Tag Archives: tennis

Spacing Drill

Posted on April 22, 2017 by in Championship Tennis, Primary and Secondary Strokes

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s Bestselling Book Championship Tennis available through most on-line retailers!

 Championship Tennis by Frank GiampaoloSpacing

In the early 1990s, I did high-speed video analysis of players’ strokes and discovered that a large a majority of mis-hits occurred because of the player being too close to the ball at impact. Mis- hits also resulted from the player being too far away from the ball, but being jammed was clearly more prevalent. This is why proper spacing plays such a large role in clean stroke production.

Hitting effectively on the move is a requirement for high-level play, and it’s something that must be practiced repeatedly. This is a great drill for developing the footwork required for proper spacing.  An experienced feeder is mandatory for this quick-paced drill. The feeder customizes the ball’s speed, spin, and trajectory to suit the player’s ability level.

Begin with the coach standing with a basket of balls, positioned behind the ad-side doubles alley. The coach will deliver a rapid-fire two-ball sequence to the player’s forehand wing at three different stations on the court.

 

  1. The player begins by standing behind the baseline on the opposing ad-side corner. The coach feeds a high deep ball directly at the player. The player has to run around to the side of the ball and space herself to hit an aggressive inside-out forehand. As the ball is struck, the coach feeds another ball, this time short and inside the service box. The player has to move into the court, properly space herself away from the ball, and once again hit an inside-out forehand.
  1. The player quickly slides back to the base-line, this time at the center hash mark, and the coach repeats the sequence—deep ball followed by short ball. The player continues to direct her shots toward the coach’s corner.
  1. The player quickly slides back to the base-line, this time to the deuce-side corner. The coach again repeats the sequence of deep ball followed by short ball. The player’s target remains the coach’s corner of the court.

 

After the player hits from all stations, repeat the stations with the coach drilling to the back- hand wing. Next, repeat the drill for both the forehand and backhand with the coach standing behind the deuce-side doubles alley. This corner of the court now becomes the player’s target area.

Five Solutions to Foster Emotional Strength

Posted on March 2, 2017 by in Emotional Aptitude in Sports, The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from Emotional Aptitude In Sports NOW available through most on-line retailers!  Click Here to Order  

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Five Solutions to Foster Emotional Strength:

Apply Positive Visualization
Winners use positive visualization by imagining themselves executing their best patterns and plays without hesitation. Less successful athletes are overcome with negative visualization, which of course overwhelms their thought processes with visions of failure.

Train Under Game Day Stress
Athletes need to train much more than just their physical techniques and athleticism in practice. They have to get comfortable… being uncomfortable.

Rehearse Tolerance
Overcome hardships and pain in practice. Simulating stress in practice provides you with the opportunity to conquer your emotional demons. By doing so, reoccurring game day negative thoughts are replaced by positive thoughts such as: “I’ve done this before, I’ve conquered this several times and I know I can overcome this again because I have done it often.”

Learn to Compartmentalize Emotions
Great athletes stay in their optimal performance frame of mind during discomfort by staying on script (pre-set protocol). This entails choosing to mentally focus on the job at hand by overriding the emotional contaminants, thus not letting emotions control the show.

Stop Feeding Negative Emotions

Flip constantly feeding the problems, worries and fears with customized protocols which feed optimism, courage, resiliency and fortitude. Athletes should have pre-set triggers (words and actions) that help them focus on positive plays and patterns.

Real Talent Is Emotional Toughness-Part 1

Posted on February 20, 2017 by in Emotional Aptitude in Sports

The following post is an excerpt from Emotional Aptitude In Sports NOW available through most on-line retailers!  Click Here to Order

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 Five Solutions to Foster Emotional Strength- More Solutions to Come…

  1. Nurture the Love of Competition
    Studies show that experiences bring more joy than possessions. The energy of the event is contagious. Athletes should enjoy competing against their past, fatigue, opponents and against time.
  2. Commit to Improving
    Being the best of the best (even in your town) doesn’t come without extreme effort. Improve your performance by understanding emotional aptitude.
  3. Recognize That You Can’t Be Normal …and a Champion
    Champions lead very different lives than normal people. Being an athletic champion is a daily lifestyle.
  4. Customize Your Training
    Realize that diligent customized training trumps social, group learning. Research shows, on average, group training takes up to six times longer than quality private training.
  5. Adopt a Growth Mind-Set
    Great skills are cultivated through continuous effort more so than initial talent or IQ. Without effort…you fail by default. Understand that success starts with the effort of optimism and a growth mindset.

