The following post is an excerpt from my Player/Parent/Coach Summit in New Zealand with Craig Bell. Thank you for visiting, Frank Giampaolo
Contact: Frank Giampaolo
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www.MaximzingTennisPotential.com
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How to Beat Net Rushers
Why Does My Child Play Great In Practice But Horrible In Matches?
The following is an excerpt from The Tennis Parent’s Bible. Thank you for visiting, Frank Gimapaolo
Why Does My Child Play Great In Practice But Horrible In Matches?
It’s Friday, the day before a local junior event, John the young hitting pro carefully feeds balls waist level, in the perfect strike zone for your little Nathan. Nathan doesn’t have to move and hits like a champ. On the way home, Nate says, “Man, I’m on fire! Tennis is easy! Forget the open tourney, I’m going pro!”
Saturday morning rolls around and little Nate’s opponent is playing “keep away” from him. He’s wisely keeping balls above Nathan’s shoulders out of his primary strike zone. Nathan goes down in flames. After the match Nate says, “I don’t get it, I was famous yesterday.” Practicing in the manner in which you are expected to perform is a battle cry heard at my workshops daily. There is a totally different set of skills that provide “competitive” confidence or confidence under stress versus simply hitting.
It is important to understand that the essence of a champion doesn’t simply lie in their strokes but in their head and heart. The ability to stay comfortable when things get uncomfortable is undeniably a skill. Mastering their emotions may be just the ingredient your child requires to break through to a higher level. In typical private lessons, clinics and academies around the world the primary focus is on stroke mechanics. The attention is placed on bending your knees, change your grip, toss higher and run faster.
No question, developing sound fundamentals is a critical element of success. However to improve your child’s ability to perform under stress, it is in their best interest to switch from 100 percent stroke repetition practice to the following five practice solutions:
Practice Solutions:
- Stop hitting without accountability
Hitting without accountability is like spending money with an unlimited bank account. Juniors perceive they hit better in practice because they are not aware of the sheer number of mistakes they are actually making. They remember the 10 screaming winners they hit, but forget about the 50 unforced errors they committed in the same hour.
- Change the focus in practice sessions
Concentrate on skill sets such as shot selection, patterns, adapting and problem solving, spotting the opponents tendencies, tactical changes and between point rituals.
- Quit being a perfectionist!
Trying 110 percent promotes hesitation, over- thinking and tight muscle contractions. Remember this topic in the blunder section?
If you must worry about winning, focus on winning about 65 percent of the points. Yes, you can blow some points and allow your opponent a little glory and still win comfortably.
- Turn off the fear of failure
Top players lose almost every week. Take for example one of the ATP stars I worked with as a teen, Sam Querrey. He has been on tour full time for years. He is well adjusted, rich and famous and yet he understands that he is not going to win every tournament – which means he’s ok with the fact that he will most likely lose almost every week.
- Replace some of the hours spent in clinics with actual matches!
Do you want your child to learn how to play through nervousness and manage their mistakes? Do you want them to get better at closing out those 5-3 leads? Do you want them to actually beat that moonball pusher in the third set?
Well, they have to overcome these issues several times in dress rehearsal first before you can expect them to win under pressure. Playing great under stress is a learned behavior. Practicing under simulated stress conditions is the solution.
FUN FACT: Most junior players spend hours upon hours hitting in academies and zero hours a week in full practice matches. They’ve become solid ball strikers but weak competitors.
The challenge is to get comfortable being uncomfortable. Rehearse doing what you’re scared of doing. Take the tougher road less traveled. One of my favorite sayings is
“If you want to get ahead of the pack, you can’t hang in the pack.”
This goes for parents as well. Obviously dropping your child off at the group lesson then going shopping for shoes is way easier than finding practice matches, charting and /or paying a college hitter to play sets. But ask yourself, is taking the convenient way out keeping your child from winning national titles?
Contact: Frank Giampaolo
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RaisingAthleticRoyalty.com
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How to Beat Hard-Hitting Baseliners
The following post is an excerpt from a Player/Parent/Coach Summit I held in New Zealand with Craig Bell. Thank you for visiting, Frank Giampoalo
Contact:Frank Giampaolo
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MaximizingTennisPotential.com
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Finding the Right Professional
The following post is an excerpt from The Tennis Parent’s Bible. Thank you for visiting, Frank Giampaolo
How to Find the Right Professional?
