Tag Archives: junior tennis

Managing Accelerated Learning

Posted on December 9, 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

MANAGING ACCELERATED LEARNING

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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 skillsets 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 need 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 skillset 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 predetermined 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 skillset dominate sports.

Game Day Emotional Train Wrecks?

Posted on May 8, 2019 by in Customized Organizational Plan, 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 NOW available through most online retailers!  Click Here to Order

QUESTION: What causes my son’s game day emotional train wrecks?Frank Giampaolo

Frank: All too often, it’s the little preparation failures such as a lack of routines and rituals that cause catastrophic game day failures. To understand preparation failures, let’s sneak a peek into my friend John’s world:

John needs to lose weight- but he can’t seem to find consistent success. His weight goes up and down and it’s a direct result of his of routines and rituals. One week he scheduled morning breakfast at IHOP with a “Grand Slam Breakfast” and then returned home and sat in front of the computer for four hours, then broke for a fast food lunch followed by four more hours of sitting behind a computer and then met friends for dinner…John preset weight loss failure with excessive calories and no physical activity. With those behaviors in place, weight gain was sure to follow.

Now let’s look at the routines and rituals of a different week. In this week John woke up and drank a green veggie concoction for breakfast, hit the gym and ate a salad for lunch, followed by four hours of training on the tennis court and a healthy dinner. These are weight loss behaviors and these daily mini successes will result in consistent weight loss. It is not rocket science…it is just hard work.

 

The same type of scenario plays out with most junior athletes. Unfortunately, many juniors believe they’re doing everything right but under closer inspection, they’re almost always “way off” target.  In sports, match day failures stem from the dozens of smaller preparation failures.

NOTE: Keep in mind that losses are not necessarily failures.  If a player is performing in the manner in which they have been trained, they may have just been outplayed.

As an example of poor rituals and routines, let’s look at a comment from a tennis parent prior to our Customized Evaluation Session with her daughter Jenny.  Mrs. Clements complained, “My daughter, Jenny, can’t beat a top-level retriever. Those pushers drive her crazy!”

Now let’s look at what we discovered about Jenny’s actual training schedule and developmental plan:

  • She only grooves stationary fundamentals.
  • She perfects her primary strokes for 10 hours a week.
  • She doesn’t focus on the development of her secondary strokes.
  • She doesn’t focus on the aerobic fitness needed to play 15 tough sets in a singular event or a 3-hour moonball battle.
  • She doesn’t focus on developing the actual patterns needed to take a retriever out of their comfort zone.
  • She doesn’t focus on patience or the emotional demands required to withstand the emotional trauma that comes with playing someone who doesn’t miss.

 

After Jenny’s assessment, it was clear to her and her parents that she needs to re-vamps her deliberate, customized developmental plan. So, parents and coaches, if your talented athlete isn’t getting the results they’re capable of, it may prove wise to raise their preparation standards.

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Here’s a story about my dog Moses. He’s a gifted, highly intelligent English White Golden Retriever. He and I have spent hours upon hours in the yard playing catch. He’s talented and we’ve played catch A-LOT for 6 years. So, if talent and repetition make a champion, it’s safe to assume that Moses should win every United States Dog Agility Association National Event, right?

Well…no. Moses and I don’t practice in the manner he’s expected to perform. I enjoy the quality of time we spend playing together but we are not spending our time together applying deliberate, customized training.

Frank in Print

Posted on May 6, 2019 by in Frank Giampaolo Publications, Maximizing Tennis Potential, Neuro Priming for Peak Performance

Check out Frank’s latest tennis article in the upcoming May/June TennisPro Magazine, the official publication of PTRfrank

 

Check out the May edition of the TENNIS Magazine to hear about Frank’s Neuro Priming techniques. tennis mag

Opponent Profiling

Posted on April 18, 2019 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 NOW available through most online retailers!
Click Here to Order 

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OPPONENT PROFILING

 

Top competitors are continually seeking an advantage. One of the best strategic (mental) and calming (emotional) advantages comes from scouting an upcoming opponent. Casually observing is one thing, but profiling the opponent is a skill set. Each playing style has an inherent group of strengths and weaknesses. Opponent awareness is an important part of match day preparation. Player profiling involves looking past strokes.

