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Oscar’s Success As a Coach
When the coach can communicate through easy words and willing to permit the student to experiment and fail, learning will create a independent and lasting result.
People learn when they experiment what does and does not have the correct result.
We need to get creative when working with players to get them to understand concepts.
They need to practice using a self-discovery model because this is what hey will do during a match.
They need to figure out how to handle adversity for themselves.
Oscar used this method with Bjorn Borg and Gustavo Kuerten.
To learn more about Oscar go to tennisiseasy.com
Well that was an important interview with Oscar, to get his principles off the ground for his future episodes, so be on the lookout for those.
But according to Oscar: Finding ways for your students to learn for themselves, or guided self-discovery will allow your students to learn and have a longer lasting result.
I have seen it first hand.
Good Luck,
Coach Mick, USPTA
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In today’s episode, I had another chance to interview Dr. Mark Kovacs, one of the nations leaders in sport science.
In this episode, Mark talks about the importance of trying to specialize in one of your passionate areas.
You want to develop a skillset in any area that may make you known in: Your Local Area Your District Your Section Or eventually even nationallySome examples may include:
The way you design drills How you teach Club management High performanceAll payers can be trained with a HP mindset, be at different levels.
You may adjust the drills, the language…..etc
You may need ore seasoning than just on-court at your club:
Online Workshops Volunteer at a different clubIf you are not currently working where you are passionate about.
Take a program that is successful and water it down to fit the level you are working with.
Tennis is tennis and similar at every level. What changes is:
Intensity Volume How you provide feedback at the different levelsIf you are fired up in a certain area that you are NOT involved in, became an understudy and even volunteer your time. You will not get turned down if they see that you are passionate about it. They will most likely profit off it anyway.
Email Dr. Kovacs on his site at Kovacsinstitute.com
Mark is always such a wealth of information and one thing I really admire about him is how he projects himself when he is around someone who does not have the knowledge he has.
Even with me, I feel like he is truly passionate about teaching me and helping me understand things at my level. Very easy to talk to and not intimidating at all.
One suggestion: If you are just starting out, look at the ten and under players or program at your club.
This group sometimes gets overlooked and it’s crucial that you’re developing skills with these players at an early age anyway.
Bottom Line: Find an area of tennis, on or off court, that you are passionate about, come up with a plan on how you can educate yourself in that area at your club, locally, or even through online courses or workshops.
Good luck and please email with any questions.
Coach Mick, USPTA
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Today we welcome Sid Newcomb, USPTA National Tester to the PTM Podcast.
Sid is going to discuss the importance of the diagnosis in a lesson.
Diagnosis is such an important part of what we do as teaching pros.
A lot of inexperienced pros tend to diagnose based on the last ball they just fed. Way to much info instead of one thing they can work on.
In a private:
Start by removing yourself (or don’t teach the way you necessarily play) Be observant of the student Ask questionsThese are all super important in the diagnosis.
A good pro has the confidence to ask questions to find out what is going on so you can diagnose.
Like a doctor when you take your sick child in and tell him that she has had a fever.
He/She will ask questions in order to get to a diagnosis based on the answers you give him/her.
For someone just starting out in their teaching:
Watch your student start hitting the ball to try to come up with some conclusions and ask questions in regards to what they are looking to do. (Ex. Keeping it low)
Bottom Line: Be observant, ask questions and remove yourself and how you learned from the equation.
Sid made a great point about asking questions because sometimes your cure isn’t the cure they’re looking for. By asking the right question it’s going to be easier to pinpoint out what to start looking for because you know the issues that your students are having.
And hopefully, most of your students will be worried about the match and not the warm-up.
To learn more about Sid go to: www.Uspta.com
Good Luck,
Coach Mick, USPTA
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Today’s Quick Tip Is: Tell Your Students What They Are Going To Learn – Teach Them – Tell Them What They Learned
And using my online marketing method, may just get those stubborn players eager to learn.
A Quick story:
I had a group of students recently come to the campus for a week and it was an amazing experience for me s well as for them (I hope anyway)
And by the way, if you are interested in bringing a group here, talk to me and I will set you up with an experience that you will not forget.
Each day this group worked with an expert on campus:
Monday: On-Court With Player Development and working with High Level Players
Tuesday: TDM With Our TDM and Tournament Expert
Wednesday: On Court With our 10 and Under Expert and working with Red Ball Kids
Thursday: Progression/Regression With our Director of Coaching Education
Friday: Group Lesson Evaluations (Live steamed on PlaySight) with me,
Like I said, You can set this up with me anytime as well if you want to bring a group down here.
