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