NOTE:  Whenever possible, as I coach players from the 12’s to the ATP/WTA pros, I apply the below profiling topics.

 

Opponent Profiling Scouting:

  • Primary style of play.
  • Preferred serve patterns (especially on mega points).
  • Preferred return of serve position and shot selection on both first and second serve returns.
  • Favorite go-to rally pattern.
  • Dominant short-ball option.
  • Preferred net rushing pattern.
  • Stroke strengths and weaknesses (Advanced players should also consider the strengths and limitations of strike zones.)
  • Movement, agility and stamina efficiencies and deficiencies.
  • Frustration tolerance, focus, and emotional stability.

Opponent profiling should continue from the pre-match phase, all the way through the actual match and into the post-match. Intelligent athletes even jot down notes regarding the opponent’s game on their post-match match logs. This is used as a reminder for the next time the two meet.

 

Looking Past Strokes:

During the warm-up, the uneducated player/parents/coaches often think Player A has the match in the bag.  But what they do not realize is that Player B often wins because of their ability to identify and execute a game plan exposing their opponent’s weakness. Player A may have great looking fundamental strokes but “hidden” flawed mental and/or emotional components. Player B may have average looking strokes, but an incredible proficiency in their mental game. Hence, giving player B the edge due to his ability to isolate weaknesses or exert emotional intelligence at crunch time.


 

COMMON PERFORMANCE ANXIETIES – Part Four

Posted on April 13, 2019 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential

Common Performance Anxieties -Continued.

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10) Common Anxiety: “I focus the whole match on perfect form. That’s Correct …right?”

“Athletes nurtured to focus on mechanics in match play seldom
perform in the flow state.”

I recommend that athletes save most of the detailed analysis of strokes for the improvement phase which takes place on the practice court. Bio- mechanical analysis surely has its place; it’s just not in the midst of competition. Focusing too much on “bend your knees,” “close the racket face 30-degrees and brush up,” and  “tuck the left hand in on the serve to block the third link of the kinetic chain” pulls athletes out of the flow state and into their editing, analytical brain.

The week leading into an important event I recommend trading in the need for stroke perfection and replace it with practicing picking up relevant cues like proficient pattern play, score management, and opponent profiling. This prepares the athlete for pressure by allowing their judgmental ego to slip away. Performing in the zone requires relaxed contentment, which can’t be found if you’re focused on fixing every micro-flaw.

Preparing for pressure requires the athlete to focus on the art of competing.

 

 

11) Common Anxiety: “Yeah, I know I should practice more, but I’m so busy.”

“It’s not the most gifted athletes who typically succeed; it’s
the most organized and disciplined.”

Preparing athletes for pressure include pointing them in the right direction. One of my assessment tools is the 168 Hour Rule. We all get 24 hours a day seven days a week. That equals 168 hours.

I ask junior athletes to begin with 168 hours a week and then deduct their hours for sleep, school, homework, and other serious interests. Most often, the very same athletes who claim that they’re too busy realizes that they have 60-70 free, unaccountable hours weekly! This exercise is very eye-opening for both the parents and the athletes. After we identify the athlete’s free time, we re-design their weekly developmental plan. Together we assess the quality of the hours they’re dedicating to their long-term goals.

Example conversation after reviewing time assessment, “Joey since you just revealed that you have 60 unaccountable hours weekly; would it be possible for you to increase your deliberate customized tennis training to 20 hours a week? That’ll still leave you with 40 hours a week to hang out with friends, socialize, and play

The Pros and Cons of High School Tennis- Part 1

Posted on March 25, 2019 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 NOW available through most online retailers!  Click Here to Order

 

 

417THE “PROS AND CONS” OF HIGH SCHOOL TENNIS

Playing high school ball is a rite of passage issue for the high-performance athlete. The benefits of high school tennis lean towards life experiences rather than excelled tennis growth. There are exceptions to any rule, so let’s take a deeper look at this interesting question.

The answer is a bit complicated. It greatly depends on your child’s level, needs, and goals. It also depends greatly on the level of the possible teammates and coaching staff at your child’s high school. Some high school teams I work with are better than most college teams.

Is High School ball right for your athlete?