Now during the group lesson with me, I made it similar to how it worked when I was a tester for the USPTA.
I gave them an area to work on, gave the coaches time to come up with a plan and then they executed that plan.
We did about 6 round of lessons.
Overall they did a great job (and yes Nate, you did this initially, just to get that out), but after each round, my first comment was, “You did not tell them what they were going to do BEFORE you started teaching the lesson.
Then it continued to happen until the very last group lesson.
My point was that students do not want to go out there and not have a clue what they are going to learn or do.
They have nothing to look forward to (or dread)
Imagine in school walking into every class having NO CLUE what you were going to learn that day.
You just sit down and the teacher says, “ the quadratic equation is used when you can’t factor out an equation easily”
The the next day, SAME CLASS the Boston Tea Party was protest by the Sons of liberty……….
You would kind of like to have a heads up, right instead of being hit with some arbitrary topic.
Well the same goes for a tennis lesson and I am going to show you how you might do it, based on my experience in the online marketing world.
The more in advance you can let someone know what they are going to do, the more time they have to prepare, or ask a question that they want answered during their time with you.
Even on court if you say something like (and this is NOT the best way)
“ Welcome to class everyone. Today we are going to warm-up, work on some forehands and backhands, do some cool drills and finish with some fun points.”
At least you gave me an idea what we are going to do.
Now when writing out a sales page there is a formula that I am accustomed to with the acronym, P.A.S.T.O.R.
This stands for:
P- Identify a problem
A – Amplify
S – Story/Solution
T – Testimony
O - Offer
R – Response (Decision Time)
Now I now you might be saying, whatever Coach Mick, this is a tennis lesson.
Well try telling my 3.5/4.0 group that they are going to work on something NEW (Without telling them why) and they will probably fail initially most of the time.
Trust me, it takes a very experienced SALES PERSON to get them to make any major change, ha!
So here is how I would approach it.
P- The Problem
A – Agitate the problem
S – The Solution
Let’s define the problem as ……. The Lobber
Now let’s get to the lesson:
Problem – Pain: You might start off by saying – “ Good Morning Ladies, today we are going to work on how to handle the dreaded lobber”
Agitate The Problem – The person who drives us crazy. You think you hit the most amazing serve or approach shot, follow-it in to the net, only to get lobbed and then you and your partner are sitting there starring at each other, not knowing who should have taken it
and to finish it off you see the other team high-fiving like they did something spectacular when you know that they can’t it a decent pass to save their lives……
And of course it is YOUR fault, even though your partner gave then the dream ball to lob in the first place.
(oh yeah……Phyllis does that to me every time………..)
Solution – So today, we are going get them where they can’t lob you from, the net.
This is VERY effective. But it can be tricky, because the ball we get them up there with needs to be short and kept fairly low, but if you can execute this, even with some success, you will have the upper hand.
We will start with working on the shot to bring them up, put it into some controlled points and then let you go for it on your own.
Done.
Now this is one of many ways to counter a lobber, but now you have their attention because you told them what they are going to learn AND you hopefully inspired them to want to learn it by AGITATING the problem.
It is like when you are online reading some sales page, or watching an infomercial and in your head you are saying, yeah…….that’s me!
You got them to relate, then you got them to feel those stressful feelings again, in this case, on the court with the lobber and now you will most likely have their attention.
Step 2 is to teach them how to execute the shot, in this scenario, the short low ball.
You will have to progress through it by most likely working on under-spin and working on ways to adjust if it is not staying low or short enough.
Then you will put them in a situation to where they start each point by executing the shot.
So, what I would do here is to do it champs and challenger style, and let me stop here and give you a tip, because I have seen this many times, even in a testing situation.
DO NOT have the champs hitting the shot that you have just worked on. If they stay champs for a while the other 4 players (or 2 teams) on your court will never get a chance to work on it.
I like to almost always have the challengers hit the shot that we just worked on so EVERYONE gets many opportunities
Here is an example: 1 champ/4 challengers and you have just worked on app. Shots all day, and you are feeding the champ the approach shot (the other 4 are NOT working on it, so get at least the 80% hitting the shot you just worked on all day (If he/she stays champ the WHOLE TIME)
OK, so now that the champs know that the challengers will be hitting a short ball to them (not fair), move them back to a cone, or the back curtain or whatever, but don’t let them move forward until contact is made by the other team. (or they lose the point )
This will probably be pretty close to the proper timing when the opposing team is NOT expecting it, plus it gives the players a bit more success and will be more willing to keep trying, once they see the benefits.
