against Del Potro in the Dubai semi-finals OMG-LONG LIVE THE FED!!!) We'd planned to leave by noon but I have my priorities and FED is my obsession so we didn't leave until after 2PM. No matter - we arrived and set up, determined to break the curse this year. Alas, mother nature had other plans, she was was causing heartbreaking destruction throughout the midwest, and she had her eye on the south. :(

Fortunately, the storms we faced on Saturday in Macon didn't even come close to the devastation that they dealt with in the midwest - THANK GOD! The only thing we had to deal with was a huge rain delay that prevented things from starting as scheduled (we finally got started at 2PM) and then the day got rained out for good at 6PM...So far, we'd been in Macon for more than 24 hours and players played for 4 hours...not good for anyone, including video companies that are trying to make money to pay their mortgage. Then a former customer asked if we were randomly recording matches - YES - and he said he might randomly buy the match for his son if we randomly recorded it. Of course we did but at the end of the day, the score was 1-0 (the rain was the winner). :(

Determined to make up for lost time, we kicked the HIGH-TECH TENNIS HUSTLE into high gear (even had an awesome teenager from Macon helping us) on Sunday... We had sunny skies and totally DRY conditions (not even a tiny threat of rain) - but we had another element to deal with: W-I-N-D!! We're here to tell you that the number of people who want to purchase a match during which the players are constantly battling ferocious winds is VERY, VERY low. :( We fought that wind all day long as it blew tents, tables, and paperwork all over the tennis center...and when Mr. Random Customer requested that we make a special trip to an alternate site to record a 2nd match for his son (and he promised to buy one of the two), we sent our teenaged helper to accommodate, even though we thought that was a bit much. But when he later asked us to make yet ANOTHER special trip to the alternate site to record a 3rd match, we had to ask: "how many matches were you planning to purchase anyway?" He said he was going to purchase the best of the three...Seriously??? You want us to drive all over Macon all weekend for a mere $59??? Get real, DUDE!!! You better make it the best of the two we already recorded. :( Score was 3-0...The rain + wind + mr. random customer had 3, we had NADA.

Monday was the best weather day of all, but unfortunately, by that time the damage to our numbers and to my frame of mind was so DONE. Please realize that we have to PAY good money for the sheer opportunity to present our video services at the John Drew Smith Tennis Center...Now I'm sure you can understand why we eliminated the Qualifier from our schedule several years ago, we eliminated the National Open in May (due to 32 draw), and we are now breaking the curse by eliminating the spring bullfrog. :(

Some of our best friends (players and parents) live in Macon, but in 6+ years, we just don't have anything positive to say about Macon tournaments...with the notable exception of those run by Craig Jones at the Idle Hour Country Club, which are AWESOME and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Are All Tournaments Terrific? um, well, not really

 

Have you ever wondered how we select which tournaments to go to? Props to the late Andy Rooney-RIP...

I remember 6+ years ago when I discovered the Tennis Link website for the first time. WOWOW! There were tournaments EVERYWHERE. Quite literally...here a tournament, there a tournament, everywhere a tournament!!! If we'd wanted to, we could have gone to a tournament in my home state of MN, in Danny's home state of NC, and in pretty much every state in between. But how would we ever decide WHICH ones to go to?

Hmmm. Now that was the million dollar question! It was also the question for which we had absolutely NO answer!!! As in every other aspect of our business, we couldn't exactly google it...we had to LIVE IT to LEARN IT. We went through many trials and made more errors than we'd ever care to admit.

Back then, we knew almost zero about junior tennis...Sections? Levels? Open? Closed? Uh-uh..We really didn't know anyone or anything except this: we saw athletes in almost every other sport reviewing game film and using video technology to improve their performance...and we saw that no one was doing it for tennis...and we knew we were on to something.

A Brief Look Back

We went to our first tournament in January 2006 ONLY so we could get acquainted with the tennis community. We never in a million years expected to be going to even one more tournament (not to mention 25+ a year). Oh, but we thought "Just wait until they see what we can do for them!!!" We really thought coaches would be lining up to take advantage of our technology. What a great idea! We'd buy and learn this expensive, time-consuming stuff so they didn't have to. They could hire us once a week, once a month, or once a year and we'd help them become better coaches because they could concentrate on the coaching and we'd concentrate on the technology. Working with HIGH-TECH TENNIS, these coaches could SHOW their students instead of just TELLING them how to improve! What a great way to demonstrate the value of their instruction!

Except things didn't exactly work out as we'd planned. Not even close. In fact, we were almost out of business before we were even in it. So we had to regroup - and fast. Fortunately, a mother at that very first tournament really wasn't that interested in the fancy-schmancy Dartfish video analysis we were so excited about...but she was VERY interested in having us record her daughter's match. VOILA! We were so busy trying to sell cadillacs and all they wanted was volkswagons!

Tournaments-R-Us

As I mentioned, we discovered the wonderful world of Tennis Link and we didn't know which tournaments to go to...so we tried to go to them ALL. SERIOUSLY. We went to a tournament almost every single weekend for almost one whole year. Can you imagine?!? We went to tournaments in Belton, SC and St. Augustine, FL and many, many places in between. The only thing we were REALLY successful at in those days was in identifying the tournaments to avoid!!! Oh my...There were many, many times when we didn't even earn enough money to cover our gas.

YIKES...We learned some really hard lessons the really hard way --- but fortunately, we don't have to repeat those lessons because we've learned from our mistakes and today, we have a pretty good understanding of what we're doing and where we're doing it, LOL. We are very proud of our excellent repuation and we work to protect it in every way on every day. We know that one of THE most precious things we have is amazing relationships with amazing people. This is truly INVALUABLE to us. I'm talking about people who understand what we do...AND WHY. We are committed to making video technology available to help EVERY athlete improve his or her performance.

"All of us do not have equal talent, but all of us should have an equal opportunity to develop our talents."
John F. Kennedy

We ask for absolutely nothing but access to an electrical outlet and the opportunity to enhance these tournaments by adding value AND fun for players, parents, and coaches alike....but our customers are often stunned to realize that we sometimes have to PAY A FEE for the opportunity to provide our services to you at tournaments. All tournament directors are different - some want $750 up front, some want 25%, some want something in between - and we always stress that we're responsible for all expenses but we have to control our costs in order to keep our prices as low as possible. As I shared with a tournament director just yesterday, we are comfortable with any of the following arrangements:

• Many TDs charge us nothing (and some even comp our hotel room) because they recognize we are an amenity that makes a good tournament better.
• Many TDs ask us to provide complimentary video recording for certain players (either from their academy or for those players who might not have financial resources to take advantage of video).
• Some TDs ask us to provide a complimentary tournament video they can later use to promote the tournament on their website.
• Some TDs ask us to contribute 10% to the county.

So...just in case you ever wondered, which I doubt you ever have...Now you know how we choose which tournaments to go to: We avoid TDs who are more interested in what's in it for them than in what's in it for the players.

"Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can."
Arthur Ashe