Mark is a student of mine. He is an SCTA sectionally ranked player in the top 20. His national ranking is around 60. He is diligent about his tennis and spends about 20 hours of training extremely hard every week. He has reached the semis of three national events and his long term goals are to play for Peter Smith at his dream school USC.

His dad is a former player and they are certain he will play a minimum of two years on the ATP futures and challenger tours after college. At his high school, there is one other fairly serious player on the team. The high school coach is a super nice guy. He is a biology teacher. He is coaching because he used to play high school ball and enjoys the game. The coach runs an “optional” fee-based 6-week pre-season training camp. Of course, paying and attending greatly increases an athlete’s chances of playing varsity for the team. Now let’s review the positive and negative sides of high school ball for Mark and his family.

 

 

 

A New Way to Look at Strategy

Posted on March 22, 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

 

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A NEW WAY TO LOOK AT STRATEGY

To understand on-court control dramas, take a minute and think of a tennis match as a control contest. Each player is attempting to pull their opponent into their style of play to gain command of the match.

Three Control Dramas Seen in High-Level Tennis:

  • The Power Contest
  • The Speed Contest
  • The Patience Contest

To simplify the process, the goal of competition is to choose the contest your athlete performs best. Then formulate a plan to PULL their opponent out of their own world and into your athlete’s world. Let’s look a little deeper, yet keep it simple:

 

I have a top 300 WTA player training with me.  We have customized her game plan to hide her weaknesses and expose her strengths. Her body type and brain type play a major role in customizing her success.

Weaknesses

Ann is light in stature. Her opponents are generally much bigger and stronger. We checked off and excluded the “Power Contest” from her A game plan. This is not to say that she might use power as a B or C game plan. Ann also has focus issues. We checked off the “Patience Contest” and excluded it as her A game plan.

Strengths

Ann possesses great speed and anticipatory skills. We chose the “Speed Contest” as her A game plan. Ann is extremely intuitive. She can sense when the opponent is vulnerable and knows “How” and “When” to move in and take away the opponents recovery and decision-making time.

When Ann chooses to play her “Speed Contest”, she most often is able to move the bigger girls enough to force errors. She can also pull the Retrievers off the court to open up winning angles. When Ann chooses to get into a “boomball-power” contest with bigger, stronger girls, she loses. When she chooses to out moonball a “World Class” moonballer she loses!

 

As I mentioned earlier, this section should be a conversation opener with your athlete and their entourage.  Knowing who you are is an important step in formulating your most successful game plans.

 

 

 

How to Build Mental Toughness

Posted on March 19, 2019 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 NOW available through most online retailers!  Click Here to Order

 

How to Build Mental ToughnessFrank Giampaolo

Players who are confident have a mentally tough aura about them. They are extremely intimidating because their confidence is obvious to all. It’s evident in their body language and facial expressions.  So, how can your athlete develop radiant confidence?

First of all, your athlete starts by reading about it. Then they earn it on the practice court. Mentally tough competitors earn this impenetrable wall of confidence by preparing properly. Mentally tough players are actually much more than just mentally tough. They are mechanically sound, emotionally unflappable and physically fit enough to thrive in third set warfare. Yes, they’re actually mechanically tough, emotionally tough and physically tough.

Below is a checklist of components that need to be developed by your child’s coaches.  Remember, it is your job as the CEO to assist the coaches in raising athletic royalty.

 

Developing Mental Toughness Checklist:

Stroke Mechanics:

  • Develop reliable fundamental (primary) strokes.
  • Develop a tool belt of secondary strokes.

Mental:

  • Organize & rehearse your child’s top 7 patterns of play. (Generic Strategies)
  • Rehearse patterns of play used to pull different styles of opponents out of their game.(Stylistic Strategies)

Emotional:

  • Organize their between point rituals & changeover rituals (both internal & external.)
  • Pre-set protocols to handle performance anxieties.

Athleticism:

  • Build the speed, agility and cardiovascular requirements needed to endure two separate three-set matches a day.
  • Build the strength and stamina required to close out 6 matches in a 3-5 day (64 player draw) event.