Then finish with some regular points and have each team try to throw that shot in at least once a game or something to that effect.
And Finally bring them in and TELL THEM what they just learned and why they want to continue to work on it.
What I would do is keep track and especially if it worked in my favor would say, after the points. Every time you brought the team up to the net, you won the point XX% of the time, and you are just starting out.
You might even explain ow this shot is good for other situations, like giving your opponent’s overheads (usually weaker than you think(, to keep them fired up to learn the shot.
Give them some incentive, or homework, to try it out away from the class and don’t just drop it.
Continue to ask how it is going, during the week and during class.
Bottom Line: Let your students know what to expect BEFORE the lesson starts. It may be something simple or you may have to go the sales page route with those stubborn players.
Good Luck,
Coach Mick, USPTA
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Today I interview USPTA/PTR Master Professional Jorge Capestany.
Jorge is a highly regarded tennis professional all around the world and has arguably the best tennis drills site on the internet.
So Jorge , through his own experience has put people/coaches into one of 5 different levels
1. The Encourager - They look for the good in others and take the extra steps to tell them 2. They look for the good, but don’t tell them 3. Generally wired to look for the bad in others 4. Look for the bad in others and then DO tell THEM. These people are kind of mean. 5. The Gossiper - Look for the bad in others but tell OTHER PEOPLEIf you see a flaw, it is OK, but make sure your spirit is looking for the good stuff as well. This will make the negative things easier to accept.
Big Question: Where do you think you fit?
The people that succeed in general tend to be more like the Level 1 and Level 2 people.
Even Bigger Question: Where would your co-workers place you on this scale
What a great conversation with Jorge.
Now I can honestly say that I have been in each of those situations in my life at one point, even in my career.
It is easy to get caught up in a conversation and find yourself going down the wrong path, just not to rock the boat with a person who you may look up to.
But as most wise people will tell you, ……..
Surround yourself with the people you want to be the most like, and hopefully is the level 1 or level 2 type of person hat Jorge was discussing.
As a coach, it can sometimes be easier to look for the flaws in a stroke and focus on what is wrong (like the ambulance coach in episode 025), but look for the good as well and make sure your students hear what you like about their game.
Do the same with even your co-workers. I am sure some extra lessons will probably be going to the pro that the desk staff respects and admires, more than the pro who is a glass half-empty person all the time.
And even better, do the same when nobody is looking – This defines your character.
Bottom Line: If I had to summarize this I would say, Nurture and pay close attention to your character more than your reputation and you will most likely achieve more success plus have a lot of great relationships on and off the court.
Good Luck,
Coach Mick, USPTA
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027 – Successful Progressions – My Foolproof Plan for Beginners
So today’s quick tip is: Start with contact and progress backwards when working with a NEW player,
So why do people say that tennis is HARD?
I’m going to tell you how I achieved 100%, yes I said 100% success, with getting every new player I have ever worked with to hit a 20 ball rally over the net on their 1st day with me.
There are two secrets here and one of them is you
So come on, make it easy for them.
This way you can increase the chances of them being successful and coming back for more!
Now you need to know your progressions, which are the step you might take from start to finish to hit the ball over the net.
Here is a little trick I like and if you remember anything, remember this if you are working with a NEW Player especially and they will be successful each week and can back off to stay successful if need be.
If you read the progressions of any stroke they will go something like this:
1. GRIP
2. READY POSITION
3. STANCE
4. FOOTWORK
5. BACKSWING
6, FORWARD SWING
7. CONTACT
8. FOLLOW-THROUGH
9. FINISH
If you look at this list, there are 6 things to do BEFORE the student makes contact.
Good luck with that.
What does the student really care about, hitting the little ball over the net into the HUGE court, that is it
How easy should this be? Think about it if this were an attraction at the fair
I was at Cherry Festival in Traverse City Michigan and was walking by the booths where everyone tries to call you over to shoot the balloons, knock over the bowling pins or sink the basketball in a hoop that is probably only ½ wider than the ball itself,
What if there was a booth like this………………………………..
