Van Buren Eagles Boys Tennis Head Coach Eian Brown takes an analytical approach to teaching his kids the sport of tennis.
Brown gives the team books to read regarding the mental game of tennis. Brown said it gives his team an opportunity to ground themselves and staying disciplined when things do not go their way. Brown said seeing his kids develop is the most exciting part of coaching.
“It doesn’t have to be competitive, you can go out and have fun.” Brown said. “And I think if you can just try to make it fun in these competitions and ground yourself and say hey, what am I working on, did I get better at this game, that’s what matters to me.”
Brown said getting out to an early lead and keeping up the pressure is something he has seen from his players.
“It’s an individual sport. Once you’re on the court, you’re by yourself and so you need to have a checklist in your mind of how can I win this game, what do I need to look for, because you’re on your own until one of your players wins.” Brown said. “So the development of this team is helping ground themselves.”
Brown said every match starts with a lesson of the day.
“The first one was, I wanted them to just have fun, you know, most of these players are new.” Brown said. “But as we’ve gone, we’ve gotten more technical.”
Brown said lessons have included seeing where your opponent is on the court, aim, and tempo of matches. Van Buren has seen a quick tempo this season, with all but two individual matches going fewer than seven games.
The Van Buren Eagles boys tennis team has started the season 1-3-1.
