Tag Archives: elite tennis coach Frank Giampaolo

Eliminating Internal Judgment- Part 3

Posted on September 15, 2021 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential, The Soft Science of Tennis

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis.

Click Here to Order through Amazon

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How to Strengthen Self Coaching Solution # 3:
Positive Inner Dialog

The third method of conquering the athlete’s negative inner dialog is through positive self-coaching with Neuro Priming. It is estimated that individuals have roughly 60,000 thoughts per day. Trading in a turbulent mental state for a relaxed, calming proactive state is essential.

What is Neuro Priming and why is it an essential addition to an athlete’s preparation? Neuro Priming is the science of preprogramming the athlete’s inner trust in their match solutions.

Mental rehearsals customize each athlete’s positive inner dialog by organizing their physical, mental, and emotional solutions into audio recordings in their voice. Listening to one’s inner dialog audio tapes increases tennis IQ, reprograms old pessimistic beliefs, changes negative behaviors, speeds up the learning process, increases focus, assists the athletes in quickly fixing stroke flaws, staying on their script of patterns, coping with stress, nervousness and the fear of failure. Neuro Priming isn’t meant to replace on-court physical training; its purpose is to enhance it. It’s self-coaching at its best. (Visit #1 Best Seller on Amazon: Neuro Priming for Peak Performance, Giampaolo).

 

How to Strengthen Self Coaching Solution #4:
Identifying Internal Obstacles

Looking deeper into competitive success brings us to a fourth method, which is assisting athletes by identifying their internal obstacles. Although losing to a more experienced player stings a bit, losing to a toad because you have self-destructed is much more harrowing. The secret to conquering one’s inner demons stems from understanding the importance of self-coaching. It is essential to master self-coaching with positive inner dialog by exchanging judgmental tirades with calming routines and rituals.

 

“Overcoming internal obstacles is more satisfying at a deeper level than beating a top seed.”

 

Athletes perform best when they are not excessively judged or overly concerned about the outcome ramifications. Having outcome goals is fine, as long as their focus is on the process. To continually stay process-minded is the backbone of successful inner dialog. What influences athletes most in their toughest moments is their mental commentary. A healthy mindset orchestrates a positive attitude, belief, and effort. So, what is competitive success? Competitive success is performing at one’s peak performance level set after set; the optimum victory for any athlete.

 

Eliminating Internal Judgment- Part 2

Posted on September 7, 2021 by in The Soft Science of Tennis

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis.

Click Here to Order through Amazon

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How to Strengthen Self Coaching Solution#1:
Video Analysis

One method of combating the athlete’s negative self-dialog begins with videotaping tournament matches and providing non-hitting match play video analysis. This process accesses the specific stressful environment that needs to be studied.

As the high IQ coach quantifies the match data alongside the athlete, I recommend identifying how the athlete’s inner dialog helped or hurt their performance.  Were they able to self-coach successfully?  When providing match play analysis, remember to apply the five optimistic comments for every one pessimistic statement. Following are video analysis topics the athlete and coach would be wise to discuss.

Match Play Video Analysis

  • Strokes & Movement Efficiencies & Deficiencies
  • Anticipatory Efficiencies & Deficiencies
  • Staying on Script. (Top 7 Patterns)
  • Opponent Profiling
  • Between Point & Change-Over Rituals & Routines
  • Emotional Control
  • Focus Control
  • Cause of Errors
  • Court Positioning Cause & Effect
  • Score Management

Athletes who are trained to monitor their emotions and inner dialog via post-match video analysis are much more likely to become aware of the software complexities of competition.

 

How to Strengthen Self Coaching Solution #2:
Judgments through Comparisons

Judgmental thoughts typically stem from past or future thought comparisons. Typical thoughts of comparison in the heat of battle include, “Jason beat this dude. I can’t lose, I’ve got to prove I’m better than Jason,” “Kristin is ranked below me, and if I lose today, she’ll take my spot on the team,” “What are my parents and coaches going to say if I lose?” “Here I go…Choking again!”

Judgmental thoughts play havoc in the minds of our competitive athletes every day. Athletes in competition, with judgmental comparison thoughts, contaminate the match play process, which results in fighting two opponents, simultaneously- their negative thoughts and the real opponent.

