'STARTING AGAIN'

Funny game aint it ? Fair dinkum why would you even play it let alone try to teach it ?? The challenge , both mentally and physically , that's why we all do it , and that's why , as the heading suggests , I am 'starting again'. It was perhaps 5 years ago that my good buddy and i had a program at our local club that had over 100 kids involved on a weekly basis that made the other Organisations resort to rather comical lengths to gain the 'local monopoly'. The games began; I don't know whether it was my honest nature or just the fact that i simply didn't want to embarrass myself but when it came to reporting the game i felt it necessary to report the facts, not fiction. I don't know why i used to read the local papers during Tennis season , it was like reading a regular chapter from a kid's bed time story , but sounded good , great for Business. I actually questioned many articles but was told to 'let it go through to the keeper' , 'Glenn you will only be labelled a trouble maker', ok , fine , let's just stand back and let the Tennis playing public go elsewhere as it seemed that only one 'Organisation' existed in town, my Club however felt it necessary to not 'make a fuss'. 
The numbers started to drop over a season or two, alarm bells started to ring , 'Mickey Mouse' articles began appearing regularly to mislead the public into thinking that 'careers' were made just down the road and my Club sat back and said absolutely nothing . Then it became even more comical ; School 'Tennis Coaching' or 'Baby sitting' as i call it commenced to gain even more of a monopoly on a sport that was fast becoming the local joke as far as reporting was concerned , 'hype without substance' I referred to it as . Forget the poor Tennis Club down the road that should have been seeing the kids, do it at school , greed , egotistical behavior and lack of morality, whatever terminology you like , it was a farce of epic proportions. 
So what did i do ? Took the easy way out , told my Club i no longer had the desire to teach the game with passion as it had become a 'Business' and lacked a personal touch . I believe that since Tennis has become a 'Business' locally we have had no kids make even the last 16 stage at a City Tournament in the singles Main Draw in at least two full seasons. Maybe a mixture of school 'baby sitting' and lack of 'personal touch' to a Sport that requires a technical and tactical mind. Two years away from teaching has made me appreciate the game even more , my own form is probably as good as it's ever been , perhaps better.
I am tired of junior 'failures' both locally and elsewhere for that matter but above all it was the feed back, 'we are tired of large groups and lack of technique advice', all this in a sport that needs a down to earth approach and an outlook that Walt Disney has no input . The kids i used to teach before i quit are coming back, plus I am seeing some new faces. I believe that they are happy learning from an 'old bloke' who simply teaches the basics without the 'hype', I just spent ten days straight on court , playing and teaching, the legs are a little tired.
Teach the game without the gloss and hype and coach the basics without the inflated costs that have no justification , show a kid how to hold a racket , (this seemingly is being ignored) , and teach it without the garbage that seems to be an every day part of the modern way of teaching . Parents aren't silly, you can only rely on hype for so long before results will start to be questioned.
It's good to be back .......