Initial instructors are usually chosen by proximity, cost and availability. Once the athlete progresses into the competitive stage, it’s time to identify the styles and personalities of coaches that fit your needs. Yes, it is perfectly acceptable to have more than one coach. Listed below are eight specialized styles of coaches that you may be employing along your journey. Let’s call it your coaching menu:
- The Kind and Fun Loving Coach
- The Mechanical Technician
- The Tennis-Specific Off Court Fitness Expert
- The Hitter
- The Emotional-Psychological Coach
- The Mental-Strategizing Expert
- The Academy Recruiter
- The Clinic/Academy- Group Class Instructor
Employing the right professional will save you thousands of wasted hours, dollars and tears. Here are a few secrets to assist you when selecting a Pro:
- Great coaches were mentored by even greater coaches. Ask them who mentored them and/or who they trained under (as a teacher).
- Look for a coach who enjoys what they do, it’s contagious.
- Seek out a Pro that is so busy, that they don’t need your business.
- The 10,000 hour rule applies! Being a master coach is a specialized/learned experience.
- Be careful, a former college player or pro challenger player does not always translate into a great teacher.
- Seek out a Pro who understands their clients unique Brain/ Body Type and Personality Profile (Genetic Predisposition).
- Ask every player that beats you or your kid, “Great match…who is your coach? Where do you train?”
- Ask a prospective coach, “We’ve heard great things about you, may we come and observe a few of your lessons?”
- Pay the coach to chart a match and devise his game plan for improvement. Meet regarding his observations and suggestions.
- Make sure the coach is asking questions, customizing and targeting their lessons.
- Be wary of a Pro that discourages you from hitting with other Pro’s, hitters or trainers!
Match day failures almost always stem from the dozens of preparation failures. Simply put, the opponent found your weaknesses before you’ve even identified them. Uncovering the root of the losses is often done by charting.
CONTACT: Frank Giampaolo
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Match Day Essentials
The following post is a YouTube of a Parent/Player/Coach Summit I held in New Zealand with Craig Bell. Thank you for visiting, Frank Giampaolo
Contact:Frank Giampaolo
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Attending a Tennis Academy?
The following post is an excerpt from The Tennis Parent’s Bible. Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo
A tennis academy has offered us a scholarship. Should we take it?
This is a touchy subject. Some of my best friends and lifelong business partners run successful academies. I am often presented business plans to open a full time academy, but I am convinced that a new blueprint is needed to ensure that each student is receiving the customized attention he/she deserves. I’ve opened and directed clubs and academies since the mid 1980’s. These include Vic Braden Tennis Colleges, the Rancho San Clemente Tennis Club and the Sherwood Country Club- some of Southern California’s most prestigious clubs. As a result, academies are very familiar territory.
Here are my feelings toward academies in this stage in my coaching career.
The Positive Side:
- Academies provide a terrific social environment for the players. The players can hang out with their peers of both genders.
- Players can experience the bonding of a team versus the individualism the sport often requires.
- A few top players receive free t-shirts, bags and sweats with the academies logo. Other players may receive a discount.
- Academies provide a convenient one-stop shop for parents. In essence, the parents can rely on others to organize and develop their child’s career.
- Academies should provide plenty of free hitting, off- court training options and match play for the motivated individuals.
- Live ball sparring. Players grow from the daily battle.
- Academies get players good. How good? With the rare exception, most attendees advance to high school varsity, top sectionally ranked and/or NCAA to Division 2-3 level college ball.
- A fact is that most juniors are not truly interested in putting the hard work it requires to be a national champion. They are hobbyist. In that situation, academies could be the right choice. Remember, tennis is a terrific hobby.
- Players experience many different coaches and coaching styles.
SPECIAL NOTE: If your child is ranked higher than most players in the academy, you may be able to negotiate attending for FREE in exchange for attracting paying customers to the program. Also, some academies give every attendee a price break thus giving everyone a partial scholarship. That is, if you pay up front! Folks, that’s marketing 101.
The Negative Side:
- Most academies recruit their top players AFTER a quality teacher has developed the student’s skills.
- The paying customer should receive instruction equal to that given to the elite superstars, that attend for FREE. Unfortunately, in some cases, the experienced coaches are busy working privately with the non-paying super stars and NOT with your child.
- In the higher levels of high performance tennis, detailed customization of the lesson plans are required. For example, if a player has holes in their transition game, sending them down to court #6 to get in line with the rest of the group and hit forehands and backhands may not be in the student’s best interest.
- Paying customers do not progress at the quickest rate. Often they have to win to move up into the “higher” level courts. This forces the junior to choose outcome goals over performance goals. This means they avoid building their new weapons as they choose to use their old comfortable “flawed strokes” to try to win. This behavior stalls the exact progression you seek.
