Playing Juniors

mat huang Asked 12 years ago

Hi Coach,

I have a big comp coming up in less than a week. I realise there will be a lot of junior (u13) so can i ask you for some tips for playing these juniors.

Tips likes which serve to use, rallying tips and receiving tips will be appreciated.

Thanks

Alois Rosario Answered 12 years ago

Hi Mat,

Every opponent is different. I think the most important thing is to look at each opponent individually and then see what strengths you have that you will be able to win points with.

Start with your strengths and see how they cope with them.

Good luck with your tournament.

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Ji-Soo Woo Posted 12 years ago

In my experience, junior players I've come across in tournaments have had one thing in common - aggression. They seem to always play a fast-paced attacking game. They loop/drive every ball, on both wings. I suspect the reason for this is two-fold. First, I suppose, young kids just enjoy the up-tempo game. Second, I think many of these kids get coaching or go to training camps - and there (I saw this firsthand at Simon Gerada's camp) they teach them to attack, attack, attack and never stop.

It's a bit risky to try and match their pace...especially if you are a "mature aged" player like me. Sometimes it's good to try and mix things up and give them something a little unpredictable that perhaps they haven't practiced against in their 1000 hours of multiball training.

mat huang Posted 12 years ago

Thanks for the thoughts. I think one thing they are bad at are "weird"serves and lack of "real"power. Thanks for the help