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Coming Soon the NEW edition of The Match Chart Collection

Posted on July 3, 2021 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential

The Match Chart Collection

The Match Collection

There’s so much more to quantify than meets the eye!
The Match Chart Collection brings a dozen fresh, new ways to identify your athlete’s efficiencies and deficiencies.
This collection of easy-to-use charting systems will shed light on the real reasons for your athlete’s wins and losses.
Yes, these are ahead of the curve.  Yes, you’ve never thought of these before.  Yes, these will maximize your athlete’s potential at a much quicker rate.
Coaches, parents, and athletes that have been struggling with the mental and emotional complexities of competition
will find these charting g systems to be everything they didn’t even know…they needed to know.
Coming to Amazon August 29, 2021
Frank Giampaolo 
Maximizingtennispotential.com
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How the Brain Affects Performance- Part 3

Posted on July 1, 2021 by in The Soft Science of Tennis

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis.

Click Here to Order through Amazon

soft science

Thinkers (T) versus Feelers (F)

Thinker Students

  • Impersonalize tennis matches in a business fashion.
  • Continually analyze the pros and cons of each situation.
  • Thrive in private lessons versus group activities.
  • In discussions, they are frank and often void of tactfulness.
  • Aware of coaching inconsistencies.
  • In competition, they are less influenced by emotions than other brain designs.
  • Prefer logical explanations versus hunches.
  • Relate to technical skills training over mental or emotional skills training.
  • Less concerned about personal interaction and group harmony.
  • Prefer work before play even in practice.
  • Value fairness and good sportsmanship.
  • Often seen as uncaring or indifferent to others.

 

Feeler Students

  • Enjoy group sessions with their peers.
  • Often put others needs ahead of their needs.
  • Strong need for optimism and harmony on-court.
  • Struggle with match play cheating and gamesmanship.
  • Usually outcome-oriented versus process-oriented.
  • Perform with their heart versus their head.
  • Often miss the details and facts in problem-solving.
  • Sometimes too empathetic to struggling opponents.
  • Need frequent process reminders to regain focus.

 

“A gender stereotype myth is that females are feelers and males are thinkers. While the exact percentages vary widely from study to study, it’s clear that brain function doesn’t necessarily correlate with gender. Nature versus nurture falls into play.

Though societal bias may nurture females to be more nurturing and caring and males to be more tough problem-solvers, females can be genetically wired to be thinkers just as males can be wired to be feelers.”

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How the Brain Affects Performance- Part 2

Posted on June 28, 2021 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis.

Click Here to Order through Amazon

frank

Sensate (S) versus Intuitive (N)

Sensate Students

  • Choose to make decisions after analyzing.
  • Often hesitate on-court due to overthinking.
  • Thrive on the coach’s facts versus opinions.
  • Enjoy practical details versus the “Do it cuz I said so!” method.
  • Need to know when and why not just how.
  • Success on-court is based on personal experience not theory.
  • Pragmatic need for sports science rational.
  • Comfortable backcourt players where they have more decision-making time.
  • Prefer organized, structured lessons versus time-wasting ad-lib sessions.

 

Intuitive Students

  • Trust their gut instinct and hunches over detailed facts.
  • In matches, often do first then analyze second.
  • Apply and trust their imagination with creative shot selection.
  • Thrive on new, exciting opportunities on the practice court.
  • In discussions are less interested in minute details and facts.
  • Learn quicker by being shown versus lengthy verbal explanations of the drill.
  • Seek the creative approach to the game.
  • Natural born offensive net rushers and poachers in doubles.
  • Enjoy coaches’ metaphors and analogies.
  • Often have to be reminded of the reality of the situation.

 

“PET scan and sensing perception studies from the University of Iowa show that different brain designs use various parts of their brain. Athletes are pre-wired with their genetics. Teaching them to compete on-court within their natural guidelines versus opposing those guidelines will maximize their potential and enjoyment of our great sport.

