First Ball To Last Introduction: Excellent XXXXX

"It's easier to build strong children than to repair broken men." Frederick Douglass

Recent societal trends in mental health are concerning. Thirty years ago, the risks to children were external; drinking, drugs, smoking, teenage pregnancy. Today, statistics in those areas have dropped dramatically. But a new scourge affects our youth today, with these issues being internal. The mental health conditions of depression, anxiety, mania, self-harming, suicide and suicidal ideation continue to rise at alarming rates, placing today's youth squarely in the midst of a mental health crisis.

The tennis world has not been immune from these trends. In 2021, a public conversation began about mental health and the struggles of competition. Mardy Fish's Netflix documentary about his panic disorders, Naomi Osaka's personal struggles with anxiety and depression went very public, and Nick Kyrgios' constant on court meltdowns have the professional tennis world in a quandary. 

But tennis does not have a monopoly on mental health struggles. Simone Biles Olympic struggles were well documented yet poorly understood, Former #1 draft pick Ben Simmons' has been unable to suit up to play for a season now, swimmer Michael Phelps has struggled mightily outside of the pool, and worst of all Stanford soccer standout Katie Meyer's suicide and subsequent lawsuit against the university. And these are just the incidents that have made the news. The message is loud and clear. This generation's youth are struggling mightily with their mental health. 

As the gatekeepers of our sport, what can we do, for the urgency to act has never been more vital than now. To have additional public mental health breakdowns in our sport, yet not have the safeguards in place to prevent/identify/treat such cases would be inexcusable and shine an unfavorable light on tennis and those entrusted with steering our sport through this uncertain stretch

Historically, tennis has left much to chance in the space of mental health.

But I would like to suggest the implementation of an industry-wide mental wellness initiative named First Ball To Last, aimed at raising awareness about mental health issues associated with tennis' unique form of competition. (Title is flexible if initiative expands beyond the tennis court to all youth sports)

I welcome all of tennis' invested to come together for a conversation about the competitive environment we subject our ever younger tennis children to. And that conversation must begin with an acknowledgement that competitive tennis, though challenging, demanding, and rewarding, is a highly stressful endeavor for all parties involved; players, parents, coaches, and administrators.

Placing young developing adolescents into consistently stressful conditions is risky. Some will handle the challenges well (as many many have), but many others will not. If you want to drive a car, you have to take numerous tests before you get your license, because driving without knowledge is dangerous. And though not every kid would immediately get in a car accident  (some may get the driving bug and go on to careers in NASCAR) others will struggle, as do the unprepared youth who get thrown into tennis competition. The difference being car accidents are obvious whereas the mental anguish of the struggling young tennis player will not be so apparent.

The Goals of FIRST BALL TO LAST

Across the board improved ROI (Return on Investment), from the high school player to the touring pro 

Performance enhancement: In the Macro, seeing one's talents and dreams all the way through. In The Micro, managing one's emotions better in the day to day grind that can be tennis development

Education: Teaching the emotional skills from the first ball that will enhance one's tennis performance while strengthening a player's resolve/resilience against the challenges player's face throughout their playing careers. Teaching the emotional skills of mindfulness/perspective/gratitude/optimism, all the tenets of positive psychology as a form of immunization from what can be an unforgiving relentless space. 

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Education begins with full acknowledgement of the competitive tennis environment. If one goes to the beach, one prepares for a hot sun. To not be prepared has unpleasant consequences. If one goes to the mountains, one prepares for frigid temperatures. To not be properly prepared comes with unpleasant consequences. 

To not fully understand or be prepared for the intense and constant stress of the competitive tennis experience absolutely comes with consequences, the challenge being sunburns and frostbite are easy to see. The affects of prolonged stress on young developing brains is not so easy to see, especially with  parents not well versed in mental health/wellness themselves, often oblivious to the signs or worse, adding to the problem by projecting their own issues upon their children.

Challenge: Kids are not going to be able to tell us what's going on. They lack the cognitive/emotional skills to put their angst into language. But they will show us in all sorts of dysfunctional behaviors, either cheating, tantrums, tanking, choking or later in life acting out by self-medicating or eating disorders and a myriad of other stress-related dysfunctional behaviors.

Methodology: Intake interviews for all tournament players akin to the MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory) test for psychopathology, but for adolescents. (Would love to get all the parents to take one too)

Build a Mental Wellness profile/passport for every player, from first ball to last.  Graduating levels of learning, akin to the belt system in karate, with goal to build belief, gratitude, and perspective, preparing them for the challenging road ahead, what the tennis life is like, what it takes to see it all the way through. Start building those habits from day one. Belief, Grit, Attitude. The term I use for this is building a player's immune system. 

Its critical to understand how each individual emotionally responds to the stress of competition. Where are we vulnerable, what do we need to shore up. Are we calm, anxious, volatile, submissive, fighter or flighter.

Challenge: Building an age appropriate curriculum and implementing said curriculum.

Important Takeaway: As a player who attempted to compete with an undiagnosed mental health condition, the stress of competition made my condition worse, never better, no matter how well I was doing. If a player has an underlying undiagnosed condition, its not going to get better playing a bunch of tough tennis matches.

