Tag Archives: tennis

Sharpening Healthier Communication- Part 3

Posted on September 15, 2018 by in The Soft Science of Tennis

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis. Click Here to Order through Amazon

 

I Want To Be More Positive But What Do I Say?

Most parents and coaches want the very best for their children and students. However, finding the perfect words of comfort are not always easy, especially after competition. Regardless of the variations in personality profiles, parents and coaches alike need to reinforce the athlete’s efforts with sincere non-judgmental encouraging words. The following is a list of insightful statements athletes need to hear after competition:

  • I love watching you play!
  • I’m so proud of you.
  • I’m impressed by your skills.
  • I’m so grateful to be your parent.
  • You are so brave.
  • It’s so fascinating to watch you solve problems on-court.
  • You are so creative and skillful.
  • I so admire your ability to stay focused on the court.
  • It is so fun for me to watch you compete.
  • I can’t wait to hear what you think about the match.
  • I admire your courage to compete.
  • Your optimism is contagious- I love when you smile.
  • This is my favorite part of the week.
  • I love being your parent and/or coach.

Research shows that performing in the future as the Alpha competitor stems from a positive belief system.  Your words become their inner dialogue. Emotional aptitude is a learned behavior. Your child’s optimism and growth mindset should be molded daily. (Coach’s Note: Please send the above insightful list to the parents of your athletes.)

All the great coaches I’ve met have a strong need for connecting and belonging. Positive communication is vital for a happy, longstanding career. Exceptional communication builds better relationships, mutual respect, and trust which leads to success. Superior coaching is the art of changing an athlete in a non-dictatorial way.

The student-coach connection improves with effective communication via verbal and nonverbal communication channels. The following chapters will uncover several excellent recommendations for coaches and parents to immerse themselves in the art of listening.

 

“When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new.”

Dalai Lama

 

Sharpening Healthier Communication- Part 2

Posted on September 11, 2018 by in The Soft Science of Tennis

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis. Click Here to Order through Amazon

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Is state of the art instruction about the instructor’s proficiency in performing drills, or is it about the instructor’s ability to connect with their student? Communicating above or below the digestion rate of the student is ineffective. While tennis knowledge and drilling efficiency are important, I believe a master teacher connects to the student and monitors the rate at which each student digests information. As we saw with Wendy and her father, the message received within the dialog is much more than the facts.

As I researched how to sharpen my communication skills, I realized that the way in which information is presented influences the outcome. I learned to focus on communicating honestly and with authenticity, but also to consider stressing or de-stressing the learning environment based on the energy in the room.

Successfully communicating the facts is highly dependent on WHAT message is being delivered and HOW the message is being delivered. The following list offers eight techniques I recommend applying to communicate effectively:

  • Intertwine sports science facts with personal, emotional storytelling.
  • Impart humor within a conversational tone to bond the relationship.
  • Avoid a distancing style with an elitist attitude and academic language.
  • Use inclusive pronouns like “We all need to…”
  • Apply cadences, rhythms, and dramatic pauses to accentuate meaning.
  • Vary their volume from a scream to a whisper to deepen the message.
  • Pull listeners in by modifying the pace of delivery from excited and fast to dramatic and slow.
  • Match and mirror the listener to make them more comfortable.

Great communicators presenting in groups or one-on-one have developed their presentation power. Armed with a full toolbox of delivery methods, they trade in intimidating, interrogating and dictating with sharing everyday experiences to engage the audience-which is the heart of genuinely connecting.

Sharpening Healthier Communication -Part 1

Posted on September 7, 2018 by in The Soft Science of Tennis

 The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis.

 

Sharpening Healthier Communication

 

It’s dinner time at the Klein’s house. Mr. Klein and his daughter Wendy spent the day at a USTA level 3 girls 16’s event. Wendy was seeded #4 in the tournament. Her 9:00 am match went terribly wrong. Wendy’s serve percentages were catastrophically low and as a result, she suffered an embarrassing first-round loss.

Later that night at the dinner table the conversation quickly escalated from small talk to another tennis-related screaming match. As they passed the potatoes, another family dinner was ruined.  Mr. Klein wished he had an instruction manual for these heated exchanges.

Psychologists researching communication offer a concept called the Four-Sides Model. The theory states that Mr. Klein’s initial comment “Honey, your serve was really off today.” exposed four possible ways Wendy could accept the data:

  • As an impersonal factual stat.
  • Insights about Mr. Klein’s feelings.
  • As a personal underlining insult towards Wendy.
  • As an appeal for improvement.

