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MATCH DAY VIDEO ANALYSIS- PART 2

Posted on October 15, 2020 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

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MATCHDAY VIDEO ANALYSIS

Pre-Match Routines:

  • Equipment preparation
  • De-stressing versus over stressing environment
  • Managing the overflow of adrenaline
  • Opponent profiling
  • Proper nutrition and hydration
  • Use of dynamic stretching
  • Essential warm-up routines
  • Quiet time visualization

Match Performance:

  • Proper use of between point rituals and changeover rituals
  • Strokes: efficiencies and deficiencies
  • Patterns and plays: strengths and weaknesses
  • Identifying the actual cause of the errors
  • Opponent dissecting/match awareness
  • Score management and real-time problem solving
  • Emotional performance state
  • Universal movement flaws (Footwork)
  • Cognitive processing speed (Hesitation)
  • Correctly spotting and playing positive and negative “Mega” points
  • Length of peak performing
  • Controlling the “energy-flow” of the match

Post-Match Rituals and Routines:

  • Recovery
  • Static stretching
  • Nutrition and hydration
  • Opponent scouting
  • Match logs

 

As I conduct high-performance player assessments around the world it is amazing that even top ITF players and their coaches have never even heard of quantifying their performances in such detail.

As parents, it is up to you to organize video analysis and review sessions. As coaches, it is up to you to suggest video analysis and review sessions to be initiated. And it is up to you, the player, to be willing to “allow” video analysis and review sessions. 

 

MATCHDAY VIDEO ANALYSIS- PART 1

Posted on October 13, 2020 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

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MATCHDAY VIDEO ANALYSIS

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Experts agree that visual learning is the most common learning style. Professional athletes in every field get a leg up on their competition by analyzing their performance through video replay. Matchday video analysis quantifies performance and reinforces future quality instruction.

More often than not, tournament champions have developed skills that go far beyond good strokes. Often it is the underdeveloped, hidden components that separate the early losers from the champions. Video analysis of matchday performances can provide proof of actual tennis performance versus perceived tennis performance.

Often, parents and coaches see the same re-occurring performance nightmares match after match but guess who’s never actually seen the event from a clear perspective? The Athlete.

During the heat of battle, over analyzing the performance is not advisable. It is highly recommended to persuade players, along with their coaches, to self-diagnose matchday issues via video after the event. Parents if you are not providing your child’s coaches with match day videos, you’re not doing your job.

 

“After each tournament, hire an experienced coach to analyze match day performance alongside your child.  This is a non-hitting classroom session.”

 

Parents, keep in mind that it is often meaningful to video the pre-match routines and rituals, the actual match, and the post-match routines and rituals. Flaws in any of the three phases may lead to poor performances and a serious lack of results.

Note: Below are twenty-five essential issues that often separate the early-round losers from the champions. It may be beneficial to break out the video camera for proof and/or clarity. Hire a trained eye to assist in spotting those hidden match day flaws and give your child a real chance at performing at peak potential. (Video recording can be done with a smartphone or with a mounted video camera.)

DOES YOUR CHILD NEED MENTAL/EMOTIONAL TRAINING?- PART 3

Posted on October 7, 2020 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

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DOES YOUR CHILD NEED MENTAL/EMOTIONAL TRAINING?

Is a lack of Mental/Emotional training holding your child back from getting the results they deserve?

  • My child has problems managing their stress, anger, and mistakes. Yes/No
  • My child hasn’t yet developed their groups of proactive patterns. Yes/No
  • We do not understand or utilizes periodization training. Yes/No
  • My child has trouble dealing with external and internal distractions. Yes/No
  • My child doesn’t spot mega points and mini mega points. Yes/No
  • My child doesn’t know the difference between a positive mega point and a negative mega point. Yes/No
  • My child lacks confidence in his/her abilities. Yes/No
  • My child has trouble coping with cheaters. Yes/No
  • In matches, my child’s mind often wanders to the past or the future. Yes/No
  • My child’s training has primarily focused on stroke mechanics. Yes/No
  • My child wants to win so badly it affects his/her performance. Yes/No
  • My child freezes under stress and plays “Not to lose” instead of playing “to win.” Yes/No
  • My child’s words, “I want to be a pro”, don’t match his/her actions. Yes/No
  • My child doesn’t know how to spot the opponent’s tendencies in match play. Yes/No
  • My child hasn’t spent time identifying his/her mental game strengths and weaknesses. Yes/No

 

ANSWERS: If you or your child checked “Yes” to any of the above questions, you may want to consider mental and emotional training.

 

Peak performance under stress is not reserved for the gifted few, it’s the “software’ that needs to be developed along with the athletic hardware. Simply put, being mentally or emotionally tough under stress is a learned behavior.