- A great young talent positioned in an unsupervised setting will often learn how to goof off, throw their racquet, waist time, go for low percentage shots, over hit, and give half effort.
- Often inexpensive overworked introductory coaches are employed to oversee the paying customers.
FUN FACT: In the last decade, most park & rec’s, high school courts, apartment complex, college courts, country club and city facility have changed the name of their after school junior tennis program to an academy. It sounds more official, doesn’t it?
Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo
Contact: frank Giampaolo
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www.MaximizingTennisPotential.com
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Essential Skills Champions Develop
Ten Techniques Junior Tennis Championships Develop
“A Junior Champion is much more than a gifted athlete”
By Frank Giampaolo
John Kolouski (The name has been changes to protect the guilty.) has the Babolat Pure Drive, strung with natural gut on the crosses and polly on the mains… just like the pros. He sports the latest “Nadal” Nike shirts, shorts and shoes. His 8-pack racket bag even says “TOUR TEAM” on it. Man, he even goes to a $40,000 a year tennis academy. At first glance, he looks like a sure bet for the pros.
Now let’s look at Johns’ regiment a little deeper. John loses early every event in an implosion of negative behavior. Hummm… why?
There is nothing more common than young, talented athletes that are Weak Competitors. After reading the following Ten Essential Hidden Skills of a Champion, ask yourself if there are any similarities between John and your tennis phenom?
Ten Essential Hidden Skills of a Champion:
- Champions face their fears versus avoiding them. If you ask John to play a practice set against a younger retriever he has 100 excuses why he can’t and won’t play.
- Champions have swagger which is truly different than fake, empty confidence. John willingly practices his primary stroke production and then routinely SKIPS his weekly regime of off-court training sessions, closing out set rehearsals, and secondary stroke practice. Empty confidence shatters under the slightest bit of pressure.
- Champions are strong competitor’s not just good athletes. Set up a great sparring session for John and he’ll tell you “No thanks…I’m good! …I already hit back and forth to a partner today.”
- Champions do everything to prepare properly. John often stays out late the night before a big event; he doesn’t make time for a real breakfast; he doesn’t organize his tournament bag; and he only hits for maybe 10 minutes before the match. And he believes he is ready.
- Champions know that they will lose more than they will win. John believes that he should win every match he plays.
- Champions develop problem solving confidence, perseverance, determination and work ethic. John just focuses on stationary strokes, week in, week out.
- Champions have self-belief and a positive outlook. John wears his ball cap backwards and twirls his racket confidently at the start of each tournament, until he begins to play. Then like clockwork, he loses focus, misses a few easy shots and then morphs into an “Emotional Basket Case” every weekend. John only has one game style- hard hitting baseliner.
- Champions develop several game plans, emotional solutions to common problems, agility and brain speed. John is brain washed into believing that if he perfects his primary strokes every day, he will go pro.
- Champions understand that controlling their adrenaline and concentration wins matches. John believes that he is the one and only gifted, athlete out there and that should be enough to sky rocket him to success. When his opponents begin to challenge his game, he folds emotionally and mentally.
- Champions spot tendencies and control the energy of the match. John simply hits the shots that feel good to him versus hitting the shots that feel uncomfortable to the opponent.
In conclusion, it’s important to understand that there is nothing more common than extremely athletic individuals with weak competitive skills. This is why, to the untrained eye, it appears that the better “looking” athlete should win. As you all know, it is not the case.
Once solid fundamentals are developed, the art of winning stems from repetition of competition. “Practice in the manner you’re expected to perform” is the motto champions follow. Training with competitive or simulated stress drills will improve match performance.
Thank you for visiting, Frank
Contact: Frank Giamapolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
MaximizingTennisPotential.com
Between Point Rituals
Between Point Rituals are an essential skill of athletic royalty. For more information : The Tennis Parent’s Bible. Thanks, Frank Giampaolo
BETWEEN POINT RITUALS
The following YouTube post was filmed at the Australian International Coaches Convention in 2011. I look forward to returning to Australia this coming January 2012. Parental tennis education will be the focus of my presentation.
Patrick McEnroe, USTA Player Development, has been quoted as saying “Player development should be called parent management.”
The importance of the parent’s role is critical to the success of a junior tennis player- regardless of their desired level of play.
