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Navigating the Athlete’s Pathways – Part 2

Posted on December 16, 2019 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential, The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

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

 

Navigating the Athlete’s Pathways – Part 2

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Talent is a kid with potential. No, it’s even more than that. It’s a kid with potential with parents who were deeply involved in the development of skills and the stimulation of passion. So, what does this new definition of talent mean for the rest of us mere mortals? It means that if a child has parents who are determined and passionate about the game and extremely patient and persistent, they’ve got a real shot at greatness!

In every field talent is a learned behavior. What do Wayne Gretsky, Yo-Yo Ma, Bill Gates, Bobby Fischer, Tiger Woods, Mozart, Miley Cyrus, Bruno Mars, and Michelangelo have in common with tennis greats? They were all children who developed a remarkable talent from an early age. A spark became a flame as they persistently developed their talent. What seems now like a god-given natural gift is actually a deliberate, customized learned behavior.

In my opinion, most of the ATP and WTA professionals you watch on television did not demonstrate early phenomenal promise.  You can YouTube most of today’s stars playing tennis at the earliest stages. Guess what you’ll see? A bunch of average-looking kids enjoying the process of learning. They simply were solid athletes, with potential who were nurtured the love for the game.

 

“Talent is determination, passion and persistence.”

 

A question often asked during my tennis parent workshops is, “How do we motivate our athlete?” When it comes to instigating the hunger, it may prove wise to understand what “buttons” to push as you encourage your special athlete. There are two very powerful psychological forces, extrinsic and intrinsic that parents and coaches should identify when motivating their athletes.

Extrinsic Motivation: Implies being motivated by outside forces. Examples include praise- and lots of it!  Belief in their abilities by the entourage, trophies, awards, playing for a D-1 NCAA squad, ensuring a better future, money, and/or fame.

Intrinsic Motivation: Implies being motivated by inner forces. Examples include a love for the mastery of the game, the need to win or the hatred of losing, keeping up with successful siblings, seeing someone just like them succeed so they believe they can also succeed, finding the journey challenging and enjoyable.

 

Navigating the Athlete’s Pathways

Posted on December 14, 2019 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential, The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

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

 

NAVIGATING THE ATHLETE’S PATHWAYS

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Regardless of the stage of development, parents should seek coaches and trainers with high tennis IQ’s and optimistic attitudes- which will stimulate growth and happiness. Hire great educators to join your elite team and they will take your child beyond your wildest dreams.

 

Identifying and Motivating Talent

So, you’ve got a promising young talent, that’s a great start. Now how do you manage that talent, their entourage of coaches, academies, and teams?

Let’s look deeper into the facts and myths of talent. There are a lot of myths surrounding the word “Talent.” If sheer natural talent was gifted to an individual, then the naturally talented would drift to the top without effort. Unfortunately, by the time a junior reaches the competitive stages of the game; their sheer physical talent isn’t enough. Why? Because at the high-performance level, most of their competitors are also solid athletes, but with great work ethic, deep desire and a deliberate, customized developmental plan.

I know… many of you reading this may be thinking:

 

“Yeah but…My kid was endowed by my superior gene pool; they inherited my awesomeness …so they are obviously destined for greatness.”

 

While that may be true, success at the higher level demands a bit more than genes. It takes years and years of applying a customized deliberate developmental plan.

Talent is considered by most to be a genetic predisposition, a sense of natural ability handed down through the family gene pool. Expert educators in various fields agree that every decade one truly gifted individual walks through their doors. Does this mean that most truly successful people aren’t genuinely talented or does it mean that talent is more than merely good genes?

“Junior talent is only a foreshadowing of  future greatness.”

 

Managing Accelerated Learning -Part Two

Posted on December 12, 2019 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

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

Managing Accelerated Learning -Part Two

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“A common mistake I witness around the globe is the obsession of focusing solely on acquiring perfect fundamental strokes in a block learning environment.”

