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Preparing for Pressure

Posted on March 4, 2019 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential, Preparing for Pressure

Preparing athletes for pressure is a form of preventative medicine. I will soon be releasing Preparing for Pressure. This book came to light organically. It began as a Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) Tennis Pro Magazine instructional article and quickly ballooned into a full-blown book.

The purpose of Preparing for Pressure is to provide solutions to assist those athletes that are able to thrive on the practice court only to wilt under game-day pressure. Many athletes have the will to compete but they often fail to find the will to prepare.  I’ve found that performing well under pressure begins with preparing the athlete’s software for the heaviness of competition.

The US Navy Seal’s motto best describes insight into the solution to performing under pressure:

“We don’t rise to the occasion…we sink to the level of our training.”

The often debilitating scenario athlete’s face during competition is remedied with deliberate mental and emotional training. Very few athletes are born competitive tennis experts. Performing their best when they need it the most is nurtured.

What is Competitive Pressure?

“Competitive pressure is the lousy partner of great opportunity.”

Pressure is created in the minds of our athletes and/or their sphere of influence. Managing pressure starts by spotting the cause. In amateur sports, the pressure is either self-imposed or nurtured by unaware parents or coaches. Pressure manifests when we imagine what might happen if we don’t achieve the outcome we desire or what others expect.

The following scenario depicts an athlete failing to train in the manner he is expected to perform.

Brian’s frustration begins like clockwork each tournament match. This solid athlete can’t understand why he’s not able to duplicate his practice level in tournament competition. Friday on the practice court, Brian grooves his fundamental groundstrokes for hours.

Essentially playing “catch” back and forth. In this setting, Brian thinks: “Tennis is easy! Forget juniors…Man, I’m going pro!”

Fast forward to Saturday morning. Brian’s internal and external stressors ramp up because the practice court environment of catch is nowhere to be found. The friendly face on the other side of the net is now replaced by an intimidating, confrontational warrior whose hell bent on torturing poor Brian.

Come game day, that cozy, cooperative game of “catch” turns into a violent struggle of “keep away”. Brian would be wise to practice in the manner he’s truly expected to perform.

Preparing for pressure # 1 rule: Practice in the manner you’re expected to perform

What Causes Pressure in Competition?

 
“Performance anxiety is the habit of worrying.”

Pressure begins with the arrival of the athlete’s inner critic. That little “Devil on their shoulder” appears like clockwork when the match doesn’t go as planned.

Some athletes stress about every minute detail while others confront setbacks in warrior mode. Because no two athletes are exactly alike, preparing for pressure begins with an assessment of the athlete’s and their entourage’s stress level as it pertains to the reality of tournament competition.

Competitive Pressure Triggers Include:
  • The Games Scoring System
  • The Opponents Style Of Tactical Play
  • Gamesmanship
  • The Draw/Seeding
  • Spectators
  • The Environment/Conditions
  • The Court Surface
  • Current Fitness/Energy Levels
  • Untrustworthy Strokes
  • Outcome Anxieties
I’ve found that taking an inventory and talking through their tennis stressors is a great start to overcoming issues and developing confident solutions.

Every athlete feels pressure; it is how they’ve been nurtured to deal with it that counts.

Preparing athletes for pressure is a form of preventative medicine. It inoculates athletes with solutions for common performance anxieties. The solutions vaccinate the athlete, coaches, and parents against the onslaught of emotional toxins found in competition.
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The Formula for Achieving Results- Part 2

Posted on February 28, 2019 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential

The following post is an excerpt from the Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible NOW available through most online retailers!  Click Here to Order

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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 is 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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Preparing for Pressure Master Class Indian Wells

Posted on February 27, 2019 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

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The Formula for Achieving Results- Part 1

Posted on February 24, 2019 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential, 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 NOW available through most online retailers!  Click Here to Order

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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 an 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.”

 

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.

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Congratulations Frank!

Posted on February 21, 2019 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential

CONGRATULATIONS to Frank Giampaolo

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2019 PTR International Newcomer Tennis Professional of the Year!