The message Mr. Klein was intentionally trying to convey isn’t necessarily what was perceived by Wendy. Mr. Klein’s statement “Honey, your serve was really off today.” led to a whirlwind of problems between him and his daughter. This, in turn, spiraled into the silent treatment from his wife because once again their family harmony was disrupted.

For Mr. Klein, the factual data and appeal for improvement were the only reason for the statement. Wendy’s interpretation of his statement was polar opposite. Wendy felt awful because she believed that she had let her parents and coaches down. She also concluded that her father’s statement about her serve implied that she was not working hard enough and that she was a failure.

 

“Communication is less about what is being said and more about how the words are decoded by the listener.”

 

As coaches and parents communicate with their athlete, the athlete’s personality profile acts as a filter as they decode the information. Some athletes are wired to accept and enjoy the analysis of cold hard facts while others are wired to overlook the facts and instead zone into the emotional climate of the conversations. Each athlete connects the dots and paints the picture they choose to hear. An individual’s personality profile determines how one communicates. (We will interpret personality profiles in greater detail in coming chapters.)

 

 

 

 

Frank’s European Podcast Interview

Posted on September 5, 2018 by in Radio Blog Post

Frank Giampaolo’s Podcast Interview with Sports Psychologist Adam Blicher

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Adam interviews Frank about his newest bestselling book The Soft Science of Tennis. Frank discusses the importance of developing strong emotional skill sets for improved success both on-court and off-court.

 

Podcast Topic:

How to Use Personality Profiling

How to Develop Character and Nurture Life Skills

How to Manage Risk and Fear

 

Link to the Podcast from Computer: https://bit.ly/2MsBwfQ

Eliminating Internal Judgment- Part 3

Posted on September 2, 2018 by in The Soft Science of Tennis

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis. Click Here to Order through Amazon

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How to Strengthen Self Coaching Solution #4:
Identifying Internal Obstacles

Looking deeper into competitive success brings us to a fourth method, which is assisting athletes by identifying their internal obstacles. Although losing to a more experienced player stings a bit, losing to a toad because you have self-destructed is much more harrowing. The secret to conquering one’s inner demons stems from understanding the importance of self-coaching. It is essential to master self-coaching with positive inner dialog by exchanging judgmental tirades with calming routines and rituals.

 

“Overcoming internal obstacles is more satisfying at a deeper level than beating a top seed.”

 

Athletes perform best when they are not excessively judged or overly concerned about the outcome ramifications. Having outcome goals is fine, as long as their focus is on the process. To continually stay process-minded is the backbone of successful inner dialog. What influences athletes most in their toughest moments is their mental commentary. A healthy mindset orchestrates positive attitude, belief, and effort. So, what is competitive success? Competitive success is performing at one’s peak performance level set after set; the optimum victory for any athlete.

 

How to Strengthen Self Coaching Solution #5:
Monitoring Outer Dialog

The fifth method of nurturing a positive inner dialog is to ask the athlete to monitor their outer dialog under stressful conditions. An athlete’s outer dialog includes speech, body language and physical behavior, which are natural bi-products of an athlete’s internal dialog.

Monitoring this process begins with the athlete recognizing their automatic system of behavior under the stressful conditions of competition. Although it is common to default to old comfortable habits under stress; negative habits not only perpetuate pessimistic thought patterns, they alert the opponent that self-destruction is in the works. Self-spotting outer dialog behavior will help the athlete to recondition their inner dialog chatter.

 

 

How to Strengthen Self Coaching Solution #6:
Resist Attention Seeking Negative Dialog

A behavior management strategy is to coach the athlete to resist attention seeking negative dialog and behavior. Athletes gain sympathy by projecting pessimistic behaviors. A typical example of this is an athlete’s excessively loud mini-tantrum in competition to gain sympathy from spectators, family or coaches. In essence, the athlete is projecting, “I’m usually so much better than this…I must be having an unusually bad day!” Ironically, the tantrum is seen every day.

In my opinion, tactically ignoring the outbursts in hopes that they go away is not dialog management because an appropriate alternate behavior is needed.  An athlete’s dialog projects their thoughts and beliefs. Their voices have been simply programmed into their subconscious. Since they determine the course of their life, reprogramming their negative inner chatter is a battle worth fighting.

 

“Optimistic self-coaching is a wonderful technique to create better human beings on and off the tennis court.”

