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Essential Skills Champions Develop

Posted on February 2, 2015 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential, Primary and Secondary Strokes, Raising Athletic Royalty, Tennis Parent Education, Tennis Specific Training, The Tennis Parent's Bible

Ten Techniques Junior Tennis Championships Develop  0623P_5063

“A Junior Champion is much more than a gifted athlete”

By Frank Giampaolo

 

John Kolouski (The name has been changes to protect the guilty.) has the Babolat Pure Drive, strung with natural gut on the crosses and polly on the mains… just like the pros. He sports the latest “Nadal” Nike shirts, shorts and shoes. His 8-pack racket bag even says “TOUR TEAM” on it. Man, he even goes to a $40,000 a year tennis academy. At first glance, he looks like a sure bet for the pros.

Now let’s look at Johns’ regiment a little deeper. John loses early every event in an implosion of negative behavior. Hummm… why?

There is nothing more common than young, talented athletes that are Weak Competitors. After reading the following Ten Essential Hidden Skills of a Champion, ask yourself if there are any similarities between John and your tennis phenom?

Ten Essential Hidden Skills of a Champion:

  1. Champions face their fears versus avoiding them. If you ask John to play a practice set against a younger retriever he has 100 excuses why he can’t and won’t play.
  2. Champions have swagger which is truly different than fake, empty confidence. John willingly practices his primary stroke production and then routinely SKIPS his weekly regime of off-court training sessions, closing out set rehearsals, and secondary stroke practice. Empty confidence shatters under the slightest bit of pressure.
  3. Champions are strong competitor’s not just good athletes. Set up a great sparring session for John and he’ll tell you “No thanks…I’m good! …I already hit back and forth to a partner today.”
  4. Champions do everything to prepare properly. John often stays out late the night before a big event; he doesn’t make time for a real breakfast; he doesn’t organize his tournament bag; and he only hits for maybe 10 minutes before the match. And he believes he is ready.
  5. Champions know that they will lose more than they will win. John believes that he should win every match he plays.
  6. Champions develop problem solving confidence, perseverance, determination and work ethic. John just focuses on stationary strokes, week in, week out.
  7. Champions have self-belief and a positive outlook. John wears his ball cap backwards and twirls his racket confidently at the start of each tournament, until he begins to play. Then like clockwork, he loses focus, misses a few easy shots and then morphs into an “Emotional Basket Case” every weekend. John only has one game style- hard hitting baseliner.
  8. Champions develop several game plans, emotional solutions to common problems, agility and brain speed. John is brain washed into believing that if he perfects his primary strokes every day, he will go pro.
  9. Champions understand that controlling their adrenaline and concentration wins matches. John believes that he is the one and only gifted, athlete out there and that should be enough to sky rocket him to success. When his opponents begin to challenge his game, he folds emotionally and mentally.
  10. Champions spot tendencies and control the energy of the match. John simply hits the shots that feel good to him versus hitting the shots that feel uncomfortable to the opponent.

In conclusion, it’s important to understand that there is nothing more common than extremely athletic individuals with weak competitive skills. This is why, to the untrained eye, it appears that the better “looking” athlete should win. As you all know, it is not the case.

Once solid fundamentals are developed, the art of winning stems from repetition of competition.  “Practice in the manner you’re expected to perform” is the motto champions follow. Training with competitive or simulated stress drills will improve match performance.

Thank you for visiting, Frank

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

Between Point Rituals

Posted on February 1, 2015 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential, Tennis Parent Education, The Tennis Parent's Bible

Between Point Rituals are an essential skill of athletic royalty. For more information : The Tennis Parent’s Bible. Thanks, Frank GiampaoloFrank Giampaolo

 

BETWEEN POINT RITUALS 

The following YouTube post was filmed at the Australian International Coaches Convention in 2011. I look forward to returning to Australia this coming January 2012. Parental tennis education will be the focus of my presentation.

Patrick McEnroe, USTA Player Development, has been quoted as saying “Player development should be called parent management.”

The importance of the parent’s role is critical to the success of a junior tennis player- regardless of their desired level of play.

