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THE TOURNAMENT PLAYER’S CYCLE

Posted on March 18, 2022 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from the Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible
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Frank Giampaolo

THE TOURNAMENT PLAYER’S CYCLE

 

Periodization training requires factoring in these 10 essential phases to insure growth as well as optimal performance during competition. Educated coaches and parents not only know what to focus on, but even more importantly; when to focus on them.

To customize your athlete’s formula for success, be sure to apply these 10 very different phases to your tournament player’s cycle.

 

The 10 Essential Phases of Tournament Play

Phase 1: Post tournament recovery -Insist they completely detach from the sport. Allow them to recover and heal their physical body, emotional wounds and the pressure of cognitive processing under stress.

Phase 2: Slowly restart the fitness component – re-introduce the athlete’s endurance, speed, agility and stretching requirements.

Phase 3: Begin match chart reviews and essential Match Play video analysis.

Topics include: Performance assessments, opponent profiling- styles of play/shifts in styles, favorite go-to patterns ( top 7), movement strengths & weaknesses, focus issues/lapses in concentration, anger/ emotional management, athletes problem solving skills, between point and changeover rituals, fundamental and secondary stroke efficiencies and deficiencies.

Phase 4: Devise an agreed upon action plan based on phase 3’s findings. This included on-court as well as off court physical, mental or emotional development. Seek weekly improvement versus the need to always win.  Focus on improving aka -fixing weaknesses.

Phase 5: Re-introduce on-court basic stroke production with dead ball- grooving/ motor programming of the new, improved strokes. Add fundamental on-court movement, spacing and footwork essentials.

Phase 6: Drill with negative scoring to re-introduce the essential emotional/ focus component. (Deduct a point for each error.) Error awareness in practice is a missing link in the art of developing the emotional muscle.

Phase 7: Introduce secondary strokes and the athlete’s customized offense, neutral, defensive patterns of play. These shot sequencing patterns are strokes with purpose and are essential pre-set protocols.

Phase 8: Begin practicing in the manner they’re expected to perform. Introduce live ball serve games, return games, rally games and approach shot versus passing shot games.

Phase 9: Introduce the essential multi-tasking requirements required in match play. Begin playing sets starting at 2-2. This adaptation allows the competitors to arrive at the important pressure packed, “money”, part of each set faster and more frequently.

Phase 10: Ask the athletes to play set-Tie Breakers (first to 7) and Championship Tie Breakers (first to 10) to insure the athlete is comfortable with the process. Before each breaker, remind the athletes to mentally revisit the set. Apply match charting to organize your game plan and opponent profiling to assess their probable strategic options.

 

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NEGATIVE PARENTAL BEHAVIORS TO AVOID

Posted on March 14, 2022 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from the Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible
Available through most online retailers!

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NEGATIVE PARENTAL BEHAVIORS TO AVOID

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Listed below are common negative behaviors of an athlete’s parent.

 

Problem Tennis Parent Attributes Checklist:

  • Unrealistic assessment of their child’s level.
  • Unrealistic expectations.
  • Over emphasizing winning and rankings.
  • Coaching their children without coaching credentials.
  • Coddling and pampering the child too much.
  • Pushing the children into playing tennis.
  • Frequently discusses the financial burden of tennis in front of the athlete.
  • Assisting the coach in coaching during their child’s lessons.
  • Placing their needs and motives above their child.
  • Allowing their mood to mirror their child’s outcome.
  • Refusing to allow the athlete to make any decisions.
  • Neglecting to apply the periodization training method.
  • Becoming negative or violent when success is not achieved.
  • Unrealistic scheduling.
  • Critiquing and or blaming the coach after their child’s loss.
  • Failing to follow a deliberate customized developmental plan.
  • Expecting their part time coach to handle all the child’s full time needs.
  • Criticizing the child’s performance and skills in front of the child.
  • Neglecting to observe new coaches in action before hiring them.
  • Unaware of the importance of brain typing or body typing in their child’s development.
  • Living vicariously through their child’s success.

 

If you’re not sure whether your tennis parenting attitude is positive or a bit too negative simply ask your athlete. They’ll have a pretty darn good clue.

 

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PLANNING THE TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE- PART 3

Posted on March 11, 2022 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from the Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible
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SAMPLE WEEKLY TRAINING SCHEDULE

 

Just as a player’s tournament schedule will vary based on their short and long term goals, a players training schedule must also be customized.  Your youngster’s requirements will dramatically vary from age divisions, maturity levels, and how well they digest information.

