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Player Evaluation

The following post is an excerpt of the International Player Evaluation. (Also in the Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible.) The International Player Evaluation is now available in a Special May e-Book Bundle only at www.MaximizingTennisPotential.com  Click Here to get yours!

 

Frank’s customized evaluation is meant to uncover your player’s strengths, weaknesses and current knowledge of the game. Then, along with your team, the information can be used to set a plan in motion to destroy your player’s weaknesses.

How many tools does your player currently carry into a tournament match? Most players list a hand full. After completing this evaluation booklet, you will uncover hidden tools needed to compete at the higher levels. (One example listed below.)

OFF COURT TRAINING

  • Lateral Movement (Side to side): 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
  • Up & Back Movement (Forward & back): 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
  • Aerobic Fitness: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
  • Anaerobic Fitness: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
  • Ability to Accelerate/Decelerate: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
  • Speed/Agility: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
  • Strength (Upper body/core/lower body): 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
  • Body Coordination (Gross motor skills): 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
  • Hand-Eye Coordination (Fine motor skills): 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
  • Flexibility/Stretching: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
  • Anticipatory Speed: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

 

List your Top 3 Off-Court Training areas to focus on this year:

1.

2.

3.

 

Write your Personal Action Plan:

College Tennis Scholarships

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The following post is an excerpt from How to Attract a College Athletic Scholarship.

“Buyers” Market Versus “Sellers” Market
In the college athletic world, being in the “buyer” market means college coaches from prestigious universities across the nation will be begging your child to attend their schools. This is a result of the player’s (and their parent’s) focusing on developing the skills of a champion from an early age. Athletic royalty takes commitment and passion years before college. Assisting your child to build their physical, mental and emotional tool sets early will ensure that coaches will be selling you and your child on the merits of their athletic and academic programs and not the other way around.
FUN FACT: On a personal note, building a champion in her early teens saved us approximately $240,000 K on our daughters USC education. Build it first and they will come.
If on the other hand, you and your child have failed to prepare early for college athletics, college coaches will most likely not be searching your child out- hence your child will be in the “seller’ market.
What’s the “sellers” market?
In this situation, the seller’s market refers to the job of “selling” your child’s possible athletic value to college coaches, along with the thousands of other 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. So I’ll say it again, build a champion and they will come. I recommend reviewing the essential material in the book: Raising Athletic Royalty.
SPECIAL NOTE: I want to clarify that developing athletic royalty skill sets usually begins well before the athletes reaches their teens, whereas, initiating the college search process usually begins the freshman year of high school.

Contact:

Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net

KEYS TO ACCELERATING LEARNING

The following post is an excerpt from the soon to be released Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible! Happy Holidays, Frankblack_ebook_design2

 

 

 

Regardless of the sport, excellence does not happen by chance. It takes a deliberate customized plan, hard work and dedication. Accelerate your child’s learning curve with a plan.

KEYS TO ACCELERATING LEARNING

How do you take a kid with potential and develop them into a proven champion? What predetermines their success? How do you convince them that they’re special? What factors build passion? How does a parent and coach develop a consistent winner?

 

Let’s use my step- daughter Sarah Fansler as a quantifiable example of gauging the development of a kid’s potential. Most would agree that Sarah had a flair for the game. She was ranked top in the nation. Sarah won multiple gold, silver and bronze balls. She won a total of 10 U.S. National titles.  She’s played the junior U.S. Open twice and the adult U.S. Open once before the age of 16. She was honored as he NCAA College Freshman of the year while at USC.

Now, let’s uncover her underlying story and take a deeper look at Sarah’s training regimen. As a junior player, Sarah had spent six years training full time. That’s about 20 hours a week or a thousand hours a year practicing in the manner in which she was expected to perform. Sarah only followed a deliberate, customized developmental plan.

Sarah did a private lesson with me from 6:30 am -7:30 am before getting ready for school. Sarah’s after-school regimen included playing full matches against paid college players and/or off-court training at a specialized gym called “Get Fit”, a Vert system off-court training center. After dinner Sarah and I drilled for an additional hour and a half. On weekends, Sarah played tournaments.

Sarah followed my Customized Player Evaluation (Found in section VII) – a formula for deep accelerated learning. Her training regimen was more intense than the typical training program of an average high performance player. The hidden factor to her tennis success was her hard work on and off the court each week. The accelerated learning process catapulted Sarah above her rivals.