Happy Happy Holidays

Posted on December 24, 2016 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential

I thank you for your support and dedication to being the best that you can be on and off the court.

I wish you a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Peaceful Holiday.

All the Best, Frank GiampaoloFrank Giampaolo

Periodization Training

Posted on October 26, 2016 by in Customized Organizational Plan, 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 on-line retailers!  Click Here to Order Frank Giampaolo

 

PERIODIZATION TRAINING

When preparing for an upcoming tournament, inexperienced coaches and parents sabotage their athlete’s chances of reaching their peak performance level (at match time) due to a lack of periodization training. This systematic approach to training cycles the athlete on and off through various training aspects. A similar analogy would be to compare off-season, pre-season, in-season, and post-season phases as in other sports to match competition training.

The following are examples of both poor and intelligent pre-match preparations through periodization.

 

Poor Pre-Match Preparation:

  • Changing fundamental grips or strokes. Changing fundamental grips or strokes just before an event often leads to not having the old stroke any longer and not having the new stroke ready for match play.
  • Cramming for the event by overloading the practice schedule. This behavior often leads to drained, low batteries on match day.
  • Overdoing the off-court training. Overdoing the off-court training the days just before an event, often leads to soreness, fatigue and injuries come match day.
  • Adding unfamiliar components to routines. Adding unfamiliar components (such as exercises, practice routines, stroke preparation, meals, etc.) could lead to physical, mental and emotional confusion.
  • Seeking out only “Up” practice matches. Seeking out only “Up” practice matches breeds low self-esteem and zero confidence.
  • Warming up past the point of diminishing returns. Warming up the same strokes too long often leads to your mind playing tricks on you. A seemingly solid stroke may appear to be flawed by over analysis.
  • Exception to the Rule: Often players and/or parents do not want to get off the tournament trail due to the ranking race. In this situation, changes must be made to improve while on the tournament trail. Players/parents will have to accept the fact that losing a battle or two may be in order to win the war. In other words a player may have to lose a minor tournament or two in order to improve enough to be able to win major tournaments in the future.

 

Intelligent Pre-Match Preparation:

  • Train repetition of primary and secondary strokes. This grooves the athlete’s timing and increases their confidence in every tool in their tool belt.
  • Train repetition of proactive patterns. This leads to fast cognitive processing speed, no hesitation and faith in one’s patterns.
  • Perform tennis specific off-court training. This leads to the reduction of injuries and increased strength and stamina.
  • Preset mental protocols. Pre-planning how to beat the different styles of opponents leads to confidence and dependable problem-solving skills.
  • Preset emotional protocols. Pre-planning how to conquer performance anxieties leads to self-assurance and trust under stress.

Emotional Aptitude in Tennis

Posted on October 5, 2016 by in Emotional Aptitude in Sports, Emotional Tennis

The following post is a re-post from The True Athlete Project. ea-in-sports4a_2d

EMOTIONAL APTITUDE IN SPORTS: THE CASE OF TENNIS

 “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” – Mark Twain

Mark Twain’s famous quote could not be a more fitting in the world of competitive tennis. Emotional Aptitude in Tennis peeks into why athletes with seemingly solid games lose… and lose often.   Most players enter the game intently focused on improving technical (strokes), mental (strategic) and their athletic components. Unfortunately, these outward components are kidnapped due to under-developed emotional skill sets.    I have written a new book, Emotional Aptitude in Sports, as a result of my curious obsession with the root causes of choking and panicking under stress.

Why do a handful of players at the club have all the trophies?

Why isn’t on-court stroke production, riding the stationary bike or buying the latest gear helping athletes earn more hardware?  To the untrained eye, technique and mental toughness seems to take the blame for most losses. But if these components appear flawless in practice on Friday only to abandon the athlete in Saturday’s match, there is definitely more to the story. All too often it’s an athlete’s lack of emotional aptitude that’s holding them hostage under stress. Successfully handling competitive pressure demands a more focused emotional developmental regimen.

Decades of observational research has shown me that emotional aptitude is more important than “perfect” technique in athletic competition.

Athletes are often frustrated that their match day performance is far inferior to their practice performance. The majority of tennis athletes interviewed believed that the inherent complexity of their sport is the cause of their stress that halts their success.  But in actuality, their stress is caused by simply being judged. While every top athlete must be willing to put in the hours developing their technique, becoming physically fit and understanding tennis specific strategic plans, to be a successful competitor, they must also to be able to perform when it counts. As professionals, we see it every weekend, in every age division whether we realize it or not. Elegant looking, well trained athletes often wilt under the heat of competition while seemingly unorthodox looking competitors flourish. Why?

