The United States Tennis Association or USTA has been in existence since 1881. The USTA was originally known as the United States National Lawn Tennis Association. The group was started by a small group of people in New York. The current USTA is an organization with over seven hundred thousand members. It invests one hundred percent of its profits to promote and develop the growth of tennis, from novice to professional level. Many people have trained with this organization and experienced great success. An example of this is the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, or the brothers Brian, Bob and Mike. In 1916, the National Junior and National Boys Championships were added and the Women's Championships were instituted in 1917. A year later, junior boys and girls were ranked for the first time. It was ten years later that the junior development program was instituted. children. The USTA trains people of all ages. The organization consists of distinct age groups to ensure fairness of play between opponents. The 10 and under group is the organization's youngest competitive group. These children can be between five and ten years old. Starting too early can actually be bad for player development. “Hanging a tennis ball in the crib or giving your children intensive private coaching at age four probably won't give you that head start in developing a champion that many parents believe. In fact, it's the opposite. Focusing too much and too soon on tennis can actually delay basic physical development ... middle of paper ... it really does make a difference and the USTA will continue to use these strategies until they find another way. to help players progress. Works Cited “Progressive Development Part 1”. How to play tennis, tennis lessons, tennis lessons, tennis tips, tennis videos, tennis shot clips, professional shot clips. Internet. December 20, 2011. "Tennis Training Programs | Training Programs | Core Performance." Basic performance | Powered by athlete performance. Internet. December 20, 2011. "USTA History | Community Tennis - News | USTA." United States Tennis Association - Home | USTA. Internet. December 20. 2011. .