 

I recommend introducing multi-tasking drills and problem-solving situations as soon as possible. This is a form of stimuli overload. Examples include: Adding a stress-related emotional element to a stroke production drill. Combine on-court quickness with a specific sequence of patterns. By overloading the athlete’s stimuli in practice, the uncomfortable becomes more comfortable. Being okay with feeling uncomfortable prepares the player for the integrated approach needed in match play.

Different sports require different brain functions and development. A world-class figure skater or gymnast simply focuses on recreating the exact sequence. Their performance goal is to match their exact predetermined routine. In their performance they only recreate, they don’t create. So, would they train with flexible-skill sets? Not likely.

Should a tennis player train flexible-skill sets? You bet! Playing sports like basketball, hockey, soccer or tennis are requires random split-second decisions making skills. It’s about adaptation, creativity, spotting options and aborting missions. Flexibility and millisecond decision making “on the fly” are critical functions in flexible skillset dominate sports.

Managing Accelerated Learning

Posted on December 9, 2019 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

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

MANAGING ACCELERATED LEARNING

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It’s our job as tennis coaches and parents to organize accelerated learning.

“Accelerated learning is the art and science of applying quality over quantity.”

Accelerated learning starts with you, the parent. The first step in managing the process is digesting the information presented in The Tennis Parent’s Bible. Once you have immersed yourself into the process of athletic development, you are better equipped to assist your coaches in prioritizing and accelerating your athlete’s learning curve.

A marvelous example of applying accelerated learning is recognizing when the athlete should stop focusing solely on block learning repetition and shift to the multi-tasking harmony of integrating each component together.  Accelerated learning starts with managing the development of consistent skillsets through flexible skills training.

Consistent skill set training is simply focusing on developing one component of the athlete’s game in isolation.  Examples include:

  • A motor programming sequences that need to be followed to ensure a sound fundamental stroke.
  • A specific mental strategic-shot sequencing pattern designed to beat a retriever.
  • An emotional protocol rehearsed to help close out a 5-2 lead.
  • An athletic component such as agility around the tennis court.

Flexible skillset training is integrating the “games approach” to learning. High-level tennis players have been taught to quickly quantify game situations, make multiple pre-set situational decisions and execute the correct responses. Cognitive processing skills need to be integrated early.

 

“A common mistake I witness around the globe is the obsession of focusing solely on acquiring perfect fundamental strokes in a block learning environment.”

 

I recommend introducing multi-tasking drills and problem-solving situations as soon as possible. This is a form of stimuli overload. Examples include: Adding a stress-related emotional element to a stroke production drill. Combine on-court quickness with a specific sequence of patterns. By overloading the athlete’s stimuli in practice, the uncomfortable becomes more comfortable. Being okay with feeling uncomfortable prepares the player for the integrated approach needed in match play.

Different sports require different brain functions and development. A world-class figure skater or gymnast simply focuses on recreating the exact sequence. Their performance goal is to match their exact predetermined routine. In their performance they only recreate, they don’t create. So, would they train with flexible-skill sets? Not likely.

Should a tennis player train flexible-skill sets? You bet! Playing sports like basketball, hockey, soccer or tennis are requires random split-second decisions making skills. It’s about adaptation, creativity, spotting options and aborting missions. Flexibility and millisecond decision making “on the fly” are critical functions in flexible skillset dominate sports.

Selecting a Tennis Coach

Posted on July 20, 2019 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential, The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

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

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Facts to Consider When Selecting a Pro

Finding a Pro is easy. Finding the right Pro will require more thought and leg work. You may be using different types of Pros for different reasons. Below are a few insider tips to help you hire your entourage of coaches:

  • In every region, only a very small percentage of pros actually teach the top players. (There are very big differences between teachers and recruiters.)
  • Look for a coach who’s enjoying what they do, it’s contagious.
  • Seek out a Pro that is so busy, that they don’t need you.
  • The 10,000-hour rule applies! Being a master coach is a learned experience.
  • Seek out a Pro who understands your child’s unique Brain and Body Type (Genetic Predisposition).
  • Make sure the coach is asking questions, customizing and targeting their lessons.
  • Ask every player that beats 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.
  • Ask for a resume and who they trained under. (As a teacher- not as a player.)
  • Look for a coach that encourages independent thinking versus dependent thinking.
  • While there are exceptions, a former ATP/WTA challenger player does not always translate into a great teacher. The most successful tennis coaches were not the most successful tour players.
  • Be wary of a Pro that discourages you from hitting with other Pro’s, hitters or trainers!