OK Step right up. Step right up and hit this 2.7 inch diameter ball into this HUGE 1404 square foot hole and win a prize.
Just hold it and hit it.
Who has the guts to try………..
I bet if this was a booth, it would have a huge line right?
Well, this is exactly what tennis is
And when you say it this way, does it sound like tennis should be hard?
My first house (2 bedroom 1 bath) was only 863 square feet.
So come on, make it easy for them.
If they are successful, they will want to do it again and if they are not, they might have 2nd thoughts.
With Scott, I had lunch as a backup, but not so easy on the tennis court.
How about trying it in this order: GRIP, CONTACT, FINISH (maybe)
I bet if you explained where they need to hit the ball (Contact), have them start exactly there and then lift up to the finish.
If you think about it, as tennis coaches we find ourselves telling our students how to SEND the ball over the net all the time yet, the key to being successful starts with how we receive the ball.
Think about my carnival example. If you have the ball in your hand you’re in total control of how to start, but when you’re playing tennis you have an opponent sending the ball over the net to you, so you want to make sure you are receiving the ball as similarly as you were when you were holding it just to drop it over the net.
So, Try to visualize this.
What I mean by this is that when I talk to students about this, the first thing I have them do is turn somewhat sideways and just catch a ball in their hands that I feed over the net to them.
You will see that when we do this, they do not take their hand back first, They will usually just put their hand behind where they think the ball is going to be when they catch it.
This means if I feed them a high ball they put their hand up high to catch it. If I feed them a lowball, they put their hand down load to catch it. If I feed them and medium ball they put their hand at a medium level to catch it.
The closer they’re hand is to the ball, the more successful they are going to have to catching it. The more they have to move their hand to go catch it, it will be more difficult to catch because of the timing.
The next step I take is to have the student to hold the racquet, with the proper grip and have them just stop the ball on their strings, just like they did with their hand.
I usually say if they hit the ball over the net successfully in the court, they have 100 push-ups, ha ha!,
This works on The proper grip and how to track a ball as it’s approaching them.
The next step is to do the same exact thing but instead of letting the ball drop off the racquet, just lift the ball up over the net and finish period
If you want to get technical on the finish you can, but there’s no need to here.
What you will find, is that the player does not take the racket back but just waits for the ball to come to them which is important when it comes to balance.
The racquet in the ball stay close and there’s limited distance between the racket and the tennis ball prior to contact.
Think about a player that takes the racket way back, They have to move their racket forward, commit to their swing, and hopefully that swing is going to run in direct line to wear the balls going to be at that precise point they want to make contact.
Now I said earlier that one of the secrets is you. And it is. To make that 20 balls you are going to have to make sure you hit that orange ball or green ball or even a foam ball back to them in a manner to which they can receive it as easily as possible.
If you put a heavy topspin on the ball is going to be more difficult for them.
They don’t have to do a whole lot to hit the ball over the net, I promise you.
Go stand in front of any wall and hit a ball at the wall. The wall does nothing. But I bet the balls going to come back at you because the wall is making perfect contact every time with your shot, In a way anyway.
Too many players think they have to take a huge stroke to make the ball go over the net. They do not have to do this at all.
Now once they understand this concept you can start adding in the other progressions but the great thing about it here is if they are having issues they can always regress back to where they know they can be confident.
Even more so on the serve. Start with contact, add in some wrist, hen some forearm, then some shoulder, then some trunk, then some legs and so on.
The great part is that, like we talked about in episode 26, they can go until they find it difficult. That is where they need to train or back off one more step, to just ensure success.
And they will probably be coming back for more!
Bottom Line: With NEW Payers start your progressions with contact and work your way to a complete stroke. OR you may be losing a lot of potential players.
Good Luck,
Coach Mick, USPTA
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Today’s Quick Tip Is: Become the Ocean Liner Coach if you are in the business in taking a player from one point to another.
I have been on one cruise. I thought I would never like them, but I really do.
The cool part, other than the free drinks and ice cream, it that even though there is a final destination, we make a lot of successful stops along the way.
For example: My in-laws come to Florida every year to hang out with us for a few months. Now when I make the drive, it takes me about 21 hours to get here from Michigan.
When they drive it takes about 4 days, because they like to stop at some really cool places and soak in different parts of the country,
Kind of like the movie Vacation, when Chevy Chase, I forget his character’s name, would make all of those different stops on the way to Wally World, like biggest ball of yarn, mall of America, biggest hunk of cheese, something to that effect.