Training regiments also vary depending on the upcoming tournament schedule (called periodization). Obviously a player in the semi-finals of a big event would train radically different than a player four weeks away from their next tournament/team match.

Time management skill will prepare your athlete for life on and off the courts. It’s important to remember the estimated success formula to becoming world class: Approximately twenty hours a week of applying a deliberate customized developmental plan for about ten years.

The following is a sample week of one of my top nationally ranked U.S. Juniors. His long term goal was to play division 1 college tennis and then progress to the pro tours.

SAMPLE Training Week
 

Training Component

  

Time Per Week
Practice Sets/Tournament Matches:

He schedules different styles and different ability levels of opponents.

 4 Hours
Technical/Mechanical Stroke Lessons:

He corrects flaws in their primary strokes and builds upon his secondary strokes.

 2 Hours
Mental Training:

He focuses on pattern repetition. Being sure to practice his Top 7 patterns and the patterns to run to beat retrievers.

 4 Hours
Emotional Training:

He focuses on applying his between point rituals as well as his protocols to overcome performance anxieties.

 4 Hours
Video Analysis:

After videotaping a tournament match, we analyzed patterns, lapses in focus and opponent profiling.

 1 Hours
Off-Court Gym

He hits the gym to improve explosive speed and power, and to prevent injuries.

 3 Hours
Off-Court Cardio

He cross trains with a random directional approach to clean up foot speed and brain speed (hesitation).

 4 Hours
Watching Tennis on TV:

He charts the pros, spot styles of play, analyze footwork, and decipher patterns.

 2 Hours
Total Weekly Training:

(Non-Tournament Schedule)

 24 Hours

For more information, investigate how a successful athlete’ family got them there. Invite them out to lunch. Ask process oriented questions. Take notes about their developmental plan, scheduling and obstacles. Parents who have been through the wars are often eager to help.

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PLANNING THE TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE- PART 2

Posted on March 9, 2022 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from the Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible
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PLANNING THE TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE- CONTINUED

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Your Child’s Rest and Rejuvenation Schedule:

I recommend two weeks on and one week off: This is a very workable formula for most athletes who are still developing. It allows for competitive play as well as down time to fix flaws, build weapons, re-charge batteries and heal injuries. Note: Occasionally, travel expenses dictate that your child stay on the tournament trail longer.

Your Family’s Economics:

Here in the US, hospitality options are rare. In Europe, there is a host family waiting with room and board for the player and coach at each event. I recommend calling the tournament director to inquire about it. Parents need to factor in the expenses of tournament play.

Your Child’s Educational Commitments:

Consider your child’s school commitments. Factor in final tests and exams. National events and exams all seem to fall around holiday breaks.

Your Child’s Fitness Level:

Remember the ever ready battery “takes a licking and keeps on ticking.” Well, that may or may not be your child. Having the physical, mental or emotional batteries to play two matches a day for weeks on end may be a bit much to ask of your player. Even the top professionals are not competing two singles matches a day for three weeks straight!

Your Child’s Tolerance Levels:

Emotional tolerance and frustration tolerance is worth looking into. Keep in mind that every round your child marches through the draw, half the players lose. Pressure and stress can often double or triple. What is your child’s stress tolerance level?

Your Child’s Ranking Goals:

Here’s a formula to increase your child’s national ranking. Year in and year out, certain level 2 national events draw the top field of 64 players in your child’s current division. Occasionally 58 out of the 64 players are ranked higher and are presumably stronger than your child. What are the actual chances of getting deep into the draw and collecting those precious national points? Often, during the same week, another level 2 national event (same points available) is being held in a less desirable city. By checking the internet, you’ll notice that historically some tournaments draw a lower level field. By playing the ranking game your child’s confidence and national ranking will begin to sky- rocket.

 

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PLANNING THE TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE- PART 1

Posted on March 6, 2022 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from the Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible
Available through most online retailers!

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PLANNING THE TOURNAMENT SCHEDULEfrank

 

“We don’t improve quickly enough by chance, we improve by organized change.”

 

As you read this book, I recommend planning a tournament schedule broken down into quarters. When organizing the schedule, be sure to consider your child’s short and long term goals. Plan to evaluate your player’s progress throughout the year and adjust their schedule accordingly.

