The following post is a link to one of my instructional articles printed in Tennis Industry Magazine- February 2015. The article is about the importance of understanding your athlete’s make-up. Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo
http://www.tennisindustrymag.com/articles/2015/02/10_your_serve_mind_and_body.html
Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
www.MaximizingTennisPotential.com
Thank you for your continued support. I truly appreciate the endless kind words about my blog postings and especially my books The Tennis Parent’s Bible, Raising Athletic Royalty and Championship Tennis. Thanks, Frank Giampaolo
Acknowledging Your Child’s Efforts
Here is a very positive action that brings about happiness:
Once a month, throughout the course of your youngsters tennis career plan on sitting down and writing a letter stating how proud you are of them. Place it on their bed at night.
Parents, do you realize that most full grown adults don’t focus on their job 100 percent of the time! They may be at work, but what are they actually doing? It’s my bet that most adults could not handle the pressure a serious junior competitor endures day in and day out. Take a few moments to acknowledge how proud you are of their efforts. Thank them for the courage they show as they lay it on the line week after week.
The Tennis Parent’s Bible Testimonials:
The below testimonials are just a sample of the many satisfied customers. As a parent and/or a coach, you are faced with difficult and sometimes challenging situations as the director of your child’s tennis career. The Tennis Parent’s Bible provides solutions and directions. It is a one of a kind tennis tool!
Tennis Industry Professional Testimonial:
“Frank Giampaolo just published a great new article in the December issue of Tennisplayer, adapted from his new book the Tennis Parent’s Bible. Subscriber response was very positive! But even if you didn’t read the article, you might want to check out the book, because it’s tremendous.
The Bible is an eBook that is over 230 pages of fascinating, valuable information. And if you order it now there are two free bonus booklets. How to Attract a Tennis Scholarship AND The Tennis Parent’s Bible Match Chart Collection. It’s $39.95 for the whole deal.
Frank has had the opportunity to work with over 60 players (and their families) who went on to win national junior titles. He’s seen it all–the beautiful and the ugly–and talks about what players, coaches, and parents need to know and need to do to help kids have a fabulous, positive life experience and become the best players they can. And he does it with honesty and humor.
I enjoyed and learned from the book myself and that’s why I am recommending it. As I worked through it I saw that the principles and situations Frank describes are really about tennis in general. It’s great to see it applied to high level juniors but it’s relevant to club players and competitive players at all levels. In fact, it’s relevant to life.
So do yourself a favor and order this one. And write in with your own review or leave us a comment in the Forum!”
Tennis Parent Testimonial:
“Dear Frank, Thank you so much for writing The Tennis Parent’s Bible. My family is finally at peace. We have been at “war” over how to best pursue my son’s tennis goals. Now we have a direction and plan of action. My son’s coach, my son and my wife are all on the same page. There is so much to know about developing a tennis player. You have opened my eyes and brought so much clarity for us. I feel my son really has a chance to be the best he can be…Thank you from the bottom of my heart! “
Tennis Coach Testimonial:
“Thank you Frank! I could of not said it better myself! If only every teaching professional would read this manual! It is such a helpful source of information. It takes the blame off all parties and makes the game of tennis much more enjoyable. I am asking all of my tennis instructors read it and I am suggesting that all the tennis families at the club read it! I cannot thank you enough! “
Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
www.MaximizingTennisPotential.com
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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:
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.
Concentrate on skill sets such as shot selection, patterns, adapting and problem solving, spotting the opponents tendencies, tactical changes and between point rituals.
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.
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.
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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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:
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
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:
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
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.
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.
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?
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.
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!
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.)
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.
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?
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.
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.
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
FGSA@earthlink.com
MaximizingTennisPotential.com
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The following post is an excerpt from The Tennis Parent’s Bible Thank you for visiting, Frank
TENNIS TIME MANAGEMENT STARTS WITH ACCOUNTABILITY
Chances are you are wasting time and money if you are not being accountable. Whether your child’s goal is a professional tennis career, college tennis scholarship, or even high school or recreation tennis, it is critical you have a plan. Everyone gets the same 24 hours a day. It is what you do with it the counts. What’s your plan?
To begin, let’s look at an accountability question. But first, review a schedule breakdown of the hours in a week of a typical top 200 nationally ranked junior player:
Another side of accountability is based on the fact that National tournaments are often held over holiday breaks. Do you choose Thanksgiving at home with your family & friends or are you ok with spending Thanksgiving in a hotel out of state? Or remaining home so your child can prepare properly for the winter nationals or would you rather go skiing the week before the event?
The accountability factor I’m talking about here is yours- The Parents!
If you truly wish to witness your child’s success you need to be accountable. Your actions will teach meaningful time management and accountability lessons to your children.
On the first day upon arriving at our workshops I ask each student a few questions. Not only am I looking for their answers, but their knowledge of the game, their concerns, their communication skills, their tournament frustrations and how they are wired.
The conversation with a typical top 200 national player sounds like this:
Tennis is full of inevitable trials especially without a plan. This is a wake-up call. For more information, buy The Tennis Parent’s Bible. Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo
Contact:Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
MaximizingTennisPotential.com
The following post is an excerpt from The tennis Parent’s Bible. Thank you for visiting, Frank Giampaolo
STRATEGY MADE SIMPLE
Let’s look at strategy in a simple, yet effective format. There are three factors in understanding strategy on the tennis court. They are generic, stylistic and customized.