Where this applies to coaching is that, even though you may have a destination, there should be a lot of successes along the way not only to keep the LEARNING in check, but your players motivation going, because they are seeing success after success along the way.
This may be called “Chunking” which refers to breaking down a process into pieces that are more manageable and will help keep the student inspired along the way.
For example: It is hard to work on the serve and volley for the first time and then go use it in a tournament for the first time 2 days later.
You have to break it down into parts and maybe even those parts into smaller pats.
So let’s go back to my player who I said NO too.
She was surprised and her dad was too when I said that I would not give her another lesson , but what they didn’t realize was that when she hit with me in a controlled environment, she was a steady hitter.
But in a match, her opponents were not trying to work with her, they were trying to make her life miserable, which was accomplished that day.
What I told her dad was that she needed to go out and hit with someone. A steady hitter.
A bunch of crosscourt rallies, no pressure.
See if the two of them can get 20 in a row, counting down. Cooperative hitting. (Counting down adds a small element of pressure).
SUCCESS
Now if she can’t handle it when someone is trying to work with her and be nice, how is she going to handle it when someone is trying to be mean, right.
Now start counting up and lets say whatever number either player misses on, that is how many jumps they have over their racquet ( I would say crunches, but I do not want to get emails saying that I punish with conditioning).
Still got past 20 70% of the time.
SUCCESS
Now the point element
Now let’s play a groundstroke game to 100. The rule is that you play one point on the deuce side and then the next on the add side. No serving.
Count the number of times the ball goes over the net on the rally. Whoever wins the point, get the same number of points as the ball was rallied over the net. ( 15, 3, 42) until someone gets to 100 points
More pressure each time a ball is hit back to you.
NOT SUCCESSFUL
OK we just pinpointed out the stop that needs to be made and focused on until success can be achieved.
Playing out pressure points crosscourt with someone other than me.
I mean she knows where the ball is going, so the recovery element isn’t even an issue.
Now you might think that as a pro, you can fill the shoes of the other player and make $30 bucks, but it is tough.
You want to see them successful and if you start crushing them, your instinct will be to lay off a bit so they can achieve something.
So stay in that arena, until you start seeing some success.
You just defined where the TRAINING focus should be
Kind of like when I am teaching a 3.0 player how to hit a slice for the first time.
1. Hand feed up close
2. Racquet feed from the other side of the net
And now they think they are ready for prime time.
And that’s Very unlikely.
So remember what Marc Gelina said in episode 022, an inch is a cinch and a yard is hard
OK, so the final destination (The yard) is to hit these in match play successfully.
Where might the stops (inches) be:
Lesson with me: SUCCESS – Perfect feed and me teaching them Try it on the ball machine - SUCCESS, still the perfect feed, no help from the coach and start thinking on their own Rally with a partner (20 in row, cooperative) – Varied balls (High, low, short deep…) , thinking on own – NOT SUCCESSFULOK, spend some time there on that island training. Then move to:
Play out points with defined areas Play out pattern points that include that shot Play out normal points.At least they will be able to connect the dots a lot easier now.
Wherever the breakdown is, that is where they should be training.
I think you get the point now, but here is my challenge to you:
Email me a suggested journey to learning how to serve and volley and what the stops along the way might be. ([email protected])
I will walk through one of the pathways in a future episode.
Whichever one I use, I will send you a PTM promo package in the mail.
Bottom Line: No matter if it is a stroke, a strategy, try to start piecing the pathway that you would teach to reach the final destination, including all of the steps in between.
When students experience small successes, that keeps them motivated to reach the long-term goal.
As a coach, it’s our job to put the (steps) or inches in order. Each lesson (or more) is an inch.
Each lesson is a success where they’ve learned something which keeps them interested and wanting to stay on board.
Even though you have a destination, there are many mini stops ( successes along the way)
It will be different for every player, that is why I love teaching (AND COACHING) tennis.
Good Luck,
Coach Mick, USPTA
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Today’s Quick Tip Is: Stop commenting on every shot and PICK ONE THING.
Don’t try to correct each shot. There are NO REDOS anyway, just opportunities.
Instead, Try to look for the primary issue and go from there, BEFORE THE FACT. Now you have presented an opportunity to the student.
As a tester, the student was supposed to match the primary problem we saw, but the key for me was even if the primary problem didn’t match mine, that was OK as long as long as he progressed properly and the student LEARNED and improved.