An analogy to illustrate this point is swimming downstream and working within one’s genetic predisposition versus swimming upstream and working against one’s genetic predisposition. While it is possible to find success outside one’s dominant brain design, it is much more difficult.”

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How the Brain Affects Performance- Part 1

Posted on June 26, 2021 by in The Soft Science of Tennis

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis.

Click Here to Order through Amazon

Soft Science of Tennis_3D_Cover_version5

How the Brain Affects Performance

 

“Athletes who share similar cerebral inner workings also share mental and emotional strengths and weaknesses
in the competitive arena.”

 

This chapter will uncover how brain design affects tennis performances. The following brain design categories can be used as an informal observation as you first profile yourself. However, I suggest going online to the dozens of more in-depth questionnaires. Choose the accuracy and depth of the personality profiling questionnaire that is right for you. After a bit of research, you will recognize learning preferences that best describe your brain design.

Let’s review the basics from earlier in this book. There are 16 configurations of personality profiles found around the world. By completing your chosen questionnaire, you will discover your association – a 4-letter acronym nicknaming your personality profile. Once comfortable with the terminology, you will be able to categorize your athletes into their unique designs. Following is a list of commonalities I’ve uncovered on-court with my high-performance students.

 

Uncovering Your Students Typography

Introverts (I) versus Extroverts (E)

Introvert Students

  • Reserved, reflective thinkers.
  • Prefer concrete advice versus abstract thinking.
  • Need quiet, alone time to recharge their batteries.
  • Prefer to blend into groups versus stand out.
  • Energy conserving, private and quiet individuals.
  • Enjoy the one-on-one settings of private lessons over group lessons.
  • Prefer to retaliate in match play versus instigate action.

 

Extrovert Students

  • Enjoy the energy in group lessons with lots of people.
  • Enjoy the limelight, center court, and center stage.
  • Vocally and physically expressive on court.
  • Easily bored with mundane repetition.
  • Prefer to make things happen in matches versus retrieving.
  • View tournaments as social environments.
  • Work best in short attention span type drills.
  • Strangers are friends they haven’t met yet.
  • Benefit from stretches of silent tennis drilling.

 

“Coaching confusion takes place when an athlete’s body type (size, speed, agility, strength) opposes their hidden inner workings.

For example, the athlete’s body type appears to be designed to instigate action by capturing the net, but they religiously choose to stay back and retaliate instead. Typically brain design overrides body design.”

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Coaching Brain Type Performance- Part 7

Posted on June 22, 2021 by in The Soft Science of Tennis

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis.

Click Here to Order through Amazon

The Match Chart Collection 2D

 

 

INFJ: Introvert Intuitive Feeler Judger

 

Challenge: Unfamiliarity is a sensitive topic for the INFJ’s. Adaptability isn’t their strong suit.

Solution: Entering competition, arrive at the new tournament site early to hit. Allow this athlete a bit more time to get comfortable with the elements, the court speed, club, and other environmental differences. Also, scouting of future opponents is comforting to this cerebral design. While profiling the next opponent, it is wise to discuss their style of play, their “go-to patterns,” their stroke and movement efficiencies and deficiencies, and their shot tolerance.

 

Challenge: INFJ’s prefer quiet, calm training environments with little interruptions. Too much socialization in group scenarios is distracting and illogical to this IJ typography.

Solution: If they believe that the practice environment is unproductive, they begin to feel fragmented and disconnected to their developmental plan. Coaches would be wise to begin sessions with a short preview of the day’s focal points, analyses, and evaluate throughout the session. And then later review with the athletes their thoughts in regards to their success rate accomplishing their daily goals.

 

Challenge: INFJ’s have vivid imaginations, which they use to, pre-set their ideal perfect conditions and solutions. Lawyers call this “speculation.” When reality doesn’t conform to their pre-set version, their imagined perfection is lost, and their will to fight is shattered.

