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Tennis Rudimentary Anticipation

Posted on June 8, 2023 by Frank Giampaolo in Maximizing Tennis Potential

The Psychology of Tennis Parenting
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Rudimentary Anticipation

Anticipatory speed is one of the mental components that we need to teach much earlier. Anticipation is linked to cause and effect. It is based on the understanding that each shot hit in a match has finite responses from the opponent across the net. Experience gives athletes feedback, and the athletes who pay attention mentally log those responses. The mentally tough players log their winning and losing trends into their memory, which they use to anticipate where the ball will likely be in the future.

The more matches your athlete plays, the more they can apply subconscious programming. Because there are only milliseconds between shots in tennis, our athletes need recognition by intuition. There isn’t sufficient time to analyze the situation and set the proper shot selections and motor programs into play. Athletes build memory logs of data and feedback. Once the experience of going through similar events takes place, anticipation is applied.

Solution: Parents and coaches would be wise to start to develop their young athlete’s anticipatory skills at an early age with this rudimentary three-step process. (Examples are assuming both athletes are right-handed)

Returning Serves: Be mindful of the opponent’s ball toss. When they toss out in front to the right, the serve is most likely to go to your athlete’s right, which is their forehand. If the opponent tosses back over their head, to their left, it’s most likely going to your athlete’s backhand.
Rallies: Pay close attention to the opponent’s strike zone. A waste-level ball is typically hit with an offensive drive. A low, sock-level strike zone is often a slice reply. A head-level strike zone stroke usually falls short.
Volleys: Be aware that a high, shoulder-level volley is typically hit with pace and cross-court. An opponent’s low volley is usually a drop volley.
Identify Offensive, Neutral and Defensive Situations: Opponents who commit fewer unforced errors play high-percentage tennis. They do this by understanding zonal tennis and attempting to hit the shot the moment demands.

Once these foundational anticipatory clues are established, ask your athlete to log match clues between point routines and changeover rituals.

Run Toward the Fire

Posted on May 29, 2023 by Frank Giampaolo in Maximizing Tennis Potential

The Psychology of Tennis Parenting
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Run Toward the Fire

Tennis players that rise to the occasion in those pressure-packed finals have courage and confidence in themselves and their training. These athletes tackle problems head-on and cope with the hardships of the sport in an unstressed fashion. Developing mental and emotional strength is essential for long-term tennis goals. Share with your athlete this analogy.

Ask them to think of themselves as a firefighter. Firefighters walk into the fire versus running away from it. Regarding your athlete’s fears, I recommend asking them to do the same. It’s human nature to avoid scary situations, so you’ll have to show your athlete how to face fears. If your child avoids difficult moments like closing out a set versus a better player, they’ll crumble in those moments unless they are trained to regulate their emotional state. Does this require exposure to the stressor or avoidance?

Solution: Athletes who thrive under pressure replace their mechanical thoughts like how they are hitting their forehand, backhand, serve and volley with focusing on emotional essentials such as managing momentum, maintaining intensity, focusing on the here and now, and retaining their positive mindset.

While solid strokes get the athlete into the events, the additional software skills enable them to hold up another trophy.

Self-Sabotage

Posted on May 24, 2023 by Frank Giampaolo in Maximizing Tennis Potential

The Psychology of Tennis Parenting
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“Run Towards Winning Versus Running Away from Losing.”

Self-Sabotage

Self-sabotage is an “inside job.” If your athlete is their own worst enemy in competition, the issue likely lies in the relationship between your athlete’s conscious and subconscious mind. The conscious mind is the analytical, neurotic part of each athlete’s personality. It wants to help so badly that it causes problems. The issues occur because the conscious mind is constantly editing and evaluating every aspect of the performance. It is rarely possible to get into the zone and stay in that flow state if the athlete is editing too much during competition. You see, great competitors apply effortless effort. Meaning they’re putting out effort without the worry.

The subconscious mind is easygoing. It trusts the fact that it has performed these routines thousands of times. It’s the automatic pilot relaxed performer. Gifted athletes choke and panic at the most inopportune times because their conscious mind is overthinking and worrying about the possibility of future failure. This catastrophic way of thinking becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Stressing out about the possibility of future failure causes dopamine and adrenaline to flood the body systems as fear and muscle tension take center stage. Too many of these released hormones hijack an athlete’s brain.

Solution: Remind your athlete that it’s a privilege to be able to play tennis. Worrying about the outcome brings unwanted visitors through the conscious judgmental mind. Ask your athlete to observe their performance and make adjustments without judging. Before competition, preset solutions to possible future problems. Accepting an excellent performance versus a perfect performance is a great start to distressing an athlete. Great performances are born in inner silence.

Did You Win?

Posted on April 15, 2023 by Frank Giampaolo in Maximizing Tennis Potential, The Psychology of Tennis Parenting

The Psychology of Tennis Parenting
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Did You Win?

It is incredible how much self-inflicted contamination is created daily by parents and junior tennis players. Here is a prime example: what is the worst question parents can ask after practice sets or a match? The answer was, “Did you win?” Now guess what the most common question parents ask after practice sets or a match is? You guessed it, “Did you win?”