Long term and short term goals will dictate your child’s training and tournament schedule. If your child’s goal is to be ranked in the boys 10’s and possibly play high school tennis, their training and tournament schedule will be very different than a child that has a long term goal to play NCAA Division I Tennis. Goals may change along the developmental journey and a change in goals will require a change in training and scheduling.

 

Important Factors to Consider When Planning An Optimal Competitive Schedule Include:

Your Child‘s Age:

Check with your specific USTA section or country organization for age eligibility requirements. Be sure to also check the limits on the number of events a junior can participate in each age division. Customize your child’s stay in each division to maximize rankings and exposure to prospective college recruiters.

A general guideline to follow: if your child is winning approximately 25% of their matches, consider entering lower level and current level tournaments; if they are winning approximately 40 – 60% of their matches, remain at their current level; if they are winning approximately 75-90% of their matches, move up to the next division.

 

Your Child’s Tournament Level and Type:

When scheduling, plan on including lower level, current level and higher level events into the tournament schedule. Nothing breeds confidence like winning trophies. Playing up is not always in the best interest of the athlete. Be sure to also schedule doubles events. The game of doubles requires a different set of skills- both in tennis and personal skills.

 

Your Child’s Peer Pressure Dramas:

If your child plays terrific in practice sets but shows symptoms of extreme performance anxiety against their peers year in and year out, it may be wise to break the “psychological barrier” and choose to play in a different setting.

 

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THE THREE PHASES OF ATHLETE DEVELOPMENT

Posted on March 4, 2022 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from the Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible
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THE THREE PHASES OF ATHLETE DEVELOPMENT

 

Once you’ve discovered which type of tennis parent you want to be, the next step is to identify which phase of development best categorizes your child’s current level. All too often, parents have an unrealistic view of their child’s current phase of development.  This is a result of the parent’s lack of awareness into the developmental process.

Due to personality profiles, growth development schedules and maturity levels, I don’t like to pigeon-hole athletes based on their age. At each level, customization is encouraged. It is very common to find mature 9 year olds in phase 3 and immature 17 year olds in phase 1. Customization is the key.

 

The Introductory Phase:

In this stage of the game, children are sampling many sports. The primary objective is enjoyment while developing sound fundamentals.

Special Note: I’m a firm believer that proper motor programming is essential. Allowing a child to groove poor mechanics only to spend thousands of wasted dollars, hours and tears fixing them later doesn’t make sense. You can still laugh and have fun while developing world class strokes.

 

The Developmental Phase:

Also known as the intermediate phase. In this stage, tennis is the main hobby. Social clinics are the norm. Specialized training has begun and juniors are experiencing sectional tournament play.

Special Note: This is when the parents, uneducated in the process unintentionally push talented athletes away from the sport by allowing them to train like a hobbyist and then expect the child to be getting championship results.

 

The Break-Through Phase:

In this stage, athletes are dedicated to the sport and are engaged in full time training. Each component of the game is developed as the athlete begins to invest in the future. Players begin to look towards National level or ITF level events to secure a college tennis scholarship at a major university.

Special Note: This is when a shift from hardware development (strokes and athleticism) to software development (mental and emotional) is most often needed.

 

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THE FORMULA FOR ACHIEVING RESULTS- Part 2

Posted on March 1, 2022 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible, The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from the Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible
Available through most online retailers!

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Achieving Results: Seven Insights  

Insight 1: Establish an outcome goal but then let it go because it isn’t in your athlete’s immediate control. What is? The process. The plan is everything.

The process starts and ends with the constant development of character. Daily focus on character building will shape your child’s life – on and off the playing fields. Character building develops your athlete’s inner voice through optimistic self-coaching. One of the most important jobs of a parent is to focus on character building through life skills.

Insight 2: Assist your athlete in developing calm, positive, proactive “self-talk.” This inner belief in themselves is the basis of the exact mental toughness they need at crunch time.

Your athlete’s inner voice is nurtured to either build them up to think clearly under duress or to tear them down and hinder their efforts at the most inopportune times. Often when things go south in competition, junior athletes allow their mind to drift away from the present process at hand (performance goals) and into past or future thoughts (outcome oriented thoughts). This is commonly followed by negative inner-chatter. Character building provides the optimistic scripts used to turn a possible disaster into another win.

