The following post is an excerpt from The Tennis Parent’s Bible. Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo
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The Mental Components of Tennis
Attaining Tennis Excellence
The following post is an excerpt from The Tennis Parent’s Bible.
Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo
Top Ten Tools Needed to Attain Tennis Excellence
The mental and emotional strength of being a fierce competitor and a respectful human being is a learned behavior. Building mental and emotional muscle takes time and effort.
The way you think and feel effects how you perform. Rafa Nadal is a prime example of player that has built mental and emotional strength through hard work.
If your player truly believes in his or her game as a result of proper training and hard work he or she is bound for greatness.
No one can outperform their self-image. Due to their discipline, athletes like Rafa, have inner strength and inner excellence. They truly believe in themselves and their abilities because they’ve earned the belief.
Top Ten Tools Needed to Attain Tennis Excellence:
- Hit the gym to gain strength.
- Commit to improving with unrelenting determination.
- Develop the mental side of shot selection to master offense, neutral & defensive skills.
- Schedule time to strengthen their speed, stamina, and agility.
- Revise between point rituals to enhance “clear headedness” of shot selection on big points.
- Improve your ability to apply spin.
- Cultivate the competitive attitude. Do this by adding simulated stress with every drill. We call them “stress buster drills”.
- Perfect the ability to live in the moment (producing precisely what the moment calls for) by rehearsing closing out sets.
- Replace the need to win with the love of the battle.
- Reform calmness under stress, by simulating those intense moments.
For more information read The Tennis Parent’s Bible– hundreds of hours of lessons for less than a half hour lesson!
Contact: Frank Giampaolo
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Solutions to Cheater’s Antics
The following is an excerpt from The Tennis Parent’s Bible. Share with your junior champs these six factors used to help defuse the antics of tennis cheaters and your player will be better equipped to deal with these unethical players. It is especially important your child learn to handle the antics of cheaters for two primary reasons:
- Cheaters are the gatekeepers of junior tennis – forcing many talented players to leave the sport early because they are unwilling/unable to tolerate the cheater’s unethical behavior.
- Cheaters remain in the game (cheating) until the highest level ( ATP and WTA Professional Tour) – when multiple lines judges call every point!
Thanks for visiting, Frank
Handling Cheaters
- Pre-Match Speculations
Preconceived ideas of what might happen when playing a known cheater causes so much stress that it affects the immune system and often results in players actually get sick. Many lose sleep the night before the match. Do not let your child’s expectations of the possible trauma pull them away from focusing on their performance goals.
- Focus on What You Can Control
Expect about 5 bad line calls per match. This is not in your control. What is? How about the 30 unforced errors per set you commit? Limit your unforced errors to 10 per set and they can have the 5 hooks!
- Focus on Not Cheating Yourself
The truth is that most often we see players missing calls. That is, not calling out balls out! The average number of missed calls is six per match. Tighten up your own calls.
- Be Grateful
Cheaters cheat because they know down deep that their skills are no match for yours. Usually a cheater is able to win because their bad calls get you so emotional that you become distracted from your performance goals and the trap is set.
- Try the Standard Procedure for Handling Cheaters
First First question the bad call. When that does not work, get a line judge. When the line judge leaves after a game or two, you have two options: Be an “enabler” and let the “cheater” steal the match away from you; or take matters into your own hands and fight fire with fire.
- After a Confrontation Do Not Begin Play Right Away
Regain your composer first by taking a “legal” bathroom break. You will need time to get your head back into your performance goals. Remember to use your between point and change over rituals to stay focused on your game!
FUN FACT: We conducted a seminar with 26 young national level players. We asked the ten National Champions in attendance to sit in front of the class and share their insight. The first question from Joey, a 10 year old from Las Vegas was “Were you ever forced to cheat back to stop a “cheater” from trying to steal away a National title or ITF title. Guess how many champions answered yes, they were forced to take matters into their own hands and solve the problem? All ten!
Thank you for visiting. By the way, if you think cheaters go away in college tennis, you would be mistaken! The sooner your child learns to deal with them the better. Frank Giampaolo
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Winning Tennis Demands Strategy
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The following post is an excerpt from The tennis Parent’s Bible. Thank you for visiting, Frank Giampaolo
STRATEGY MADE SIMPLE
Let’s look at strategy in a simple, yet effective format. There are three factors in understanding strategy on the tennis court. They are generic, stylistic and customized.
- Generic Strategy
Generic strategy is simply applying the player’s core performance goals throughout each point of a tournament. Generic strategies and tactics could include getting in 70% first serves or staying neutral until you get the opponent vulnerable, then attack!
Even saying “Bounce, Hit” as the ball actually bounces off the court and hits their racquet. This age old generic tactic is a wonderful tool used to control the player’s vision and calm them down when they are overcome by the occasion.