Advanced athletes seeking better results often don’t have to learn more technical skills; they have to shift their attention to developing better self-communication skills. Keep in mind that the athlete’s inner voice will be with them long after they stop competing on the tennis court. Isn’t it worth the time to assist them in developing their lifelong self-coaching tools? Winning is much more likely when our athletes understand the art of self-coaching.

Eliminating Internal Judgment- Part 1

Posted on September 5, 2021 by in The Soft Science of Tennis

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis.

Click Here to Order through Amazon

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Eliminating Internal Judgment

 

My neighbor, Pete, owns Pete’s Home Repair Specialist. He’s a super friendly independent contractor. Due to his excellent soft science personal skills, Pete’s always in high demand.  His decades of experience have taught him that detailed preparation prevents poor performance. Pete’s truck is like an encyclopedia of tools organized by alphabet and ready for action. Though Pete doesn’t need all of his tools at every job, he brings every tool, just in case he needs it.

This analogy is very similar to a high-performance tennis player’s tool belt. In matches, they may not need to employ every skill set developed in their tool belt, but they do need to have primary and secondary strokes ready for competition, as well as multiple patterns and plays developed and prepared to be accessed if needed. Life skills, such as preparation improve the athlete’s confidence, inner dialogue, and of course, solution-based self-coaching skills.

 

“In the heat of battle, the voice inside each athlete is their driving force.”

 

In match play, an athlete’s internal dialog is their self-coaching. Internal dialog is the conversation their ego is having with themselves. Athletes have a habitual way they choose to navigate their matches. When they see competition in a negative light, their internal dialog is dark. Conversely, when they “see pressure as a privilege,” to quote Billy Jean King, their self-coaching is more positive, uplifting, and optimistic. The question is: Where did the athlete learn their internal dialog mantras?

An athlete’s negative, problem-oriented inner dialog sabotages their performance by interfering with their quiet mind. To some athletes, negative inner dialog spirals them into a self-defeating, under-arousal state. To others, it pushes them into a panicked, over-arousal state. Both are detrimental to performance. As I mentioned earlier, an athlete’s non-stop inner dialogue is either helping or hurting their performance. Intermediate athletes are known to sabotage their play by criticizing themselves, worrying about losing, and inventing post-match catastrophic conclusions during competition.

Building Coachable Athletes – Part 2

Posted on August 30, 2021 by in The Soft Science of Tennis

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis.

Click Here to Order through Amazon

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Is Your Athlete Un-Coachable?

A gifted but un-coachable athlete is every coach’s nightmare. The un-coachable athlete displays the following symptoms: showing up late for practice and lacking personal commitment, passion, and real effort. These athletes routinely play the blame game, roll their eyes at constructive feedback, and are close-minded to improvement. Un-coachable athletes spend the majority of their training sessions defending their poor choices and creating drama.

 

“Some athletes cling desperately to bad form because they have spent years developing it.”

Being committed to one’s emotional development isn’t a genetic predisposition, it is a learned behavior nurtured by intelligent parents and coaches. Changing a talented yet un-coachable athlete into a coachable athlete takes great emotional aptitude from both the parents and coach.

Improving an athlete’s software (coach-ability) is often a prerequisite for real learning, quicker growth, and maximizing potential. I believe great coaches and parents have to facilitate coach-ability. They have to convince the athlete that change is good, which is key because learning begins with change and change begins with learning.

Emotional modification begins with the athlete being open and honest enough to develop a humble and respectful attitude, competitive drive, and willingness to learn. It includes gratefulness that a coach cares enough and is willing to tackle the unpleasantries of the task. Teaching discipline, accountability, and responsibility is a very different job description than teaching a topspin backhand.

Building Coachable Athletes- Part 1

Posted on August 26, 2021 by in The Soft Science of Tennis

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis.

Click Here to Order through Amazon

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Building Coachable Athletes

 

During a seminar, I conducted at The Wingate Sports Institute in Tel Aviv, Israel an attending woman’s volleyball coach raised her hand and asked me a great question: How does one discover their true potential? I responded, whether you’re coaching, parenting, or playing your chosen sport, realize that you’re only one decision away from going up a level. The choice to avoid risk is what holds most of us back. Even before we attempt an endeavor, fear of the unknown forces most of us to retreat our efforts.