DOES YOUR CHILD NEED MENTAL/EMOTIONAL TRAINING? – PART 2

Posted on October 5, 2020 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential, The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

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DOES YOUR CHILD NEED MENTAL/EMOTIONAL TRAINING?

Is a lack of Mental/Emotional training holding your child back from getting the results they deserve?

 

TAKE THE QUIZ

The following questions can be used to determine whether your child is in need of mental/emotional training. Good Luck!

  • My child plays incredibly on the practice court but often falls apart in matches. Yes/No
  • My child avoids playing full practice matches most weeks. Yes/No
  • In matches, my child’s focus is only on winning versus actual performance goals. Yes/No
  • My child doesn’t apply proper change over and between point rituals in matches. Yes/No
  • My child is unorganized in planning their weekly training schedules. Yes/No
  • My child has not yet developed his/her secondary strokes. Yes/No
  • My child has super high expectations and expects to perform perfectly every match. Yes/No
  • We haven’t yet put together our entourage of hitters, teachers, and trainers. Yes/No
  • My child hasn’t developed plans or patterns to beat moonball/pushers. Yes/No
  • My child hasn’t developed plans or patterns to beat hard-hitting baseliners. Yes/No

DOES YOUR CHILD NEED MENTAL/EMOTIONAL TRAINING? – PART 1

Posted on October 2, 2020 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

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DOES YOUR CHILD NEED MENTAL/EMOTIONAL TRAINING?

 

Understand mental/emotional training is the practical application of finding solutions to common pitfalls. We often hear, “My child has trouble closing out a 5-2 lead”, “My child plays terrific in practice but horribly in matches”, “My son can’t beat a moonball, pusher”, “My daughter can’t handle cheaters!”, “My son has trouble focusing for the whole match!”

Essentially, the mental component consists of the X’s and   O’ of strategy. The emotional component refers to the athlete’s ability to navigate through performance anxieties that many athletes see as challenges. Often, these two-component are intertwined.

Parents are often hesitant and a bit unclear about the role of mental or emotional training. This type of instruction involves more than simple fundamental stroke production. Developing the “hidden” skill set within your child’s game is crucial for peak performance. It is a myth that only children with abnormal behavioral problems need mental or emotional guidance.

Do we have to change primary coaches to begin working on these issues?

No, not at all! A mental training coach can assist your primary coach and become a part of the team. In fact, the most intelligent coaches will encourage their players to seek out such training. It’s a win-win situation for both the client and the professional.

Is a lack of Mental/Emotional training holding your child back from getting the results they deserve?

Three Phases of Athletic Development

Posted on September 29, 2020 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

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THE THREE PHASES OF ATHLETE DEVELOPMENTblack_ebook_design2

 

Once you’ve discovered which type of tennis parent you want to be, the next step is to identify which phase of development best categorizes your child’s current level. All too often, parents have an unrealistic view of their child’s current phase of development.  This is a result of the parent’s lack of awareness of the developmental process.

Due to personality profiles, growth development schedules, and maturity levels, I don’t like to pigeon-hole athletes based on their age. At each level, customization is encouraged. It is very common to find mature 9-year-olds in phase 3 and immature 17-year-olds in phase 1. Customization is the key.

 

The Introductory Phase:

In this stage of the game, children are sampling many sports. The primary objective is enjoyment while developing sound fundamentals.

Special Note: I’m a firm believer that proper motor programming is essential. Allowing a child to groove poor mechanics only to spend thousands of wasted dollars, hours, and tears fixing them later doesn’t make sense. You can still laugh and have fun while developing world-class strokes.

The Developmental Phase:

Also known as the intermediate phase. In this stage, tennis is the main hobby. Social clinics are the norm. Specialized training has begun and juniors are experiencing sectional tournament play.

Special Note: This is when the parents, uneducated in the process unintentionally push talented athletes away from the sport by allowing them to train like a hobbyist and then expect the child to be getting championship results.

The Break-Through Phase:

In this stage, athletes are dedicated to the sport and are engaged in full-time training. Each component of the game is developed as the athlete begins to invest in the future. Players begin to look towards National level or ITF level events to secure a college tennis scholarship at a major university.

Special Note: This is when a shift from hardware development (strokes and athleticism) to software development (mental and emotional) is most often needed.

Tennis Parent Job Description

Posted on September 25, 2020 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

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INTRODUCTION TO THE TENNIS PARENT’S JOB DESCRIPTIONFrank Giampaolo

 

“The parent is the architect of their child’s tennis career.”

 

Experts agree that there is a great need for an organizational blueprint for tennis parents, as well as parents of athletes in every chosen sport.  Until now, the role of the tennis parent has been controversial and mysterious. The ultimate quest of The Tennis Parent’s Bible is to empower the tennis parent by defining their role. In my experience, a large percentage of the parents that I have worked with were optimistic and willing to learn about the tennis developmental process; while a small percentage of the tennis parents were perfectionists, pessimistic, and unwilling to consider the possibility that their methods were counterproductive toward the athletic growth of their child.

