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Intimidation and Athletics

Posted on October 3, 2015 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential

The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible is coming soon! The following post is an excerpt from  The Tennis Parent’s Bible.  Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo

 

Frank Giampaolo

Question: My daughter is easily intimidated out of competing. Is this fair?

Frank: Yes, intimidation is fair. At the higher levels, tennis is a game of intimidation. If your daughter has terrific strokes but is an inexperienced emotional competitor, it is your child’s coach’s responsibility to assist them in developing a “thick skin.”

Dealing with gamesmanship should be part of your child’s basic training. The first step in handling gamesmanship is devising customized solutions (protocols) for each form of gamesmanship.  The second step is rehearsing those solutions on the practice court to gain confidence in applying pre-set counter gamesmanship solutions in a real match.

To progress into the higher levels of the game, mental and emotional skill set development is crucial. Parents, if you’re not taking an active role in helping to develop these critical components in your child, please don’t blame your child when tournament after tournament they lose as a result of gamesmanship.

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
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Player/Parent Harmony

Posted on September 28, 2015 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential

The following post is an excerpt from Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible- coming soon!  Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo

Parent Player Harmony

 

“Extraordinarily successful athletes have parents that have mastered their managerial role.”

 

One of the most important duties of a parent is to instill harmony along the journey. Through a parent’s unconditional love and support, the ultimate outcome of the athletic journey should be to create a well-balanced, world class adult and family harmony.

 

Behaviors that Foster Parent-Player Harmony:

  • Leave notes under their pillow reminding them how proud you are of their efforts.
  • After a loss, give your child time and space.
  • On a daily basis, be effort orientate versus outcome orientated.
  • Understand the parents’ job descriptions.
  • Abide by the tennis parent match day guidelines.
  • Execute a deliberate, customized developmental plan.
  • Put visions and goals in writing to keep the team on the same page.
  • Remember that your actions speak louder than your words.

 

“A parent should hold the athlete accountable for poor behavior. Instilling manors and good sportsmanship is part of the balanced approach.”

 

Parent Entourage Synergy

The player, parent and coach synergy is the foundation of raising athletic royalty. Just as the player-parent relationship lasts a life time, so do the positive life lessons taught by a quality tennis coach.

 

“Choose wisely as you assemble your child’s team. Your cast of coaches and trainers will shape and define your child.”

 

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

Posted on September 20, 2015 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential, The Tennis Parent's Bible

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

Question: Why is it hard for some athletes to make changes?

 

Frank: Let’s take another look into personality profiles. People with a sensate judging (SJ) dominate brain type are actually wired to be safe. In their mind, being safe provides a sense of security. For them conformity is comfortable. Standardization is key. To these SJ personalities, change is uncertain and therefore feared.

Others personality types, especially intuitive perceivers (NP), are wired to trust their natural inquisitive instincts and be more risk takers. These NP personalities are future oriented and boldly see the world as something to conquer. It’s in their DNA (nature.)  These inborn characteristics are called genetic predisposition.

A person’s ultimate belief system is a result of both their genetic predisposition (nature) and their life experiences (nurture) -such as upbringing, surroundings and parental views. Humans naturally protect their beliefs, some way more than others.

When confronted by different ideas or opinions a chemical reaction triggers a response. To the SJ personalities, this new idea may be viewed as a threat because it hasn’t been analyzed yet, so avoiding it is often normal.

When new techniques are presented to these folks they are often uncomfortable simply because the information is different. The new method clashes with the old comfortable method so the new method is disregarded as wrong.

 

“Sometimes the new way is actually the right way…but it feels wrong to the SJ athlete coach and/or parent.”

 

In seeking change, consider your athlete’s brain type and body type.  For example, asking a fine motor skilled dominant body type player to change their foot work, core balance and stability is going to be much more difficult than asking a gross motor skilled dominant player to do the same task.

 

“Motivate your athlete to accept change.  Although change can be difficult, by refusing to change and grow … you will likely be left behind.”

 

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
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Benefits of Opponent Profiling

Posted on September 16, 2015 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential

The following post is an excerpt from the NEW Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible- Coming Soon!  Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo

Frank Giampaolo

 

Opponent Profiling

At the advanced levels, every player has efficient strokes. In tournament competition what often separates the champion from the field is their mental and emotional skill sets. This includes paying attention to why points are won and lost. They manage the score, their strategies and their performance anxieties as well as their focus control. Winners enjoy adapting to the ever changing challenges of closing out sets and matches. Winners maintain their poise under stress because they are one step ahead of the opponent by opponent profiling. I encourage both the parents and the coaches to begin to develop each athlete’s mental and emotional “muscles” at an early stage.