 

“You can’t simply place your athlete in with the group… if you actually want them to get ahead of the group!”

 

So, was Sarah’s success due to her natural gifts or was it earned through a planned process? My answer is that approximately 20 percent of Sarah’s junior success was due to her natural talents, 80 percent was due to her learned behaviors. The development of life lessons was a major factor. (Fast forward 2015: Sarah’s life lessons learned through tennis are now accelerating her career in business!)

So talent is actually measured by the preparation before the performance. Often professionals say “I didn’t just win this event today…I won it through the last three months of customized preparation.”

So, my question to the parents and coaches is: What’s your deliberate, customized developmental plan for your athlete?

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

Nurturing a Customized Developmental Plan

 

Coming Soon the Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible. Its 500 pages of everything you didn’t even know… You needed to know!  The following post is an excerpt from the second edition of the Tennis Parent’s Bible. Thanks for visiting, Frankblack_ebook_design2

Here what the industry experts are saying:

“The Tennis Parents Bible should be mandatory reading (with an annual rotating online quiz) that’s required for ALL PARENTS for their children to play in USTA events! Seriously. If parent training was required, it could change this sport in a powerful way for generations!”

 

Joe Dinoffer
President, Oncourt Offcourt, Ltd.
USPTA and PTR Master Professional

 

NURTURING A DELIBERATE CUSTOMIZED PLAN

 

“Junior tennis champions are born from great sacrifice.
They are never the result of selfish parents.”

 

Outstanding parents are outstanding teachers. The parent is the most important adult figure that will define and shape a child. An experienced coach may assist in developing technical tools such as a topspin backhand. A trainer may assist in developing core strength. But, please never underestimate the power of your child’s greatest teacher…you!

The job description of a tennis parent is to provide a safe and loving environment. A tennis parent nurtures the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual growth of the child.  A gifted athlete with the desire, work ethic and character of a champion will never achieve his or her full potential without the loving support of a tennis parent/manager.

 

“A junior competitor without a tennis educated parent is like a ship without a rudder.”

 

Terrific children, wonderful adults and tennis champions aren’t born, they are developed. It’s not simply heredity. It’s an organized plan. No one becomes extraordinary on their own. “It takes a Village” is the age old saying. As you raise athletic royalty, your village will be your entourage of coaches, hitters, mental/emotional trainers, off-court tennis specific experts, physical therapists and sports medicine doctors.

The Williams sisters are an actual example of a parent with a vision.  The story goes: Richard Williams planned to have more children for the sole purpose of developing them into professional tennis players. Wayne Bryan also had a plan with his twin boys, the Bryan brothers. Without an actual plan, you’ll never know your child’s true potential.

Preparing an organizational blue print will save you thousands of dollars annually. It will also save your child thousands of wasted, unproductive hours, sweat and tears.

Your child was born with a unique genetic predisposition and is pre-wired with a specific brain and body type. Consider it carefully as you and your athlete’s coaches (your entourage) nurture your child’s talent and identify their genetic predisposition.  Individual brain and body type play a very influential role at all levels of the game (not to mention the lifelong benefits as well.)  Let’s have some fun right off the bat and jump into applying personality profiling.

So, what’s the key to maximizing success in the shortest period of time? Is it to purchase the latest equipment? Maybe it’s hiring a great local pro? What if I said… neither.

 

“The first and most important tool you will ever apply is discovering your child’s personality and brain design.”

 

Let’s look at the typical old school tennis teaching scenario. The local pro Jose Gonzales came to the United States from Chile. He was a terrific collegiate player earning a full scholarship to Virginia Commonwealth. Jose even played a few ATP pro challenger events. He found success by being extremely patient. He had a natural gift with his quick feet and he enjoyed running. He took delight in being a steady counter puncher 15 feet behind the baseline. Jose’s shot tolerance was a 20-ball rally!

 

 

As a teaching professional, he demands that each of his students abide by his playing style, disciplines and logic. Your thinking, boy that guy sounds pretty experienced, let’s hire him as our child’s coach. So, is this the right mentor for your child?

The answer is, not likely. Why? Because Jose demands that each student plays his style. The style of tennis that your child needs in order to thrive is based on his or hers own unique design. (AKA: brain and body type.)

 

“Asking your child to play tennis in a style that opposes their skill sets, beliefs and temperament is a recipe for disaster. This is especially true at the beginning levels of player development and is a major factor as to why so many of them leave this great game.”

