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PRIOR TO MATCH DAY

Posted on June 6, 2015 by in Match Day Preparation, Maximizing Tennis Potential

The following post is an excerpt from Match Day Preparation.  Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo

Prior to Match Day

Success in tournaments is directly related to the quality of preparation. Champions become champions because they’re the few who are actually willing to put in the grueling hours of pre-match preparation. Spectacular achievements are preceded by spectacular preparation. This section of your book is dedicated to proper preparation. Remember the old saying “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail”. Make today be the last day that you go into an event under prepared.

PERIODIZATION TRAINING

Players need to balance their preparations for short-term goals—such as an upcoming tournament—with their long-term improvement schedule. Managing these training phases is called periodization. When preparing for an upcoming match, a player’s plan for training to reach a peak level at the event should be customized to the player’s current comfort and ability level. Trying to perform skills that have not yet been securely ingrained is a recipe for disaster. The following are examples of both poor and intelligent pre-match preparations through periodization.

Poor Pre-Match Preparation

  1. Changing fundamental grips or strokes– Changing fundamental grips or strokes often leads to not having the old stroke any longer and not having the new stroke ready for match play.
  2. Cramming for the event by overloading the practice schedule. This behavior often leads to drained, low batteries on match day.
  3. Overdoing the off-court training– Overdoing the off-court training, often leads to soreness, fatigue, and injuries come match day.
  1. Adding unfamiliar things to routines– Adding unfamiliar things to routines could lead to physical, mental and emotional confusion.
  2. Seeking out only “Up” practice matches– Seeking out only “Up” practice matches breeds low self-esteem and zero confidence.
  3. Warming up past the point of diminishing returns-Warming up the same strokes too long often leads to your mind playing tricks on you. A seemingly solid stroke may appear to be flawed by over analysis.

Exception to the Rule: Often players and/or parents do not want to get off the tournament trail due to the ranking race.  In this situation, changes must be made to improve while on the tournament trail. Players/parents will have to accept the fact that losing a battle or two may be in order to win the war. In other words a player may have to lose a minor tournament or two in order to improve enough to be able to win Major tournaments in the future.

Intelligent Pre-Match Preparation:

  1. Train repetition of primary and secondary strokes, which grooves the timing and increases confidence.
  2. Train repetition of proactive patterns, which leads to fast cognitive processing speed and faith in the patterns.
  3. Perform light off-court training, this leads to strength and stamina.
  4. Preset mental protocols, this leads to dependable problem-solving skills.
  5. Preset emotional protocols, which leads to self-assurance and trust under stress

ASSIGNMENTS:

Review the above Poor Pre-Match Preparation actions and list the actions you have regularly included in your pre-match regime (if any) and how you will change these regimes.

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
MaximizingTennisPotential.com
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IDENTIFY YOUR PERSONAL PLAYING STYLE

Posted on June 5, 2015 by in Match Day Preparation, Maximizing Tennis Potential

The following post is an excerpt from Match Day Preparation.  Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo

To identify your personal playing style, let’s begin by self- profiling your game. Answer the following questions based on what best describes your game.Matchday preparation

 

SELF PROFILING QUESTIONS:

  1. Primary style of play? (Hard hitting baseliner, All-court player/Net rusher, Pusher/Retriever or Drop shot artist)?
  2. Preferred serve patterns (Especially on mega points)?
  3. Preferred return of serve position and shot selection on both first and second serve returns?
  4. Preferred return of serve position and shot selection on both first and second serve returns?
  5. Dominant short-ball option?
  6. Preferred net rushing pattern?
  7. Stroke strengths and weaknesses?
  8. Movement, agility and stamina strengths and weaknesses?
  9. Frustration tolerance, focus, and emotional stability?
  10. Preferred length of points? (Do you like to elongate points?)

ASSIGNMENT:

Tipping close matches in your favor requires a player to run their best patterns at crunch time. Do you think pattern rehearsal would help you perform better under pressure?