These generic tactics will be used in January through December, from the first round through the final, in Miami or Moscow, on clay or hard courts. These are your child’s everyday “nuts and bolts” game plan.
- Stylistic Strategy
This is your child’s ability to adapt tactics depending on the current style of the opponent. Remind your child not to change a winning tactic just because the opponent changes game styles. Change is only made if the opponent starts to win and the momentum has switched to their side. Styles include retriever, hard hitting baseliner and all court players.
Our players develop and rehearse patterns used to beat each style of opponent. It is also important to note. A smart competitor will change a losing style of play (shift to plan B). Has your child developed rock solid B and C game plans? The players who are winning national titles have!
I encourage my players develop and rehearse 3 styles of play. Encourage your child to play lesser players in practice sets. This will allow them to rehearse their B and C game plans.
- Custom Strategy
This is your child’s ability to adapt to the day and the circumstances. Competition require a player adapt to varying elements such as wind, heat, court speeds, court surfaces as well as the particular strengths and weaknesses of the current opponent.
A common word in this phase is tendencies. To borrow from the boxing world, your child needs to spot what is causing the opponent to “bleed” and then do it more. Also, it’s important to spot the cause of their “own bleeding” and stop the bleeding.
There are the two types of losing:
If your child is competing well in every game and often has the winning shot on his/her racquet, it is in their best interest to modify their tactics slightly while keeping the current strategic style of play.
If they are losing and are not even in the points or games, a much larger shift of complete game styles may be in order. For example: Take a bathroom break and then change from a hard hitting baseliner to a steady retriever style of play.
A very useful tool is video analysis. Record tournament matches as often as possible and take a “Match Play Video Analysis Lesson” with an experienced coach. That’s right, a non- hitting lesson!
Together they will spot strokes that break down under stress, movement and footwork issues, opponent awareness issues and of course tactical and strategic issues that arise under stress. This allows your coach to customize the lessons as they actually provide solutions to the real issues!
Remember: The preferred learning style of most players is the “Visual Learner”. A picture is worth a thousand words, right?
For more detailed information, the USPTA has a terrific, in depth; Player Development Program that every tennis parent should read. (uspta.org)
Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo
Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
www.MaximizingTennisPotential.com
Control Your Brain to Control Your Game
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ACCELERATE YOUR GAME WITH A QUIET MIND
The game of tennis is ultimately a mind game. There are dozens of mind games that a crafty opponent will play to disrupt your game. There are also dozens of mind games that you can play on yourself to disrupt your own game. This article will focus on controlling the inner mind games first.
In my experience, high level players often need to focus on doing less…not more when cleaning up their strokes. The same holds true with their mental game. Quieting the mind is an essential part of mental toughness.
Allowing the mind to wonder into past and/or future thoughts can destroy on-court success. I get countless phone calls from parents concerned about their child’s “inability to concentrate” during a match. They watch their children lose to seemingly “less talented” players because their child cannot seem to concentrate.
First of all, what is concentration?
Concentration is focusing your energy, attention, and intentions on a singular point or plan. A wondering mind filled with frenzied thoughts and fears can destroy a well thought out game plan. Expectations and perceptions of a match are not reality…They are simply feelings. These “thoughts” take the players away from thinking about their performance goals.
As the players let their walls down, they discover that their mind games have been the culprit of many of their past losses.
Example of Mind Games:
Past Thoughts:
This might include a past loss to the same opponent, the opponents past ranking, tournament wins, or reputation, coaches or parents comments after a bad loss, how they choked in a similar situation, a bad line call several points prior, or a missed overhead on the last point…etc.
Future Thoughts:
This might include thoughts about what will my ranking be if I win or if I lose, what will my peers think if I win or lose, will the USTA invite me to Carson if I win, what will my parents say if I lose…etc.
Uneducated players often see themselves as VICTIMS. Educated Players have learned that they are in control of their feelings and thoughts. They are taught to say “STOP” and pull their thought pattern from the Past or Future back into their Present performance thoughts.
Solution:
Videotaping players playing sets allows us to show the players what their wondering minds look like. Spotting visual clues prepares the players to control their present thoughts. So what are the proper Present thoughts?
Present Thoughts:
Present thoughts are performance goals. These may include serving to the opponents backhand, getting 60% of their first serves in, isolating their opponents weaker side, playing at a slower speed, taking swing volleys on moonballs, standing closer on their opponents second serves, adapting and problem solving…etc.
Here are three tips to give you a head start controlling your mind games: Practical application is customized to each player
- Sit down and re-visit Past/Present/Future thoughts. Write down the recent Past and Future thoughts you had during your last match. (WARNING: Parents be ready to have some or all of the blame passed onto you! For example: “When Mom shakes her head in disgust over an error…I lose focus and I am done!”)
- Understand that your mind follows your eyes. Between point rituals are made up of internal vision, not external vision. Players with wondering eyes have wondering thoughts. Focusing on your string pattern in between points may help you focus on the next performance goal.