Let’s start with the positive:
Now, depending on where you work, this might be somewhat appropriate because you WILL NOT be able to develop someone’s stroke over time. The two positions I can think of off hand are:
1. The Resort Pro 2. The Academy/Camp ProAs a resort pro for 30 years, to be honest, I did not give a lot of lessons to hotel guests, my staff did, but when I first started, it was all me.
The one thing I learned was that, it was like the private lesson during the USPTA test.
I had one hour with them, so I did not want to make any major grip changes, or anything else that would:
1. Take until the end of the lesson for them to accomplish 2. Not allow me to see them the next week and how the development was going.If it was a grip change, I would say something like, “when you get back home, mention to your pro about using the continental grip on the serve and ask what he/she thinks about it”
That still might put the pro in a bad position, because it may have been something they have been overlooking.
If I could come up with something where they could see immediate success (Usually a band-aid solution), They were happy, I was happy and they felt like it was $70 well spent.
So even if they had the wrong grip on their serve, I could still improve the serve they had and have them mention the grip to their pro back home.
Now as an academy/camp pro, you have more time, maybe a week or more to observe and develop a bit, so it is a bit easier to bring up a longer term solution.
At the end of camp, you would probably write out an evaluation that they can take home and show their pro, if they have one, but the key is that you have time (OR EVEN EXTRA TIME)
Now the Negative:
When you teach this way, you might be confusing the student.
They will have little to go on, when they want to go out and practice to improve because there was so much said.
Sometimes, a slick pro will use this method, until they see something stick and stay with that correction, but you need to be able to break the stroke down (in your mind), find the primary issue and work on that.
If you are just starting out, here is a good way to try to diagnose the issue.
1. Remember The ball goes exactly where the RACQUET tells it to go, so contact point is the key.
Spin, Speed, Height, Depth and Direction all affect how we make contact. You are most likely trying to give them the same ball most every time, especially off a feed.
2: During the warm-up, asses what is happening to MOST of their shots.
For example: 80% of their Forehands are going into the net. What does this mean? Closed racquet face at contact.
Now figure out why it is closing and focus on that.
It could be the grip, but it
If you know your progressions, this will help diagnose.
If it is a regular student, there may not be a primary issue, you are just working with them and developing their stroke or game, but I am saving this for the next episode………. So please Stay tuned.
So KNOW YOUR PROGRESSIONS
This will help you visualize where the problems may be occurring.
As a coach, you need to be able to see the stroke being hit in slow motion side by side with the visual of the perfect progression IN YOUR HEAD.
Bottom Line: Don’t get caught in the ambulance mode, especially if you are working on regular basis with a player. If you are seeing someone only once, picking the ONE THING may just make that once into a regular gig.
Good Luck,
Coach Mick, USPTA
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Today’s quick tip is: Having Your own coaching style and philosophy is definitely good, but don’t be afraid to veer off tack a bit if need be.
Remember the definition of a coach, getting a player from one place to another.
So the first is the Amtrak Train.
This coach wants to take you to your destiny on one track, one way, no exceptions, no veering off track.
First let’s look at this coach in a negative way My Way Is THE BEST WAY
This is the person who hangs around the tournaments and matches waiting to take advantage of a vulnerable player and parent.
He is trying to sell the ticket through marketing of him/her self
As the player is playing, this person is telling the parent how his/her way can change their child’s game around and what they are doing now does not make sense.
They usually promise they can take the player to a specific destination in a very short amount of time.
Another example:
On court, this pro has specific patterns that MUST be followed to a “T” and the students are not allowed to veer off track at all and in matches, the tactics MUST be followed based on the ball the player is receiving.
This coach has specific “Patterns” of play that, usually based on percentage tennis, so if allowed, you better have a good reason for breaking the pattern when the point is over.
And saying , “well I won the point didn’t I?” usually is not going to be the answer……..
This coach will usually back-up their style with all of the players that they have coached who were successful, forgetting about all of the other ones who were not.
Is this really bad though?
But what good can come out of coaching this way?
Well, it forces the students to focus on one thing. And focusing on one thing clears out all of the surrounding static that can prevent a player from improving.
In sport we call this deliberate practice or practicing with a purpose.
In a ball machine example I give a lot, I let players know that repetition is important, but the root word of repetition is “REPEAT” which doesn’t mean hitting a ton of balls, but hitting a ton of balls the SAME WAY.