 

My students have won close to 100 National titles to date. Each one had a parent and an entourage of great coaches who were very involved in organizing and implementing their developmental plan. Most often, these champs worked their deliberate, customized organizational plan for 2-3 months before becoming National Champions.

 

Special Note to Parents: A partially committed parent is simply a hobbyist. That’s fine – tennis is an incredible hobby that teaches many life lessons. However, a hobbyist parent should be satisfied with raising a hobbyist tennis player and not expect champion results. In today’s game, it’s unfair to expect your child to become a champion without parental commitment.

 

The College Search Process- Part 2

Posted on March 15, 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

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College Athletics:

If college athletics is your child’s goal, it is in your best interest to begin preparing early. Putting off serious training until your child is in high school is most often too late.

 

“The ultimate goal for a high school age athlete is to be in the “Buyer’s Market.”

 

The Buyers’ Market versus the Sellers’ Market:

The buyers’ market means your child has focused on developing their skills and achieving athletic royalty (Top National or ITF ranking) and the top college coaches are not only aware of them, but they are also heavily recruiting them in a bidding war.

It is important to understand that if you and your child have waited to get serious about their sport until high school age, you will most likely be in the “Seller’s Market.” In essence, as a parent, your job will be to “sell” your child’s possible value to the coach. Your child is now one of the thousands of talented but unproven athletes vying for the leftover scraps of scholarship funds. If you think the task of “selling” your child’s skills is tough, wait until you have to write those dreaded big checks for their education. If you build a champion the coaches will come to you!

 

“Get ahead of the crowd early by applying a deliberate, customized development plan. Successful college athletic careers are preceded by years
and years of successful preparation.”

 

Preparing for college early will not only bring the college scholarship offers to you, but it may also even help you open a door that may have otherwise been closed. For example, Ivy League schools do not offer athletic scholarships but your child’s tennis may give them the admittance edge over other students with similar or even higher academic profiles.

For more details regarding the college search process, please visit my dedicated eBook: How to Attract a College Athletic Scholarship.  It has everything you didn’t even know…you needed to know! www.maximizingtennispotential.com

The College Search Process- Part 1

Posted on March 13, 2019 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 NOW available through most online retailers!  Click Here to Order

 

THE COLLEGE SEARCH PROCESSIMG_080_R_WHITE

As a tennis parent, the long term development and direction of your athlete is a natural concern. The serious tennis players will likely set their sights on playing college ball. So it is not surprising that week in and week out, one of the most frequent question parents ask me, is how to go about obtaining a college sports scholarship for their child?

First of all, college sports are not recreational activities to dabble in while attending college.  College athletics is a business and the school expects their college team to win.

There’s a major difference between participating in your preferred sport as a hobbyist versus training for college athletics (pursuing a college scholarship). The question athletes should ask themselves is, “Do I want to be a hobbyist athlete or do I want to be an elite athlete?” The truth of the matter is…you’ll have to pick one, because you can’t be both.

 

“Top college recruits are former National or ITF Junior standouts.”

 

Serious competitors are nurtured differently than social competitors. College athletics requires more than seasonal participation in high school ball. The following list three pillars that separate the college scholarship players from the hobbyist:

1) Junior champions are born into inspiring and supportive environments.

Parental support is essential for athletic excellence. Becoming educated in the process is your job. Great coaches and trainers are there to assist you in your mission to raise a champion. Examples of extremely lucky athletes who were born into the right FAMILY environment include Mcllroy, Woods, Phelps, Evert, Agassi, Chang, Sampras, Hingis, Roddick, Williams, Murray, Nadal, Federer, Sharapova, Wozniacki, Djokovic, and Bryans just to name a few.

 

2) The love for the game is encouraged and nurtured early and consistently.

Athletic royalty becomes royalty with the help of loving and supportive parents and coaches that guide and oversee their athlete’s passion from an early age. Achieving greatness comes with great sacrifice from parents, coaches, and the athlete. As they all laugh and learn throughout the incredible journey.

3) Champions strive to improve.

Elite athletes continually improve each essential component. There are other athletes in every corner of the globe training harder and smarter each day.  Champions know they cannot be complacent with their game.  Weekly improvement is part of the champions’ mindset. Congratulations! By purchasing this book, it is obvious that you are taking the right steps toward improvement.