dad forcing me into tennis??

I'd say it is too early to give up. It appears that some of the other kids are far ahead, but appearances can be deceiving. With the right mindset, focus, coaching and effort, you can definitely improve quickly, provided you are interested in the first place and are willing to put in the effort. If you continue, don't do it for your dad or someone else. Do it for yourself. Try youtube. There is a lot of good material there to learn tennis. Focus on your forehand, backhand and movement. Find a court with a wall so you can practice. If you stick with it for a few months, you will be surprised how quickly you can progress.. Many people young and old enjoy tennis. In time, you will too if you do it for the right reasons.

You finish what you start. Your Dad bought that equipment for you, you can't just quit after one day.

Sad for me to read stories like this. Are you the only newbie on the team? The coach must know what's going on here!!!! Has he/she nothing to say about this?

I'm glad to hear that this coach seems to be running a No-Cut program, but if you're the only beginner out there, then it's not good.

***I originally wanted to join the tennis team and it was my idea, so I did. but from the first day of practice I could tell that I was not experienced enough. these girls have been taking lessons for years and I have absolutely no prior experience. it's humiliating when everyone else just knows certain things and can do them with ease, meanwhile I can't even hit a single shot. I told my dad that I would like to drop off and take lessons for a year and then join next year when I have more experience.***

Your request sounds perfectly logical to me. Tennis is a *skill sport.* When the others have skill developed after X number of years, and you have no years and no lessons behind you, it is very tough.

I would recommend, stick to your guns and *go home or go to a friend's house after school,* telling your folks you need lessons that the school team is not providing. If your Dad is too "tight" to spend serious money on lessons for you, then it's just too bad. Say to the coach, "I quit." ... and mean what you say. If your father continues with his demands, tell the school counselor your story.

On the other hand, if you actually *like* the game, the local tennis club will probably have a much better program for you than the school has; this is often the case with beginners and many others, depending on circumstances. Sometimes we get excellent high school tennis coaches; other times, it's just somebody who saw an opportunity to make some money coaching a sport that most people don't care about.

If you are looking for a good teacher, here are some links:

http://www.uspta.com/
http://www.ptrtennis.org/
http://www.oscarwegner.com/lucile/MTMCA/Welcome.html
http://localtennislessons.com
https://www.playyourcourt.com
https://onlessons.com
http://www.playtennis.com
http://mytennislessons.com/

If you live in the USA, you should be able to find an instructor near you in one of the web sites above.

Best of luck, hope things get better for you :-)

If you don't enjoy a particular activity, chances are you'd be unlikely to be as successful as you might. Having said that, Agassi felt the same when his dad forced him into playing the game which he admits he hated. But he was successful, although eventually he stopped playing.

If you can, I'd stop playing this particular sport for a while and see how you feel later on.

Although I do believe that you /could/ get better if you just stuck to it and practiced hard. I think you're right, It would be like putting an ametuer chef in an advanced class and expecting them to cook the same as the other chefs. And there's no use in doing a sport if you resent it. try and reason with your dad (calmly) and try to make him see you're side. Maybe tell you're mom about it and get her on your side so she can reason with your dad. If that doesn't work I suggest talking to your coach. They don't want people who don't want to play the sport on their team, so they would strongly try to urge your dad to let you quit. Or even let you off the team without your dad's permission, since they're in charge. good luck!