 

http://youtu.be/DBLeehW4l9k

 

Thank you for visiting, Frank

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
MaximizingTennisPotential

Champions Work Smart

Posted on January 29, 2015 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential, Tennis Parent Education, The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt of Maximizing Tennis Potential. Thanks, Frank

0623P_4547

TENNIS CHAMPIONS WORK SMART

Every athlete wants to succeed. They all want the exact same outcome goal. So what separates the champions from the early round losers?

  • Is it cleaner strokes?
  • Sharper anticipatory speed, quicker foot speed?
  • Smarter shot selections?
  • Calmer frustration tolerance levels?
  • Longer focus?

The answer is that the best players begin working EARLY on all of these issues. Great coaches, however, have the ability to zero in on the players re-occurring issues (nightmares) years before the player or the parent actually even see it.

This is where Smart Work comes into play.

Let’s use an analogy. If a race car continually loses race after race due to its tires blowing out, is spending 4 hours a day polishing the fenders going to solve the problem? Not likely…  Hey but their working hard 4 hours a day!  Your child may be working hard 4 hours a day, heck, maybe even 6 hours but is it Smart Work?

Translation: “Are you spending your limited time and money wisely?”

In my last blog post,  Maximize Performance with Accountability,  I posed the below questions to a top 200 tournament level player. Now let’s look at the same question posed to a top 10 nationally ranked player.  The answers are dramatically different, except number 7.

  1. How long have you been playing? “4-5 years”.
  2. What does your weekly training schedule look like? “I train about 20 hours a week. My routine consists of off court training, hitters, stroke lessons, occasionally I go to an academy for sparring, sets, video analysis, tournaments”
  3. Ok, what has been your developmental focus? “Mainly strokes, that’s why I’m here! I need to beef up my mental and emotional sides.”
  4. Primary and secondary strokes? “Mostly primary?”
  5. What is your style of play? “I’m a hard hitting baseliner”
  6. Have you developed your B & C game plans? “Yes, I play sets weekly as a retriever and as a net rusher?”
  7. What type of players do you hate playing the most? “Moonballers, for sure pushers!!”
  8. All right, what patterns have you developed to beat those retrievers? “I can bring them in, and I have a solid moonball approach to swing volley pattern that usually works”
  9. Ok, last question, what are your goals in the upcoming year? “To improve my drop volley, kick serve, my frustration tolerance and get fit enough to reach the semi’s of most events”. I want to begin playing pro Challenger events this summer.

Champions, with very few exceptions, are the smartest workers. Why? Because their parents are the smartest “tennis” parents!

Parents of national champions are extremely involved. Usually, at least one parent is the “tennis” parent. Raising a world class athlete is a full time job.  Most champions require a team approach. (Check out Rafa’s new book to drive this point home.)

One of the initial ways to begin to develop a National Champion is to use the same developmental methodology used in school. Children study math, science, English, and history year in and year out. It’s a proven successful method of developing a well-balanced child. In tennis they need to apply the same principle. Trust me, it works!  Branch out and develop your child’s “other” sides!

The four sides in tennis development:

  1. Strokes (Primary & Secondary)
  2. Movement (Spacing, Speed, Stamina)
  3. Mental (Shot selection, Pattern selection, Spotting tendencies)
  4. Emotional skills (Choking /Over thinking and panic/Under thinking).

Working smarter yields numerous benefits:

  • Greater your self esteem
  • Increased confidence in your personal ability
  • Decrease the likeness to surrender when the going gets tough
  • Master more tools to problem solve on court

Thank you for visiting.  Frank Giampaolo

To order The Tennis Parent Bible or Raising Athletic Royalty CLICK HERE

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

Handling Cheaters

Posted on January 24, 2015 by in Tennis Parent Education, The Tennis Parent's Bible

Hurry and get your copy of Raising Athletic Royalty- Last Week of Special Release Pricing-ONLY $9.99

Raising Athletic Royalty

The following post is an excerpt of The Tennis Parent’s Bible. Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo

HOW SHOULD MY SON HANDLE CHEATERS?

Handling cheaters or “creative line callers” is a very common problem in all levels of tennis. But I must admit that learning to handle cheaters improves your tennis game.