 

“In any sport, experts don’t simply see where the action is… they can see where the action is going to be in the very near future.”

 

Opponent profiling is essentially paying attention to the opponent’s patterns and tactics and applying the appropriate counter tactics.

Benefits of Opponent Profiling:

  • Controlling the tipping points and energy of the match.
  • Shutting down the opponents preferred play. Forcing them to shift to their less comfortable patterns at crunch time.
  • Gaining the critical mental/ emotional edge in tiebreakers.
  • Inflating their own confidence while systematically deflating the opponents.
  • Intimidating the opponent by out-thinking them-staying on top of their preferred patterns.

Just as I urged players earlier in this mental chapter to design and rehearse their “Top 7” patterns (2 ball shot sequence), I also have high hopes that your athletes will progress one step further and apply the art of spotting the opponents favorite shot sequences.

Identifying the Opponent’s “Top 7” Categories:

  • Top serving pattern to the deuce side.
  • Top serving pattern on the ad side.
  • Favorite return pattern and position versus a big first serve.
  • Favorite pattern and position versus a weaker second serve.
  • Favorite rally pattern.
  • Favorite short ball option.
  • Favorite approach shot pattern.

“Forcing talented opponents out of their comfort zone requires your athlete to identify and systematically shut down the opponent’s favorite strategies and tactics.”

 

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
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The SECOND Edition Coming Soon!

Posted on September 6, 2015 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential

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

Question: Should parents be discouraged or encouraged to watch practice?

 

Frank: I encourage the parents to be involved in the learning process. There’s so much “GOOD” that comes from positive entourage synergy. However, there are two situations in which I will speak privately with the parents and explain to them that their presence during the practice session may be stunting the growth they seek.

The first situation is if the child has told me that their efforts are constantly being overly criticized by their parents or if the parents are so outcome driven, the athlete feels immense added pressure to perform perfectly or else. Athletes and their parents should seek excellence …not perfection.

 

“Stress and fear are not optimal learning environments. Maximizing potential comes with the freedom of making mistakes.”

 

Players need to experiment and try things “their own way.” Junior athletes have often confided in me that when their primary tennis parent is in attendance, they’re later bombarded for hours with a laundry list of additional failures that need to be fixed. The player begins to feel hopeless – believing that they will never be good enough.

The second situation in which a parental discussion is in order involves overly protective, mildly obsessed parents. In today’s world, they are commonly called “Helicopter” parents. The nickname comes from their neurotic hovering on and around the court every session as they attempt to dominate the coach-athlete relationship. (If you suspect that you or your spouse may be a bit of a helicopter parent, the next question is for you.)

Parents, if your child feels additional stress from your presents, it’s in everyone’s best interest to take the time to get educated in the process of raising athletic royalty. If you’re interested, I have a detailed book on the topic actually called: Raising Athletic Royalty: Insights to Inspire for a Lifetime. It’s everything you didn’t even know…you needed to know.

 

 

 

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

Posted on August 30, 2015 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential, The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from the NEW The Tennis Parent’s Bible coming soon!

Thanks for visiting, Frank GiampaoloFrank Giampaolo

 

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

 

Due to the over-whelming response to the 2010, bestselling first edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible, I’ve been traveling the world with coaching seminars, tennis parent workshops and working with private families of passionate athletes. Throughout my travels, I continued my quest to go deeper into the process of raising athletic royalty.  In the past five years, I’ve increased my knowledge tenfold and I want to share these discoveries with you.

I was compelled to write the first edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible for two very important reasons:

First and foremost, I found that the old system of raising elite athletes lacked player, parent and coach synergy. And secondly, a successful organized guide to support parents in developing athletic royalty had not been established.

After years of coaching and working with players, parents, coaches and researchers, I had developed a more efficient way of organizing the tennis player’s team. I am obviously an “outside the box” style of thinker… I always have been. It’s my genetic predisposition. I found that by educating the tennis parent about the nuances of tennis development, the developmental process was more successful and the journey was appreciated.