- Use positive feedback. Here is an example: A player hits a terrific kick serve out wide to the advantage side, and gets a floater return up in the service box. The player attacks the net and pulls the volley just wide. A Normal player would get furious for missing such an easy volley and relive the point for the next 4-5 points. A National Champion would miss the same volley, turn, look at his strings, and smile. WHY? The Champion has just figured out how to win 90% of the big points on the ad side! Positive feedback allowed the player to spot the opponents flawed high backhand return and now knows what pattern to use in the future.
The Normal player focuses on the past, and the Champion focuses on the future.
Rehearse saying something GOOD. Find something positive to say before you address a flaw in your child. Often the most difficult and sometimes paralyzing factor in a junior’s development is an ultra-negative or jaded parent. The ratio that I recommend is to offer five positive comments for every one negative comment. Reverse psychology works wonders! The player progresses happier and quicker.
Example:
The player continually tosses the ball too low on the serve. Instead of saying “Your STILL doing it wrong…How many times…” try saying “Great! You’re getting that toss higher…I can really see the difference.” The positive comment will still remind them that they need to improve their ball toss and it is more likely that the correction will occur! Thanks, Frank
Contact:Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
www.MaximizingTennisPotential.com
Fundamentals are only the beginning!
Raising Athletic Royalty: Insights to Inspire for a Lifetime- Provides essential insights, motivational quotes and perfect phrases to assist parents and coaches to inspire greatness in their athletes.
The following is an excerpt from The Tennis Parent’s Bible. Thank you for visiting, Frank Giampaolo
Are you saying fundamental tennis strokes are NOT important?
In a word, NO. Building a solid stroke foundation is vital to your child’s success. You can find thousands of YouTube instruction videos on the subject. But winning tournaments involves much more than fundamental stroke production. Here are few new insights to share on this topic.
A flawed stroke causes unforced errors, produce short vulnerable balls, cause injuries and inhibit your child’s growth into the next level of competition.
FUN FACT: Strokes are a prerequisite to playing in the highest levels. Just as being tall is a prerequisite to playing in the highest levels of basketball. If just being tall earned you the right to play in the NBA, my cousin Big Vinnie wouldn’t be driving a limo at Kennedy airport.
Yes, strokes are important. For some of your youngsters, it may be time to look into developing the hidden side of stroke production. The insight I want to reiterate with you is the development of secondary strokes.
The Painter’s Analogy
To this day, we can all run to the store and pick up an intermediate paint set. These pre-packaged sets come with canvas or paper, a few brushes and a strip of colored paint. These “strips” are made up of the primary colors. As we dabble and enjoy the art of painting one thing becomes evident, if only primary colors (red, green and blue) are used, the paintings will continue to look “amateur.”
Advanced artists and surely professionals have learned that to make a painting jump off the canvas, to become “life like” they need to use secondary colors as well. Now, instead of applying one shade of green, they have numerous versions of green! Advanced painters use both primary and secondary colors.
As parents, we have to encourage, educate and develop secondary stroke principles. The following are the primary and secondary strokes in a Champion tennis player’s tool belt.
The Four Different Types of Forehands and Backhands:
- Primary drive
- High, topspin arch
- Short angle or side door
- Slice or drop shot
The Three Types of Serves to Develop:
- Flat
- Kick
- Slice
The Four Types of Volleys to Develop:
- Traditional punch volley
- Drop volley
- Swing volley
- Half volley
The Three Types of Lobs:
- Topspin lobs
- Slice lob
- Re-lob (lobbing and over-head smash)
The Two Types of Overheads to Develop:
- The stationary “freeze” overhead
- The turn & run/scissor overhead
The 6 Types of Approach Shots:
- Serve and volley
- Chip and charge
- Drive approach
- Slice approach
- Drop shot approach
- Moonball approach
Intermediate players simply hit their primary strokes and react to whatever the opponent throws at them. Advanced players are proactive. They often run patterns used to control both sides of the net. In essence, they control both players’ actions.
It takes an average of two years to develop these tools into reliable weapons. To assist your youngster in controlling the court and the match, shift focus and have some fun developing all these skills.
Before each tournament match, remind them to warm up every stroke in their bag. Winning a close tie breaker is often decided on a few points. Making that crucial swing volley versus missing it is often a matter of confidence.
FUN FACT: I got to know Tiger Woods a bit when I was the tennis director at Sherwood Country Club. We hosted his multimillion dollar charity event at Sherwood annually. Before each round of golf, Tiger practiced every club in his bag. He often, secretly, flew to the site a week or so before the actual event to rehearsing the courses uneven fairways, the speed of the greens, the feel of the sand traps and elements such as the wind. Winning is persistent preparation.
Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo
Contact: Frank Giampaolo
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