Before we look at cheaters, let’s take a quick look at your own vision. That’s right, your eyes. Studies we did back in the 80’s at The Vic Braden Tennis College showed some interesting data. The human eye cannot register a two millisecond event. That means you cannot actually see the ball hit the court or watch it hit your racquet. The eye is greatly affected by two variables: perspective angles and motion blur.

First Variable: The perspective angle from which you are viewing the ball.

Try this eye opening exercise at home. My bet is that you’ll laugh as you fail miserably. Stand at the back fence on one side of a court. Turn facing the fence so you can’t see the court. Ask a friend to place 4 balls on and just beyond the service line on the other side of the net. Ask them to repeat it with 4 new balls on the opposing baseline. When the task is complete, walk slowly to your baseline and try to make 8 correct line calls. Which balls are in, which are out? Don’t forget that in match play, the ball is only sitting there for about 2 milliseconds (two one thousands of a second). Next, walk towards the other side. As you take a sideline view things change! Now go stand behind the other baseline. Things really become clear.

We find that your child may be cheated on average 5 times a match, but usually your youngster plays out balls in even more. You see balls landing a half an inch long appear right on the line from the angle behind their own baseline. This means your child may be falling into the common trap of cheating themselves!

Second Variable: The motion blur that impacts your vision when moving.

This occurs when you are running, landing, jumping etc. While in motion, your eyes are actually moving in their sockets and you could be considered “legally blind.” (That’s why you can’t read the paper as you go for your run!) So the first time your child says, “Are you sure?” your child should be asking themselves not the opponent.

Now let’s look at those Cheaters or “Creative Line Caller” from a deeper perspective. Cheaters will force your child to grow. They will stretch your child beyond their normal frustration tolerance levels. Handling cheaters is a necessary stepping stone to becoming a tennis champion.

In coming blogs, I will share with you six factors you can share with your child and they will never have to worry about playing a cheater again.  Thanks, Frank Giampaolo

 

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

Improve your Tennis Game by Watching the Professionals

Posted on January 14, 2015 by in Tennis Parent Education, The Tennis Parent's Bible

Special Release Offer: Raising Athletic Royalty will be on sale for a limited time- $9.99 beginning Monday January 19 through January 31.  Don’t miss out!Raising Athletic Royalty

How Can You improve Your Game Watching the Pros?

Watching tennis on TV can be truly helpful if your child is watching with a purpose.  Below, I have outlined ten specific skills your child should focus on while watching professional tennis players on TV or in-person. Better yet, watch the professionals together as you both spot these ten tendencies.

  1. Watch One Player’s Feet

Most Pros take 10 steps for every 3 steps a ranked junior takes. Have your child simply watch the shoes.

  1. Watch Between Point Rituals

They often appear to be looking at their strings while they use internal vision. Pros control their emotions and spot tendencies. This means they pay attention to how points are being won and lost.

  1. Spot Offense-Neutral-Defense Shot Selection

Way before the incoming ball reaches the net; a pro has chosen the next appropriate shot selection. Call out the correct choice as a Pro prepares to strike. If you can spot the appropriate selection with a Pro, spotting your opponents next shot will become easier.

  1. Spot This Typical Mistake: “Change the Angle …Lose the Point”

Changing the angle is encouraged when you are inside the court. It is discouraged when you are behind the baseline. Watch for appropriate angle changing and inappropriate angle changing attempts. Even top pros often miss when they attempt a down the line screamer from way behind the court!

  1. Spot Styles of Play

Who’s the hard hitting baseliner? Who’s the counter puncher retriever? Is there an all-court net rusher? Spotting the opponents style is the first step to devising patterns and controlling a match. If your child can spot a pros style of play, my bet is they’ll be terrific at spotting their next opponents style of play!

  1. Spot Proactive Patterns

Pros do not simply react. They run one-two punch patterns. Can your child spot them?  Ask them to point out serving patterns, return patterns, rally or net rushing shot sequences.

  1. Spot Secondary Shots

Pros do not just have a forehand, a backhand, a serve, and a volley. They have a whole “Tool Belt” full of secondary shots and they know when to activate them.  Can your child spot a swing volley, a short angle/side door building shot?

  1. Watch for Open versus Closed Stance Ground Strokes

Call out “open” and “closed” when you spot a pro choose the appropriate stance. Understanding when and why you need them both is an important tool.

