Tag Archives: tennis

Competitive Tennis Dramas – Anger Part 2

Posted on January 18, 2021 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential

The following post is an excerpt from the Second Edition of The Tennis Parent’s Bible NOW available through most online retailers!

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COMPETITIVE DRAMAS: INTERNAL STRUGGLESFrank Giampaolo

 

Champions Experience Failure

Discuss how most tennis champions have probably lost way more matches than your child has even played. Ambitious people experience many failures. One of my past students is Sam Querrey (ATP top player). He’s been playing full time on the ATP tour for ten years and has won 7 ATP singles titles and a handful of double events. That means, most of the time, Sam goes home losing week in and week out. Would you say he’s a loser? Not a chance- Sam is a top touring professional!

Never Outgrow Fun

You often see top professionals battle and still smile in the course of a match. Negative thoughts, stress, and anger clutter an athlete’s thought process and tighten muscle groups, both of which decrease the player’s ability to perform. Pessimism affects both an athlete’s physiology and psychology. Optimism is a coping skill used to combat the negatives that are found in one-on-one competition. Smile, laugh, and enjoy the competition.

Tennis Is a Gift Not a Right

Discuss how there are millions of natural-born athletes that are the same age as your child that will never get the opportunity to compete at a high level. Tennis isn’t fair, right?

But has your child thought about how lucky they are to be able to play tennis and have a family that wants to support their passion?

Good Judgment Comes from Experience

So where does experience come from? The ironic answer is bad judgment. Talk to your child about how it is far less painful to learn from other peoples’ failures. After a loss, stay at the tournament site and chart a top seed. Analyze their successes and model them and their pitfalls and learn how to avoid them.

Rehearse Focusing on the Solutions Not the Problems

Ask the athlete to allow you to videotape a few matches. As the athlete and coach watch the matches, ask them to spot unforced errors and then categorize them into their cause of error chart. Ask them to recognize negative thoughts, loss of concentration, or an emotional breakdown on the court. Now, remind the coach not to ask the athlete to think about NOT repeating the problem. That only draws deeper attention to the problem. Instead, discuss the development of the solution to the problem. Then simply focus on the rehearsal of the actual match solution.

A Genius Simplifies the Complex

In the higher levels, most lessons should be focused on “trimming the fat” off of strokes and/or off of the player’s thought control. Going from really good to great is not always about adding more. There are often hidden contaminants that bog down gifted athletes.

 

Maturing the mental and emotional components is a life skill.  Athletes need to manage anger and stress.  The old Buddha saying is “Holding on to anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.”

Competitive Tennis Dramas – Anger Part 1

Posted on January 17, 2021 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 online retailers!

 Click Here to Order

 

 

COMPETITIVE DRAMAS: INTERNAL STRUGGLES

Frank Giampaolo

QUESTION: How can we help our son overcome his on-court anger?

 

Frank: First of all, not all anger is bad. Fire can be used as an analogy. A controlled fire can be used to cook meals and heat homes. An uncontrolled fire can burn down homes. Managing anger and fire requires knowledge and skill. Often it is the good anger that actually propels your child into an upward spiral. This requires being aware of adrenaline. This rush of adrenaline often pushes them into a higher competitive level.  Players who know how to “call up” or “quiet down” their adrenaline at the appropriate times are managing their emotions.

 

“Managing adrenaline is one of the most important emotional skills found at the higher
levels of competition.”

 

Notice how the top professionals know how and when to pump up their energy with the use of adrenaline. When do you see them applying this emotional skill set? Typically it is during the closing stage of the set.

The concerns most parents and coaches have arises when the player chooses to let their negative emotions control their behavior versus focusing on their pre-set performance goals.  In my opinion, bad anger on the court stems from a lack of emotional intelligence, resources, and tools.

Below is a list of mental and emotional components your child should digest in order to begin to manage anger and stress. Talk it through with your athlete and their coaches and have some fun.

