Fiend At CourtUSTA Sport Science Research 2026: High Performance Player Development By Teresa Merklin on November 2, 2025—Two excerpts: |
Playing high-performance junior tennis is expensive and often prohibitively so. Families drop out of the competitive pathway not because their children lack talent or passion, but because they simply can’t afford to stay in the game. Travel, equipment, and coaching costs create barriers that exclude many promising athletes long before their potential can be realized. The USTA needs to explore sustainable, transparent ways to subsidize training and travel that are accessible, fair, and equitable.
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Elite-level player development doesn’t just happen in academies; It starts with the local coach who spots a spark in a kid at a park court and knows how to nurture it.
Of the three grant categories, I suspect this is the one that will attract the most proposals. Everyone loves the idea of developing the next great American champion. That’s understandable, but it also misses the point. The most impactful research might not be about training elite juniors at all, but rather creating an environment where excellence can grow naturally. That starts with broad participation, access to affordable instruction, and community-level engagement.
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Another Reality
“ For every Serena or Naomi, there are thousands of families who went all in, only to come up empty-handed. It’s a system built on dreams, but powered by delusion.
And yet… that delusion is part of what keeps the junior tennis engine running.”
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Playing high school team tennis is about the only way to inexpensive match experience in the U.S. (Tom Parham ).
The SHOT DOCTORS
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Sg8qPj4zvCNPhYlKy0mHe9ByIkTA-JHsUAywiW9Jv0E/edit?tab=t.0
The Little Green Book of Tennis 