 

“The modern epidemic of mediocrity, stemming all the way back from 1950’s and the assembly line mentality, is ineffective in athletic development.”

 

Educating the athlete’s parents is a revolutionary way to achieve greater family harmony while maximizing player potential at a quicker rate.

To illustrate my philosophy, here is an example of why your children shouldn’t be placed in groups based solely on their age. Customization is essential. I know 6 year olds that are more coordinated and athletically mature than 12 year olds and 17 year olds more emotionally immature than 10 year olds. Some athletes thrive in shorter sessions, some in longer sessions. Some enjoy training in groups of peers, some prefer private sessions. Growth development schedules are diverse. Different personality profiles require different approaches to their development.  This book’s intent is to break the old fashion standardizations beginning with the role of the tennis parent in the developmental process.

Invested selfless parents deeply want to be involved in their children’s lives and be a part of the team. Telling the primary care givers to “butt out”, which is sadly the industry norm, isn’t in anyone’s best interest. Tennis parent education has been the most ignored and mysterious topic in the industry and I intend to continue my quest in changing this direction.

Regardless of the stage of development, The Tennis Parent’s Bible will assist you, the tennis parent, in maximizing your child’s tennis potential at the quickest rate. The evolutionary state of tennis demands parents be more involved and informed, due to the ever increasing demands of the game. The competition is bigger, faster and stronger. Around the globe, the competition is training more efficiently. The days of raising a talented athlete while being a passive parent are long gone. The Tennis Parent’s Bible is essential reading for those interested in developing confident, self-reliant and accomplished children.


 

 

 

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

Posted on August 19, 2015 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential, The Tennis Parent's Bible

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

 

Question: My child’s mind wanders off in matches, how can we fix that?

Frank: Lapses in concentration are so very common. Eliminating them begins by looking into the athlete’s personality. This dictates their patience, shot tolerance level and wandering mind. Secondly, fixing the issue begins with educating the player to actually recognize when their mind is wandering. Third, the solutions include establishing adrenaline pumping cue words and mental recovery routines called triggers used to pull the athlete back into their optimal emotional conduct.

Focus is a key mental/emotional skill set. Without it, even the most gifted ball strikers are usually early round losers. Focus requires the athlete to understand that their mind is like a muscle that needs to be continually tightened and toned. Remember from the previous chapter, an un-toned brain can easily slip back and forth between its under-arousal state of mind, to its optimal emotional conduct state of mind to it’s over arousal state of mind.

Let’s look once again into the thought process of these three different “head spaces.”

In the under-arousal state, the athlete often begins to detach and slip into past or future thought scenarios. After the mind wanders off, athletes often report that they choked.

In the ideal performance state, the athlete stays deeply entrenched in their calm, happy, confident script of patterns. This mental, emotional state of readiness lasts throughout the match. The athlete often reports that they’re in the zone.

In the over-arousal state of mind, the athlete slips into the over hitting, rushing, and reckless style of play. The athlete often reports that they were trying to play better than they actually needed and simply panicked.

The initial key to solving this issue is to ask the athlete to begin to notice where their thoughts are at certain stages of the match. (This is best done through match play video analysis).

Remember, triggers are used to get an athlete back into their script of patterns. Triggers are both verbal and physical. Triggers motivate the athlete to get back into their peak performance level of play.

Triggers serve the athlete in two very positive ways: it inflates their energy while deflating their opponent’s energy by sending the message that they’re in it … to win it.

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
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Real Cause of Errors

Posted on August 17, 2015 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential, The Tennis Parent's Bible

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

Question: How do we assist our son in decreasing his unforced errors?

Frank: In my opinion, decreasing unforced errors always starts with the identification process. On numerous occasions, I have asked parents and coaches to chart ranked players utilizing The Cause of Error Chart. (Found in Match Chart Collection at Maximizingtennispotential.com). The results were very interesting.

While the majority of the international coaches solely focused on stroke production year in-year out, the main cause of errors were consistently shot selection and NOT form.

I suggest applying the cause of error chart to identify your athletes leading cause of error. I have found that the most common cause of errors in high level athlete’s are Mental-Shot Selection, followed by  Movement-Spacing, a very close third was Emotional-Performance Anxieties…and last on the list…Technical-Stroke Mechanics!

