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Managing Thoughts and Emotions – Part 3

Posted on June 26, 2018 by in Emotional Aptitude in Sports

The following post is an excerpt from Emotional Aptitude In Sports NOW available through most online retailers!  Click Here to Orderea-in-sports4a_final

In the heat of battle, it is important to recognize the cognitive difference between productive solutions based thoughts and the noise of unwanted contaminants.

 

When emotions are negatively controlling performance, the solution is finding a calm state of mind by applying a pre-set protocol specific to each athlete. This requires some thought. Quieting the mind and getting to a place of emotional stillness is emotional aptitude.

 

SOLUTION: Recognizing the Arousal State

A tip for athletes is to begin to acknowledge their arousal state. Be mindful. Why? Because without your knowledge … those emotions could be sabotaging your peak performance.

If most intermediate athletes could read their own minds during play, they’d be traumatized by what they find.  Without getting too “text book like,” an athlete’s state of mind is critical to control. The state of arousal can affect performance both positively and negatively. Of course, there’s a broad spectrum of negative stimuli called arousal. They range from low stimuli (under arousal) to high stimuli (over arousal). Low stimuli leads to a wandering mind and boredom. Such as thinking about the future- “Where’s the trophy going in my room?” High stimuli leads to panicking and fear without any proactive strategic thoughts. Such as hyper breathing, and going for more than the moment demands.

 

Be aware of your state of mind because it greatly impacts your performance.

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The Soft Science of Tennis Industry Testimonials

Posted on June 25, 2018 by in Emotional Aptitude in Sports

THE SOFT SCIENCE OF TENNIS Available July 7, 2018!

CLICK HERE to Pre-order on Amazon.

 

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“Frank Giampaolo has a rich understanding of what it takes to be a successful tennis player.  With passion and nuance, this book provides a great many insights — especially in such more mysterious realms as emotion and character.  There’s a lot to be learned here.”

Joel Drucker, Writer for Tennis Channel and Historian-at-large for the International Tennis Hall of Fame

 

“Under pressure, we’d like to think that our athletes will rise to the occasion…they don’t. They sink to the level of their physical, mental and emotional training. The Soft Science of Tennis delves deeper than strokes and uncovers how to get the most out of each individual.”

Dr. Mark Kovacs, Atlanta Georgia, Executive Director, International Tennis Performance Association (itpa-Tennis.org) CEO, Kovacs Institute (Kovacs institute.com)

 

“From my personal ATP experience, I can honestly say I struggled with the ‘software’ part most of my tennis career. Back then there was very little information on how to develop the ‘mental or emotional muscles.’ Frank has been doing this successfully for the past decade. I 1000% believe that the ‘software’ (mental & emotional) part of tennis is as important to build as the hardware (strokes & athleticism). I highly recommend Frank’s latest book: The Soft Science of Tennis. It’s an outstanding contribution to the game. If I had Frank coaching me…I would have won way more titles on tour.”

Johan Kriek, West Palm Beach, Florida. Former Top 5 ATP, 2- Time Grand Slam Champion, owner, Johan Kriek Tennis Academy

 

“Frank Giampaolo has nailed it again in The Soft Science of Tennis. This time he has led us to see the absolutely critical importance of connecting with our students by understanding their personality profile, cognitive design and learning styles. All great teaching begins with the tools he provides. Thanks to Frank for giving them to us in this outstanding book.”

Tim Mayotte, Boston, Massachusetts, Former Top 7 ATP, NCAA Singles Champion, USTA National Coach

 

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Managing Thoughts and Emotions -Part 2

Posted on June 23, 2018 by in Emotional Aptitude in Sports

The following post is an excerpt from Emotional Aptitude In Sports NOW available through most online retailers!  Click Here to Order

 

Professional Versus Amateur Game Day Emotional Aptitudeea-in-sports4a_final

After games, famous athletes are always asked for selfies by their adoring fans. An athlete who just won and had a terrific performance may say, “Sure! I’d be happy to!” He’s excited, cheerful and still fired up from the victory, so he smiles for the cell phone cameras and jokes with his fans. Just a few days later, that very same athlete suffers a devastating loss in which he severely under performed. After the game he yells to his fans, “NO PICTURES!” as he departs. He’s still frustrated and annoyed about the loss.