List 3 reasons why knowing your preferred style of play will improve your confidence on court and get you better results.

1.

2.

3.

(Example answers: If you know your style of play you will conserve energy versus waste energy; you will expose your strengths while hiding your weaknesses; you will be proactive instead of reactive and control the match dynamics.)

 

Plan on entering every match whether it is the first round or the finals, Miami or Moscow, hard courts or clay courts, with your favorite style of play and your time tested patterns.  Starting each match with what you do best…is a recipe for success!

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
MaximizingTennisPotential.com
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Primary and Secondary Groundstrokes

Posted on June 4, 2015 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential

The following post is an excerpt from Championship Tennis (Available through Human Kinetics and Amazon) Thanks for visiting, Frank GiampaoloChampionship Tennis Cover

Primary and Secondary Ground-Strokes

The beginning and intermediate stages of stroke development often resemble a game of catch. Players are content to simply hit the ball back and forth. At the advanced levels, training starts to look more like a game of keep-away.

To maximize potential and accelerate the learning curve, players should begin by understanding the components of winning ground-strokes. To the untrained eye, perfect primary strokes are the main reason for players reaching the advanced levels of tennis, just as being tall is a prerequisite for playing top-flight basketball. But if just being tall was all it took to play in the NBA, my cousin, Big Vinnie, wouldn’t be driving a limo at Kennedy Airport.

Owning only primary strokes in tennis—or unusual height in basketball—is usually not enough. For players to experience accelerated learning, they need to develop additional tools and skills, or what are known as secondary strokes.

A good comparison that can be used to help players understand the importance of these strokes is to look at the differences between amateur and professional painting. Anyone looking to get started in painting generally begins at the same place: a prepackaged painting set that comes with a canvas or paper, brushes, and a strip of colored paint containing basic colors. As the person dabbles more in painting, though, one thing becomes evident: Using only basic colors makes the painting look amateurish. Advanced artists and professionals have learned that to make a painting jump off the canvas—to make it become lifelike—they need to use secondary colors as well. Instead of applying 1 shade of green, they may use up to 12 different versions.

The process of developing ground-strokes into weapons follows a similar principle: A player should start with a base version and then enhance it with three secondary options.

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
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Emotional Outburst On-Court

Posted on June 3, 2015 by in Emotional Tennis, The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from Blunders and Cures.  Thanks for visiting, Frank GiampaoloBlunders & Cures by Frank Giampaolo

 

BLUNDER: Displaying Negative Character Traits

Guess who was an angry emotional train wreck as a junior competitor? If you said Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, then you’re right! Moral excellence is a maturing process. Everyone can compete in a relaxed, happy state, but not everyone wants to.

Negative behavior is often motor-programmed into a player’s routine. It is a comfortable, dirty, old habit. The development of character lies is the ability to first learn to be uncomfortable competing without the negative act. It’s like a stand-up comedian without his props to hide behind. The old props (anger outbursts) are comfortable.

CURE: The solution lies in the understanding that you have a character choice. Somewhere in their teens, Federer and Nadal were taught a wiser code of conduct and chose to apply it. Displaying anger outburst on court drains you of exact energy needed to win the tournament.

Anger is actually a show of fear or lack of confidence- often shown when skills are is question. Showing out of control anger outbursts is an immature behavior that is unacceptable in all arenas of life- disrespecting yourself and others. If you work as hard as you can developing your game, on-court and off-court, your anger will be replaced with confidence. It is not to say you will win every match, but you will understand that showing negative out-of-control energy is unproductive and damaging behavior Learning to accept and improve upon weaknesses will develop moral excellence- a valuable life skill.

To progress comfortably through the junior tennis wars, both game skills and life skills are essential. Begin early building your own positive navigational tools on and off the court. Start to build relationships with players, families, stringers and tournament directors.

Ask Yourself?