 

“If you’re a bit of a perfectionist, this book is aimed at making you a “Recovering Perfectionists.”

 

Serious harmful consequences result from well-intended perfectionists’ imposing their beliefs and actions on their children, which ultimately poisons their children with negativity and an unwillingness to accept change which stunts their growth.

Listed below are the three types of tennis parents. The first group probably wouldn’t even pick up a book like this because their ego wouldn’t allow them to possibly be proven wrong – of course, they already know all there is to know.  The second and third type of tennis parent shares my interest in raising athletic royalty. Let’s take a peek at the three types of tennis parents to see where you fit in.

 

Three Types of Tennis Parent’s

1) The Under Involved Parent:

  • The only sports they are passionate about are their own.
  • 100% sure that they already know it all and aren’t interested in learning more.
  • Unaware of the life lessons learned through sports.
  • Seek zero accountability for their child’s growth.
  • Oblivious towards their children’s personal desires.
  • Unable to attend weekend tournaments due to their heavy social calendar.
  • Unwilling to spend money on their child’s tennis.
  • Views their child’s sports as an inconvenience and a waste of time.

 

2) The CEO Facilitator Parent:

  • Educated about the process of raising athletic royalty.
  • Realizes that commitment demands long, mid, and short term goal setting.
  • Understands the positive emotional demands of the parent and athlete.
  • Understands the logistical organizational demands of the parents/player/encourage.
  • Understands the lesson, clinics, sparring, and tournament scheduling demands.
  • Understands the invaluable life lessons learned through participating in sports.

3) The Over Involved Parent:

  • Places too much emphasis on winning every drill, practice set, and match.
  • Attempts to coach the athlete with no real coaching background.
  • Overly negative, pessimistic, and critical.
  • Seeks a return on their financial investment.
  • Over-reacts to errors and losses.
  • Live vicariously through their child’s success.
  • Obsessed with the game and how it benefits their personal “agenda.”

 

A family’s moral code and developmental climate have a lifelong effect on the athlete, whether the parents know it or not. Because parents and coaches are so influential in shaping their young athletes, I urge you to take an optimistic approach to raising athletic royalty. It is my hope that by reading this book you’ll fall into the CEO facilitator role of a world-class tennis parent.

 

The Tennis Parent Mission Statement:

 

“I vow to create a positive experience for my child by providing optimistic emotional guidance, logistical, organizational & financial support as I oversee my child’s entourage of coaches.”

Training Periodization

Posted on September 13, 2020 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

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INTELLIGENT TRAINING BLUNDERS

 

Being Oblivious to Periodization

Parents are often so blinded by winning that they unknowingly sabotage their child’s success. This is especially true in the beginner and intermediate levels of competition.  Understanding when to train the different elements of your child’s game is called periodization. It’s based on the upcoming tournament schedule.

Asking your child to bulk up in the gym, run five miles, or to dismantle and fix a flawed stroke a day or two before a big event are samples of poor periodization training. Adding an unfamiliar element the day of a match also falls into this category.

An essential parental skill is choosing your battles. It is important to understand when to put your foot down and pick a battle. Starting a war right before a scheduled lesson will pull your child into the wrong mental state and surely destroy any hopes of a productive session. It is also a waste of your money. Likewise, choosing to battle the day of a scheduled match is a sure-fire way to drain your youngster’s emotional batteries and sabotage the actual peak performance you are seeking.

Neglecting Smart Work

Posted on September 12, 2020 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

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INTELLIGENT TRAINING BLUNDERS

Neglecting Smart Work

Great coaches have the ability to zero in on player’s weakness long before players or parents even know it exists. High IQ coaches are a bit like fortune-tellers who can read the future. We see mechanical –structural damage the days leading up to an event and we know which components will surely crack under the strains of stressful competition.

If your child has some major holes in their game, please don’t continually send them off to competition. The opponent doesn’t have to beat your child because they’ve come to the game broken. That’s a little like sending a battleship off to war with structural holes in its hull. That majestic ship’s going to sink all by itself.

Encouraging “One Set Wonders”

Posted on September 8, 2020 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

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INTELLIGENT TRAINING BLUNDERS

 

Encouraging “One Set Wonders”

First of all, I congratulate any juniors that actually play full practice matches. Across the country, most juniors hit for 20 minutes, maybe finish a set and then leave. They become accustomed to being “one set wonders!” This is especially true in the intermediate levels of junior tennis.

Winning those tough three-set tournament matches require practicing whole matches. Rehearsing the art of closing out full matches versus a single set will improve their mental toughness.  If time is of the essence, I recommend that players play 3-sets, starting at 2-2 instead of the typical one set routine. Handling the stress of closing out the set is a big advantage.

 

“There is a huge difference between mechanical confidence and competitive confidence.”