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Listening to Your Player

Posted on February 19, 2019 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential, 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 NOW available through most online retailers!  Click Here to Order

(The following re-post is a top requested post!)

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LISTENING

“Listening is the missing link of communication.”

 

The ability to listen is yet another crucial tennis parental skill.  It’s in the best interest of the tennis parent to create a positive, supportive and communicative environment to maintain healthy parent/child/coach relationships. To illustrate this point, I have included a letter that was written by a teenage girl to her father.

 

Dear Dad,

What I’m about to say is hard for me. So hard I can’t seem to look you in the eyes and say what I want to say. I guess I’m afraid.

Maybe it’s best this way. Maybe you’ll listen with your eyes since you haven’t been hearing me. Maybe you just want to see what you want to see. That’s the champion you’ve been forcing me to be.

Dad, are you listening?

I know you want what’s best for me. I know you believe all the messages you’re sending will make me a better player. Dad, communication isn’t just sending messages, it’s also receiving them.

Dad, are you listening?

Look at my face, there is no joy. I’m angry all the time. I still continue to play week after week, tournament after tournament. I’m sad. No I’m miserable. Why can’t you see that? Do you notice any of this? I utter how I hate competing. I protest every single practice and yet you push me to try harder. You demand, “Be tougher Sasha, you have to aim to be perfect!” Well Dad, I’m not perfect. I just want to be normal.

Dad, are you listening?

I’m depressed and confused and feel that this life is your life, not mine! I love you. I don’t want to hurt you. I’m sorry. Please forgive me but I don’t think I want to play tennis anymore.

Dad, are you listening?

Love, Sasha

 

Receiving this letter was a major blow to Sasha’s father Stan. Because Sasha and Stan were my clients, Stan immediately came to me with his drama.  He wanted to know if he should just back off? He couldn’t believe she wanted to quit after all her success and the time she had invested in the sport.

Would gently pushing your child through a difficult stage in their career/development be the right thing to do? You bet! There isn’t a single champion who didn’t have a parent or paid authority figure pushing them past their comfort zone or carrying them when they couldn’t go on.

I asked Stan to ask Sasha this question, “Would it be alright to take a one-month sabbatical?” Then, take her rackets away and hide them. Don’t even mention the word tennis to her. If she never again brings up the subject, then she is done. That means you have a normal, healthy child. Go on vacations, enjoy weekends and appreciate your family.

If the game begins to pull her back, then she’ll be engaged for all the right reasons. It’s about choices. Giving her some time to see for herself that being an average teen, playing video games, texting nonsense to her friends and hanging out at the same mall every weekend isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. She needs to see for herself that the grass isn’t always greener. She’s a great kid. She’s smart. Trust me, just let this play out.

 

By the tenth night of Sasha’s sabbatical, she was bored to tears. She came into her parent’s room and asked if they can hit a few balls tomorrow -with a new sense of purpose. Sasha went on a tear. She won two national titles in the following months.

 

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Developing A Family Philosophy Toward Tennis

Posted on February 16, 2019 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 NOW available through most online retailers!  Click Here to Order

IMG_080_R_WHITEDEVELOPING A FAMILY PHILOSOPHY

At the competitive level, being a tennis parent is one of the most incredibly rewarding, yet most challenging adventures you will ever undertake. Tennis parents with a clear understanding of their own family’s unique “life philosophy” are more likely to avoid drama, stress, and misunderstandings.

Asking your child to be emotionally stable under adverse conditions, if you, the parent cannot control your own anxiety, destroys the positive messages you are trying to deliver. Tennis builds character on a daily basis. I encourage you, the parents, to reinforce the same positive character traits developed through sports. This is critical in solidifying these powerful life lessons.

 

“The family’s philosophy is their basic beliefs, attitudes, and moral compass.”

 

Let’s look at a former client and take a peek into his family philosophy.

 

Medviv Terknova’s daughter, Anna was a student of mine for a short while. My coaching and life philosophy didn’t quite gel with Medviv’s family philosophy.

