Ivo’s junior players were better at listening to each other than Mara and I had been on our first Tuesday. They were worse at admitting when a plan had failed. I watched them lose four points on the same return, then stopped the film before a fifth.
“Where did she stand before you served?” I asked.
The player on my left said, “Close.” The one on my right said, “In the alley.” They were both looking at the same paused frame and seeing different warnings.
“Look again,” I said. “Don’t tell me where she hit it. Tell me what you knew before your partner moved.”
They argued for three minutes, went down to court four and tried a change. Ivo watched from the doorway while I put the clip away.
“The people running Northmere’s junior week need somebody to do that for ten days,” he said. “Paid work. Travel covered.…
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