The change was the athlete’s emotional response to those performances and outcomes. Interestingly, the professional athlete controlled his emotions during both performances. It was only after the competition that he showed his emotional cards. Unfortunately, intermediate athletes let the wide range of emotions control their decisions and actions during competition.

Throughout competition, it’s not unusual to witness an intermediate athlete flow through being pleasant, to unhappy, to worried, to silly, to satisfied, to heartbroken, to defensive, to insecure, to apologetic, to fired up, to dejected, to furious, to panicky, to sorrowful, back to cheerful and pleasant. The optimal peak performance state of mind is lost in the athlete’s juggling of emotional aptitude.

 

Emotional control is just as important
as ball control in sports.

 

SOLUTION: Managing Emotions

Athletes have to practice not allowing their emotions to control their decisions and actions. Emotions distract an athlete from their competitive job description. Misplaced emotions can “kidnap” an athlete and although their bodies are still in the moment of the game, their head and heart is not … The first step toward controlling emotions is to be aware of one’s current emotional state. In athletics, they range from tranquil and calm to frustrated and angry. The intensity of these emotions will surely control the performer, if the performer doesn’t identify and control the emotions. Most often, when an athlete’s emotions run the show… their performance suffers.

It’s important for an athlete to give themselves permission to feel the negative emotions. This implies allowing cognitive and emotional flexibility. It’s normal for extreme level athletes to feel extreme emotions. The difference is not allowing negative emotions to steer the athlete into a downward spiral of poor performance.

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Managing Thoughts and Emotions

Posted on June 21, 2018 by in Emotional Aptitude in Sports

The following post is an excerpt from Emotional Aptitude In Sports NOW available through most online retailers!  Click Here to Order

Managing Thoughts and Emotions ea-in-sports4a_final

 

Let’s take a deep look into how our emotional aptitude shapes how we prioritize and structure our training as well as our performances. Here is a true story of how poor emotional aptitude destroys logic.

Pre-Game Personal Sabotage

My student, Julia, is a highly intelligent Ivy League tennis star. She was set to warm up and spar a set with a higher ranked rival at the finals of the ITA Summer Circuit.

As we arrived at the tournament site, Julia asked me to stay in the car instead of doing what I was being paid to do, which was to be on-court coaching. Julia was worried that she’d look “uncool” having her coach with her, since her drilling partner was coming alone. Already, I saw that Julia’s poor emotional aptitude was destroying a real learning opportunity.

So not to add further stress, I simply reminded her to warm up quickly and get right into playing a set. After all, the practice session was scheduled to play sets and not to practice stroke production. (Julia and I had already drilled for a few hours in the morning.)

Julia’s game is built around attacking the net and shortening the points, so I wanted her to rehearse her winning style of play. They hit the court for their one hour time slot and quickly got right into a back court rallying groove. Five minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 35 minutes of simply playing catch, back and forth. (Remember- competitive tennis is a game of keep away … not catch!) Now 45 minutes into their one hour session they then began to take warm up serves, and then played one 7point tie-breaker and walked off the court.

As Julia got back into the car, I questioned her: What happened? You knew you were supposed to practice in the manner you are expected to perform, not just rally back and forth.

Julia replied: “That’s what she does in college, it’s normal for her, that’s her game. She likes to stay back and groove, so I did what she wanted instead.” I of course replied, but that is not your game. Practice matches and sparing should be used to practice and reinforce your strengths to increase your game day confidence.

 

Because of poor emotional aptitude, Julia wasted the session warming up the system that she’s not even going to be applying in her upcoming matches. Now fast forward to the next morning. Julia lost a close match missing several approach shots and key volleys. Why? Julia’s fear of confrontation over-rides her improvement and performance needs. Due to her poor emotional management, Julia chose to train without her hired coach to please her practice partner, instead of improving and building her own skills.