Solution: Ask them a philosophical question: “Is this world perfect? Their obvious answer is no.” Then offer: “If God couldn’t make a perfect world …why do you think you should be perfect?” The competitive game of tennis is messy and imperfect. It’s best to encourage your athletes to shoot for near excellent performances on a consistent basis instead of perfection and let go of their pre-match speculations.

 

Challenge: INFJ tennis players are feelers who can be overly sensitive to criticism. When coaches challenge their logical decision-making, they’re likely to get an aggressive comeback. Rigid IJ’s actively dislike being proven wrong. After a high percentage shot selection tip from the coach, they’ll likely seek the exception to the rule and throw out a “Yeah but …” response.

Solution: Explain winning percentages on the tennis court is merely 2 out of 3. Winning 66% of the points is excellent. No one should be expected to win 100% of the points in any given situation. Also, teaching pros should gently remind athletes that exceptions follow every rule in life. In high-percentage tennis, seek to follow the rules approximately eighty percent of the time, while seeking the exception to the rule approximately twenty percent of the time.

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Coaching Brain Type Performance- Part 6

Posted on June 17, 2021 by in The Soft Science of Tennis

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis.

Click Here to Order through Amazon

Soft Science of Tennis_3D_Cover_version5

 

ENFP: Extrovert Intuitive Feeler Perceiver

 

Challenge: ENFP’s are creative, outside-the-box thinkers. For them, stepping outside of their comfort zone is easy. Instead of rigidly adhering to mundane rules and regulations, ENFP’s simply work around them.

Solution: Avoid micromanaging this type. A trick to coaching the ENFP is to keep drills fresh. Rallying to 100 is not only non-practical but will bore them to tears. Instead, customize 2-3 ball patterns based on the athlete’s offense, neutral and defensive situations. Challenge them to stay focused until they complete the exercise 10 times. Add negative scoring (deduct one from their score for each error) to improve their focus ability and their emotional component along with their hardware.

 

Challenge: The downfall of being extroverted is that ENFP’s are often in high demand. They repeatedly have trouble saying no when friends, family, acquaintances or even strangers ask for their help. Their empathetic nature is their blessing and their curse. This occasionally overwhelms the EF type, and they need to shut down and IT (Introvert/Think) for a bit.

Solution: Coaches should be on the lookout for signs of extrovert burnout. Symptoms include a noticeable shift in character. Such as when their natural optimism is turning pessimistic or when this popular, friendly type begins to act less approachable, sharp-tongued, and uncaring. At this time, motivate them to take some time off to recharge their batteries.

 

Challenge: ENFP’s are social and energetic tennis players. Their EF traits make them infectious partners and tennis teammates. They are natural investigators and explorers who get quickly bored with routine. Multitasking, communication, and people skills are their strong suit, but their problem solving and focus skills on-court may need your attention.

Solution: ENFP’s are future-minded, big-picture athletes. On-court they can struggle with keeping their mind focused “In the game.” Disinterested with the past and even the present, these types have to be reminded to stay focused on this stroke, this tactical play, and only this point. Coaches would be wise to develop their match closure skills.

 

Challenge: ENFP’s prefer to rely on their intuition and flow subconsciously through competition. Coaches can spot the moment when these NFP types stop playing in the moment and begin to think about the outcome. Examples include: “Man, I’m up 4-1 versus the top seed. I can win this…then boom!” They just traded in their intuitive, performance state of mind for a sensate overwhelming outcome mindset. Or “I’m down 2-5, I’m gonna lose anyway so I might as well relax and go for my shots…Boom!” They win three straight games to 5-5 only to flip the switch back to over-thinking about the outcome and drop the set 5-7.

Solution: Designing their strategic script of customized top patterns and ingrain them through pattern repetition, dress rehearsal, and practice match play. Teaching an ENFP to close out points, games, sets, and matches while staying on script is the key to developing their competitive focus.

 

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Coaching Brain Type Performance- Part 5

Posted on June 14, 2021 by in The Soft Science of Tennis

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis.