Insight 3: Character building starts with the parents and coaches leading the way by letting go of the outcome results and reinforcing the process. How can we expect an adolescent to be performance oriented when their “guiding lights” are obsessed with only winning?

Great parents and coached educate the process of maintained discipline through chaos. Think about the last time your athlete was in competition. Remember feeling stressed for your athlete? Why? What were your thoughts that caused your pressure and anxiety? Was it past, present or future scenarios? Most likely the actual stress was caused by the long list of “What if’s?” What if they lose to this toad … What if they beat this top seed? What will they’re ranking move to? What will the coaches say? Will they get a Nike deal?

Insight 4: Focus on controlling the controllables versus focusing on the uncontrollables. In the competitive moment, is your athlete able to change past issues or forecast future issues? No, during competition, your athlete is only able to control the controllable – which is the present task at hand.

Parental focus should be on the effort and let go of results. Excellent physical, mental and emotional effort for the duration should be the entourage’s mission.

 

“Remember, there is a significant difference between excellence and perfection. Excellent effort is controllable. Perfection is a lie.”

 

Insight 5: Seek to educate your children to strive for excellence not perfection. The effort is in the process which will obtain winning results -not perfect results.

Your child’s success begins with preparing their character for the process of improvement. Only by achieving continuous improvement will your athlete be prepared when opportunity knocks. Unfortunately, many juniors get great opportunities but fail to capitalize, not because their lucky shorts were in the wash, but because they simply weren’t prepared.

 

Insight 6: Ask your athlete to complete a daily focus journal to assist them in self-coaching. Which of their components are weakest? Why? What would they suggest they could do differently to improve this weaknesses? The process of improvement needs a plan.

What drives your athlete to actually document their successes in their daily focus journal? What motivates them to wake up and put in the hard work? The answer is their moral compass, also known as their character. It’s their honest relationship and dialog with themselves that allows them to achieve their goals.

Insight 7: Character skills are life skills that parents can focus on daily. They include personal performance enhancers such as effort, dedication, time management, perseverance, resilience and optimism. They also include personal ethics such as honesty, appreciation, loyalty, trustworthiness, kindness, unselfishness and respect. Parental coaching starts here.

 

Let’s review. The formula for parents to assist in skyrocketing their athlete’s chances of achieving championship results is to begin with the character skills needed to implement their deliberate, customized developmental plan. An organized plan will be the foundation of the athletes accelerated growth. This is how you maximize your child’s potential as the quickest rate.

 

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THE FORMULA FOR ACHIEVING RESULTS- Part 1

Posted on February 22, 2022 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from the Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible
Available through most online retailers!

 Click Here to Order

 

frank

THE FORMULA FOR ACHIEVING RESULTS

 

All too often, competitive parents and athletes have dreams they mistake for goals. The disconnect starts with confusing dreams with goals. A dream is only a goal if it has an organized plan. For example, when I ask naturally talented athletes about their goals, they most often answer with uncontrollable outcome dreams. Such as: being ranked top in the nation, winning the state championship, receiving a NCAA D-1 athletic scholarship or playing pro ball.

These are nice dreams but remember:

 

“A goal without a deliberate customized developmental plan is actually a dream in disguise.”

 

Although elite athletes may also have the above dreams, the difference is that they realize their success is a result of quantifiable performance orientated process goals. It isn’t always the most naturally gifted athletes that are successful, it is the athletes with strong work ethics, resiliency and a plan. Below are seven insights that parents should apply while navigating their child’s pathway to greatness.

 

“Championship results are achieved by focusing on the process and the process starts with a plan.”

 

 

 

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ELITE TENNIS PARENT JOB POST

Posted on February 13, 2022 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential

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ELITE TENNIS PARENT JOB POST

 

Before we dig deeper into the more serious components of the tennis parent’s role, let’s first laugh a bit about what a “Tennis Parent Needed” internet job post would look like…

With “tongue firmly in cheek” I created the below piece for Tennis Magazine which ran last year. The point of detailing this incredibly difficult and sometimes thankless job is to acknowledge the love and dedication that go into developing and nurturing your child’s life skills.

