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Learn To Compete WITH Your Nerves
"Five minutes before entering the central office, I suddenly felt really bad, extremely nervous. I started to cry. I even had to go throw up a bit.” Stan Wawrinka discussing his emotions before walking on the court for the 2016 US Open final. He won the match and the title.
Is Your Child’s Tennis Game Improving Enough?
You don’t want to look back and realize the money you spent on your child’s coaching was actually for an expensive baby sitting program.
Find A Coach Who Doesn’t Care About Your Feelings
“You should slow down and get advice from a particular kind of person. Somebody who likes you but doesn’t care too much about your feelings. That person is more likely to give you good advice.” - Daniel Kahneman
Start At The End
When you’re focused on beating your current opponents, you’re only focused on marginal improvements. But players make their biggest jump in playing level when they’re under the age of 18. Their bodies are growing. Their muscle memory is still open to big changes. Their brains are ready to learn new things. Players need to take advantage of this and think of how they can make the biggest long term improvements in their game to reach their ultimate desired level of play.
4 Things Your Tennis Development is Missing
No one reaches the top by chance. The four things missing from most development plans.
5 Most Important Things A Junior Tennis Player Must Develop
Master the few things that matter most first — then add everything else.
Natural Born Talent Does Not Exist
“Learning isn’t a way of reaching one’s potential but rather a way of developing it. We can create our own potential. And this is true whether our goal is to become a concert pianist or just play the piano well enough to amuse ourselves, to join the PGA golf tour or just bring our handicaps down a few strokes.” - Anders Ericsson & Robert Pool - Peak
UTR Is Not the Problem -People Are
Junior tennis ranking systems for people to be obsessed with have existed for decades. UTR is just another system with its own advantages and disadvantages.
Overcoaching - A Potential Problem for Coaches and Parents
But if a coach always tells a player what to do, a player never has the opportunity to develop the discipline required to make choices on their own during competition.
Accept What It Takes To Be Great
“People often practice what they know how to do rather than trying to master something they can’t yet do. Effective forms of practice are hard work and generally not fun.” - Dr. Anders Ericsson
Tennis Prepares Kids For Life
According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, anxiety disorders affect 1 out of every 4 kids ages 13 to 18.
Forty million adults are affected by anxiety disorders each year.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
How To Develop Mental Strength At Practice
The better a player’s technique, the smaller the probability of a shot breaking down under pressure. But the weaker a player’s mentality, the higher the probability they will break down under pressure, no matter what the technique.
Crucial Details When Preparing for a Junior Event Part 2
Are you playing practice sets with new balls? Or just trying to dominate champion of the court?
Crucial Details When Preparing for a Junior Event Part 1
In 2016 Federer fell out of the top 10 for the first time in 14 years. In 2017 he finished number 2. The difference in points won…..1%.