 

SPECIAL NOTE: To avoid confusion, employ one coach per job at any given time. Two different coaches employed to fix a serve may prove to be extremely confusing for your child. Conflicting information and battling egos spells trouble!

 

“It often proves beneficial to secretly observe a coach or academies without the coaching staff knowing you are a future client.  This experience will provide you with an honest assessment of their program.”

The Formula for Achieving Results- Part 2

Posted on July 18, 2019 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential, The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

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

The Formula for Achieving Resultsfrank

Insight 4: Focus on controlling the controllables versus focusing on the uncontrollables. In the competitive moment, is your athlete able to change past issues or forecast future issues? No, during competition, your athlete is only able to control the controllable – which is the present task at hand.

Parental focus should be on the effort and let go of results. Excellent physical, mental and emotional effort for the duration should be the entourage’s mission.

 

“Remember, there is a significant difference between excellence and perfection. Excellent effort is controllable. Perfection is a lie.”

 

Insight 5: Seek to educate your children to strive for excellence, not perfection. The effort is in the process which will obtain winning results -not perfect results.

Your child’s success begins with preparing their character for the process of improvement. Only by achieving continuous improvement will your athlete be prepared when opportunity knocks. Unfortunately, many juniors get great opportunities but fail to capitalize, not because their lucky shorts were in the wash, but because they simply weren’t prepared.

 

Insight 6: Ask your athlete to complete a daily focus journal to assist them in self-coaching. Which of their components are weakest? Why? What would they suggest they could do differently to improve this weakness? The process of improvement needs a plan.

What drives your athlete to actually document their successes in their daily focus journal? What motivates them to wake up and put in the hard work? The answer is their moral compass, also known as their character. It’s their honest relationship and dialog with themselves that allows them to achieve their goals.

Insight 7: Character skills are life skills that parents can focus on daily. They include personal performance enhancers such as effort, dedication, time management, perseverance, resilience, and optimism. They also include personal ethics such as honesty, appreciation, loyalty, trustworthiness, kindness, unselfishness and respect. Parental coaching starts here.

 

Let’s review. The formula for parents to assist in skyrocketing their athlete’s chances of achieving championship results is to begin with the character skills needed to implement their deliberate, customized developmental plan. An organized plan will be the foundation of the athletes accelerated growth. This is how you maximize your child’s potential as the quickest rate.

 

The Formula for Achieving Results- Part 1

Posted on July 16, 2019 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

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

 

The Formula for Achieving Results

All too often, competitive parents and athletes have dreams they mistake for goals. The disconnect starts with confusing dreams with goals. A dream is only a goal if it has an organized plan. For example, when I ask naturally talented athletes about their goals, they most often answer with uncontrollable outcome dreams. Such as: being ranked top in the nation, winning the state championship, receiving an NCAA D-1 athletic scholarship or playing pro ball.

These are nice dreams but remember:

“A goal without a deliberate customized developmental plan is actually a dream in disguise.”

Although elite athletes may also have the above dreams, the difference is that they realize their success is a result of quantifiable performance-orientated process goals. It isn’t always the most naturally gifted athletes that are successful, it is the athletes with strong work ethics, resiliency, and a plan. Below are seven insights that parents should apply while navigating their child’s pathway to greatness.

“Championship results are achieved by focusing on the process and the process starts with a plan.”

 

Achieving Results: Seven Insights 

Insight 1: Establish an outcome goal but then let it go because it isn’t in your athlete’s immediate control. What is? The process. The plan is everything.

The process starts and ends with the constant development of character. Daily focus on character building will shape your child’s life – on and off the playing fields. Character building develops your athlete’s inner voice through optimistic self-coaching. One of the most important jobs of a parent is to focus on character building through life skills.

