Tag Archives: elite tennis coaching

Tennis Coaching Nurturing Happiness

Posted on February 12, 2023 by in The Psychology of Tennis Parents

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Nurturing Happiness

 

 

 

“Winning isn’t the way to happiness … Happiness is the way to winning.”


 

Teach Happiness

At the heart of a tennis parent’s job description is to teach happiness. Happier athletes are more likely to play longer, develop deeper skill sets, perform more freely, become successful tennis athletes, and become accomplished adults. Neuroscientists report that just hearing another person laugh triggers mirror neurons in the brain—these mirror neurons insight laughter. Interestingly, to date, Harvard University’s most popular class is a happiness course taught by Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar.

Solution: Parental guidance greatly influences an athlete’s success, especially through modeling – children do what you do and not necessarily what you say. So, if you want to nurture happier athletes, the first step is to show happiness. Focus on the positive and avoid stressing the negative. Your happiness or disappointment affects your athlete tremendously. Joy and laughter are contagious, so laugh with your children daily. There is a time and a place for correction but be sure to lighten the mood on tournament days and enjoy the journey.

MANAGING ACCELERATED LEARNING

Posted on April 26, 2022 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
Available through most online retailers!

 Click Here to Order

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MANAGING ACCELERATED LEARNING

 

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 skill sets 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 needs 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 skill set 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 pre- determined 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 skill set dominate sports.

Discuss Conflict Resolution and Fear of Confrontation

Posted on September 29, 2019 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential, Preparing for Pressure

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s NEW Amazon #1 New Tennis Book Release, Preparing for Pressure.
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Discuss Conflict Resolution and Fear of Confrontation

 

“Solving problems begins by confronting problems.”

When athletes are expected to be the competitor, the score-keeper, the linesman, and the umpire conflicts will exist. “Being judged” can bring out the best and worst in all of us. Often opponents who believe that they don’t have the physical tools to win employ gamesmanship to sabotage their opponent’s level of play. There are many gamesmanship situations that athletes need to be aware of, and it is the job description of the coaching staff to address these scenarios. It is also important to teach them to look systematically beyond the incident.

Often, it is not the specific opponent’s gamesmanship tactic but your player’s response to the drama that causes the emotional break the opponent seeks. Preparing for pressure includes how an athlete responds to confrontational situations and whether or not they can remain focused on their performance goals and avoid unraveling.

Covert gamesmanship in tournament play is also applied when the crafty opponent spots the nonverbal clues found in our athletes’ fear of confrontation. If your athletes have a fear of confrontation, address why standing up for themselves versus enabling the “bully” is in their best interest. Nurturing timid athletes to stand up for themselves improves their confidence as they learn to solve problems.

In the intermediate levels, emotionally weak competitors assume that confrontation is bad. If they disagree, the opponent won’t like them and therefore not want to play with them in the future. This is a false assumption. In tennis, the opposite holds true. Opponents that can easily bully and beat your athlete don’t return their calls. Athletes that stand up to gamesmanship and triumph, not only earn respect, they also benefit by getting to choose their future practice match opponents and doubles partners.

 

Confidence is earned by standing up to conflicts.

Pursue Excellence Versus Perfection

Posted on September 25, 2019 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential, Preparing for Pressure, Preparing for Pressure

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s NEW Amazon #1 New Tennis Book Release, Preparing for Pressure.
Click Here to Order

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Pursue Excellence Versus Perfection

 

“Excellence invigorates…Perfectionism demoralizes.”

Perfectionists are motivated over-achievers pushing themselves to the highest standards. They believe their extra attention to detail and long hours of hard work will produce the perfect athlete who can replicate perfection in every performance. These standards are impossible to meet, so these individuals often get caught in a toxic spiral of failure. Loyal to that nurtured perfectionistic view, they suffer needlessly.

To prepare for pressure, it is in these athletes’ best interest to allow a little wiggle room and shift their impossible goal of consistent perfection to consistent excellence. Excellent performance is attained when an athlete plays close to their current peak performance level throughout tournament play.

Striving for tennis perfection has many drawbacks, such as slow cognitive processing speed which leads to hesitation and tight muscle contractions.  This emotional state produces slow racket head speed and poor risk management due to the fear of failure.

 

Top ATP Professionals such as Federer and Nadal routinely win about 53% of the points they play annually. They make mistakes in each match. They don’t need to be perfect, and neither does your athlete.

 

Managing Tennis Training Time

Posted on September 3, 2019 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential, Preparing for Pressure

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s NEW Amazon #1 New Tennis Book Release, Preparing for Pressure.
Click here to Order

 Preparing final cover 3D

Managing Training Time

“Value isn’t directly correlated to volume.”

Quantity versus quality of training is an underrated affair. Each minute isn’t equal to the next. Effective time management is essential in a deliberate, customized developmental plan. In regards to maximizing a student’s potential at the quickest rate, training should be intensely focused on the individual’s unique needs.

If athletes aren’t getting the results they’re capable of; it may be the perfect time to design a new developmental plan.

I’ve witnessed expensive training sessions ranging from total time-wasting games to fun/socialization, to the development of skills and the repetition of those skills. While they all offer value, mastery of an individual sport requires a tailor-made, personalized plan.

 

Properly preparing for pressure requires evaluating the athlete’s competence and confidence.