  1. Chart Errors to Winners

Having a great understanding of where your winners and errors are coming from as well as your opponent’s winners and errors may prove to be the deciding factor if your next match goes into a tie breaker! Actually charting a pro will lead to comprehending the importance of limiting errors.

FUN FACT: Top professionals often generate 5 unforced errors a match and 30 winners.  Juniors generate just the opposite!

  1. Court Positioning Chart

Chart a pro’s winning percentage while they stay behind the baseline versus their winning percentage while going inside the court. Often, juniors think they are better from behind the baseline. After charting a match, they find their winning percentage is actually better from inside the court.

Watching tennis on TV can be a wonderful learning experience. It will secretly lead to improving your child’s mental and emotional performance on the court. Thanks, Frank Giampaolo

Contact:
Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
www.maximizingtennispotential.com
www.RaisingAthleticRoyalty.com

Tennis Parent Communication

Posted on December 10, 2014 by in Match Day Preparation, Maximizing Tennis Potential, Parent Player Communication, Tennis Parent Education

Tennis Parent Education www.maximizingtennispotential.com

Let’s assume you are not a high performance tennis coach, but a loving tennis parent just the same. As a tennis parent, your role is critical in the overall development of your child on and off the court.

Below I’ve listed ten important communication skills essential for the Tennis Parent:

1. Teach character building and not stroke production or strategy. Encourage life skill development, such as being optimistic, time management, emotional composure, perseverance/work ethic, proper nutrition, hydration and sleep requirements and organizational skills. With proper life skills your child will succeed on and off the court.

2. Communicate your match observations to the coach (and not to the child). Email your tournament notes to your primary coach – asking them to focus their training on your child’s actual match flaws. The coach will then take the appropriate training steps. This will add harmony to the often stressful parent player relationship.

3. Google positive motivation techniques. Don’t force success…motivate success. Motivation is achieved through rewarding your child’s efforts and not by punishing their failures. Punishment discourages growth – the exact opposite of motivation.

4. Set process goals such as a developmental plan, as well as outcome goals such as rankings. Yes, there are two completely different sets of goals. Process goals include nurturing many game components simultaneously, they may include: off court training, primary and secondary stroke skills as well as mental and emotional protocols. Outcome goals may include: the USTA/ITF tournament schedules, ranking rules and regulations as well as college placement process.

5. Manage proper match day preparation. Spectacular preparation precedes spectacular performances. Practice makes permanent….practice doesn’t make perfect. This goes for pre-match warm ups as well. Sadly, most parents and players have horrific preparation routines and yet expect spectacular performances. See the Match Day Preparation eBook for more in depth discovery.

6. Apply positive, non-threatening post match communication. Consider your child’s preferred intelligence (How individuals relate best to the world around them.) Some brain types enjoy discussing post match “chalk talk” immediately after the match, others simply need a little distance before discussing the match and still others may never want to discuss the match. (FYI: If your child never wants to discuss the match- you may have a hobbyist on your hands because they are not interested in growth) However, after a match, you may only have one hour before the next match to discuss performance issues. Be positive and reinforce what they did well. You may consider asking: “What did you do effectively today?”, “What did the opponent do that made it tough for you? What would you do different?” VERSUS discussing your laundry list of their failures!!!!

7. Train Independency. One of the most important character traits of a champion is independent problem solving skills. If your child is 16 and you are still finding their shoes, packing their bag, carrying their water jug and racket bag to matches you are developing dependency. At 5 all in the third set, the independent problem solver is more likely going to find a way to win. The dependent child is going to be looking to you with tears in their eyes.

8. Manage your child’s entourage. Top nationally ranked player have an entourage. This group consists of teachers, paid hitters, trainers, sparring partners, physical therapists …etc. If your coach insists that you only train with him/her…be aware that they may be looking after their best interest and not your child’s best interest. Bottom line- Do not assume one singular coach is doing everything your child needs. If you are only paying a coach to hit balls, you are mismanaging your child’s complete developmental plan.

9. Remember communication isn’t just verbal. Studies show over 70% of communication comes from tone of voice, facial expressions and body language. In my opinion, kids key in on the tone of voice and ignore the actual words being spoken. How do you expect your child to play calm, relaxed and positive tennis under stress, if you are pacing on the side lines with your arms folded in a knot and shaking your head in disgust? If you are wound tighter than a drum, sit somewhere so that they cannot see or hear you.