 

One of the quickest ways to ensure that your child will quit the sport is to demand that they play a style that opposes their brain and body type. Understanding brain and body types is one of the first steps to becoming a world class parent and/or coach. Hold on tight because I am about to rock your world.

 

Brain and Body Type

Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo

Championship Tennis Cover

To best help your students, you need to understand the mental and physical predisposition of “athletic royalty.” It’s time to get into your player’s world, instead of continually forcing them into yours.

Old-school teaching and coaching requires the student to get into the authority’s training methodology — which disregards the student’s unique brain and body design. This archaic approach produces average athletes at best, and causes gifted athletes to leave the game at worst.

To get into your player’s world, you need to recognize and respect a student’s inborn characteristics, which mean understanding their brain and body types.

Personality Types

To understand brain (and personality) types, we can use the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), which has four categories with their opposing profiles.

Introvert vs. Extrovert: Introverts (I) are more comfortable laying back than retaliating. They need alone time to recharge and prefer to be inside their inner world. Extroverts (E) prefer to initiate action. They gain their energy by bringing people together.

Sensate vs. Intuitive: Sensate (S) individuals prefer to collect data and facts before making decisions. Intuitive (N) persons trust their gut instincts and are better quick decision-makers.

Thinkers vs. Feelers: Thinkers (T) make decisions through objective logic and impersonalize the situation. They enjoy the technical components and choose truthful over tactful. Feelers (F) are in tune to the emotional climate of the event and others’ actions; harmony is paramount.

Judgers vs. Perceivers: Judgers (J) prefer structure and like things orderly; they make lists and prefer to work before play. Perceivers (P) are adaptable and flexible; they enjoy experiencing new ideas and methods, rather than agonizing over details.

To help identify your athlete’s personality profile, first try categorizing yourself. Choose your dominant brain functions and write down your four-letter acronym. (While each of us exhibits multiple sides to our personality, we each have a genetically dominant trait.) For example, if you believe you’re an extrovert, intuitive, feeler, perceiver, then you are an ENFP.

Now, sit with your young athlete to brain type him or her. (Be aware that young people sometimes misdiagnose their own personality profile as they may choose characteristics they believe to be more popular.)

Motor Skills

The other part of this puzzle is how body types affect motor skills and athletic potential. The two opposing body types are called “fine-motor-skilled dominant” and “gross-motor-skilled dominant.” We all have a genetic predisposition to one or the other.

Fine-motor-skilled athletes excel from the muscles found from the elbows through the hands and fingers. A common compliment is that the athlete “has good hands.” Gross-motor-skilled athletes prefer the use of the larger muscle groups in the torso, legs and feet, and are known for superior core balance and body coordination.

Raising athletic royalty requires matching your young athlete’s preferred brain type and body type design with the right sport, style of play and/or position. Here’s one example, using two students of mine. Evan and Jarred are 14-year-old twins. They take the same number of private lessons and clinics but their training regimen is polar opposite. Evan is ENFP and fine-motor-skill dominant; Jarred is ISTJ and gross-motor-skill dominant.

Evan, being an extrovert, prefers to make things happen on the court. He often charges the net and ends the point with his volleys (good hands). Jarred is more comfortable assessing and then retaliating — the classic counterpuncher. Being gross-motor-skilled dominant helps Jarred uncoil the larger muscle groups of the kinetic chain — enhancing his textbook groundstrokes.

Teaching each student within their genetic guideline will maximize their potential at the quickest rate. Knowing your student’s genetic makeup and natural strengths and weaknesses helps to avoid the needless frustrations in their development and will better prepare you to assist and encourage them.

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
MaximizingTennisPotential.com
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Overlooking Goal Setting

The following post is an excerpt from Blunders and Cures.  Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo

Blunders & Cures_final

 

 

BLUNDER: Overlooking Goal Setting

Goal setting and organizational plans should be used as soon as you enter into the competitive phase. After an event, plan on setting some goals as you schedule your upcoming lessons. Sit down with your entourage to review your performance at an appropriate time. This analysis will provide your “Blue Print” for the upcoming weeks’ worth of lessons and clinics.

There are four basic sides to your game that need to be developed religiously. Examples include:

  1. Technical: (Example: Slice backhand)
  2. Tactical: (Example: How to beat a moonball/pusher)
  3. Movement/Fitness: (Example: Develop core strength and stability)
  4. Emotional/Focus: (Example: Practicing closing out 5-2 leads)

At all levels of competition, matches should be viewed as an information gathering session. The overall objective is to maximize your potential at the quickest rate. Winning comes from experience and experience comes from both winning and losing.

