The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis.
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A Great Replacement Tip:
Occasionally trade in the old school, pre-hit stretching routine with an upbeat dance-off. Turn up the tunes and watch athletes laugh their guts out while they dynamically stretch their bodies. Trust me, even if they arrive tired, stressed, or negative, as they let go, they’ll dance their worries away, and you’ll have 25 kids with 25 huge smiles!
A positive mindset is a precursor to a meaningful session. Parents, the preceding replacement solution also works wonders at home as a way to motivate the family to seek optimism.
“An exceptional culture creates the positive attitude and mindset that promotes growth strategies,
which in turn sustains excellence in competition.”
It’s important to note that despite the student’s inherent athletic ability, level of play, or commitment to the game, each student deserves the same sports science data, focus, and energy as a high performer. In fact, providing a rich culture of mentoring is precisely how average performers blossom into the high-performance category.
Over the past few years, I conducted an informal study on the culture of tennis facilities throughout my travels around the world. I came to some very predictable conclusions:
The programs with a positive culture were monitored and often reviewed by the owners. They were optimistic by design, and as a result, they achieved thriving, positive environments. They attracted top players organically via their triumphant athletes and their satisfied parents. They also acquired disgruntled clients from the negative cultured programs. As a result, the programs with a positive culture retained athletes up to three times as long as their problem-oriented rivals.
The programs with a problem-oriented drill Sargent culture struggled to keep coaches, to keep students, and to pay the rent. As a result, they had to partake in serious recruiting, sales, and marketing just to keep their doors open.