Parents need to replace an outcome obsession with improvement questions like: “Did you perform well today?” Remind your athlete that their real competition is in their mirror, and the only person they have to beat is the person they were last week. Asking your athlete, “Did you win?” pulls them away from focusing on their daily improvement goals and towards outcome goals because of the need for your love and approval. Athletes stressed about proving their worth to their parents are not free to focus on improving their untrustworthy skills. Athletes in this “winning is everything.” mindset only applies the comfortable skills they already own, not to disappoint their parents. This behavior stunts the growth parents seek.

Solution: Exchange the “Did you win?” question with performance-based inquiries. Another typical tennis parent blunder is booking their athletes into practice sets with higher-ranked players and then being crazy upset when their child does not win. Practice sets are learning tools to strengthen your athlete’s match play skills and identify those skills that are not ready for prime time.

If the parent is constantly in need of wins and a shelf full of plastic trophies, schedule sets with lower-ranked individuals and only register your child into low-level event.

Life Skills Through Tennis

Posted on March 30, 2023 by Frank Giampaolo in Maximizing Tennis Potential

The truth is, most often, sports don’t teach life skills; they expose them. Competition reveals underdeveloped life skills; the athlete has to be taught how to improve that individual skill set.

If you’re paying a technical coach to fix stroke mechanics, please don’t assume they’re teaching your kids life skills. The common misconception is that your child’s coaches are teaching those critical abilities. Most often, parents assume that the coaches are educating life skills, and the coaches assume that the parents are teaching them. Guess what? No one is.

Solution: Psychosocial competence or life skills are abilities and behaviors that enable athletes to deal with the demands and challenges of competition on and off the tennis court. Be mindful of who’s developing the character traits of your child daily. The type of individual your child becomes is dictated by who is nurturing them.

PERFORMANCE ANXIETIES IN TENNIS-PART 1

Posted on August 4, 2022 by Frank Giampaolo 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!

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PERFORMANCE ANXIETIES

“Juniors need to understand that during matches, negative emotions come and go like flights landing and taking off from an airport. They can choose to hop on the looney flight or simply let it take off without them.”

During match play, negative emotions reveal fear and insecurity, while positive emotions reveal confidence and control. The ability to control one’s emotions is a critical high performance skill. Emotional intelligence is a learned behavior.

“Emotional Development is just as important as stroke development.”

Below, I’ve listed four categories of common performance anxiety symptoms. If you suspect that your child’s fear of competition, confrontation or adversity is affecting their performance, it may be time to gather the coaches for an emotional training session. Ask your child to check any below symptoms that they feel describes them on match day. Design a new action plan to overcome each issue.

Match Day Symptoms

Physical Symptoms:

Shallow, fast breathing
Increased muscle tension throughout the body
Increased perspiration
Feeling dizzy and weak in the knees
Feeling that your body is on the court but your mind is somewhere else

Mental Symptoms:

Inability to focus one point at a time
Over thinking (choking)
Under thinking (panicking)
Reoccurring thoughts of failure
Worrying about others opinions of their performance
Obsessing about others rankings & successes

Emotional Symptoms:

Self-doubt in strokes as seen in “pushing”
Self-doubt in stamina & strength as seen in reckless shot selection (to end points prematurely)
Nervousness, hesitation & fearful performance
Stressing about uncontrollable variables
Not taking the time to enjoy the moment

Behavioral Symptoms:

Not performing match day routines & rituals
Hurrying & fast pace walking
Having mini tantrums, racket cracking or mindless fast walking/play
Forgetting the basic ball striking functions
Allowing the opponent or situation to control your playing speeds

NEGATIVE PARENTAL BEHAVIORS TO AVOID

Posted on March 14, 2022 by Frank Giampaolo 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
Available through most online retailers!

Click Here to Order

NEGATIVE PARENTAL BEHAVIORS TO AVOID

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Listed below are common negative behaviors of an athlete’s parent.

Problem Tennis Parent Attributes Checklist:

Unrealistic assessment of their child’s level.
Unrealistic expectations.
Over emphasizing winning and rankings.
Coaching their children without coaching credentials.
Coddling and pampering the child too much.
Pushing the children into playing tennis.
Frequently discusses the financial burden of tennis in front of the athlete.
Assisting the coach in coaching during their child’s lessons.
Placing their needs and motives above their child.
Allowing their mood to mirror their child’s outcome.
Refusing to allow the athlete to make any decisions.
Neglecting to apply the periodization training method.
Becoming negative or violent when success is not achieved.
Unrealistic scheduling.
Critiquing and or blaming the coach after their child’s loss.
Failing to follow a deliberate customized developmental plan.
Expecting their part time coach to handle all the child’s full time needs.
Criticizing the child’s performance and skills in front of the child.
Neglecting to observe new coaches in action before hiring them.
Unaware of the importance of brain typing or body typing in their child’s development.
Living vicariously through their child’s success.

If you’re not sure whether your tennis parenting attitude is positive or a bit too negative simply ask your athlete. They’ll have a pretty darn good clue.