In psychology, it’s called the Spotlight Effect. The brain hesitates when it perceives there’s going to be a problem. We are hardwired to avoid pain and hardship whether it be physical, mental, or emotional.  It’s easy to slide back and continue the same old comfortable routines, but “easy” only produces average results. Tennis coaches and players habitually choose to groove another basket of balls versus shifting their focus to the actual needs of the player (cause of losses). Why? It’s far less painful.

What’s holding us back is changing our decisions to taking risks versus routinely avoiding risks. Unpredictability and uncertainty should be seen as positive gatekeepers. I recommend moving towards those feelings versus running away from them. We all have an affinity for our habits. All too often we stay too long with those habits not because they’re productive but because we’re loyal to them.

A new relationship to anything may appear risky, but truth be told, it’s often riskier to remain in an ineffective environment. The real danger lies in stagnation. We instinctively know that around the world, opponents are training smarter, faster, and more efficiently. Remaining in our comfort zone will only leave us behind the competition. To our detriment, our brains will try to sabotage any and all attempts at doing anything uncomfortable. I recommend shifting focus from the negative attitude of “what could go wrong” to the positive attitude of “what could go right.”

Whose responsibility is it to teach coachability? The typical response from a parent is, “I assume my child’s coaches are teaching life skills…right?” Ask a coach and the response is, “Teaching life skills are the responsibility of the parents. They’re paying me to teach their child strokes.” Ideally, these core values are the result of everyone involved in the athlete’s development, with the parents playing the decisive role. Providing children with the opportunity to take responsibility and instill accountability at an early age is not only an essential skill set for coach-ability but a vital life skill. Communication and independent problem-solving skills are the foundations of coachability.

 

“Two core software skills champions need most are millisecond decision making and problem-solving skills. Both of which,
are not commonly found in standardized drilling.”

Overriding Negative Past Belief Systems -Part 4

Posted on August 24, 2021 by in The Soft Science of Tennis

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis.

Click Here to Order through Amazon

 

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The following is a list of positive personality traits that I suggest nurturing on a daily basis.

  • A “Can Do” Optimistic Attitude
  • A Growth Mindset
  • Confidence, Belief, and Self-Worth
  • Positive Inner Dialog
  • Positive Outer Dialog and Interactions
  • Managing Perfectionism
  • Applying Affirmations to Re-Trigger the Subconscious
  • Visualizing Motivational Forces
  • Maintaining a Positive Physiology
  • Bringing an Enthusiastic Spirit Everywhere

In my experience, far too many gifted athletes don’t thrive at the elite level because they lack a well-developed positive belief system.

 

My daughter started playing tennis seriously at the age of 10. Every lesson, every day, every week I said to her as we would pick up tennis balls “Sarah, you’re going to be playing the US Open if you keep training like this! Way to go!” Sarah played her first US Open at 15 years of age. Developing the personality traits of a champion doesn’t replace training, it enhances it. At crunch time, it’s all about the athlete’s inner dialog. They’re going to convince themselves that they can or can’t, and either way, they’re usually right.

 

At tournament sites, I routinely listen to the parent’s dialog after the loss of their junior competitor. “You had’em again Kelly… you blew it.” Well, guess what Kelly’s new inner dialog is in future tight matches? “Come on… please don’t blow it again…you always blow it!” While poor parenting sent the initial message, Kelly is now both the sender and receiver of this ongoing, catastrophic message. Breaking this cycle of a negative inner dialog is life-changing. A key component in peak performance is a positive inner dialog.

It is worth repeating, that when it comes to self-coaching in competition, every athlete has a choice in dialog, to be self-encouraging, or to be self-defeating. Far too often I witness athletes surprised that they’re encountering hardships in tournament play. Thriving in competition is all about one’s ability to expect hardships versus being surprised by them and of course, choosing a healthy response system.

 

“Positive personality traits program productive solutions. Negative personality traits produce unproductive excuses.”

 

The good news is that even if an athlete has programmed negative belief systems from early adolescence, it can be changed. Well-informed parents and coaches are typically the most influential adult figures and are positioned to help quiet the athlete’s inner critic. Our daily messages become their inner voice.

 

For the technical coaching guru’s reading this, I get it. If an athlete has no forehand, backhand, serve, or volley but a great attitude, they’re just going to be a happy loser. I’m not suggesting to train the athlete’s software instead of their hardware; I’m saying train the software along with the hardware to maximize potential and increase competitive dominance.

 

Overriding Negative Past Belief Systems- Part 3

Posted on August 21, 2021 by in The Soft Science of Tennis

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis.