Generic strategy is simply applying the player’s core performance goals throughout each point of a tournament. Generic strategies and tactics could include getting in 70% first serves or staying neutral until you get the opponent vulnerable, then attack!
Even saying “Bounce, Hit” as the ball actually bounces off the court and hits their racquet. This age old generic tactic is a wonderful tool used to control the player’s vision and calm them down when they are overcome by the occasion.
These generic tactics will be used in January through December, from the first round through the final, in Miami or Moscow, on clay or hard courts. These are your child’s everyday “nuts and bolts” game plan.
This is your child’s ability to adapt tactics depending on the current style of the opponent. Remind your child not to change a winning tactic just because the opponent changes game styles. Change is only made if the opponent starts to win and the momentum has switched to their side. Styles include retriever, hard hitting baseliner and all court players.
Our players develop and rehearse patterns used to beat each style of opponent. It is also important to note. A smart competitor will change a losing style of play (shift to plan B). Has your child developed rock solid B and C game plans? The players who are winning national titles have!
I encourage my players develop and rehearse 3 styles of play. Encourage your child to play lesser players in practice sets. This will allow them to rehearse their B and C game plans.
This is your child’s ability to adapt to the day and the circumstances. Competition require a player adapt to varying elements such as wind, heat, court speeds, court surfaces as well as the particular strengths and weaknesses of the current opponent.
A common word in this phase is tendencies. To borrow from the boxing world, your child needs to spot what is causing the opponent to “bleed” and then do it more. Also, it’s important to spot the cause of their “own bleeding” and stop the bleeding.
There are the two types of losing:
If your child is competing well in every game and often has the winning shot on his/her racquet, it is in their best interest to modify their tactics slightly while keeping the current strategic style of play.
If they are losing and are not even in the points or games, a much larger shift of complete game styles may be in order. For example: Take a bathroom break and then change from a hard hitting baseliner to a steady retriever style of play.
A very useful tool is video analysis. Record tournament matches as often as possible and take a “Match Play Video Analysis Lesson” with an experienced coach. That’s right, a non- hitting lesson!
Together they will spot strokes that break down under stress, movement and footwork issues, opponent awareness issues and of course tactical and strategic issues that arise under stress. This allows your coach to customize the lessons as they actually provide solutions to the real issues!
Remember: The preferred learning style of most players is the “Visual Learner”. A picture is worth a thousand words, right?
For more detailed information, the USPTA has a terrific, in depth; Player Development Program that every tennis parent should read. (uspta.org)
Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo
Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
www.MaximizingTennisPotential.com
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ACCELERATE YOUR GAME WITH A QUIET MIND
The game of tennis is ultimately a mind game. There are dozens of mind games that a crafty opponent will play to disrupt your game. There are also dozens of mind games that you can play on yourself to disrupt your own game. This article will focus on controlling the inner mind games first.
In my experience, high level players often need to focus on doing less…not more when cleaning up their strokes. The same holds true with their mental game. Quieting the mind is an essential part of mental toughness.
Allowing the mind to wonder into past and/or future thoughts can destroy on-court success. I get countless phone calls from parents concerned about their child’s “inability to concentrate” during a match. They watch their children lose to seemingly “less talented” players because their child cannot seem to concentrate.
First of all, what is concentration?
Concentration is focusing your energy, attention, and intentions on a singular point or plan. A wondering mind filled with frenzied thoughts and fears can destroy a well thought out game plan. Expectations and perceptions of a match are not reality…They are simply feelings. These “thoughts” take the players away from thinking about their performance goals.
As the players let their walls down, they discover that their mind games have been the culprit of many of their past losses.
Example of Mind Games:
Past Thoughts:
This might include a past loss to the same opponent, the opponents past ranking, tournament wins, or reputation, coaches or parents comments after a bad loss, how they choked in a similar situation, a bad line call several points prior, or a missed overhead on the last point…etc.
Future Thoughts:
This might include thoughts about what will my ranking be if I win or if I lose, what will my peers think if I win or lose, will the USTA invite me to Carson if I win, what will my parents say if I lose…etc.
Uneducated players often see themselves as VICTIMS. Educated Players have learned that they are in control of their feelings and thoughts. They are taught to say “STOP” and pull their thought pattern from the Past or Future back into their Present performance thoughts.
Solution:
Videotaping players playing sets allows us to show the players what their wondering minds look like. Spotting visual clues prepares the players to control their present thoughts. So what are the proper Present thoughts?
Present Thoughts:
Present thoughts are performance goals. These may include serving to the opponents backhand, getting 60% of their first serves in, isolating their opponents weaker side, playing at a slower speed, taking swing volleys on moonballs, standing closer on their opponents second serves, adapting and problem solving…etc.
Here are three tips to give you a head start controlling your mind games: Practical application is customized to each player
The Normal player focuses on the past, and the Champion focuses on the future.
Rehearse saying something GOOD. Find something positive to say before you address a flaw in your child. Often the most difficult and sometimes paralyzing factor in a junior’s development is an ultra-negative or jaded parent. The ratio that I recommend is to offer five positive comments for every one negative comment. Reverse psychology works wonders! The player progresses happier and quicker.
Example:
The player continually tosses the ball too low on the serve. Instead of saying “Your STILL doing it wrong…How many times…” try saying “Great! You’re getting that toss higher…I can really see the difference.” The positive comment will still remind them that they need to improve their ball toss and it is more likely that the correction will occur! Thanks, Frank
Contact:Frank Giampaolo
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