10. If you’re going to have an attitude…make it gratitude. The real junior contenders I train week in and week out work harder than most adults. Though many adults may be going to a job 40 hours a week, how many of them are giving 100% effort even 10 hours a week? Continuing to obsess about your child’s flaws will deflate their desire to even try. Replace the non-stop discussion of their flaws with your true feelings of being thankful for their hard work. Show appreciation for your child’s effort and you will be motivating greatness!

“A tough realization for most tennis parents is that you can’t be a part time hobbyist parent and expect your child to be a champion. If you truly don’t want to “get involved” please don’t expect your child to be great.”

Tennis Parent’s Match Day Role

Posted on September 8, 2014 by in Match Day Preparation, Maximizing Tennis Potential, Tennis Parent Education

Frank Giampaolo Maximizing Tennis Potential Junior Tennis

Your child is playing, what should you be doing?

PARENTAL MATCH DAY JOB DESCRIPTION: The parent’s primary role is to de-stress their child.

Why?

  • 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.

PARENTAL MATCH TIME JOB DESCRIPTION:

Charting or video taping your child’s match provides valuable insight for future training. It also is provides an opportunity to positively channel parent’s/coach’s nervous energy during a match. (Players are very adept at reading their parent’s/coach’s emotions {i.e. non-verbal communication} while playing.)

Benefits of Match Analysis:

  • Strengths and weaknesses in stroke production
  • Implementation of strategies and tactics
  • Actual causes of errors
  • Dissecting the opponent/opponent awareness
  • Movement, spacing and fitness
  • Emotional control
  • Focus control such as lapses in concentration
  • Between point and changeover rituals

PARENTAL POST MATCH JOB DESCRIPTION

  • Assist your child in their static stretching, nutrition and hydration requirements.
  • Wait an appropriate amount of time before discussing the match.
  • Begin match analysis with an over-view of their positive performance goals with an optimistic tone of voice.
  • If not present- replace “Did You Win?” with “Did you hit your performance goals. Did you execute the correct shots at the right times?”
  • Remind your child to complete their match logs.

Remember to acknowledge your child’s hard work!

The Alfred Adler Institute in Israel: Encouragement and Praise

Posted on August 24, 2014 by in Tennis Parent Education

Maximizing Tennis Potential via LiveHappyLivePretty.com

This is a terrific article written by my friend Shaul Zohar from Tennis Israel.

Encouragement and Praise

Please feel free to share this article with friends, coaches, players and parents.

Competitive tennis, such as the child is dedicated to & invests in, holds high added value. It teaches discipline, responsibility, ability to make decisions, excellence, patience, concentration, achievement, dealing with authority, with disappointments, with failure together with fellowship & cooperation. It is therefore important for parents to reinforce these skills & not the achievements.

 

Confronting Gamesmanship

Posted on August 21, 2014 by in 10 and Under Tennis, Match Day Preparation, Maximizing Tennis Potential, Tennis Parent Education

Maximizing Tennis Potential via LiveHappyLivePretty.com

Win with grace, lose with grace.

Q: How do we begin to educate our daughter about cheaters?
A: Communicating about possible/probable scenarios and presetting your child’s correct response (protocols) is a great start. Rehearse the solutions by setting up actual practice sets whereby the opponent is allowed to apply gamesmanship and your child has to rehearse their response sequence. Many parents and players are unaware that counter gamesmanship tactics are a learned behavior.

Q: My son wants harmony on the court, so he won’t do anything to stop a cheater. What can we do?
A: Explain to your son that harmony is seldom found in a competitive environment. Help your son to develop protocols- these are preset solutions to dealing with gamesmanship. Developing protocols to handle cheaters is similar to an actor memorizing a script. Remind him that when he is being bullied, manipulated or cheated out of a match that is rightfully his, there is no harmony. The best way for your child to make friends in the tennis world is by beating their brains out first. Then guess what?…They all want to be his friend.