 

Emotional Aptitude impacts everything… It’s more important than you think …

 

In high performance sports, our thoughts, decisions and actions are first subjected to the athlete’s emotions. Each athlete’s “head space” influences a variety of opposing decisions based on feelings, not intelligence.

 

 

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The Soft Science of Tennis Industry Testimonials

Posted on June 18, 2018 by in The Soft Science of Tennis

Soon to be released- THE SOFT SCIENCE OF TENNIS. CLICK HERE to pre-order on Amazon.

 

TESTIMONIALS FROM THE INTERNATIONAL TENNIS INDUSTRY

SOFT SCIENCE COVER2 COPY

“At crunch time, the athlete’s inner dialog (self-coaching) makes all the difference. The Soft Science of Tennis explains how to override negative past belief systems and how to eliminate judgment in competition. This book of wisdom should be on every coaches and parents bedside.”

Stevie Johnson, Manhattan Beach, California, #21 ATP Professional, Olympian, Most decorated NCAA player of all time

 

“Brilliantly captivating and insightful. Frank Giampaolo is truly a ‘Teacher’s Teacher’ – of all of his many incredible publications, The Soft Science of Tennis is one of his best, and will surely move the tennis Teaching Industry forward. Athletes will be celebrating greater degrees of happiness and confidence knowing that their trusted coaches truly understand their genetic design.”

Dick Gould, Palo Alto, California, Emeritus, Men’s Tennis Coach, Director of Tennis, Stanford University Winner of 17 NCAA Men’s Championships

 

“The Soft Science of Tennis specializes in interpreting human behavior within the development of competitive athletes. I highly recommend it to parents and coaches.”

Peter Smith, Long Beach, California, USC Men’s Tennis Coach, A five-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year and Two-Time ITA National Coach of the Year, 5- Time NCAA National Champion

 

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Responsibility and Accountability Part 3

Posted on June 15, 2018 by in Emotional Aptitude in Sports

The following post is an excerpt from Emotional Aptitude In Sports NOW available through most online retailers!  Click Here to Order

 

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SOLUTION: Observing World Class Coaches

If you aren’t financially in a position to hire world-class coaches, contact them and explain your circumstance. Ask them if you can stop by, sit and quietly observe them working with their high-performance athletes. Also, keep in mind that most top coaches have websites, newsletters and YouTube clips available at no cost.

As I said before, emotional aptitude stems from proper training. It’s the athlete’s job to seek out the best possible resources and then customize their very own training regiments. Around the world, I see too many talented athletes wasting far too much time in stagnant group training sessions with peers who are giving minimal effort.

Responsibility and accountability are what transform a good athlete into a champion. Change occurs when an athlete chooses to bring maximum effort to their customized training regimen. Up your organizational skills and you’ll truly like the journey. More importantly, you’ll love the results!

 

Responsibility and Accountability Check List

For those “Do it yourself” types, the below checklist will assist you in maximizing athletic potential at a quicker rate.

 

  • Create Goals and Schedules

I recommend brainstorming and coming up with both short-term and long-term goals. With goals in mind, schedule daily, weekly and even yearly plans. Athletes who apply goals and schedules succeed because they know where they’re going.

  • Apply Consistent Smart Practice

To reinforce proper training, a deliberate customized developmental plan is critical. Training sessions should focus on what needs to be improved versus grooving what is comfortable. Specific goals need specific plans.

  • Hire a High I.Q. Teacher

Seek out the most qualified expert you can find who understands the emotional component. Athletes actually save time and money by hiring an expert. While the experienced teacher’s hourly rate may be higher, they’ll access your greatness ten times faster.

  • Utilize Video Analysis

It is important to understand that a large majority of competitive failures are a result of poor emotional aptitude, which is only brought to light through game day video replay. You have to learn why you lose before you can learn how to win.

  • Repetition of Protocols

Repetition of the same actions making it an automatic reflex. This may mean working on a specific physical, mental or emotional protocol for 30 minutes every day for a month. It’s not uncommon to have a two-year action plan while developing unnatural components.

  • Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect – Practice Makes Permanent

A common pitfall of intermediate athletes is grooving their flawed mechanics. This essentially is motor programing inefficient technique, which ultimately results in countless wasted hours of training with no improvement in sight.

  • Be Patient

Nurturing new skills require patience. Athletes should be reminded that it likely took years and years to develop their fundamental skill sets. Anything and everything that is new is often perceived as difficult before it becomes easy. Enjoy the process.

 

 

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Responsibility and Accountability Part 2

Posted on June 15, 2018 by in Emotional Aptitude in Sports

The following post is an excerpt from Emotional Aptitude In Sports NOW available through most online retailers!  Click Here to Order

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SOLUTION: Studying Successful Role Models

A terrific solution to becoming more responsible is to observe athletes who successfully perform at a higher level. This could be accomplished live or via YouTube. Emulate their work ethic, their demeanor, their schedule and their training methodology.

Intermediate athletes will quickly see that the winners approach their development very differently. Here are the criteria I see around the globe with high achievers:

  • They don’t rely exclusively on group training. Most often, elite athletes customize their developmental plan and schedule time to focus on their own priorities.
  • They care desperately and strive for weekly improvement.
  • They organize their schedule, developing every component needed to excel.
  • Top athletes hire an entourage of coaching experts to assist them throughout their journey. It is common for an elite athlete to have a team of technical/mechanical coaches, fitness gurus, mental/emotional experts, nutritionists, and physiotherapists, as well as a logistical manager.
  • Top athletes place their sport above their social calendar.

 

While recreational hobbyist may still want to maximize their potential at the quickest rate, they may not choose to invest so heavily in their chosen sport.

 

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CONTENTS of the Soft Science of Tennis

Posted on June 11, 2018 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential, The Soft Science of Tennis

THE SOFT SCIENCE OF TENNISSOFT SCIENCE COVER2 COPY

CONTENTS
Chapter 1: Creating an Exceptional Culture
Chapter 2:  Sharpening Healthier Communication
Chapter 3:  Effective Listening
Chapter 4:  Nonverbal Communication
Chapter 5:  Personality Based Training
Chapter 6:  Benefits of Personality Profiling
Chapter 7:  How the Brain Affects Performance
Chapter 8:  Assisting the 4 SP Typographies
Chapter 9:  Assisting the 4 NF Typographies
Chapter 10: Assisting the 4 NT Typographies
Chapter 11: Assisting the 4 SJ Typographies
Chapter 12: Physical Skills Versus Life Skills
Chapter 13: Why Character Building Matters
Chapter 14: Life Skills Maximize Athletic Development
Chapter 15: The Importance of Nurturing
Chapter 16: Overriding Negative Past Belief Systems
Chapter 17: Building Coachable Athletes
Chapter 18: Eliminating Internal Judgment
Chapter 19: Changing Fixed Mindsets
Chapter 20: Managing Fear and Risk
Chapter 21: Developing Confidence & Self Esteem
Conclusion

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Responsibility and Accountability

Posted on June 8, 2018 by in Emotional Aptitude in Sports

The following post is an excerpt from Emotional Aptitude In Sports NOW available through most online retailers!  Click Here to Order

 

 Responsibility and Accountabilityea-in-sports4a_final

 

 

In athletic competition, accountability is twofold.
It’s not only what we choose to do but what we choose not to do.

 

Coaching an athlete isn’t only about teaching the techniques of the sport. It also involves motivating athletes to drop their “conditions.”  These are their creative excuses for not training the way they should be training. It’s their escape mechanism. Competitors of all ages use the excuse of injury, time restraints or simple arrogance for not training properly. It’s their way of liberating themselves from responsibilities.

In our continuing observational study, I asked Evan and Jarrod about some of the creative excuses they’ve used for not training properly. Here’s what they came up with:

  • “I would go for my run today but it’s raining outside.”
  • “I would train but my friends are coming over tonight.”
  • “I can’t work out before school because there’s no time.”