Insight 2: Assist your athlete in developing calm, positive, proactive “self-talk.” This inner belief in themselves is the basis of the exact mental toughness they need at crunch time.

Your athlete’s inner voice is nurtured to either build them up to think clearly under duress or to tear them down and hinder their efforts at the most inopportune times. Often when things go south in competition, junior athletes allow their mind to drift away from the present process at hand (performance goals) and into past or future thoughts (outcome-oriented thoughts). This is commonly followed by negative inner-chatter. Character building provides the optimistic scripts used to turn a possible disaster into another win.

Insight 3: Character building starts with the parents and coaches leading the way by letting go of the outcome results and reinforcing the process. How can we expect an adolescent to be performance-oriented when their “guiding lights” are obsessed with only winning?

Great parents and coached educate the process of maintained discipline through the chaos. Think about the last time your athlete was in competition. Remember feeling stressed for your athlete? Why? What were your thoughts that caused your pressure and anxiety? Was it past, present or future scenarios? Most likely the actual stress was caused by the long list of “What if’s?” What if they lose to this toad … What if they beat this top seed? What will they’re ranking move to? What will the coaches say? Will they get a Nike deal?

Life Lessons Through Tennis

Posted on July 6, 2019 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

CULTIVATING LIFE LESSONS THROUGH TENNISohio

 

Choosing to embark on this journey has lifelong benefits. It is widely known that the participation in the game of tennis cultivates life lessons. Tennis is an individual, elite sport that breed leaders.

 

“Congratulations for developing leadership qualities in your child.”

 

Communicating the important life lessons gained through tennis is a critical part of the tennis parent’s job description.

 

The Game of Tennis Inspires the Following Leadership Skills:

  1. Time management
  2. Adaptability and flexibility skills
  3. Ability to handle adversity
  4. Ability to handle stress
  5. Courage
  6. Positive work ethic
  7. Perseverance
  8. Setting priorities
  9. Goal setting
  10. Sticking to commitments
  11. Determination
  12. Problem solving skills
  13. Spotting patterns and tendencies
  14. Discipline
  15. Understanding of fair play and sportsmanship
  16. Development of focus
  17. Persistence
  18. Preparation skills
  19. Dedication and self-control
  20. Positive self-image

 

Without these important character skills, success on and off the court, simply won’t happen.  You see, achieving results requires thousands of hours of deliberate customized practice.  Without the above life skills, a deliberate developmental plan doesn’t happen.

 

Life skills à Process à Results

 

My favorite life lesson of the top 20 is persistence. As a coach, to see a talented player without persistence or the willingness to sacrifice and work hard is my worst nightmare! That is why at the junior levels it is often the slightly less talented who are willing to pay the price with smart work that earn all the trophies.

 

“Nothing is more common than unsuccessful tennis players with tons of physical talent.”

 

Finding a way through a tough opponent even though you’re having a bad day is persistence. Staying in the correct side of your brain even when things are clearly not going well is persistence. Staying engaged until the very last point is persistence. Now you know my favorite life lesson. What’s yours?

Importance of Charting Matches

Posted on July 2, 2019 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Match Chart Collection. Click Here To Order through Amazon

 

MATCH CHARTING AND TYPES OF CHARTS

 

Charting matches will allow you, the parents to systematically evaluate your athlete’s performance. Maximizing potential at the quickest rate comes from actually providing your entourage of coach’s quantifiable data. Without regular tournament performance assessments, your child’s coaches are simply “winging” the lesson…and that isn’t very efficient, is it?

Unless you’re paying a high IQ coach to observe and chart your child’s matches, it falls into your match day job description. So why is charting valuable in raising athletic royalty?

Charting discovers your child’s efficiencies and deficiencies. Not only will they assist the coaches in correcting the actual cause of your athlete’s losses, but it is also a great stress buster for you as you sit and watch the matches. Charting also provides facts versus opinions. Charting will help you spot what I call “Reoccurring Nightmares.” These issues tend to show up week after week. The below true story illustrates facts versus opinions.