Thank you for visiting, Frank
Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
MaximizingTennisPotential
Tame Negative Thoughts
Athletic royalty requires a positive mind set. It is essential players learn to tame negative thoughts to maximize potential. Thank you for visiting, Frank Giampaolo
To order Raising Athletic Royalty or The Tennis Parent’s Bible CLICK HERE
SOLUTIONS TO “TAMING” NEGATIVE THOUGHTS
Self-talk is an essential high performance tennis skill. The following are twelve solutions to over-coming negative thoughts:
- Say Something Good/Positive
On the practice court, ask your child to rehearse finding something they did well on each point. This will shift their energy and focus from the negative to positive. The thoughts you feed tend to multiply. Multiplying the positive is a learned behavior. This rule applies to parents as well as players! Here’s an example: I teach a 14 year old ranked junior that has a terrific 128 mph serve. As he was “nailing” his serve into the box, all his father could say was “ya, but look at his knee bend, it’s pitiful…etc.” Ouch
- Education is Not Completed in the Lesson.
The most important lessons are taught in tournament play. They are analyzed in match logs. Assist your child in completing a match log after each match. Match logs are great for deciphering the X’s and O’s of why your child is getting their results. Solutions are found in match logs. The poised even tempered players have pre-set solutions rehearsed and designed for their future on court problems. Match logs identify the reoccurring nightmares. In anger management, prevention is the best medicine.
- Rehearse Successful Performance Goals Versus “I Have to Win” Outcome Goals
Champions are performance orientated not outcome orientated. In a single match, professionals think about the same hand full of patterns a thousand times, irritated juniors think about a thousand different things in the same single match! After blowing a lead I ask our players “What were you thinking about when you went up 5-2?” The answer is almost always future outcome issues such as “what’s my ranking going to be after I beat this guy.”Parents need to be performance goal oriented as well. After a match parents need to replace “Did you win?” with “How did you perform?” In the 2009 Masters Doubles, one ATP team got 81% of their first serves in and capitalized on 3 out of 4 break points. By looking at the performance chart/goals only, guess who won easily? Now, that’s thinking like a champion.
- Tennis is Not Fair
There are so many reasons why this game is not fair. Understanding these issues will reduce the stress some juniors place on themselves. For instance, luck of the draw, court surfaces, match locations, elements like weather, wind, lucky let courts, miss-hit winners, creative line callers…Can you think of a few?
- Everyone Gets the Same 24 Hours in a Day
The difference is how they use it. I suggested getting a daily planner and discuss time management with your child. Assist them in organizing their on-court and off-court weekly schedule. Avoiding anger on match day is earned on the practice court. Most often, players seeing red shouldn’t be mad at their match performance. They should be upset with their pre-match preparation. Poise, relaxed performers are confident with their skills because they deeply believe they are doing everything in their power to prepare properly. I’ve found that players that are breathing fire in matches know, deep down, that they are now paying the price for their lack of preparation.
- Managing Stress
In the heat of battle, experience tells us that if you are struggling take a moment to detach. Often appearing unflappable is the tool needed to send the opponent over the edge. The opponent will appear calm as long as you are the one throwing temper tantrums. If you are steamed, fake it until you make it! Simply pretend to be unruffled. Parent’s this applies to you as well. Detach during your child’s match by going for a brisk walk, read the paper, chart the match or listen to your ipod. This sends the message that you are not overly stressed about the results. Take a moment and talk to your child about time management as it pertains to controlling the pace of the match. Winners absolutely control the pace of the match. Think back, top seeds often take bathroom breaks at critical times in a match, don’t they? Controlling the energy flow of the match is a super way to control the fire!
- Champions Experience Failure
Discuss how most tennis champions have probably lost way more matches than your child has lost. Ambitious people experience many failures. California’s Vania King’s professional career single results- similar number of wins and loses. But she has also won 2 WTA GRAND SLAM Doubles titles and has earned over 3 million in prize money. Great job Vania! (Champions learn from losses.)
- Never Outgrow Fun
You often see top professionals battle and still smile in the course of a match. The vintage Vic Braden slogan “Laugh & win” makes perfect sense! Stress and anger clutter your thought processes; pull you into the wrong side of your brain which destroys your problem solving ability; irritates, tightens and constricts muscle flow which decreases your swing speed as well as your on court movement and/or simply destroys your ability to perform.
- Tennis is a Gift Not a Right
Discuss how there are millions of great athletes the same age as your child that will never even get the opportunity to compete at this level. Tennis isn’t fair, right? But has your child thought about how lucky they are to be able to play tennis and have a family that wants to support their passion?
- If Good Judgment Comes From Experience Where Does Experience Come From?