Another common creative excuse is blaming others. Here’s what the twins have to say about the blame game:

  • “My teacher gave me too much homework this week and so I can’t train today.”
  • “It’s not my fault I can’t train, my trainer worked me too hard and now I’m injured.”
  • “I can’t play points again today after practice because I’m hanging out with my friends.”

 

SOLUTION #10: Stop Defending Old Bad Habits

When athletes stop avoiding the work and begin to rise to the occasion an emotional breakthrough takes place and confidence is born. Daily accountability separates the dreamers from the doors. I’ve found that some athletes have to be trained to stop defending their old comfortable bad habits. If they’re still defending them, they have no motivation to quit them. It takes honesty and courage to walk away from self-destructive, unproductive behavior. What is stopping most of us from incredible success is the unwillingness to drop the old, bad habits.

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Personality Based Training

Posted on June 6, 2018 by in The Soft Science of Tennis

The following post is an excerpt from The Soft Science of Tennis SOON to be released!

Personality Based Training

“Personality profiling assists coaches, athletes, and parents in understanding how individuals gather information and make decisions. It’s how we are wired. It’s what makes us tick.”

Personality Based Training (PBT) is a training method that focuses the attention on the athlete’s unique brain design as opposed to the educator. When applying PBT, tennis pros and parents welcome and respect the athlete’s unique preferred styles of learning, behaving and playing the game.  The athletes feel empowered because their views and needs are recognized. And once understood, students are more motivated and inspired to learn and improve. An inspired student is more likely to take the leadership role in achieving their goals.

“Athletes would benefit from understanding the advantages and disadvantages of their unique brain design. It’s why they are naturally good at some things and uncomfortable with others.”

It’s important to note that while I’ve studied sports psychology for the past 30 years, I am a veteran, “In the Trenches” practical application tennis coach, not an “Academia” psychologist. But neither were Katharine Briggs and her daughter Isabel Myers, authors of the famous Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI- A psychological questionnaire used to understand individuals mental preferences.) published in the United States in 1943. Together Myers-Briggs noticed that individuals have different temperaments and unique ways of seeing the world.

While some scientists say the MBTI doesn’t stand up to scientific reliability, I can say with all honesty that it has helped me coach over 100 National Champions and several Pro tour athletes. More importantly, personality profiling benefits my athletes and their entourage of parents, coaches, and trainers at a much deeper level. A study conducted by Psychology Today, reports that approximately 80% of Fortune 500 companies use various personality tests to hire future employees, to assess progress, and to maximize efficiency and harmony through team building events. The time has come to broaden the role of personality profiling into the athletic realm, as I have outlined in The Soft Science of Tennis. 

Getting to know the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
The MBTI is the most popular psychometric questionnaire designed to measure psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions. It is my intention to bring to light the usefulness of brain preference identification in the tennis industry. Each student has a preferred way of seeing the world. The basic MBTI theory categorizes preferences into four groups from which individuals identify their dominant cerebral preference.

The Typographies Include:

  • Extraversion (“E”)-  People/Places
  • Introversion (“I”)- Theories/ Information
  • Sensing (“S”)- Facts/Reality
  • Intuition (“N”) Possibilities/Potential
  • Thinking (“T”)- Logic/Truthfulness
  • Feeling (“F”)- Harmony/Relationships
  • Judgment (“J”)- Orderly/Structured
  • Perception (“P”)- Flexible/Adaptable

For each of the above pairings, your athletes typically have a preference for one system above the other. The combination of their four preferences gives them their initial assessment in a four-letter acronym. An example is personality profile: ISTP (Introvert Sensate Thinker Perceiver)

“View your athlete’s brain design (dominant and auxiliary) the same way you would view right handed versus left handed body type functions. Each athlete has an inborn preferred system.”

In my experience, personality profiling is a soft science, meaning other factors such as nurturing and environments skew the data. With that said, I believe that athletes have specific preferences in the way they experience the world and these choices affect their actions, values, and motivational needs on and off the tennis court.

 

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