 

A few years ago I was hired to assist a fourteen-year-old, #1 player in Florida. We pre-set three performance goals before the match versus the older, bigger, stronger opponent. One was to isolate his backhand and serve about 75-80% to that weaker backhand side to control the court.

As I charted the boys 16’s tournament match, an interesting observation kept reoccurring. My student had a decent service motion, nice speed, and spin but kept getting broken. As I charted his serve, I tracked his percentage of serves to the opponent’s terrific forehand versus pitiful backhand. Ironically, this top Floridian kept “feeding the opponents forehand.”  In the 3-6, 3-6 semi-final loss, he served 81% to the opponent’s forehand!

After the match, we went for a smoothly to relax a bit. When he was ready to discuss the match, I asked: “How did you do with isolating his backhand?” “Good” was his reply. Then I asked. “What do you estimate your serving percentages were serving to his backhand versus his forehand?” “Um…I think I served about 80% to his backhand” was his reply. Case and point- athletes often have a very different view of their performance.

 

Nine Different Types of Charts

There are very different types of charts used to identify different issues. You can get as detailed or as basic as you like depending on maturity and ability level…. (And I’m talking about the parent’s…maturity and ability level…haha.) Below are nine different charts that I have designed to spot strengths and weakness.

1) Unforced Error versus Winner Chart

Focus: Is your athlete committing about 6 unforced errors to 10 winners every set like the current National Champions?

2) Serving Percentage Charts

Focus: Are your athletes first serve percentages around 65%?  How often are they serving to the opponent’s strengths or weaknesses?

3) Type of Error Chart

Focus: Where do their errors come from offensive, neutral or defensive? Does your child choose offense when they should be hitting a neutral shot?

4) Cause of Error Charts

Focus: Knowing the cause of the error is the first step in error correction. What was the cause of the error? (Stroke mechanics, shot selection, movement, emotional/focus)

5) Court Positioning Chart

Focus: Where were they standing when their points were won and lost? (Player positioned behind the court versus playing inside the court.)

6) Mega Point Chart

Focus: Spotting the critical game points and then executing the proper pattern is key to winning those close matches. Does your child spot and control the tipping points?

7) Length of Point Chart

Focus: What’s your child’s frustration tolerance level? How many points last 3 balls or less versus points lasting 4 balls or more? Do they win more long or short points?

8) Depth of Groundstroke Chart

Focus: What percentage of your athlete’s groundstrokes land inside the service boxes versus the backcourt? Do they know why “Heavy and high…makes’em cry?”

9) Between Point Ritual Chart

Focus: Most of the time spent in a match is in-between points. How often does your athlete apply critical between point internal and external rituals?

Special Note: Many parents get stuck in a rut of utilizing the exact same chart (paper or app.) I highly recommend utilizing all 9 charts to quantify data.

For those new to charting matches, many parents have found it successful to utilize one chart a month and focus on their athlete’s ability to simply improve a singular performance goal. Be aware that charts will be slightly different depending on the style of opponent your child is facing.

If charting data during your child’s matches isn’t something you are comfortable doing, I suggest hiring an experienced coach to act as your athlete’s tournament traveling coach.

To purchase a PDF copy of the eBook: The Match Chart Collection visit: www.maximizingtennispotential.com (A PDF copy makes it easier to print copies of each chart.)

 


 

Supersize Practice Sessions

Posted on June 24, 2019 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential, The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

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

Frank Giampaolo

QUESTION: How can we help supersize practice sessions?

Frank: Below I have created a checklist of solutions to help Super-Charge Practice Sessions.

  • 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 opponent’s tendencies, tactical changes and between point rituals.

  • Quit being a perfectionist!

Trying 110 percent promotes hesitation, over- thinking and tight muscle contractions. If you must worry about winning, focus on winning about 66 percent of the points. Yes, you can blow some points and allow your opponent a little glory and still win comfortably.

  • 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?

Players must begin to address their issues in dress rehearsals before they can expect them to win under pressure. Playing great under stress is a learned behavior. Practicing under simulated stress conditions is the solution.

“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.”