Medviv Terknova came from Novosibirsk City, Siberia with his 10-year-old little girl. He heard about a Russian girl named Maria Sharapova and had been following her endorsement contracts. In 2009, it rose above the $200 million dollar mark.

Medviv’s philosophy was simple. He’ll do anything to provide for his daughter Anna. Medviv left his wife Anka and two children, Provic and Zoron back in Siberia in their 800 square foot apartment. He hadn’t seen them in over a year.

Medviv changed his daughter Anna’s birth date from October 1998 to 2000 on her passport because he wanted to give her an edge in the U.S. tournament rankings. Medviv stood 5 ‘6’’ and wanted his daughter to be taller. So he had his daughter injected with experimental growth hormones to ensure that she reach a competitive height.

Medviv washed dishes and performed menial labor at his daughter’s academy in exchange for tuition. Medviv was a dictator-style parent and could be heard at every practice session screaming advice through the chain link fence. In Anna’s matches, Medviv would often applaud the opponent’s errors and quietly smirk as Anna cheated at the right times. His philosophy is that “nothing will stand in my way.”

 

Is this family philosophy right for you? I hope not!

It may be tempting for some to employ unethical tactics at the lower levels of competition to gain an advantage, but those tactics are unavailable at the higher levels. National finals, collegiate finals and/or most main draw Pro Tour events have linesman and umpires.

 

“Cheating only creates a false sense of security.”

 

Those who have relied on manipulating, cheating and gamesmanship as their primary weapons in junior tennis match play lack the essential self-confidence needed at higher level tennis. Developing your own philosophy will help you, your spouse and children to avoid unnecessary pressures. Having pre-set guidelines will assist you in the development of your child’s personal philosophy. It will also aid you in acquiring the right coaches through the different stages of your child’s development. (To learn more about gamesmanship see: Section IV Common Questions and Solutions: Competitive Dramas.)

 

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Personality Profiling: Mental and Physical Predispositions – Part 3

Posted on February 13, 2019 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 NOW available through most online retailers!  Click Here to Order

 

Body Typing

Now that we have introduced you to brain typing, let me review how body types affect motor skills and athletic potential.

The two opposing body types are called fine motor skilled dominant and gross motor skilled dominant. Individuals have a genetic predisposition to have a motor skill preference. Motor skills are signals sent from the brain through the nervous system into the different muscle groups.

Fine motor skilled athletes excel from the muscles found from the elbows through the hands and fingers. A common compliment given to a fine motor skilled athlete is, “They’ve got good hands.”

Gross motor skilled athletes prefer the use of the larger muscle groups found in the torso, legs, and feet. Gross motor skilled athletes are known for their superior core balance and elegant body coordination.

Raising athletic royalty requires matching the demands of your child’s sport, style of play and/or position with your child’s preferred brain type and body type design.

Here is an example of motor skill dominance in American football: a wide receiver’s primary job description is to catch the ball. It may prove beneficial if that particular athlete playing that particular position be fine motored skilled dominant (Good hands). However, the field goal kicker in the very same sport, on the very same football team has a very different job description. His primary job is to simply kick the ball. In this athlete’s role, it may prove beneficial that his genetic predisposition be gross motor skills dominant (core and leg drive). While it is essential to develop a well-rounded competitor, it’s important to note that all athletes possess a dominant body type which will naturally excels in the ideal environment position and/or sport.

 

“Raising a champion requires the development of a well-rounded athlete. For example, if your child is fine motor skilled dominate, plan on spending
more time and energy developing their
gross motor skills or vice versa.”

 

Knowing your child’s genetic makeup is critical. It helps to avoid the needless frustrations found in athletic development and in life. Being aware of your athlete’s natural strengths and weaknesses will better prepare you to assist your child and their coaches in their sport, style of play and/or position that they would most naturally excel.