 

 

Here’s an alternate view of tennis parenting and tennis teaching. The conventional method has been to feel balls, criticize what’s broken and then focus on the athlete’s problem areas. This judgment based approach isn’t always in the student’s best interest. Why? Because it subliminally plants the toxic seeds of negative inner dialog and in competition, this learned behavior of focusing on what’s wrong opposes the natural flow state found in nonjudgmental, effortless, peak performance. Seeking “what is broken” isn’t part of performing in the zone or “treeing” as today’s juniors describe playing at one’s optimal level.

 

Eliminating Internal Judgment – Part 2

Posted on August 29, 2018 by in The Soft Science of Tennis

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis. Click Here to Order through Amazon

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How to Strengthen Self Coaching Solution #2:
Judgments through Comparisons

Judgmental thoughts typically stem from past or future thought comparisons. Typical thoughts of comparison in the heat of battle include, “Jason beat this dude. I can’t lose, I’ve got to prove I’m better than Jason,” “Kristin is ranked below me, and if I lose today, she’ll take my spot on the team,” “What are my parents and coaches going to say if I lose?” “Here I go…Choking again!”

Judgmental thoughts play havoc in the minds of our competitive athletes every day. Athletes in competition, with judgmental comparison thoughts, contaminate the match play process, which results in fighting two opponents, simultaneously- their negative thoughts and the real opponent.

Advanced athletes seeking better results often don’t have to learn more technical skills; they have to shift their attention to developing better self-communication skills. Keep in mind that the athlete’s inner voice will be with them long after they stop competing on the tennis court. Isn’t it worth the time to assist them in developing their lifelong self-coaching tools? Winning is much more likely when our athletes understand the art of self-coaching.

 

How to Strengthen Self Coaching Solution # 3:
Positive Inner Dialog

The third method of conquering the athlete’s negative inner dialog is through positive self-coaching with Neuro Priming. It is estimated that individuals have roughly 60,000 thoughts per day. Trading in a turbulent mental state for a relaxed, calming proactive state is essential.

What is Neuro Priming and why is it an essential addition to an athlete’s preparation? Neuro Priming is the science of preprogramming the athlete’s inner trust in their match solutions.

Mental rehearsals customize each athlete’s positive inner dialog by organizing their physical, mental and emotional solutions into audio recordings in their voice. Listening to one’s inner dialog audio tapes increases tennis IQ, reprograms old pessimistic beliefs, changes negative behaviors, speeds up the learning process, increases focus, assists the athletes in quickly fixing stroke flaws, staying on their script of patterns, coping with stress, nervousness and the fear of failure. Neuro Priming isn’t meant to replace on-court physical training; its purpose is to enhance it. It’s self-coaching at its best. (Visit #1 Best Seller on Amazon: Neuro Priming for Peak Performance, Giampaolo).

 

Eliminating Internal Judgment Part 1

Posted on August 24, 2018 by in The Soft Science of Tennis

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis. Click Here to Order through Amazon

 

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My neighbor, Pete, owns Pete’s Home Repair Specialist. He’s a super friendly independent contractor. Due to his excellent soft science personal skills, Pete’s always in high demand.  His decades of experience have taught him that detailed preparation prevents poor performance. Pete’s truck is like an encyclopedia of tools organized by alphabet and ready for action. Though Pete doesn’t need all of his tools at every job, he brings every tool, just in case he needs it.

This analogy is very similar to a high-performance tennis player’s tool belt. In matches, they may not need to employ every skill set developed in their tool belt, but they do need to have primary and secondary strokes ready for competition, as well as multiple patterns and plays developed and prepared to be accessed if needed. Life skills, such as preparation improve the athlete’s confidence, inner dialogue, and of course, solution-based self-coaching skills.

 

“In the heat of battle, the voice inside each athlete is their driving force.”

 

In match play, an athlete’s internal dialog is their self-coaching. Internal dialog is the conversation their ego is having with themselves. Athletes have a habitual way they choose to navigate their matches. When they see competition in a negative light, their internal dialog is dark. Conversely, when they “see pressure as a privilege,” to quote Billy Jean King, their self-coaching is more positive, uplifting, and optimistic. The question is: Where did the athlete learn their internal dialog mantras?

An athlete’s negative, problem-oriented inner dialog sabotages their performance by interfering with their quiet mind. To some athletes, negative inner dialog spirals them into a self-defeating, under-arousal state. To others, it pushes them into a panicked, over-arousal state. Both are detrimental to performance. As I mentioned earlier, an athlete’s non-stop inner dialogue is either helping or hurting their performance. Intermediate athletes are known to sabotage their play by criticizing themselves, worrying about losing and inventing post-match catastrophic conclusions during competition.

