It takes a lot to get me out of my bed in the middle of the night but as there were 3 little Scots in the GB 12&U team for the friendly match v Belgium 20-22 December, I thought I'd pop down and take a look. So I got up at 04:00 to catch the 06:25 flight and got to the NTC just before 09:00. Perfect.
It's very important for the coaches of promising young players to watch them in meaningful and challenging competition in order to see how the areas worked on in training, hold up on the match court. Not just on the technical, tactical and physical side as quality, tough matches and match environments can teach coaches a lot about the mental approach of young players.
It's fascinating to see who can't wait to get out there and take on the unknown foreigners and perform/win for their country in front of a crowd. Or who is terrified to step on to the court for fear of the unknown or fear of losing or fear of making a fool of themselves in front of a crowd or fear of letting the team down.
Because tennis is always a one-on-one combat (in singles anyway) it's important to relish the challenge and to be prepared to go out and give 100% to every single point. I want to see who is really up for the fight! Who can rise to the challenge and who can't cope with being taken out of their comfort zone.
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Psychologists will tell you that the hard-wiring of your personality is done between 0-7 years of age and in my experience of tennis coaching, most kids who struggle outwith their comfort zone at an early age, don't significantly change as they get older. So it was fascinating to see how the British players responded to this situation - even though it was a home fixture!
Remember these were players aged 11 (born 1997) all of whom live at home and train reasonably close by. Their Belgian counterparts live at their National centre Monday to Friday and go home at the weekends, unless they are competing. (Remember that Belgium is a tiny country and nobody lives more than an hour from the centre I'm told). Nevertheless, they are already preparing for a career in tennis which inevitably means 30-35 weeks of the year on the road and out of your comfort zone.
One of the Belgian coaches told me that the kids are picked up on Friday evening and are back on Monday mornings. Parents are only allowed in to the centre once a week to discuss/observe their childs progress. So the parents are really putting their trust in the coaches, fitness trainers and pastoral carers and committing their kids to the programmes they deliver.
Well you are probably wondering how the match went - GB won overall and were particularly convincing in the girls match. But I would stick my neck out here and say that I thought , in general, that the Belgians were more polished and more disciplined. I could see the formation, physically and technically, of sound basics which will stand them in good stead as they develop through the teenage years.
There were encouraging performances from some of the British players and it will be fascinating to see if any of them make it to the pro tour.