The answer is Bad Judgment. It is far less painful to learn from others failures. After a tournament loss, don’t race home steaming mad. Instead, stay at the tournament site and observe a top seed. Replace focusing on the strokes with analyzing the easy going attitudes as well as the infuriated, angry behaviors. Remind your child that an unflappable, quiet opponent is far more difficult and annoying to compete against than a wild angry one.
- Rehearse Ignoring Their Negative Thoughts
Ask your child to allow you to video tape a few matches. As they watch them back, ask your child to count the times they had a negative thought, loss of concentration or an emotional breakdown on the court. Now, here’s the solution. Ask them to simply reduce that number by 25% in next week’s video match. If done properly, negative on-court behavior will be weeded out or reduced.
- The Door to Success is Always Marked “Push”
Ask your child if they are always pushing themselves to their fullest potential? Remind them that there are thousands of really good juniors. There are only a handful of great juniors. From a parents’ perspective, if you do not push gently everyday (or pay someone to do the daily pushing) your child does not have a shot!
Thanks, Frank Giampaolo
Contact:Frank Giampaolo
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MaximizingTennisPotential.com
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Champions Work Smart
The following post is an excerpt of Maximizing Tennis Potential. Thanks, Frank
TENNIS CHAMPIONS WORK SMART
Every athlete wants to succeed. They all want the exact same outcome goal. So what separates the champions from the early round losers?
- Is it cleaner strokes?
- Sharper anticipatory speed, quicker foot speed?
- Smarter shot selections?
- Calmer frustration tolerance levels?
- Longer focus?
The answer is that the best players begin working EARLY on all of these issues. Great coaches, however, have the ability to zero in on the players re-occurring issues (nightmares) years before the player or the parent actually even see it.
This is where Smart Work comes into play.
Let’s use an analogy. If a race car continually loses race after race due to its tires blowing out, is spending 4 hours a day polishing the fenders going to solve the problem? Not likely… Hey but their working hard 4 hours a day! Your child may be working hard 4 hours a day, heck, maybe even 6 hours but is it Smart Work?
Translation: “Are you spending your limited time and money wisely?”
In my last blog post, Maximize Performance with Accountability, I posed the below questions to a top 200 tournament level player. Now let’s look at the same question posed to a top 10 nationally ranked player. The answers are dramatically different, except number 7.
- How long have you been playing? “4-5 years”.
- What does your weekly training schedule look like? “I train about 20 hours a week. My routine consists of off court training, hitters, stroke lessons, occasionally I go to an academy for sparring, sets, video analysis, tournaments”
- Ok, what has been your developmental focus? “Mainly strokes, that’s why I’m here! I need to beef up my mental and emotional sides.”
- Primary and secondary strokes? “Mostly primary?”
- What is your style of play? “I’m a hard hitting baseliner”
- Have you developed your B & C game plans? “Yes, I play sets weekly as a retriever and as a net rusher?”
- What type of players do you hate playing the most? “Moonballers, for sure pushers!!”
- All right, what patterns have you developed to beat those retrievers? “I can bring them in, and I have a solid moonball approach to swing volley pattern that usually works”
- Ok, last question, what are your goals in the upcoming year? “To improve my drop volley, kick serve, my frustration tolerance and get fit enough to reach the semi’s of most events”. I want to begin playing pro Challenger events this summer.
Champions, with very few exceptions, are the smartest workers. Why? Because their parents are the smartest “tennis” parents!
Parents of national champions are extremely involved. Usually, at least one parent is the “tennis” parent. Raising a world class athlete is a full time job. Most champions require a team approach. (Check out Rafa’s new book to drive this point home.)
One of the initial ways to begin to develop a National Champion is to use the same developmental methodology used in school. Children study math, science, English, and history year in and year out. It’s a proven successful method of developing a well-balanced child. In tennis they need to apply the same principle. Trust me, it works! Branch out and develop your child’s “other” sides!
The four sides in tennis development:
- Strokes (Primary & Secondary)
- Movement (Spacing, Speed, Stamina)
- Mental (Shot selection, Pattern selection, Spotting tendencies)
- Emotional skills (Choking /Over thinking and panic/Under thinking).
Working smarter yields numerous benefits:
- Greater your self esteem
- Increased confidence in your personal ability
- Decrease the likeness to surrender when the going gets tough
- Master more tools to problem solve on court
Thank you for visiting. Frank Giampaolo
To order The Tennis Parent Bible or Raising Athletic Royalty CLICK HERE
Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink,net
MaximizingTennisPotential.com
