Anticipation

What is anticipation?

As a player, if I had been asked to define "anticipation," it would have been difficult for me to answer. Growing up, I was never taught to anticipate in any systematic way. Yet as a tennis player, I anticipated and moved extremely well on the court from a young age, whether or not I fully understood what it was or how I was doing it.

Part of this came from a passion and an eagerness in my play, and that of the other players I played against and trained with. We had a hunger for knowledge and a strong desire to get better.

As a coach, I don’t always see those same qualities in looking at our young players today. I don’t see a passion to discover new things for themselves. Today I see a lot of kids who are just hitting balls with what I would call a ball machine mentality. They aren’t really taking charge of their development. They’re constantly waiting to be told, instead of going out there and looking for ways to improve. They aren’t eager in the same way I was and I think this mentality restricts their ability to anticipate.

Regular…