Click Here to Order through Amazon

 

 

Destroying Negative Past Beliefs

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Educate Choices

The old saying is “It’s not the event that shapes us, it’s how we choose to view it.” After competition, it is not healthy to focus on everything the athlete did wrong. Growth-minded individuals choose to focus on opportunities that lead to physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual growth.

 

Replace Negative Perceptions with Positive Affirmations

Past and present pessimistic beliefs shape an athlete’s current opinions. List their negative perceptions and discuss where they originated.  Then assist the athlete in rewriting their inner dialog with positive versions to reprogram the athlete’s beliefs. Coaches, parents, and athletes, please realize that overriding and rewiring a pessimistic outlook is a very doable task given time and patience.

 

Educate Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive dissonance refers to the athlete’s inconsistent opposing thoughts and beliefs. It’s the natural mental discomfort or psychological stress that comes with change. Replacing an old belief with a new belief is similar to reprogramming a flawed stroke. Typically, it takes 4-6 weeks for the new motor program to override the old flawed stroke. At the beginning of the metamorphosis, the athlete owns two opposite belief systems, the old and the new. The older more comfortable version will initially overtake and resist the new. This inner war should be explained to any student suffering from their past negatives beliefs.

The time it takes to replace their disempowering belief with their new empowering belief is customized to the time and effort the individual puts into the metamorphosis. Some athletes will choose to speed up the optimistic priming process with hours of neuro priming per week, while other less committed athletes may only choose to set aside one hour a week. Obviously, the time dedicated to the project dictates the speed and effectiveness of the transformation.

 

Neuro Priming the New Belief System

Together the parent/coach and athlete should sit down and list the benefits of the new optimistic belief system. The athlete should be encouraged to read their list of positive affirmations list into their voice recorder app on their cell phone and listen to their recordings nightly to Neuro Prime (visualize and mentally rehearse) their optimistic beliefs. Negative past beliefs can be destroyed and replaced. Optimistic beliefs begin with the athletes vividly imagining themselves performing to perfection in competition. Persistence is key as the new empowering beliefs gain control and the disempowering beliefs die out.

 

“Thought patterns shape our lives and help or hinder athletic performance.”

 

Overriding my negative past beliefs 32 years ago contributed significantly to my change and success as a teacher, author, and human being. Re-conditioning a negative athlete is one of the most satisfying experiences a coach will ever experience.

 

Once the athlete becomes aware of their limiting perceptions, and they choose to destroy their negative inner dialog, they will recognize the unnecessary pain that has been holding them back. It’s incredibly gratifying to witness a struggling athlete blossom into a confident, optimistic, happier person.

While coaches and even some parents routinely spot flawed strokes, most allow their athlete’s negative self-dialog to go unchecked. Overriding the athletes past pessimistic belief systems is a critical function in The Soft Science of Tennis.

 

Perception Awareness

Often, athletes listen to that little pessimistic voice inside their brain all day long. This internal conversation programs their attitude, effort, and of course, their match behavior. In this case, shifting attention from stroke adjustments to an attitude adjustment is mandatory. Erasing by replacing negative voices with positive ones is essential.

 

“In the heat of battle, positive versus negative internal dialog is what often separates the winners from losers.”

 

Overriding Negative Past Belief Systems-Part 2

Posted on August 19, 2021 by in The Soft Science of Tennis

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis.

Click Here to Order through Amazon

Reprogramming a Negative Athletes Brainfrank

It’s within the parent’s and coach’s job description to help change the way negative personalities see themselves and the world around them. Often, like my younger self; athletes harbor past oppressive patterns of belief. These false beliefs are their perceptions of the truth and they are often based on the distorted knowledge that is likely holding them back.

Negative believers typically have a fixed mindset versus a growth mindset. Fixed mindset individuals stubbornly believe that individuals can’t really grow, learn and improve. A common false fixed mindset belief is “Some are born with it… some just aren’t.”

Psychologists refer to the subconscious knowledge (negative thoughts) we form as young children as conditioned beliefs. These pessimistic beliefs are developed with the help of parents, friends, social media, teachers, coaches, and society. All of these influencers mold the athlete’s thoughts and actions. Without a conscious effort to question whether or not these beliefs are helpful, many children unknowingly take these conditioned beliefs into adulthood.