CURE: Identify an area in your game that can be improved upon in each of the four sides of development.

  1. Technical:
  2. Tactical:
  3. Movement/Fitness:
  4. Emotional/Focus:

Define a plan of attack for each of the 4 skills identified. Evaluate the plan after its implementation and determine if the plan is working? Adjust as necessary but continue to train on the skills you need most.

Ask Yourself?

Did you find one flaw per category you wish to improve? Di you set aside time to review your list with your coach and devise a plan on working to improve your identified weaknesses? Do you have a style of opponent that you hate to play? Have you ever taken a month and focused on developing the tools to actually beat that particular style of opponent? Or do you do the same drills week after week and hope for different results?

 

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
MaximizingTennisPotential.com
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Match Day Preparation

MATCH DAY PREPARATION

 

There is often a very fine line between competitive success and failure. A poor start, an initial lack of focus, or a bout of wavering confidence can cause a seemingly winnable match to quickly slip away. The will to properly prepare for competition usually makes the difference. For players to achieve consistent positive match results, their preparation must include ritualistic, inflexible routines.

The Mental Emotional Tennis Work Book series are designed for the player to read and take the proper steps to accelerate their game. Match Day Preparation contains information to help players of all levels find this state of readiness that enables them to transform from a normal person into a tennis warrior.

The below blog introduces the match day parental role.

 “Research shows that for better or worse…parents are the child’s greatest influence in life.”

PARENTAL MATCH DAY JOB DESCRIPTION: The Parent’s Primary Role is to De-Stress their Child

  • Stress Increases Muscle Contractions
  • Stress Decreases Fluid Movement
  • Stress Impairs Judgment
  • Stress Reduces Problem Solving Skills

Parents, remember that athletes perform best in a calm relaxed mental state.

PARENTAL PRE-MATCH JOB DESCRIPTION

  • Equipment preparation & nutrition/hydration requirements
  • Warm up routines (Primary/Secondary Strokes) and imagery
  • Keeping the player away from other players and parents
  • Discuss styles of play, strengths and weaknesses instead of the opponents past success
  • Emphasize the importance of executing the correct shot the moment demands
  • Quality preparation is a life skill. It is the foundation for success.

As you can see, education begins with you!

 

 

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
MaximizingTennisPotential.com
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Primary and Secondary Stroke Evaluations

 

The following post is a excerpt from Championship Tennis and The Tennis Parent’s Bible. Thanks, Frank

Let’s say that we are sitting in my hometown of Laguna Beach, California. “Meet me at Tennis West Sports and Racquet Club in El Paso, Texas,” I say as I toss you the keys to my car. You have no maps and no instructions—just a car and a full tank of gas. The ride would take longer than it should, and the process would at times be maddening, but eventually you would probably still find the club. Now if the car has a navigation system with the address already plugged in, the trip would certainly be easier. And if the navigation system also reroutes for traffic jams and construction delays, the trip would be even faster, less stressful, and a more pleasurable experience. Well, think of this book’s evaluation chapters as a customized navigation system that maximizes potential at the quickest rate. Whatever the goal, having a detailed road map is the most efficient and effective way for a player to achieve it. The evaluations that follow will uncover each player’s confidence and ability levels in performing strokes as well as in executing tactics. These components are the foundations of competitive tennis.

To make these evaluations meaningful and effective, the components should be evaluated based on how they hold up under match conditions. In other words, hitting second serves from a hopper of balls on a relaxed practice court is not a good indicator of the dependability of the player’s second serve. The true barometer is whether the player’s second serve is reliable when the score is 5-6 in a tiebreaker.

The player may also want to consult a coach, parent, or playing partner to gain another perspective on his game. This second opinion can often be eye opening. Many players aren’t completely honest with themselves or don’t recognize their shortcomings. For instance, consider the three versions of a forehand: offensive, neutral, and defensive. A player may have a terrific offensive forehand, capable of crushing any ball bouncing short in the court. He may consider this his money shot. Yet a coach may reveal that the neutral and defensive characteristics of the player’s stroke are underdeveloped and unreliable under stress. In the player’s opinion, the forehand doesn’t need improvement, but in reality, it could use a lot of work.