 

Developing Mental and Emotional Strength:

Say Something Positive

On the practice court, ask your athlete to rehearse finding something they did well on each point. This will shift their focus from negative to positive. This rule applies to parents as well. Flipping your list of negative comments into positive comments will change your outlook, your relationships, and your world!

Tennis Is Not Fair

There are so many reasons why the game of tennis is not fair. Understanding these issues will reduce the stress some juniors place on themselves. For instance, luck of the draw, stylistic matchups, court surfaces, availability of referees, match location, elements like weather (wind, sun, etc.), and lucky let courts, not to mention the finances needed to compete at the higher levels. Can you think of a few?

Managing Stress

Experience tells us that if you are in a verbal argument, take some time to clear your head. Get away, go for a brisk walk. Talk to your child about time management as it pertains to controlling the pace of the match. Winners often take (legal) bathroom breaks at critical times during match play. I am sure you have seen this control drama play out in both professional and junior level matches. Controlling the energy flow of the match is a super way to control the fire.

 

Competitive Tennis Dramas

Posted on January 14, 2021 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 online retailers!

 Click Here to Order

COMPETITIVE DRAMAS: INTERNAL STRUGGLESfrank

Personal Promise

Performance goal setting often starts with an athlete’s personal promise. This is done before the match in the “morphing into an athletic warrior” phase of the pre-match preparation.

An example of an athlete’s personal promise sounds like this:

“Today I will remain in my peak performance frame of mind. I will stay on script and trust my training. My best chance of success is doing what I’ve been trained to do. Today, I’m going to hit the shot the moment demands. Today is my day. I’m going to enjoy the battle!”

Often, top warriors have an optimistic phrase called a mantra that represents their personal belief system. They memorize it and repeat it several times before each match as a form of self-hypnosis. So, what is your child’s personal promise to themselves?

NOTE: This emotional component is so important and so popular in my workshops that I will be tackling this topic twice from different perspectives in this section- emotional intelligence and emotional readiness.

 

QUESTION: What’s the difference between emotional and intellectual ability?

 

Frank: In the junior levels of tournament competition, I see two very different character traits: natural born Warriors and natural-born Worriers.

Natural born warriors compete with superior emotional ability and are constantly ready for a threat. They have a high pain threshold and they can switch tasks quickly as they enjoy thinking “on their feet.”

Natural born worriers often come to the party with superior intellectual abilities but inferior emotional abilities. Their fear of making a mistake results in over-processing game situations which ultimately leads to a more timid competitor.  Worriers are less comfortable with new situations and frequently stress about speculated issues that aren’t truly present. They seem to shut down more often under stress. This makes them unable to adapt to the ever-changing match scenarios.

Interestingly, many worriers, who have parents and coaches wise enough to focus on the mental and emotional components of the game, actually progress nicely into the higher levels of the sport. They learn to handle the chaos of competition extremely well after years of deliberate, customized emotional training.

 

 

Competitive Tennis Dramas- Part 2

Posted on January 11, 2021 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 online retailers!

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COMPETITIVE DRAMAS: INTERNAL STRUGGLES

 

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QUESTION: What does emotional conduct have to do with winning? Part 2

 

Very few athletes have been taught to be aware of their emotional state of being. An athlete’s optimal emotional state is dependent on their ability to spot their under-arousal and the over-arousal states of mind. Let’s dig deeper into these issues.

Under Arousal -Choking

Players drifting into their under arousal state believe that they are choking. Instead of staying on their pre-set performance scripts and simply controlling the controllables, such as their performance goals, athletes in the under-arousal state of mind begin to choke because they choose to focus on the uncontrollables, such as their anxieties, match outcome, or the ranking ramifications.

Because most athletes haven’t been taught their optimal emotional conduct, they start fearing that they are going to blow yet another match, so they begin to unknowingly push versus hit. Their anxieties quickly spiral out of control as their new negative self-image takes control- essentially allowing the “inmates to run the asylum.”

