Tag Archives: group training

Focusing on Group Training

Posted on July 20, 2015 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential, The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from The Tennis Parent’s Bible.  Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo

Putting Them in the Crowd to Get Ahead of the Crowd?

In my opinion, group clinics, or academies are terrific for intermediate players seeking repetition, socialization and tons of fun. Although it may be cheaper, large group training isn’t always in your best developmental interest.

The top players spend about 20 percent of their time in group situations. Top players at an academy usually are sparing or working with a private coach.  When is that last time you saw a phenom in a large group standing in line to hit one forehand every five minutes?

“To get your child ahead of the crowd, why would you put them in the crowd?”

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
MaximizingTennisPotential.com
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Group Training?

Posted on May 19, 2015 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential, Tennis Parent Education, The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from Blunders and Cure.  Thanks for visiting, Frank GiampaoloBlunders & Cures_final

BLUNDER: Putting Yourself in the Crowd to Get Ahead of the Crowd

In my opinion, group clinics or academies are terrific for intermediate players seeking repetition, socialization, and tons of fun. But, while it may be cheaper, large group training isn’t always in your best developmental interest.

The top juniors spend about 20 percent of their time in group situations. Top players at an academy usually are sparing or working with a private coach. When is that last time you saw a phenom in a large group standing in line to hit one forehand every five minutes?

CURE: Simply doing what everyone else does, will not likely get you ahead.  The key to accelerating your growth is to customize your training to your exact needs.

Ask Yourself?

Am I hitting for hours at an academy and hardly improving?  if I lose while playing a set, do I get sent down to the  loser court? If so, doesn’t that stop me from developing the weaknesses in my game? Lastly, with my current situation, am I getting the results I truly feel I am capable of?

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
MaximizingTennisPotential.com
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Smart Training

Posted on May 2, 2015 by in Raising Athletic Royalty, The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from Blunders and Cures e-booklet.  Week in and week out two of the most common parent question are related to academy enrollment and training schedules.  These blunders are worth repeating. Thanks, FrankBlunders & Cures by Frank Giampaolo

BLUNDER: Putting Yourself in the Crowd to Get Ahead of the Crowd

In my opinion, group clinics or academies are terrific for intermediate players seeking repetition, socialization, and tons of fun. But, while it may be cheaper, large group training isn’t always in your best developmental interest.

The top juniors spend about 20 percent of their time in group situations. Top players at an academy usually are sparing or working with a private coach. When is that last time you saw a phenom in a large group standing in line to hit one forehand every five minutes?

CURE: Simply doing what everyone else does, will not likely get you ahead.  The key to accelerating your growth is to customize your training to your exact needs.

Ask Yourself?

Am I hitting for hours at an academy and hardly improving?  if I lose while playing a set, do I get sent down to the  loser court? If so, doesn’t that stop me from developing the weaknesses in my game? Lastly, with my current situation, am I getting the results I truly feel I am capable of?

Write down your Personal Action Plan:

BLUNDER: Believing Weekly Lessons Are Enough

I teach two players from Los Angeles. Both players come for 2 hours of private lessons each week, but that’s where their similarities end. The players and parents hold opposing views on how to raise a tennis champion. The Johnsons believe that they need to make their 12-year old Kelly 100 percent self-sufficient. Mrs. Johnson says, “It’s up to her to do it, I can’t force her.” As a result, Kelly only hits about two hours a week.

In the other family, Mr. Asari believes that no one gets famous all by themselves. He and his son spend approximately 15 hours on the ball machine, playing practice sets, serving baskets, going for runs, hitting the gym, and watching tennis on TV each week.

Both players get the same 2 hours’ worth of weekly lessons. However, the critical factor in the formula is not the lesson time, but rather what the player chose to do each week around that lesson.

 

CURE: Each week plan to arrange practice matches, ball machine drills, practice serving drills and off court training. Ask your entourage if they can help you reinforce your required developmental plan.

Ask Yourself?

Is your weekly practice schedule more like that of the Johnson’s or the Asari’s? List three things you can do to improve your chances of success.  List three positive people you can enlist to assist?

Thanks Frank !

 

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
MaximizingTennisPotential.com
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Attending a Tennis Academy?

Posted on February 3, 2015 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential

The following post is an excerpt from The Tennis Parent’s Bible.  Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo

A tennis academy has offered us a scholarship. Should we take it? 

This is a touchy subject. Some of my best friends and lifelong business partners run successful academies. I am often presented business plans to open a full time academy, but I am convinced that a new blueprint is needed to ensure that each student is receiving the customized attention he/she deserves. I’ve opened and directed clubs and academies since the mid 1980’s. These include Vic Braden Tennis Colleges, the Rancho San Clemente Tennis Club and the Sherwood Country Club- some of Southern California’s most prestigious clubs. As a result, academies are very familiar territory.

Here are my feelings toward academies in this stage in my coaching career.

The Positive Side:

  1. Academies provide a terrific social environment for the players. The players can hang out with their peers of both genders.
  2. Players can experience the bonding of a team versus the individualism the sport often requires.
  3. A few top players receive free t-shirts, bags and sweats with the academies logo. Other players may receive a discount.
  4. Academies provide a convenient one-stop shop for parents. In essence, the parents can rely on others to organize and develop their child’s career.
  5. Academies should provide plenty of free hitting, off- court training options and match play for the motivated individuals.
  6. Live ball sparring. Players grow from the daily battle.
  7. Academies get players good. How good? With the rare exception, most attendees advance to high school varsity, top sectionally ranked and/or NCAA to Division 2-3 level college ball.
  8. A fact is that most juniors are not truly interested in putting the hard work it requires to be a national champion. They are hobbyist. In that situation, academies could be the right choice. Remember, tennis is a terrific hobby.
  9. Players experience many different coaches and coaching styles.

 

SPECIAL NOTE: If your child is ranked higher than most players in the academy, you may be able to negotiate attending for FREE in exchange for attracting paying customers to the program. Also, some academies give every attendee a price break thus giving everyone a partial scholarship. That is, if you pay up front! Folks, that’s marketing 101.

 

The Negative Side:

  1. Most academies recruit their top players AFTER a quality teacher has developed the student’s skills.
  2. The paying customer should receive instruction equal to that given to the elite superstars, that attend for FREE. Unfortunately, in some cases, the experienced coaches are busy working privately with the non-paying super stars and NOT with your child.
  3. In the higher levels of high performance tennis, detailed customization of the lesson plans are required. For example, if a player has holes in their transition game, sending them down to court #6 to get in line with the rest of the group and hit forehands and backhands may not be in the student’s best interest.
  4. Paying customers do not progress at the quickest rate. Often they have to win to move up into the “higher” level courts. This forces the junior to choose outcome goals over performance goals. This means they avoid building their new weapons as they choose to use their old comfortable “flawed strokes” to try to win. This behavior stalls the exact progression you seek.
  5. A great young talent positioned in an unsupervised setting will often learn how to goof off, throw their racquet, waist time, go for low percentage shots, over hit, and give half effort.
  6. Often inexpensive overworked introductory coaches are employed to oversee the paying customers.

FUN FACT: In the last decade, most park & rec’s, high school courts, apartment complex, college courts, country club and city facility have changed the name of their after school junior tennis program to an academy. It sounds more official, doesn’t it?

Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo

Contact: frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
www.MaximizingTennisPotential.com
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