Q: What should my daughter do if her opponent is hooking?
A: If the opponent brings unfair play into the match your child must deal with it swiftly and professionally. I recommend confronting every bad call. At the higher levels, cheaters hook in the first few games simply to see if your child is tough enough to confront them or not. If your child does nothing, they are guaranteeing that the opponent will hook later in the match at the most important times. Explain to your daughter that the hook in that second set tiebreaker could have been avoided had the protocols been followed earlier in the match. Remind her that by confronting the gamesmanship head on, she is essentially saying “No, not today, hooking will not be tolerated.”

Q: My son allows opponents to hook him time after time and then proceeds to get angry and play worse. How do we explain to him that his fear of confrontation is the reason he is getting so angry?
A: You are right, by allowing opponents to hook, your son is manifesting internal anger. This anger stops the positive and confident attitude essential to playing at the peak performance level. The brain cannot solve two complicated tasks simultaneously. This is called channel capacity. Not only is your son losing the points that are being stolen from him, he is donating additional points due to channel capacity- his negative self-condemnation overtakes his performance goals. Explain to him confronting gamesmanship is part of the competitive arena and that he must have preset protocols to deal with it. (Dealing with confrontation is a life issue- it is likely present in all areas of his life- not just tennis.)

Q: My child is scared to call an umpire onto the court. How can we help?
A: I know I sound like a broken record, but presetting match protocols is as important as developing motor programs for mechanical strokes. The solution to dealing with an on-court controversy (calling an umpire to the court) should already be prewired before the match begins. Be sure your child is clear about the actual rules and regulations of competitive play- this requires reading the rules and regulations of the game. Once your child is aware of the official protocol of calling an umpire to her court, she will be more confident in her proactive action. Remind her that she works too hard to allow cheaters to cheat. Calling an umpire onto the court is demanding fair play.

Q: When should we begin to develop counter-gamesmanship skills?
A: As early as possible. Preset protocols are like preventative medicine. Deciding when to set aside time for mental and emotional development depends on your child’s growth development schedule. Some children are mature enough to understand and implement counter-gamesmanship tactics at age 7, while others are still not mature enough at age 17. However, most players will lose many emotional matches to cheaters, before they are ready to learn counter-gamesmanship.

Q: What can we do if my son doesn’t call out balls out? He is essentially cheating himself out of matches.
A: Discuss the ramifications of the fear of confrontation. Why is avoiding confrontation such a problem at the competitive levels? Juniors who cheat themselves severely complicate games, sets, matches and of course tournaments. Explain to your son that elongating and complicating early round matches drains your son’s physical, mental and emotional batteries- leaving nothing left for the tougher, later rounds. It is in his best interest to learn to call out balls out, especially because, strong competitors will see your son as being inexperienced and weak- thus fueling their confidence. (Remind your son that by not calling out balls out, he is helps his opponent in two ways- giving them free points and building their confidence.)
True Story: My daughter, Sarah, was playing a phenom in a G14 designated tournament. She was beating the phenom 6-0, 2-0…Sarah began to feel sorry for opponent because she was crying hysterically… So Sarah decided to give her a few points and started to call out ball good … As soon as this phenom saw Sarah GIVING her points…she turned on her gamesmanship tactics -of which she was known for… She started stealing points from Sarah. What should have been a routine win, became dramatic 2nd set grudge match- the phenom began cheating like crazy (Score changing, line calls, intimation, the works…) Sarah learned her lesson and never felt sorry for an opponent again- out balls were out!

Q: My daughter is easily intimidated out of competing. Is this fair?
A: Yes, intimidation is fair. At the higher levels, tennis is a game of intimidation. Top opponents who recognize that stroke for stroke they haven’t got the game to beat your daughter will seek out any weakness in your daughter’s game- it is their job. If your daughter has terrific strokes but is an inexperienced emotional competitor, it is your responsibility to assist them in developing a “thick skin”.

Dealing with gamesmanship should be part of your child’s basic training. The first step in handling gamesmanship is devising customized solutions (protocols) for each form of gamesmanship. The second step is rehearsing those solutions on the practice court to gain confidence in applying pre-set counter gamesmanship solutions in a real match.

To progress into the higher levels of the game, mental and emotional skill set development is crucial. Parents, if you’re not taking an active role in helping to develop these critical components in your child, please don’t blame your child when tournament after tournament they lose as a result of gamesmanship.