The answer is the athlete’s lack of complete development- avoiding the development of the emotional component. 

Let’s use the computer analogy to further explain this phenomena. I’d like you to look at an athlete the same way you look at your computer. For the computer to run efficiently both the external hardware and internal software packages work seamlessly together. For the athlete, their hardware package consists of their technical and athletic aptitude. Their software package consists of their mental and emotional aptitude. Far too many athletes are unevenly developed as competitors.

Poor emotional aptitude actually causes your students technique to break down, their footwork to vanish, their focus to waver and their problem solving skills to abandon them when they need them the most. It’s our job as industry leaders to begin to develop the skill sets necessary to strengthen most athlete’s weakest link …which is the emotional muscle. 

 

Parents need to know that this situation is partially the teaching professional’s failure.  As I travel across the country I see two very common teaching scenarios, one set of coaches are the political “snow job” artist and the second set are true developmental artist. I see the “snow job” artist at posh country clubs, in parks and rec’s and coaching D-1 College. They are political masters. They fully understand that teaching “change” is difficult and uncomfortable. It’s much, much easier for them to fluff over the difficult changes and keep everyone coming back smiling next week. I get it- if the athlete wants to hit and giggle.  But in order to serve the best interest of the competitive tennis player, more of the second set of coaches are needed- those who choose to develop a complete athlete by developing technical, athletic, mental and emotional components to maximize the player’s potential.

I employ the coaches to take the high road in the education of your children. The challenge for both the parents and the coaches is to do the research and improve so teaching the more difficult components becomes second nature. This requires both IQ… And emotional aptitude. Which brings us full circle.

Understanding emotional aptitude, as a parent or coach, will help you to help your athletes as you connect at a deeper level. It will aid you in mastering difficult components and conversations. Most importantly, emotional intelligence will assist you in developing more efficient competitors at crunch time. I’m convinced that the future leaders are the teachers who are open to learning and then sharing.  This is what moves us all forward.

 

Connect with Frank Giampaolo via Facebook or receive his free monthly newsletter at: www.maximizingtennispotential.com
 

The 3 Control Dramas in Tennis

Posted on July 31, 2016 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 on-line 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:

1) The Power Contest

2) The Speed Contest

3) 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.

CONTACT: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net

College Athletics

Posted on March 9, 2016 by in How To Attract A College Scholarship, 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 on-line retailers! Click Here to Orderblack_ebook_design2

 

 

THE COLLEGE SEARCH PROCESS

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, Wosniacki, 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…

 

CONTACT FRANK GIAMPAOLO
FGSA@earthlink.net

Confronting Gamesmanship

Posted on March 3, 2016 by in Cheating, 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 on-line retailers!  Click Here to Order

QUESTION: What are the solutions to confronting gamesmanship?

Frank: First of all, let’s be honest; cheaters do exist.  But let’s look at the issue from a growth angle. Cheaters will stretch your child beyond their normal frustration tolerance levels and that’s emotional toughness. Your athlete needs emotional intelligence as much as a wicked topspin backhand. Handling those “creative line callers” is a necessary stepping stone to becoming a tennis champion. Share with your junior champs the below ten factors and they will be better equipped to handle the antics of a cheater.

 Ten Solutions to Conquering Gamesmanship:  3 More Solutions…

Solution Number 4: Learn from the past but stay in the present.

The opponent’s past dramas may have robbed your child from a crucial point but your child’s wandering mind robs them of present and future points. Being emotionally in the past is another cornerstone of why cheaters do often win. Focusing on the past “hook” is a sign of your athlete’s emotional weakness.

“Past or future thoughts interfere with the present task at hand.”

 

Solution Number 5: Project confidence.

Act like you’ve seen these antics a thousand times and the opponent is silly to think you’re going to fall for such a petty tactic. A player with a powerful presence acts like they own the place. Some players shy away from confrontation. Learning to handle intimidation and confrontation is a necessary protocol at the higher levels of tennis.

“Be courageous, there’s no room for the insecure at the top.”

 

Solution Number 6: Shift focus from how the opponent is cheating, to how the opponent is playing.

This takes the counterproductive thoughts of their personal assault out of the equation. By applying opponent profiling, your child is able to zero in on the opponent’s physical skills or lack thereof and avoid the drama.

 

CONTACT Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net

OPPONENT PROFILING

Posted on February 21, 2016 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 on-line 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 and 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 and 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.

Contact Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net