Under Arousal Solutions -Triggers

Triggers are both verbal and physical solutions that are used to snap a player back into their optimal emotional code of conduct. Triggers used to stop choking include:

Verbal triggers: -“come on”, “let’s go”, “you got this”, “right now”, “hit through the ball”,  “trust your training”, “Play to win!”…

Physical triggers: – Moving your feet and pumping up the adrenaline, slapping your leg, fist-pumping, taking deep breaths, kangaroo jumps, walking more confidently, walking to the back fence and rebooting the energy, taking a towel break, fixing your hair/hat, changing your racket …

 

Over Arousal-Panicking

Players drifting into the over-arousal state of mind report the opposite responses of players choking. This is a sense of panic. Panicking is the opposite of choking because it is underthinking. Panicking players are often seen rushing, applying reckless play, trying to play better than the moment demands, forgetting to apply between point rituals, appearing unattached- with a deer in the headlight look on their face, over hitting, trying to end the point too quickly or playing angry and fearful.

Over-Arousal Solutions-Triggers

There are sometimes different triggers for different emotional states. The solutions to snapping out of the panicking, over-arousal state of mind include:

Verbal Triggers: “slow down”, “deep breaths”, “relax”, “re-start right now”, “3- balls in first”, “steady-high and heavy”

Physical Triggers: A player in an over-arousal state of mind must defuse some adrenaline by taking the full 25- seconds between points, taking the full 90- seconds during changeovers, re-gripping the racket, taking towel breaks, changing your racket, taking a legal bathroom break, taking a legal trainer break.

 

“Maximizing talent under stress requires the athlete to perform in their Optimal Performance state of mind.”

 

Sport science experts can detect whether an athlete is choking or panicking through psychological and physiological tests by monitoring brain wave patterns, muscle tension, heart rate, and breathing rate. They can also detect when a trained athlete switches “channels” away from or back into their peak performance state of mind.

Emotionally educated performers maintain a reduced level of neurological activity, less muscle tension, a lower heart rate, and slower breathing. This saves crucial battery life for the later rounds. Emotions play a key role in competition.

 

“A player’s emotional skill sets control the internal climate that allows the athlete
to perform comfortably for longer periods of time.”

 

Competitive Tennis Dramas – Part 1 

Posted on January 9, 2021 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 online retailers!

 Click Here to Order

 

COMPETITIVE DRAMAS: INTERNAL STRUGGLES

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QUESTION: What does emotional conduct have to do with winning?

 

Frank:  Maintaining peak performance is dependent on a player’s emotional intelligence. Let’s look deeper into where an athlete’s focus shifts during competition when they leave their optimal performance state of mind.

Optimal emotional conduct is a performance state of mind that allows a competitor to reach and maintain their peak performance level. It’s important to note that even though stroke mechanics are solidified in a non-stressful practice environment, poor emotional control can cause solid fundamentals to faultier under stressful match conditions.

 

“Pre-setting appropriate solutions is emotional readiness.”

 

Champions in their optimal emotional state of mind report being very happy, confident, dialed into the moment, flowing not forcing, feeling confident, safe and secure, performing on script, being ready and optimistic about the match.

Often the difference between a great competitor and good competitor is the understanding and implementation of their optimal emotional conduct.

 

“Average athletes unknowingly drift in and out of their competitive script – floating through their under and over-arousal state of mind. This instability allows their performance level to drop significantly.”


 

Tennis Communication Skills

Posted on January 6, 2021 by in How To Attract A College Scholarship

 

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s updated release:  How to Attract a College Athletic Scholarship.

College standout Steve Johnson provides his view on college tennis. Special e-Book price is $1.99

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Tennis Anxiety Issues- Part 5

Posted on January 5, 2021 by in Preparing for Pressure

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s Amazon #1 New Tennis Book Release, Preparing for Pressure.

