To guarantee stars of the future, you'd better have them swinging right from the start. That's what the "Swing For the Future and Tour 2020" program is trying to achieve during the Mercedes-Benz China Tennis Grand Prix in Nanjing.

The collaboration between Chinese, Australian and American tennis associations in a junior tennis development program aims to cultivate China's young talents through Western methods. Such clinics have been held in 10 different cities each year since 2008.

"It's great to have all the kids exposed to modern tennis training and competition approaches that they never saw before," said Jeff Bearup, a coach from the New England Academy of Tennis in the United States.

Bearup led an international crew, including US performance trainer Eric Beard and Aussie junior coach Joe McCarthy, in giving professional advice and competition drills during this year's final stop of the campaign in the eastern China city at Nanjing.

"The kids' talent here is impressive, but they were not training on the right track. They used to just hit and hit the ball for very long time every day. It diminishes their love for the game," said McCarthy, who has traveled several times over the past few years between China and Australia to help juniors.

"It's not about quantity, but also quality and intensity of training. They should practice in a more effective way."

According to Bearup, "Professional coaching is much more important at the grassroots than the elite level. Educating the coaches, to let them know how to teach in the right way, should also be emphasized," said the former ATP coach.

Based on the results of last year's clinic competitions, several players will be invited to Australia and the US for further training early next year.

"I've improved a lot at this camp. It has shown us what you really need at this age if you want to become a pro star," said Mao Xinyu, the Wuhan leg's champion.

(China Daily 10/30/2011 page8)