Let’s review 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 (black, brown, red, green, yellow…etc.) 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 12 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:

  1. Primary Drive
  2. High, Topspin Arch
  3. Short Angle or Side Door
  4. Slice or Drop Shot

 

The Three Types of Serves:

  1. Flat
  2. Kick
  3. Slice

 

The Four Types of Volleys:

  1. Traditional Punch Volley
  2. Drop Volley
  3. Swing Volley
  4. Half Volley

 

The Three Types of Lobs are:

  1. Topspin Lobs
  2. Slice Lob
  3. Re-Lob (lobbing and over-head smash)

 

The Two Types of Overheads to Develop are:

  1. The stationary “freeze” overhead
  2. The turn & run/scissor overhead

 

The 6 Types of Approach Shots are:

  1. Serve and Volley
  2. Chip and Charge
  3. Drive Approach
  4. Slice Approach
  5. Drop Shot Approach
  6. Moonball Approach

A goal is just a dream without a plan.  Build your full tool belt of primary and secondary strokes and you’ll have a room full of trophies!

Thanks for visiting, Frank

 

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

Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo

Championship Tennis by Frank Giampaolo

STRENGTH TRAINING FOR TENNIS

The following excerpt is from my book Championship Tennis. For more information see The Tennis Parent’s Bible and/or Championship Tennis.

Although equipment and improved technique can help increase the power of strokes, the greatest gains are brought about by physical improvements.  Resistance training is an excellent training method for tennis players because the sport of tennis forces players to control their body through space, just as an athlete would during competition. This is not to say that free weights such as dumbbells, barbells, and kettlebells have no value. Far from it.- they are great for building strong muscles and developing power.

Tennis players need their fitness to mirror what they need on the court (once again, practicing in the manner in which they are expected to perform). For this reason, the most practical and valuable tool for developing massive power for tennis-specific movements is the weighted medicine ball. Medicine ball exercises work the five regions necessary for massive power: the core, legs, chest, arms, and shoulders.

Special Note: Indian Well Tennis Garden in California has a large grassy area near the tennis courts that the professional use to off-court train while playing the Indian Wells BNP Paribas Open.  The public can watch the pros off court training with their coaches- It is a great learning tool for your player to watch the players train on the lawn- you will see the Pros perform medicine ball and resistance band drills as well as speed and agility exercises on the lawn.

Be sure your player includes the medicine ball inn their tennis development.  Your player has an off court training regime- right? Fitness is essential to a successful tennis career!

Frank

See Championship Tennis for tennis specific medicine ball workouts

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
MaximizingTennisPotential.com
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Off-Court Training

Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo

Accelerating your Tennis Game with Off-Court Training

A fit player is a stronger player both physically and mentally. Off Court training accelerates a player’s on court performance. When the player gets fatigued their movement gets sloppy, their stroke spacing is off and unforced errors begin to fly off their racket. Poor decision making and negative emotions set in. Often, the actual cause of a child’s emotional breakdown is lack of fitness.

Unfit players do not perform their rituals, they do not spot tendencies and they do not manage their mistake. Poor physical fitness manifests in mental and emotional breakdowns. For instance, most juniors go for low percentage shots due to the fact that they are too tired to grind out the point. So is off-court training linked to the mental side? Absolutely!

The Following Off Court Training Skills are Essential to High Performance Tennis:

  • Lateral Movement (Side to side)
  • Up & Back movement (Forward & back)
  • Aerobic Fitness
  • Ability to Accelerate
  • Ability to Decelerate
  • Speed/Agility
  • Stamina
  • Recovery Time (Between points)
  • Recovery Time (Between matches)
  • Strength (Upper body/core/lower body)Body Coordination (Gross motor skills)
  • Hand-Eye Coordination (Fine motor skills)
  • Flexibility/Stretching
  • Anticipatory Speed

Accelerate your child’s tennis game with proper off court training.  High level tennis demands high level fitness.  Ignoring off court training and only focusing on stroke mechanics will severely limit your child’s tennis potential. I recommend you begin by selecting two or three of your child’s weakest off court tennis skills and begin developing. A stronger fitter player will be more confident and mentally tougher!

FYI: Proper hydration and nutrition is also a critical factor in the physical, mental and emotional links of every tennis competitor. As parents, we have to insist that our players fuel up before battle. Dehydration triggers fatigue, dizziness, headaches and nausea. Improper nutrition lowers the blood sugar levels to the brain. Improper nutrition and hydration guarantees poor decision making skills at crunch time.

 

 

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