So how can we as the gatekeepers of tennis improve tennis' overall mental wellness?  Everyone must understand their role and responsibility. 

In the world of Recovery, being of service to others is a crucial tenet to long term sobriety and health. But adamant in the literature is to be of any help to another, one must have their own house in order. Similar to air safety instructions while flying, we must secure our own masks before trying to assist others. 

So all facets of our industry must be engaged in the mental wellness discussion.

Industry Wide, that starts with the players

Players: Should be an easy sell.  Emotional Intelligence enhances performance and well-being. We must give them the resources. Teach them how to check their vital signs, teaching them the tools of self-awareness, self-reflection and self-care. Are they burned out, anxious, fearful, losing interest? Only they know the truth and to what extent. We must educate them in working through their conflicts by..

Building Immunity right from the First Ball:  Gratitude, Perspective, Mindfulness, Goal setting, having a healthy definition of success and most importantly, healthy and safe communication channels. Assemble a Tool Kit. Build and Load the emotional software to manage each and every predicament as they arise. Pre-emptive, preventive care. Things will come up.. Burn-out, Pressure, Expectations, slumps, injuries, sudden success. How do we stay true to our goals and stay the course while processing each of these events emotionally. We can only control ourselves. We need to be constantly building self-belief and self-reliance from first ball to last

Parents: The Ultimate challenge. Do we mandate or finesse?  For it may sound delusional, but parents are managing aspiring tennis careers in their child. Even if the end goal falls short of a touring professional, getting a college scholarship to a school of note is significant. Its imperative parents take this responsibility serious and learn their role, for their influence over their child's well-being will always reign supreme.  Parental identification in their child's success is real. We must build Emotional Intelligence in the parents, for they can derail the dream before it ever gets started. 

Challenge:  How heavy-handed to be with parents? With such a global sport flush with eclectic cultural differences, getting involved in parent-child dynamics is complicated. Will require a deft touch to find the sweet spot here.

Coaches: Influential.. Build resilience, confidence, belief while keeping an eye out for red flags/recurring episodes. Few among us has a background in child psychology. But the USPTA/USPTR have come light years in the past decades at mandating competency in a variety of fields to qualify for certification. Mental wellness is the next frontier. We have continuing education, we now need initial education. I've been a coach for over 30 years. If I knew 30 years ago what I know now, the quality of my work would have improved exponentially. We must involve our coaching community in this critical space

Organizations: Tournament Directors, Academy Directors etc..Creating the healthiest competition environment possible.  More team activities, limiting matches for younger age groups. Possible de-emphasis on rankings/UTR (lets take an already stressful sport and make it more stressful) Schooling systems have adjusted their grading policies for much K-5 learning. I'd love to see the data on the long term affects of that move. Methinks tennis might improve a bit there too. Much movement has been made in this space already, Continued awareness/improvement is always possible. 

A few words about what I believe is the most relevant issue facing the tennis community today

Parental Identification: All parents identify with their children to some extent and thus want them to do well. Unfortunately, in some cases, the degree of identification becomes excessive, and the child becomes an extension of the parent’s ego. When parents over-identify with their child’s sport performance, they begin to define their own self-worth in terms of their son’s or daughter’s successes or failures.

A father who is a frustrated jock may seek to experience through his child the success he never knew as an athlete. A parent who was a star may be resentful and rejecting if the child does not attain a similar level of achievement. Some parents thus become winners or losers through their children, and the pressure placed on the children can be extreme. The child must succeed, or the parent’s self-image is threatened. 

When parental love and approval becomes conditional on how well their children perform, tennis veers strongly toward an unhealthy dynamic, with kids mental well-being often paying the price.

 Challenge: We are tennis people, not child psychologists.  Kids are not going to tell us what's going on but they will show us with cheating and tantrums and tanking and choking and injuries and retiring and defaulting etc.. Those are the signs of a child not managing the  sustained stress of junior competition.

Ideas we can implement immediately..

A Hotline for kids in challenging situations. Either interpersonal, familial or within an abusive coaching dynamic, we need the resources to steer them toward the professional help they may require.

Flood the zone with PSA's and Educational materials, raising awareness that mental health and wellness is to be taken seriously. Tennis has implemented major changes before as to how the sport is learned. Now a groundbreaking program for the mental wellness of all these young players

A mentoring program for up and coming elite players. Certify the mentors, make them available to our player development kids, build strong relationships over time akin to the sponsor relationship in recovery. having someone you can call if/when needed.

A key tenet to competition is the requirement to become perfectly vulnerable, to be able to give every bit of oneself to the uncertain outcome of a match. To give the best of yourself to something and have it not be good enough. Its a unique pain, definitely not for everyone. But to have any shot at career success, elite players must experience this regularly for years running. Navigating the swirling emotions of perceived failure can be a minefield for even the strongest of players. Its sensitive terrain that must be tended to carefully.

First Ball to Last is a wellness initiative that ultimately will become performance and personally enhancing, so when our last ball is hit we can segue smoothly to the next challenges in life, be it education, career, family or pickleball :)

"Until you heal the wounds of your past, you will continue to bleed"

Lets combine our energies together and assure tennis will not be responsible for any wounds, making our sport the healthiest it can be and a leading example of what's possible when an entire industry unites behind a common cause.