 

 

Tennis Parent Job Description:

  • Positive team player needed for 168 hour per week position.
  • Candidate must possess a universal desire to be screamed at, talked down to and be willing to be hated 5-6 days a week.
  • Successful applicant must have an uncanny sense of “Buddha like” calmness in an often psychotic, stressful, chaotic environment.
  • Candidate must be willing to work early mornings, late evenings and most weekends.
  • Candidate must be willing to forget about their own personal interests, workout routines, sports and hobbies.
  • Candidate must not expect to go on vacation due to the year round tournament obligations.
  • Successful applicant should plan on missing traditional family holidays due to Thanksgiving Nationals, Winter Super Nationals, Spring Break/Easter Bowl, Labor Day and Memorial Day Events.

 

Requirements:

  • H R Skills– Interviewing, hiring and firing tennis coaches, trainers, hitters and off court specialists…with the enthusiasm of Donald Trump.
  • Accounting /Banking Skills- Possess an extremely thick check book and be willing and able to max out all of their major credit cards.
  • Designated Driver- Must be willing to put 100 thousand miles on the family car and enjoy most of your meals behind the wheel.
  • Expect your child to occasionally go “Tennis-Brain Dead“- Be willing and able to except that your child will occasionally forget everything they were taught during the last $5000.00 worth of lessons and blow several events a year.
  • Scheduling Manager- World class juggling skills required to organize the ever changing schedules of booking practice courts, times & logistics, hired hitters practice partners, lessons and events.
  • Booking Agent– Flexible skills required to book last minute airlines, cars and hotels.
  • VIP/24 Hour Courier Service: Laundry service, racquet re-stringing service, drug store pharmaceuticals pickup and delivery service, bed time psychology sessions.
  • Fashion Coordinator/Personal Shopper- Purchasing only the latest and greatest shoes and matching clothes.
  • Maintenance Knowledge– General Maintenance of equipment such as racquet re-gripping, clothing malfunctions, shoe lace replacement…
  • Parental Intuition- Must have the uncanny ability to become expendable and invisible in a seconds notice and/or appear bright eyed/ happy to help two minutes later.
  • Match Performance Review- Must be willing to evaluate a crummy performance by first pointing out fifty positive observations but NEVER share negative feedback without starting WWIII.

 

Wages and Expenses:

  • There is no pay for this position.
  • All the work and travel related expenses will not be reimbursed.

 

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INTRODUCTION TO THE TENNIS PARENT’S JOB DESCRIPTION- Part 3

Posted on February 9, 2022 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from the Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible
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POSITIVE VERSUS NEGATIVE PSYCHOLOGY

 

“Guidance from a coach or parent with a negative mindset is extremely toxic to a child.”

 

Exposing and destroying pessimistic beliefs and attitudes is an integral part of my daily mission, both personally and professionally. It’s your job as the tennis parent to eliminate these poisons from your athlete’s world.

Sadly, it’s often a parent, sibling, friend or coach that’s feeding the negative beliefs and pessimistic attitudes. It is in your best interest to remedy this issue or remove the negative source(s) from the child’s tennis entourage.

Parents, just as it is your duty to remove negative psychology, it is your responsibility to teach positive psychology. Teach belief and confidence, find their motivational buttons, develop their desire and hunger for mastering the game and teach them to embrace the challenge. These positive life lessons are part of raising athletic royalty.  If you teach the love of the game and the benefits of commitment, your athlete will progress seamlessly through the losses, technical difficulties, injuries and bad luck that come with athletics.

Allow the tennis teachers to teach, the coaches to coach and the trainers to train because as you know now, the tennis parent’s job description is far too comprehensive to micro manage each entourage’s role.

 

Mind Sets: Fixed versus Growth

Similar to the two sides of psychology, there are also two mind sets. Coaches often see student’s with either a fixed mind set or a growth mind set. While the athlete’s genetic predisposition is undoubtedly present, it’s most often the nurtured opinions of their parents, siblings and coaches that set their outlook.

  • A person with a debilitating fixed mind set truly believes that they cannot change. They are extremely rigid, view the world as black or white and are uninterested in change. Their unwillingness to accept new challenges often results in remaining average at best.
  • A person with a growth mind set believes that their opinions, outlooks, attitudes and abilities can and will change throughout their lives. Growth mind set individuals are more willing and open to accept change in the name of progress/improvement.

 

“Raising athletic royalty is a direction, not a destination. What you choose to teach your children now will live on for generations to come.”

 

I find that parents who encourage both positive psychology and a growth mind set are developing much more than a future athlete, they are developing future leaders.

 

 

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