This may help produce what they used to say in the past, but they don’t anymore, “Muscle memory”
Daniel Coyle, in his book the Talent Code says that there is a direct relation to the amount of deliberate practice and the MYELIN that is created though repeating things over and over the same way.
A train might travel slower than a car, but it cuts thought the forest, mountains, even under bodies of water, to get to the destination quicker.
But, If you are a cookie-cutter coach and only have one way, that will help only specific players. For example, when my son was young, I thought he was going to be real slow.
So I made sure he stood in close and played inside the baseline so he would learn how to hit everything off the rise so he would not have to run so far.
The other advantage was that he liked to volley, so doing this would get him to where he liked to play from anyway, the net, and it took time away from his opponent which is a major way to create unforced errors out of them, but we will get into this in a later episode or video.
Lucky for me, he had Fast twitch muscle but do you see how the make up of the player may cause you to use different swing patterns.
For example if he had to stay close to the baseline, his stroke pattern may have to change.
He has less time to prepare to hit the ball, so a cookie-cutter longer and bigger backswing, like Del Potro may not be very helpful because he will have less time.
Sure, it may get bigger after time because he is more comfortable, but you’ve got to think in terms of success based on player styles and what they do and were born with naturally.
Think about it, if you could work with what a player does naturally and sneak in all of those common denominators within their style, how that might make the LEARNING easier
This gets tricky, because as a coach, you have to decide what works and what may not.
In the last episode, John Wooden even said to his players, I am going to treat each one of you differently.
He said this because he knew they all learned differently and the focus to bring out the best in each player would probably have to be different.
But couldn’t this be said for the technical/tactical aspects of tennis too, based on the players natural style?
So going back to the Amtrak Train
this coach may have a list of players who were successful, but could it have been bigger if he/she coached based on the players abilities and the style that fits them best?
Sounds like a lot of work, but what do you think?
Bottom Line: Having a solid teaching philosophy is a sign of a good coach and a lot of positives come out of sticking to the plan, but don’t be afraid to make a few adjustments along the way.
Good Luck,
Coach Mick, USPTA
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Today’s Quick Tip Is: Become a good teacher so that you can become a good coach.
Let me just say that teaching and coaching work together. The main ingredient here is the LEARNING.
Let’s start with teaching. What is teaching?
Teaching is about the teacher,
can they explain something clear enough for you to understand?
Teaching is basically a one way interaction between the teacher and the student.
If I were to create a video on how to hit a slice serve, I would basically be teaching you and the rest is up to you.
I sent you the video, you received it, so I taught you something.
I would show you all of the steps, but then you have to go out and hit serves by yourself.
Think about school. There is a teacher/or professor up in the front taking you through how a certain event took place or how a certain process works, sometimes in from of 100’s of students at one time.
It is then up to you to take great notes and try to understand what was said so that you will pass the test on whatever it was he/she was trying to teach you.
Now think about who your favorite teachers were in school. They were most likely the ones who interacted with you, watched you and gave you some feedback.
It made you feel good that they paid attention to you and took an interest in who you were.
Which leads us into coaching.
Look at those teachers I just described in my last example. They were bridging the gap somewhat by not just teaching.
They were focused on you
So, Coaching is about the student.
Yes, It requires teaching, but then a coach takes the next steps of watching how you perform and then provides feedback on how you can perform even better, analyzes that and it continues on and on through this cycle.
A coach will help you set goals, come up with an annual plan on where they feel you should be and provide the steps on how you can get there. There may need to be some adjustment along the way, but coaches definitely understand this.
A teacher is not as concerned about your progress, they teach and then report on how you did.
In the olden days, what was a coach?
It was a vehicle that got you from one place to another.
As a coach, you are a vehicle to get a student from point to another.
Great coaches usually do not come standard, like in the old days.
They have a lot of options included, like knowledge of technique, strategy, nutrition, fitness, the mental game and all of those the dr. Kovacs included in episode 020.
All of these things will help a player get to where they want to go, which is usually being the best player or competitor they can be
As a coach you need to come up with a plan and monitor where your players are by observing them, providing feedback to keep them on track while providing the next steps of the journey.
Your general knowledge of sport science should get you by, will also tell you if you need to bring in an expert, like a nutritionist, or fitness expert, depending on your level of coaching.