In my last tournament, did I show respect to myself, my opponent, fans and the tournament staff? In my next tournament, can I make a point to say Hi to the tournament staff? When was the last time you thanked your parents, coaches or even stringer? Have I ever thought about why you display anger outbursts? Here is why most players show anger- they are trying to send the message that they are normally not “this” bad- this is just an exceptionally bad day.  Does this sound familiar? The problem is that this behavior hurts you and does nothing to improve your performance.

Write down your Personal Action Plan:

 

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
MaximizingTennisPotential.com
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Ignoring Your B and C Game Plans

Posted on June 2, 2015 by in Blunders and Cures

The following post is an excerpt from Blunders and Cures.  Thanks for visiting, Frank GiampaoloBlunders & Cures_final

 

BLUNDER: Ignoring Your B and C Game Plans

In the competitive stage of tennis, spending a few moments to organize your primary and secondary styles of play will push you ahead of most opponents.  Styles of play include hard hitting baseliners, all court players, net rushers, and retrievers. In lower levels of competition, continually bringing the opponent into the net can also be an effective style of play.

FUN FACT: In lower level tennis, players are often under developed.  While they may have solid ground strokes, their volleys and overheads are nonexistent.  Forcing a comfortable baseliner to play the match at the net, tips the odds in your favor. Brining an opponent into the net is a set of skills that needs to be developed as well. These secondary stroke skills are drop shots, dipping passing shots and lobs.  Rehearsing these skills would be a great example of one’s B and C game plans.

CURE: Set up practice sets against lower level players and force yourself to rehearse your secondary style of play. Champions have mastered more than one style and so can you!

Example: My step- daughter Sarah played her first adult U.S. Open at age 15. In the first round, Sarah’s opponent came out with her Plan A style (hard hitting baseliner). Sarah won the first set 6-4. At the start of the 2nd set, the opponent switched to Plan B (net rusher) and Sarah went up 4-1. The opponent then switched to Plan C (moonball/pusher), which was Sarah’s least favorite style of opponent. Sarah was amazed to see a 30-year old WTA veteran push her way to a $15,000 victory in the 3rd set.

Ask Yourself?

Winning whole tournaments often requires more tools in your tool belt. Are you a one trick pony? If your plan A isn’t working do you just get mad? So, what are your B and C Game Plans? Can you schedule time to develop those skills and then plan on playing practice sets with those secondary styles of play? Can you start this week?

Write down your Personal Action Plan:

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
MaximizingTennisPotential.com
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Developmental Goals

Posted on June 1, 2015 by in Blunders and Cures, Maximizing Tennis Potential

The following post is an excerpt from Blunders and Cures.  Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo

Championship Tennis Cover

BLUNDER: Overlooking Goal Setting

Goal setting and organizational plans should be used as soon as you enter into the competitive phase. After an event, plan on setting some goals as you schedule your upcoming lessons. Sit down with your entourage to review your performance at an appropriate time. This analysis will provide your “Blue Print” for the upcoming weeks’ worth of lessons and clinics.

There are four basic sides to your game that need to be developed religiously. Examples include:

  1. Technical: (Example: Slice backhand)
  2. Tactical: (Example: How to beat a moonball/pusher)
  3. Movement/Fitness: (Example: Develop core strength and stability)
  4. Emotional/Focus: (Example: Practicing closing out 5-2 leads)

At all levels of competition, matches should be viewed as an information gathering session. The overall objective is to maximize your potential at the quickest rate. Winning comes from experience and experience comes from both winning and losing.

CURE: Identify an area in your game that can be improved upon in each of the four sides of development.

  1. Technical:
  2. Tactical:
  3. Movement/Fitness:
  4. Emotional/Focus:

Define a plan of attack for each of the 4 skills identified. Evaluate the plan after its implementation and determine if the plan is working? Adjust as necessary but continue to train on the skills you need most.

Ask Yourself?

Did you find one flaw per category you wish to improve? Di you set aside time to review your list with your coach and devise a plan on working to improve your identified weaknesses? Do you have a style of opponent that you hate to play? Have you ever taken a month and focused on developing the tools to actually beat that particular style of opponent? Or do you do the same drills week after week and hope for different results?