Cheaters on-court are cheaters in life.

 

Tennis Parent Communication

Posted on August 5, 2014 by in Match Day Preparation, Tennis Parent Education

Maximizing Tennis Potential with Frank Giampaolo

Let’s assume you are not a high performance tennis coach, but a loving tennis parent just the same. As a tennis parent, your role is critical in the overall development of your child on and off the court.

Ten Important Communication Skills Essential for the Tennis Parent:

  1. Teach character building and not stroke production or strategy. Encourage life skill development, such as being optimistic, time management, emotional composure, perseverance/work ethic, proper nutrition, hydration and sleep requirements and organizational skills. With proper life skills your child will succeed on and off the court.
  2. Communicate your match observations to the coach (and not to the child). Email your tournament notes to your primary coach – asking them to focus their training on your child’s actual match flaws. The coach will then take the appropriate training steps. This will add harmony to the often stressful parent player relationship.
  3. Google positive motivation techniques. Don’t force success…motivate success. Motivation is achieved through rewarding your child’s efforts and not by punishing their failures. Punishment discourages growth – the exact opposite of motivation.
  4. Set process goals such as a developmental plan, as well as outcome goals such as rankings. Yes, there are two completely different sets of goals. Developmental goals include nurturing many game components simultaneously. Process goals may include: off court training, primary and secondary stroke skills as well as mental and emotional protocols. Outcome goals may include: the USTA/ITF tournament schedules, ranking rules and regulations as well as college placement process.
  5. Manage proper match day preparation Spectacular preparation precedes spectacular performances. Practice makes permanent….practice doesn’t make perfect. This goes for pre-match warm ups as well. Sadly, most parents and players have horrific preparation routines and yet expect spectacular performances. See The Match Day Preparation eBook for more in depth discovery.
  6. Apply positive, non-threatening post match communication. Consider your child’s preferred intelligence (How individuals relate best to the world around them.) Some brain types enjoy discussing post match “chalk talk” immediately after the match, others simply need a little distance before discussing the match and still others may never want to discuss the match. (FYI: If your child never wants to discuss the match- you may have a hobbyist on your hands because they are not interested in growth) However, after a match, you may only have one hour before the next match to discuss performance issues. Be positive and reinforce what they did well. You may consider asking: “What did you do effectively today?”, “What did the opponent do that made it tough for you? What would you do different?” VERSUS discussing your laundry list of their failures!!!!
  7. Train Independency. One of the most important character traits of a champion is independent problem solving skills. If your child is 16 and you are still finding their shoes, packing their bag, carrying their water jug and racket bag to matches you are developing dependency. At 5 all in the third set, the independent problem solver is more likely going to find a way to win. The dependent child is going to be looking to you with tears in their eyes.
  8. Manage your child’s entourage. Top nationally ranked player have an entourage. This group consists of teachers, paid hitters, trainers, sparring partners, physical therapists …etc. If your coach insists that you only train with him/her…be aware that they may be looking after their best interest and not your child’s best interest. Bottom line- Do not assume one singular coach is doing everything your child needs. If you are only paying a coach to hit balls, you are mismanaging your child’s complete developmental plan.
  9. Remember communication isn’t just verbal. Studies show over 70% of communication comes from tone of voice, facial expressions and body language. In my opinion, kids key in on the tone of voice and ignore the actual words being spoken. How do you expect your child to play calm, relaxed and positive tennis under stress, if you are pacing on the side lines with your arms folded in a knot and shaking your head in disgust? If you are wound tighter than a drum, sit somewhere so that they cannot see or hear you.
  10. If you’re going to have an attitude…make it gratitude. The real junior contenders I train week in and week out work harder than most adults. Though many adults may be going to a job 40 hours a week, how many of them are giving 100% effort even 10 hours a week? Continuing to obsess about your child’s flaws will deflate their desire to even try. Replace the non-stop discussion of their flaws with your true feelings of being thankful for their hard work. Show appreciation for your child’s effort and you will be motivating greatness!

A tough realization for most tennis parents is that you can’t be a part time hobbyist parent and expect your child to be a champion. If you truly don’t want to “get involved” please don’t expect your child to be great.