Believing the negative perceptions of others can destroy an athlete’s inner belief (dialog) and override intelligent self-coaching under stressful match conditions. Negative past beliefs become the athlete’s self-fulfilling prophecy. Athletes young and old often believe what their authority figure tells them, such as:

  • You’re not talented enough.
  • You’re not smart enough.
  • You lost in your first three events. Try another sport.
  • You’re too short; you’re too slow.
  • You’re too young; you’re too old.

It is essential that parents, coaches, and mentors learn to teach optimism, regardless of their personal conditioned beliefs to maximize the potential in their children and athletes. Though not every athlete is capable of or may not even desire to become a high-performance player, it is essential that every athlete is given the opportunity a growth mindset affords. When nurtured correctly, one day these children will be able to influence others positively.

Why Character Building Matters- Part 4

Posted on July 23, 2021 by in The Soft Science of Tennis

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis.

Click Here to Order through Amazon

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“You need to develop a thick skin” is a common mantra for strong character building. It’s an effective defense to the critics. Trust me, the most common way you know you’re rising above the crowd is when others begin to trash-talk and criticize you solely because of their petty jealousy. If athletes aren’t able to take criticism, they should stay home, lie on the couch and stop improving immediately!”

 

In regards to character, actions speak louder than words. Parents and coaches need to remember that they are modeling character and that their actions have a more significant impact than their words. It is the role of parents and coaches to create a positive environment for ideal character building. Build character and lead by example:

  • It’s cool to be kind so choose kindness.
  • Vulnerability is a courageous character trait and not a weakness. So embrace vulnerability.
  • Share successes and failures. Share your story as a learning tool.
  • Laugh and joke as you apply humor to your daily training sessions.
  • Give credit to others for your success.
  • Compliment others daily on everything and anything.

 

“Invest more time and energy in your positive character building, and you’ll witness your athletes
modeling positive behavior.”

Coaching Brain Type Performance- Part 8

Posted on July 9, 2021 by in The Soft Science of Tennis

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis.

Click Here to Order through Amazon

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ENFJ: Extrovert Intuitive Feeler Judger

 

Challenge: ENFJ’s are often a bit naive and idealistic. They struggle when the competition gets tense, and confrontation arises. This brain design enjoys the socialization and athleticism of the game but gets disillusioned when unnecessary emotional drama comes into play. They can shut down and disassociate themselves under pressure.

Solution: Since confrontation is at the heart of competition, it’s wise to educate the ENFJ students to get comfortable in uncomfortable situations. Role play formulas to assist your athletes in making peace with nurturing the alpha competitor inside. Practice sessions should include rehearsing protocols against opponents who hook, flip the score, stall or intimidate these athletes.

 

Challenge: Due to their EF traits, ENFJ brain designs are emotional competitors. On the upside, these charismatic leaders are typically witnessed cheering for their friends and teammates. However, in their own competition, ENFJ’s can quickly turn negative.

Solution: This design also needs more than their fair share of encouragement. Coaches in tune with the emotional components of athletes should realize that this squeaky wheel NEEDS the grease. Meaning, it’s often the givers who need the parents and teaching pro’s approval, praise and positive affirmations just as much as the more demanding, pessimistic students.

 

 

Challenge: When coaching FJ’s, it’s important to note that they’re often highly sensitive to disapproval. Being proven wrong in their decisions doesn’t sit lightly for J types.

Solution: To maintain their high level of self-esteem, a trick of the trade is to use reverse psychology in your teaching. For example, if the ENFJ’s still tossing the ball too high on their serve, replace “Geez Joey, I’ve told you 100 times… toss slightly above the peak of your reach!” with “Nice Joey!  You’re starting to get the apex of the toss right above your strike zone. You must have lowered your toss 3 feet!” Of course, Joey didn’t lower his toss yet but guess who’s more likely to improve his toss and whose ego won’t plummet by being proven wrong?

 

Challenge: While this J type is usually keenly organized, under match day stress, they perform primarily within their NF functions. I’ve witnessed countless times that ENFJ’s play from the gut. NF’s who abort their preset script of proactive patterns and choose to go off script usually end up making reckless shot selections.

Solution: Educate the athlete to understand that winning stems from practicing in the manner in which they are expected to perform and then to perform in the manner in which they have been practicing. Remaining on script is critical because it provides them with opportunities to do what they do best at crunch time.