The above section is courtesy of my book: Raising Athletic Royalty. If this topic is of interest to you I recommend Googling: Braintypes.com

 

Jon Niednagel coined the term “Brain Type” and holds the registered trademark.  Jon’s brain typing system (The Brain Type Institute) was developed by applying a combination of sciences to estimate athletic ability. Though his work stemmed from the teaching of psychiatrist Carl Jung and the later work of Katharine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers, his innovative approach may become the most accurate science of human understanding on earth.

 

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Personality Profiling: Mental and Physical Predispositions – Part 2

Posted on February 11, 2019 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 NOW available through most online retailers!  Click Here to Order

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Introvert versus Extrovert

Introverts (I) are comfortable lying back then retaliating. They need alone time to recharge their batteries and they prefer to be inside their inner world. Extroverts (E) make things happen as they prefer to initiate action. They gain their energy by bringing people together.

Sensate versus Intuitive

Sensates (S) prefer to collect data and facts before making their decisions. Facts trump opinions. Intuitives (N) trust their gut instincts and are better quick decision makers with 2 seconds left on the clock. They like to “do” first, analyze second.

Thinker versus Feeler

Thinkers (T) make decisions through objective logic and impersonalize the situation. They enjoy the technical components and choose truthful over tactful. Feelers (F) are in tune to the emotional climate of the event and others actions. Harmony is paramount and they are affected when it is missing.

Judger versus Perceiver

Judgers (J) prefer structure. They like things settled, orderly and precise. They like to make lists to organize their thoughts and prefer to work before play. Perceivers (P) are adaptable and flexible. Their thoughts are often found in the future and they enjoy experiencing new ideas and methods versus organizing and agonizing over every boring detail.

Now, write down your four-letter acronym. For example, if you believe you’re an extrovert, intuitive, feeler, perceiver, then you are an ENFP. Next, Google ‘personality profile ENFP’ and explore to confirm your assumption.  After getting acquainted with the basic personality identification procedure, it is time to brain type your young athlete.

A word of caution: Often certain young people will misdiagnose their own true personality profile as they swap out their true genetic predisposition for what they believe to be a more popular choice.

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Personality Profiling: Mental and Physical Predispositions- Part 1

Posted on February 8, 2019 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 NOW available through most online retailers!  Click Here to Order

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Personality Profiling: Mental and Physical Predispositions

 

What if I told you that you think you know your athlete, but you don’t?

What if I shared a tool to assist you in understanding why your son, daughter or student acts the way they do? What if I explained why different personalities are better suited for different sports, styles and/or positions? What if I said, to accelerate growth, it is essential that you get into your child’s world instead of forcing them into your world? What if I explained how motivating within their genetic guidelines will maximize their potential at a much quicker rate?

The old school teaching/coaching methodology demands the student get into the coach and/or parent’s training philosophy with total disregard to the student’s unique brain and body design. (Remember our friend Jose in the previous section?) More often than not, this archaic approach produces average athletes at best. At its worst, it quickly causes gifted athletes to leave the game.

Let’s begin by recognizing and respecting your child’s inborn characteristics.

Personality Profiling

Because the most universal personality type indicator is the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), I chose to use it to help you understand athletic/personality profiling. It must be noted that although profiling brain and body types is not a hard science and I am not a neuroscientist or clinical psychologist, I am qualified to maximize athletic potential.

Also worth noting, the founders of the MBTI, Katherine Briggs, and Isabel Myers, were not licensed, psychologists. They were students passionate about the findings of Carl Jung, the “father” of analytical psychology, and nurtured their love for their chosen field as they designed the now famous MBTI questionnaire.

The MBTI is grouped into four categories with 16 different possible configurations of personality profiles. The four categories list opposing brain types. Each person is assigned a four-letter acronym to best describe their primary tendencies. While each of us exhibits multiple sides of our personality, we possess a genetically dominant trait. For example, we all exhibit extraversion and introversion to some degree, but most of us tend to have an overall preference for one over the other.

Listed below are the four MBTI categories with their opposing personality profiles. To help identify your athlete’s personality profile, it may be in your best interest to first categorize yourself. Simply read through the four groupings listed below and choose your dominant brain function.

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