Because poor shot selection is the leading cause of errors at the higher competitive junior levels. Shot selection starts with understanding that in between each shot in a rally, there are only about 2 milliseconds of actual decision making time. So, how much can you analyze in that small amount of time? The answer is not much. This means that most shot selection options are learned behaviors acquired on the practice court. That is right. These tools must be wired into a player’s game way before the tournament begins. Pre-setting offence, neutral, defensive and directional options is mental training.

 

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
MaximizingTennisPotential.com
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Mentally Tough Component

Posted on August 15, 2015 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential, The Tennis Parent's Bible

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

 

Ten Essential Components of the Mental/Emotional Tough Competitor:

  1. Dedicate physically, mentally and emotionally to the process of becoming mentally tough. Without full commitment, it is unlikely mentally toughness will be achieved.  Mental/emotional toughness can only be mastered by someone who is ready to dig deeper into the strategic, stubborn protocols of winning and the psychology of defeating their own demons.

 

  1. Acknowledge that being mentally/emotionally tough isn’t reserved for the gifted few. Mental/emotional toughness as well as mental/emotional weakness is a learned-earned behavior.

People around the world from the passive Buddhist monks to the aggressive Navy Seals spend each day developing their mental/emotional toughness skills.  Some juniors have unknowingly invented their own mental/emotional weakness protocols and because they don’t know better, return to them religiously under stress.

 

  1. Decide to stay the course and confront hardship instead of bailing out at the first sign of confrontation.

Psychologists call it the fight or flight syndrome. Choosing to persevere through difficult circumstances leads to improved confidence. Getting in superb physical shape is a great place to start. Begin the journey by fighting through exhaustion, pain and discomfort.

 

  1. On a daily basis, multi-task and build the mental/emotional muscles along with stroke production.

Closing out every single drill develops mental/emotional toughness. Negative scoring (Drill to 10 – subtracting 1 for each error.) to each physical practice session to rehearse overcoming hardships.

 

  1. Commit to a deliberate custmentallylf-trust are learned and earned.

Choosing to do what the moment demands within a millisecond requires preset protocol training- the deliberate, customized repetition that incorporates how, when and why pre-set solutions (protocols) are applied.

 

  1. Accept that becoming mentally tough requires sacrifice. You must choose to be a normal ‘kid’ or a champion. You have to pick one…because you can’t be both.

Mental toughness requires you prioritize your time- putting everyday normal ‘kid stuff’ aside, most of the time, as you becomes athletic royalty.

 

  1. Develop the ability to employ the art of intimidation and to raise the adrenaline level at crunch time.

Raising positive energy at crunch time inflates the athlete’s performance while systematically deflates the opponent’s performance. Intimidation is the confidence role/act that begins pre-game as the athlete morphs into a ‘warrior.’  Staying in that ‘warrior’ mind-set or on-script throughout the competition is essential.

 

  1. Choose to be a courageous competitor – playing to win versus playing not to lose.

Applying the strategically correct system the moment demands under pressure, without fear or hesitation, no matter the score, the opponent or seeding is essential.

 

  1. Master the ability to handle adversity – such as poor start times, adverse elements, occasional sickness, minor injuries, and/or gamesmanship.

Choosing to see disadvantages as challenges versus obstacles too difficult to overcome is mental/emotional toughness.

 

  1. Persevere and be willing and able to remain on course and stay on-script longer…

Most good athletes are able to perform like a ‘pro’ occasionally. Greatness stems from an athlete’s ability to perform good after good. Consistently remaining in the peak performance state is essential in the higher echelons of sports.

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
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Essential Tennis Skills

Posted on August 8, 2015 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential

 

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

 

Accelerate your child’s game with proper physical training.  Modern high level tennis demands high level athleticism.  Ignoring training and only focusing on stroke mechanics will severely limit any athletes potential.

The Following Training Skills are Essential to High Performance Tennis Athletes:

  • Lateral Movement (Side to side)
  • Up & Back Movement (Forward & back)
  • Aerobic Fitness
  • Ability to Accelerate
  • Ability to Decelerate
  • Speed/Agility
  • Stamina
  • Recovery Time between Points/Plays
  • Recovery Time between Matches/Games
  • Strength (Upper body/core/lower body)
  • Body Coordination (Gross motor skills)
  • Hand-Eye Coordination (Fine motor skills)
  • Flexibility/Stretching
  • Anticipatory Speed

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