 

How to Strengthen Self Coaching Solution#1:
Video Analysis

One method of combating the athlete’s negative self-dialog begins with videotaping tournament matches and providing non-hitting match play video analysis. This process accesses the specific stressful environment that needs to be studied.

As the high IQ coach quantifies the match data alongside the athlete, I recommend identifying how the athlete’s inner dialog helped or hurt their performance.  Were they able to self-coach successfully?  When providing match play analysis, remember to apply the five optimistic comments for every one pessimistic statement. Following are video analysis topics the athlete and coach would be wise to discuss.

 

Match Play Video Analysis

  • Strokes & Movement Efficiencies & Deficiencies
  • Anticipatory Efficiencies & Deficiencies
  • Staying on Script. (Top 7 Patterns)
  • Opponent Profiling
  • Between Point & Change-Over Rituals & Routines
  • Emotional Control
  • Focus Control
  • Cause of Errors
  • Court Positioning Cause & Effect
  • Score Management

Athletes who are trained to monitor their emotions and inner dialog via post-match video analysis are much more likely to become aware of the software complexities of competition.

Nonverbal Communication- Part 3

Posted on August 21, 2018 by in The Soft Science of Tennis

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis. Click Here to Order through Amazon

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Utilizing Written Communication

The human brain is divided into several regions. Each region processes different forms of incoming information. Listening to verbal instruction engages the auditory region of the brain, while physically writing notes engages the spatial awareness region of the brain. Athletes who collect data in two regions of the brain have a greater chance of retaining a higher proportion of key facts and recalling the information later in competition.

 

Post Lesson Written Reviews

I have been applying post lesson written reviews for decades. My athletes are encouraged to take the last few minutes of their training session to write down their top lesson topics and future action plans. Some of my current students still prefer the old school paper and pen journaling while others use their cell phone notepad and to-do apps. Either way, written reminders are an important version of nonverbal communication.

Benefits Include:

  • Writing lesson reviews work to preview the athlete’s developmental plan via time management.
  • Documenting helps to de-stress and relax the athlete as it unloads cognitive baggage. Athletes can read and re-read their notes to review the lesson.
  • It’s estimated that within 24 hours, up to 80% of what our students learn they soon forget. Writing it down helps athletes to digest more information.
  • Writing down important solutions helps re-enforce recall. It enables the athlete to memorize more efficiently and recall as needed.
  • Documenting assists in organizing and assimilating the new information received.
  • Writing down solutions act as the first visualization rehearsal further solidifying the memorization of the data.

The Soft Science of Tennis aims to improve the learning curve. Applying these methods maximize athletic potential at a quicker rate.

 

Nonverbal Communication- Part 2

Posted on August 17, 2018 by in The Soft Science of Tennis

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis. Click Here to Order through Amazon

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Over the years of focusing on the most effective coaching methods, the importance of nonverbal communication became very clear. I found that an athlete’s words were often only part of their story. Communication research has found that a subject’s actual words to be the least revealing of their true feelings or comfort level, giving more importance to a subject’s tone of voice, facial expression and body language. It is critical that the coach be able to recognize the athlete’s nonverbal cues because it enhances the learning experience and enables the coach to better understand how the athlete is wired. It is also important to note the athlete’s parent’s nonverbal cues because the parents play a vital role in their child’s success.  Let’s dive into a handful of these critical non-verbal clues to help you begin to profile your athletes.

 

Appearance

When coaching, I make it a point to notice my athlete’s appearance, clothing choice and organization of equipment. Is Sarah’s hair braided to perfection? Does her Nike skirt match perfectly with her Nike top, Nike socks, Nike shoes and Nike warm-ups? This indicates to me a SJ (Sensing, Judging) persona.

Do Sam’s Wilson Blade rackets have different gauge strings, different brand dampeners with non-matching over-grips? Does he carry them in a Head racket bag with a Prince water bottle? This initially indicates to me a NP (Intuitive, Perceiver) personality. I realize that exceptions shadow every rule, so these initial non-verbal clues are observational hunches that begin to shed light on their personality profile.

 

Posture

I then assess the athlete’s body posture throughout our session, both during off-court conversations and on-court performance, which helps me to determine their self-esteem and confidence levels. Defensive attitudes are often shown by crossed arms and slumped shoulders. Students lean-in or walk towards the net when they’re interested. In my opinion, confidence or lack thereof is also identified by the athlete’s swagger or timid posture and stance.

