The above video is by a tennis coach from the UK,Bruce Tarran.

Although you might think the video has been put on for fun,it is really true what he is putting over- its tennis gone mad!

Yes Ok working in a nice warm indoor court, or in a club that has purpose built mini courts its all possible.But imagine a windy day in the UK and ask yourselves "do soft balls work in the wind"? answer NO!  Do soft balls work in the rain - answer NO!

But now go read from the ITF web site about Under 10's tennis.

It says "Tennis Is Easy Fun And Healthy!!..It was always easy fun and healthy even back in the 1980's when I was teaching in the UK.What would of happened to all the 6-9 year olds I taught back then WITH REAL TENNIS BALLS??  Several of them went on to be Nationally ranked players- several of them went on to be top University players in the UK and in the USA- and several of them are now full time tennis coaches in the UK.

Why was it possible for Under 10's back then to play with real balls and now in 2011 they cannot!

I am lost for words.

When I first came to Tenerife my daughter was 6 years of age and within 2 years she spoke Spanish and German fluently.Children are like sponges at an early age,they learn and adapt and this "easy way" to play tennis is just another nail in the coffin for children of today being put down- how come its not thought acceptable for a 9 year old to play competitively with a REAL ball.I actually refuse to use anything other than REAL balls when I teach out here in Spain and I can tell you that after coaching for over 25 years it is not a problem - yes I maybe only use the service boxes but apart from that ......................