 Click Here To Order through Amazon

 

 

“Sectionals ARE next week. My coach wants me to change my forehand?”Frank Giampaolo

 

“Before competition gain confidence in your existing skills.”

Proper preparation begins weeks leading into the event. During this prep phase, avoid significant mechanical changes or adding brand new concepts. Why? It takes approximately 4-6 weeks for a new motor program to override an old one. If a stroke is dismantled at the wrong time (right before competition) the athlete’s old motor program is shattered, and their new one isn’t developed yet.

Remember when getting grooved used to be called muscle memory?  Be careful using the term “Muscle Memory” because nowadays even the 10 & under crowd know that memory isn’t stored in their muscles.

The bottom line is that the days leading into an event are not the correct time to introduce a new skill.  Starting a new routine may cause the athlete to become confused, sore, or injured, and the required recovery time is not available. Many coaches and parents are unknowingly guilty of poor periodization.

 

Five customized phases of development are recovery, analysis, general training, competitive training, and competition.


 

Tennis Anxiety Value- Part 4

Posted on January 3, 2021 by in Preparing for Pressure

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s Amazon #1 New Tennis Book Release, Preparing for Pressure.

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“Everyone says, ‘JUST PLAY YOUR GAME,’ but I don’t know what my game is?”Frank Giampaolo

 

“Top contenders have defined their global style & most proficient patterns of play.”

Upon arrival at a coaching gig in Spain, I noticed the coaches on all the red clay courts running the same drill. Player A hits a high & heavy ball deep to player B’s backhand. Player B retreats, contacting the ball above his/her shoulders, and produces a short reply. Player A moves into no-man’s land and screeches “AHH …HEEE” and drives a winner into the open court. I asked the famous director, “What’s the drill they’re all working on?” He laughed and said, we call it, “How to beat the Americans.”

Athletes should start each match with their global style of play. Whether they’re in Miami or Moscow, in the first round or finals, on hard or clay courts, starting matches by doing what they do best is an intelligent formula. Their global system is their most proficient style of play (not necessarily their favorite style). Styles include hard-hitting baseliners, counterpunchers, retrievers, and net rushers.

The athlete’s global system also includes their repeatable strategic plan – which is their most proficient patterns of play. These patterns need to be designed and developed. They include: serving and return patterns, rally patterns (like the above Spanish group), short ball options, and net rushing plays.

In competition, each athlete has to know what they do best and must routinely apply their global plan and hitting the same old, boring winners over and over.

 

Every player should know and have had rehearsed their strongest, repeatable patterns of play.
Then, choose to play those patterns in matches.

 

Happy New Year

Posted on January 1, 2021 by in The Second Edition of The Tennis Parent's Bible

WISHING YOU A HAPPY, HEALTHY, AND PEACEFUL NEW YEAR!frank

All the Best, Frank

Tennis Anxiety Issues- Part 3

Posted on December 30, 2020 by in Preparing for Pressure

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s Amazon #1 New Tennis Book Release, Preparing for Pressure.

 Click Here To Order through Amazon

“I hit for 10 minutes … I’m ready!”Preparing final cover 3D

 

“Prepare both hardware & software components for battle!”

Preparing for pressure demands more than merely warming up one’s fundamental strokes. The week leading up to the event is a terrific time for the athlete to organize their clothes, equipment, and nutrition and hydration requirements. For example, early preparation allows leeway if the athlete unknowingly is out of his favorite strings or their lucky shorts are in the wash.

Come game day, I recommend athletes prepare their mental and emotional components by reviewing their pre-recorded audio tapes the morning of the match. Complete a dynamic stretch and warm-up their primary and secondary strokes with multitasking movement. (Hitting on the move instead of just standing still.) Prior to checking in, hydrate and go for a short run to reduce anxiety and warm-up the body.

 

Preparing for pressure requires the confidence that comes from complete preparation.