 

Eyes

Throughout my coaching sessions, I also pay close attention to the athlete’s eyes. The old saying is “The eyes are the gateway to the soul.” Spotting if a student is dialed in and focused on the task at hand or mentally gone can be detected in their eyes. Are they telling the truth or fibbing? Athletes’ emotional state such as being upset, tranquil, content or angry can also be detected in their eyes.

 

Facial Expressions

Interpreting an athlete’s facial expression can also help a coach profile their athletes. Obviously, students show emotion through their facial expressions. Squinting eyes and tight lips are signs of anger, tension, and frustration. Smiles are signs of comfort and confidence. I can often tell if an athlete or parent isn’t buying the information I’m providing by interpreting their facial expressions.

 

Tone of Voice

Observing their tone of voice is another essential clue I use to profile athletes. The tone of voice doesn’t communicate logic, but it does convey the athlete’s feelings.

 

“An athlete’s tone of voice speaks the truth even when their words don’t.”

 

Effective Communication is dependent on tone. The same word said with a different tone can often imply the opposite meaning to the listener. I find this true when assisting parents and their athletes. The parent’s words frequently say one thing and their tone says the polar opposite. Athletes listen to their parent’s tone and tune out their parent’s words because their tone reflects their true feelings, tension and attitude.

Throughout your sessions, pay attention as the athletes expose flashes of their inborn personality. An introvert’s theoretic response, an intuitive gut-action, a feelers empathetic reaction or a perceiver’s future speculation speaks volumes. Once dialed into the inner world of your athlete’s brain designs you’ll be able to connect with each athlete’s overall persona and customize your training to their unique needs. As high-performance tennis coaches or parents, it’s our job to get into each student’s world, instead of demanding that they get into ours.

Why Video Analysis Doesn’t Help

Posted on August 14, 2018 by in Tennis Professional Interviews

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By Frank Giampaolo

 

While it’s enlightening and even exciting for athletes to see themselves hitting in slow motion on a split screen serving next to Roger Federer, it typically doesn’t help. Why? Cognitive dissonance is too powerful for most students to overcome. So, what does the psychological term, cognitive dissonance mean? It refers to the discomfort the athlete experiences by simultaneously holding two contradictory mental habits (motor programs.) The flawed behavior they own and the new behavior that they don’t quite recognize. As a result, the constructive and informative video analysis leads to temporary learning due to the athlete’s internal conflict with change. Let’s unfold the mystery.

 

Research shows that replacing an old stroke with a new one takes approximately 3-6 weeks of deliberate, customized, focused practice. Sticking with the replacement plan requires the discipline and patience of both the athlete and the coach. Most athletes are interested in the improvement, but not committed to the process. Most athletes don’t possess the resolve to feel uncomfortable as the natural cycle unfolds. Understood that in the realm of improvement; it gets worse before it gets better.  The following is a typical scenario demonstrating why improvement via video analysis often doesn’t stick.

 

The coach shoots the video and offers the athlete suggestions. Motivated and convinced the change is needed, the student focuses for a week or two on their new skill set.  At the 2- week mark, like clockwork, they can‘t resist competing. So they call Bertha, whom they have never beat, to play a practice match armed with an unrealistic new “weapon.”  “Sunday morning you & me. It’s finally go-time!” The athlete prematurely competes two weeks into their transformation. Their old stroke is dismantled, and their new version isn’t fully formed. Catastrophe strikes as the new stroke predictably breaks-down under competitive stress. The athlete then says “I know what Coach Frank said, but I can’t lose to Bertha again. I’m going back to my old one.”

 

Here’s the psychology: The older more comfortable version of the stroke will initially overtake and resist the new stroke in the first few weeks because the flawed old stroke still feels more comfortable. After all, the athlete has been loyal, nurturing and motor programming the lousy stroke for years. The inner conflict between the new and old often stops the metamorphosis dead in its tracks.

 

“If the pain the athlete suffers from losing is greater than the pain he suffers from changing a flawed stroke, the prognosis is good. If the pain of changing is greater than the pain of losing, the prognosis isn’t so good.”

 

Can video analysis help athletes? Of course, but improvement stems from the time and effort they put into the rerouting process. Some athletes will choose to speed up the transformation with several hours of on-court deliberate, customized, focused practice sessions along with hours of neuro priming per week. Athletes that embrace this route have an excellent prognosis. The normal, less committed athletes believe that merely seeing themselves on video will magically change their strokes. It won’t. Even if they choose to set aside one hour a week for a couple of weeks; it’s just not enough to override the old motor program.

 

The time dedicated to the project after the video shoot dictates the speed and effectiveness of the transformation.