The Art & Science of Preparation

Posted on August 22, 2019 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential, Preparing for Pressure

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Preparing for Pressure to be released AUGUST 20th

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The Art & Science of Preparation

 

“Confidence under pressure stems from the individual’s proper preparation.”

Learning how to prepare for competition can be a challenge because it’s so individualized. Before tournament play, it is important to provide athletes with the physical, mental, and emotional skills needed to manage their performance. The depth of their game-day warm-up routine depends greatly on the quality of preparation leading up into the event. Catastrophe strikes when the athlete’s pre-event preparation is less than optimal, and their warm-up is minimal.

Sadly, I hear the following parental statement all too often, “My Jenny takes a half-hour private every 2-weeks, and I drive her all the way to the high school to hit in the hour-long clinic every Tuesday and Thursday. If she gets in the upcoming National, I think she should win the title!”

Of course, high-performance athletes train differently than Jenny. I’ll say it again, preparing for pressure includes: incorporating the perfect storm of strokes, court speed, endurance, proficient strategic patterns, tactics to oppose the various styles of opponents, and performance anxiety busters.

Readiness requires the continuous refining of each skill essential to competing under pressure.

Develop Comfortable Routines & Rituals

Posted on August 20, 2019 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential, Preparing for Pressure

PRE-ORDER SPECIAL

Preparing for Pressure to be released AUGUST 20th

For Click Here to Pre-order ebook through Amazon for only $2.99!

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Develop Comfortable Routines & Rituals

“Preparing for pressure requires making the unknown …a little more known.”

Navy SEAL’s report that they spend approximately 85% of their time preparing for battle and about 15% of their time in combat situations. Their routines and rituals put them in the best possible position to handle extreme pressure. Routines and rituals are found in the four major components of our sport – the development and repetition of strokes, athleticism, mental, and emotional realms.

Simulating stressful scenarios in practice is a daily routine Navy SEAL’s and competitive tennis
players share.

Developing software skills is serious business. Under stress, athletes have to manipulate their software in order for their hardware to function correctly. For example, athletes must know how, when, and why they need to be able to calm down their nervous system to allow their fluid strokes to flow.

 

Poor emotional control can override the best mechanics and strategic intentions.

Managing Training Time

Posted on August 19, 2019 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential, Preparing for Pressure

PRE-ORDER SPECIAL

Preparing for Pressure to be released AUGUST 20th

For Click Here to Pre-order ebook through Amazon for only $2.99!

Preparing final cover 3D

Managing Training Time

“Value isn’t directly correlated to volume.”

Quantity versus quality of training is an underrated affair. Each minute isn’t equal to the next. Effective time management is essential in a deliberate, customized developmental plan. In regards to maximizing a student’s potential at the quickest rate, training should be intensely focused on the individual’s unique needs.

If athletes aren’t getting the results they’re capable of; it may be the perfect time to design a new developmental plan.

I’ve witnessed expensive training sessions ranging from total time-wasting games to fun/socialization, to the development of skills and the repetition of those skills. While they all offer value, mastery of an individual sport requires a tailor-made, personalized plan.

 

Properly preparing for pressure requires evaluating the athlete’s competence and confidence.

Confidence Bias: The False Reality-Part 1

Posted on July 29, 2019 by in Preparing for Pressure

The following post is an excerpt from Preparing for Pressure – my book to be released on August 20th. Click Here to pre-order your copy.

 

Preparing final cover 3D

“Every athlete feels pressure; it is how they’ve been nurtured to deal with it that counts.“

I find athletes are far more willing to groove fundamental strokes than to develop the skills necessary for competition. The often debilitating high-pressure scenario athlete’s face during competition is remedied with deliberate mental and emotional training. Athletes aren’t born competitive tennis experts. Performing their best when they need it the most is nurtured.

The US Navy SEAL’s motto, “We don’t rise to the occasion…we sink to the level of our training,” best describes performing under pressure.

Confidence Bias: The False Reality

“Pre-match over-confidence leads to match-day under-confidence.”

Athletes and parents often have skewed opinions of their competitive skill levels. Is it because Molly, once held her own against a much higher level opponent in a practice set in 2019? Or maybe because Mrs. Johnson watches her son Zack hit beautiful groundstrokes while his coach feeds balls right into his strike zone for the entire lesson. These false leaders cause skewed opinions in parents and athletes.

Confidence bias leads to an inaccurate belief in one’s true competitive skill sets. The concern with over-confidence is that the athlete is positive that they have all the skills necessary to compete supremely without actually ever training those skills. False reality result in devastating losses and blame games. The opposite, under-confidence, bias also wreaks havoc under pressure. Some well-trained athletes suffer from their lack of confidence in competition; harboring unjustified negative beliefs or nurtured undermining pessimistic viewpoints. Either way, their lack of self-esteem seriously affects their performance.

The good news is that with proper software development, false confidence from both the parents and the athlete can be re-wired. Re-routing inner dialog through self-coaching is a great start. Athletes who suffer from confidence bias would be wise to trade in some of their hours grooving groundstrokes and replace them with solution-based software sessions.

Preparing for pressure includes the awareness of the athlete’s confidence bias. Allowing false belief systems leads to future anguish.

  “Come tournament day false confidence sabotages.”

 

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?