Write down your Personal Action Plan:

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
MaximizingTennisPotential.com
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Learning from the French Open

Posted on May 31, 2015 by in The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from The Tennis Parent’s Bible.  Thanks for visiting, Frank GiampaoloThe Tennis Parent's Bible by Frank Giampaolo

 

Learn From Watching Tennis on Tv

Tennis on TV represents a great learning opportunity – watch the professionals with a purpose and improve your game:

Watch One Player’s Feet

Most Pros take 10 steps for every 3 steps a ranked junior takes. Have your child simply watch the shoes.

Watch Between Point Rituals

They often appear to be looking at their strings while they use internal vision. Pros control their emotions and spot tendencies. This means they pay attention to how points are being won and lost.

Spot Offense-Neutral-Defense Situations

Shot Selection Way before the incoming ball reaches the net; a pro has chosen the next appropriate shot selection. Call out the correct choice as a Pro prepares to strike. If you can spot the appropriate selection with a Pro, spotting your opponents next shot will become easier.

Spot This Typical Mistake: “Change the Angle …Lose the Point”

Changing the angle is encouraged when you are inside the court. It is discouraged when you are behind the baseline. Watch for appropriate angle changing and inappropriate angle changing attempts. Even top pros often miss when they attempt a down the line screamer from way behind the court!

Spot Styles of Play

Who’s the hard hitting baseliner? Who’s the counter puncher retriever? Is there an all-court net rusher? Spotting the opponents style is the first step to devising patterns and controlling a match. If your child can spot a pros style of play, my bet is they’ll be terrific at spotting their next opponents style of play!

Spot Proactive Patterns

Pros do not simply react. They run one-two punch patterns. Can your child spot them? Ask them to point our serving patterns, return patterns, rally or net rushing shot sequences.

Spot Secondary Shots

Pros do not just have a forehand, a backhand, a serve and a volley. They have a whole “Tool Belt” full of secondary shots and they know when to activate them. Can your child spot a swing volley, a short angle/side door building shot?

Watch for Open versus Closed Stance

Ground Strokes Call out “open” and “closed” when you spot a Pro choose the appropriate stance. Understanding when and why you need them both is an important tool.

Chart Errors to Winners

Having a great understanding of where your winners and errors are coming from, as well as your opponent’s winners and errors may prove to be the deciding factor if your next match goes into a tie breaker! Actually charting a pro will lead to comprehending the importance of limiting errors.

FUN FACT: Top professionals often generate 5 unforced errors a match and 30 winners. Juniors generate just the opposite!

Court Positioning Chart

Chart a pro’s winning percentage while they stay behind the baseline versus their winning percentage while going inside the court. Often, juniors think they are better from behind the baseline. After charting a match, they find their winning percentage is actually better from inside the court. Watching tennis on TV can be a wonderful learning experience. It will secretly lead to improving your child’s mental and emotional performance on the court.

 

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
MaximizingTennisPotential.com
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Neglecting Smart Work

Posted on May 29, 2015 by in Blunders and Cures

The following post is an excerpt from Blunders and Cures.  Thanks for visiting, Frank GiampaoloThe Tennis Parent's Bible by Frank Giampaolo

BLUNDER: Neglecting Smart Work

Great coaches have the ability to zero in on a player’s weaknesses long before players or parents know they even exist. This is where smart work comes into play. Up until this point, we have touched on the subject of proper organization, but fixing what actually needs to be fixed is crucial if you want to improve at the fastest rate.

Let’s use an analogy. If a race car continually loses race after race due to its tires blowing out, will spending 4 hours a day polishing the fenders solve the problem? Not likely!

As I travel across the world conducting tennis workshops, I talk with juniors who claim that they despise playing moonball/pushers, Yet, when I witness the same players training,  they are simply playing “catch” with their coach, -as they rally back and forth to each other for the entire lesson.