Click Here to Order through Amazon

Frank Giampaolo

CHAPTER 9: Assisting the 4 NF Typographies

INFP, ENFP, INFJ, ENFJ

 

INFP: Introvert Intuitive Feeler Perceiver

 

Challenge: INFP’s aren’t wired to enjoy analyzing match data. Their P brain design makes them “big picture” athletes versus “students of the game” who enjoy number crunching and quantifying data.

Solution: Trade in detailed date match charts like the typical errors to winners chart and replace it with a court positioning chart. The court positioning chart provides the big picture INFP’s can sink their teeth into and understand. Chart points won/lost when playing behind the court versus points won/lost when played inside the court.

 

Challenge: INFP’s are athletes who are often a bit overly sensitive to criticism. Detailed lists of “Here’s what you’re doing wrong…” stress out this profile more than most.

Solution: Apply authenticity while offering up their strengths versus weaknesses. They see tennis as an expressive game. If they feel their creativity stifled, they shut down, and effort is lost. Feelers are sensitive. Apply extra doses of optimism to their training regimen.

 

Challenge: This rare brain design is warm and kind but at the same time challenging to satisfy. After matches, they are typically their own toughest critics. These students try desperately to please friends, teammates, parents, and coaches which often leaves them drained.

Solution: Motivate the INFP to shoot for daily excellence in their training and match play versus perfection. Athletes in need of perfection in order to be happy suffer foolishly. Assist them in organizing their weekly developmental plan and making themselves the priority during those times.

 

Challenge: These friendly, quiet introverts don’t have the natural spatial design to take in large doses of auditory information. Like a few other cerebral designs, talking at them isn’t in the parent, coach, or student’s best interest.

Solution: Getting into their work requires identifying their preferred learning system. INFP’s are visual learners that prefer to imitate a coach’s actions. When working with this type, demonstrate the skill you are seeking, and they will effortlessly copy the movements. Encourage them to attend college or professional tennis matches and visualize themselves performing in that environment.

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Coaching Brain Type Performance- Part 4

Posted on June 11, 2021 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis.

Click Here to Order through Amazon

MOSESIMG_3885

ESFP: Extrovert Sensate Feeler Perceiver

 

Challenge: ESFP’s are performers at heart. They’d often prefer to daydream about the big moment versus relentlessly preparing for it.

Solution: Accountability is vital. Assist them in customizing their detailed developmental blueprint within their weekly planners. They’re more likely to accept the rules if they view the rules as their rules instead of a parent or coach’s demands.

 

Challenge: ESFP athletes typically learn best by doing (kinesthetic) versus listening (Auditory). Sitting still and listening to a coach or parent’s theories for extended periods is a waste of time for this type.

Solution: Offer short 1- minute sound bites and snippets of pertinent information throughout their hitting sessions. The kiss of death for this cerebral design is the coach that talks at the student for 45- minutes of their 1- hour lesson.

 

Challenge: ESFP’s are optimistic, friendly athletes but can turn negative in a passive resistant manner when they begin to feel unstimulated, especially in group lessons.

Solution: Look for nonverbal clues such as their wandering eyes and mind. Detecting that you have lost their attention is the first step in regaining their attention. Add customized, personal challenges to these types to keep them zeroed into the task at hand.

 

Challenge: EF’s are often easy marks for opponent’s who apply gamesmanship. Their genetic need for peace and harmony can complicate the drama found as the opponent employs their “creative line calls.”

Solution: Preset step by step solutions to handling gamesmanship. Discuss why cheaters cheat and why it’s often a successful tactic at the beginner and intermediate levels but not as athletes mature and soft skill sets are developed- such as perseverance, resiliency, or conquering performance anxieties. Explain the neuroscience of channel capacity. (The human brain cannot solve two complicated tasks simultaneously). By pulling the ESFP into the drama “channel,” this type unknowingly aborts the all-important performance goals “channel.” The result is a significant drop in performance level.

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Coaching Brain Type Performance- Part 3

Posted on June 7, 2021 by in The Soft Science of Tennis

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis.