CURE:  Smart work would be to replace those hours playing “catch” with “keep away” patterns designed to defuse a back court retriever. They include side door patterns and moonball approach to swing volley patterns just to name a few. You may be working hard over 4 hours a day, but are you working smart?

Ask Yourself?

What are your typical lessons and practice sessions like? Do you spend the majority of the time hitting ground strokes that are fed right to your strike zone? List three ways that you can possibly improve your lesson plan? Memorize this: “Practice in the manner you are expected to perform.”

Write down your Personal Action Plan:

 

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
MaximizingTennisPotential.com
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Watch Tennis with a Purpose

Posted on May 28, 2015 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential, The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from The Tennis Parent’s Bible.  Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo

 

Improve Your Game by Watching the Professionals with a Purpose

Roland Garros is here and television coverage is better than ever. Watching the players offers a wealth of information- if you watch with a purpose.

Use the excellent televised matches (or in person if you are so lucky )  of talented professional tennis players to improve your game.  Look for the following strokes tools the pros use in their games.  How developed are your stroke tools?

STROKE TOOLS

Forehands:

  • Topspin Drive
  • Topspin Loop
  • Short Angle/Side Door
  • Slice Lob

Backhands:

  • Topspin Drive
  • Topspin Loop
  • Short Angle/Side Door
  • Slice Lob

Serve:

  • Flat
  • Kick
  • Slice

Volley:

  • Traditional Punch
  • Swing Volley
  • Half Volley
  • Drop Volley

Lob:

  • Topspin Lob
  • Slice Lob
  • Re-Lob
  • Overhead:
  • Stationary
  • Turn & Run
  • Overhead

General Court Coverage:

  • Lateral Movement (side to side)
  • Up & Back Movement (forward)

Approach Shots:

  • Serve and Volley
  • Chip & Charge Drive
  • Approach Slice
  • Approach Drop
  • Approach Moonball
  • Approach Steal the Volley

 

Make a list of the physical strokes, mental and emotional components and conditioning. The professionals are making a living because they have developed and continue to develop their entire game.  Being satisfied with a good serve, a great forehand or a spectacular backhand is not training to be at your peak performance level.

 

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
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Enjoying the Journey

Posted on May 27, 2015 by in Blunders and Cures

The following post is an excerpt from Blunders and Cures.  Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo

Frank Giampaolo

BLUNDER: Postponing Happiness

Happiness is the state of being satisfied- choosing to experience more positive emotions than negative emotions. Happy memories are one of life’s’ most valuable possessions. Despite the challenging full time demands of the competitive tennis player, tennis offers secret rewards.

Even though happiness is within everyone’s reach, some players (and their entourage) spend their entire tennis career frustrated, anxious, and depressed by choosing to dwell only on failures, problems, and future concerns. I often hear players say, “I’ll be happy when I finally win one!”

Don’t be the player who postpones happiness, gratitude, and love. Enjoy the journey. If you are a junior competitor you will be off to college and missing junior tennis sooner than you think.

CURE: Take some time to enjoy the “positives” tennis has to offer. Begin by looking at the benefits the game has brought into your life.  Tennis is known to help people develop valuable life skills.  Here are just a few: strong work ethic, discipline, perseverance, responsibility, problem solving skills, time management skills, networking skills, team work, improved fitness, coordination, balance and flexibility. Tennis also opens the door to friendships across the world by giving you reason to visit other cities, states, and even countries.

Ask Yourself?

Has tennis helped you improve any of the above life skills? Do you know those same life skills are mandatory in order to be successful later in life? What makes you happy? If you listed winning, then you are deceiving yourself! Do you think winning a tennis tournament is going to give you lasting satisfaction? The reality is that winning bumps you up into a tougher level of competition. True competitors hate losing more than they enjoy winning. They find satisfaction in their performance. The tragedy is not enjoying the moment. Here is a trick to turn pessimism into optimism: List 5 things a day to be grateful for? Can you make a list each day for 5 days?

Write down your Personal Action Plan:

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
MaximizingTennisPotential.com
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