Click Here to Order through Amazon

Soft Science of Tennis_3D_Cover_version5

ISFP: Introvert Sensate Feeler Perceiver

 

Challenge: ISFP athletes tend to have their own agendas and schedules. They “beat to their own drum.” The structure and rules of others are often difficult for them to follow.

Solution: When too many demands and obligations fall upon them, these introverted individuals need alone time to recharge their batteries. Their SF function makes them want to do everything correctly to make others proud. Provide information and instruction at a rate that is comfortable for them to digest so that they can better assimilate. Excessive details tend to bog down ISFP’s.

 

Challenge: Pay particular attention to the amount of criticism offered to the ISFP. Lack of appreciation is a sure fire way for them to pull away from the sport.

Solution: Apply the five-compliments to one-criticism approach when working with this cerebral design. Use video analysis to point out their incredible strengths and improvements instead of only their weaknesses and failures. Instead of offering advice in the heat of the moment, offer to be available to chat when they’re ready to talk through their feelings.

 

Challenge: Under stress, this type can become excessively critical of themselves and others trying to assist them. These athletes tend to be harsh as they obsess over their mistakes and imagined problems.

 

Solution: Validate that you understand their feelings but reassure them that feelings are simply emotions and emotions are often speculations, not absolute facts. Have some fun as you remind them that their catastrophic thoughts are just thoughts and often not reality.

 

Challenge: Due to their FP design, these individuals are likely to mentally drift into future thoughts after a lead is established. These outcome thoughts include: “what’s my ranking going to be?”, “Who do I play next?”, “What are my friends going to say when I beat this top seed?”

Solution: Assist the ISFP’s in remaining on script, within their performance state of mind after they’ve built a lead. Drifting into outcome-oriented scenarios while still in the match is a receipt for disaster.

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Coaching Brain Type Performance- Part 2

Posted on June 5, 2021 by in The Soft Science of Tennis

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis.

Click Here to Order through Amazon

Soft Science of Tennis_3D_Cover_version5

 

ISTP- Introvert Sensate Thinker Perceivers

 

Challenge: ISTP’s are bold, courageous competitors-fighting until the bitter end. Often young ISTP’s believe they have little use for boring fundamentals. “Open the can… serve’em up” is their battle cry.

Solution: Make fundamental stroke building into a competitive game, not a chore. Mundane, repetitive drills bore them to tears. Add negative scoring to each basic drill to keep the competitor interested. Rallying for hours on end is a surefire way to lose this great athlete to another sport.

 

Challenge: On the stress-free practice court, ISTP’s will digest detail. They’re not content with simple instructions on how to hit a ball; ISTP’s want to know where, when, and why.  But, in live-ball sparing scenarios, this type dials in their competitive focus and doesn’t want a ton of instruction.

Solution: In private tennis lessons, explain who, what, where, why, when. This information ties into their sensing typography. In live ball sessions, allow them time to process themselves. Instead of talking, shadow swing the stroke or pattern so they can visualize and perceive the proper sequence.

 

Challenge: ISTP’s aren’t initially comfortable with coaches or teammates with opposing brain designs. Due to their thinking design, they can be sensitive to their feelings yet cold and impersonal when it comes to the feelings of others. Accepting other’s points of view can be difficult.

Solution: Educate emotional intelligence along with logic. Remind ISTP’s that their cerebral design is merely one of the 16 different personality profile categories and each profile has varying preferred learning processes. Reinforce the fact that everyone is not wired like them and it is possible they aren’t always right.

 

Challenge: The ISTP’s distinctive patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving have made them favorites in the field of sports psychology type based assessments. While high-performance ISTP athletes prosper in the hardware department, they often languish in the development of their software.

Solution: Early in their development, put forth great effort into building their life skills, especially relationship skills. ISTP’s often struggle with finding the right words to nurture their alliances optimistically. Out-going people often aggravate strong ISTP’s. They may find an extroverted, feeler coach or teammate suffocating so they prefer to reject the much-needed affiliation.

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