And as a coach, like John wooden said, you need to be able to treat all payers differently.
This is because a great coach knows that students learn and are inspired in different ways.
Coaches know that some students, myself included, like the command style, while some like the cooperative and even the submissive.
Any coach that says one way is the only way has slid back to the teacher role.
So what now?
Should you start with teaching or coaching
Well, if you are new to teaching tennis, you may have some great coaching advice, but you just need to brush upon your tennis knowledge.
Add on as many “Extras” to the vehicle……, you, so that you can become a knowledgeable coach and at least have a basic understanding of the science behind the sport.
While on court, you may just be following a lesson plan that the head pro made up and expects you to stay in line with what he wants to focus on, but there will be a lot of opportunities to start practicing your coaching skills.
Any moment you take to invest personally with a student, you have crossed the bridge into coaching.
It might be something very simple, like after seeing someone struggling in class, you pull them aside at the end and show them a few things they can start doing at home to overcome whatever it was they were struggling with.
Most likely it is something you can relate to.
Even a quick phone call during the week (or email) to see how it is going, puts you in more of a coaching role and that may lead to something more permanent in the future.
But please be genuine about it.
What do you think?
Bottom Line: It’s OK to start in the teaching role. Absorb all you can from the pros you work with and the pros you admire in the industry. Take what you like and throw away what you don’t, but if you are a bit uncomfortable, look for those small “Coaching windows” that will help you become more than just a teacher.
Remember, it is the LEARNING that is important And this varies.
All some need is to be told once (or taught) and some may need a little extra (or coached).
In the next few episodes, we will discuss the different types of vehicles, or coaches that may get students from one place to another.
Which one are you? well I hope you will keep listening every Tuesday and Thursday to find out.
Good Luck,
Coach Mick, USPTA
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022 - The Salt Story - Marc Gelina, USPTA
The PTM Podcast Welcomes Marc Gelina, Associate PTM Director, University of Central Florida Rosen Campus.
The salt story is an analogy on how power of the mind and taking action can change your habits.
Salt is made of up two elements: Sodium and Chloride.
Take each one alone and it is poison.
Combine the two and you have the spice that used to rule the world.
The same goes for how we approach tennis.
Power of the Mind - Think and believe. What the mind can conceive, the body can achieve.
Taking action - changing your habits
Similar to your signature. If you signed your name 100 times, it would pretty much look the same from #1 to #100, but if someone showed you how to do it properly (Or differently), maybe it could improve.
When you are changing habits, remember: “A yard is hard and an inch is a sinch”
Little tiny habits can change your results on tennis.
Similar to termites (small little things) do more damage very year than hurricanes and tornados combined.
When you combine power of the mind and taking action, this is where you are going to see the most improvement and how we have to coach our students.
W.I.N. - What’s Important Now
Thinking this all the time can help keep your mind in the right place and combining this with actions.
Today’s Quick Tip: Applying the salt story to teaching
We need to teach our students to combine both.
As a teaching pro:
You can have a good plan and taking the right action.
A great plan with no action is worthless, pretty obvious.
Great drills, with no plan can be detrimental as well
For example if you just go out and have your student hit a bunch of balls, improvement will be limited, but if you have a good long term (and daily plans), this will keep you on track as a coach, because you can design good lesson plans around these goals to make sure you are achieving these, inch by inch.
A good plan and taking the right action will help your students reach their goals and you as a coach as well.
To get a hold of Marc you can go to: [email protected]
Good luck,
Coach Mick, USPTA
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Today’s Quick Tip Is: Praise in Public and Criticize in Private
It sure would have kept the member and me, from feeling uncomfortable and having to explain to the member that it could wait and she was what is important now.
Believe it or not, When you criticize in private, that shows respect and when you show respect, it may give you that edge that you need.
I have even got called out in meetings before, and found out later, and it did not feel that good.
When you do it in public it only only Embarrasses the person you’re criticizing and. , Even though you may think differently, does not make you look all that good in front of everybody.
So if you have an issue with anyone, even your supervisor, try to find out a smooth way to do it privately and if you can give accolades in public, go for it.
We have a Service of Excellence program here where you can do it on a card and they all get posted for all to see.
Now while teaching, you still want to try to follow this rule. But remember, some people are more accepting of compliments, good and bad, than others.
In a group setting, it’s easy just to pull the group in and talk to them as a group if you see some common issues between, even only a few players. Or, you can pull someone aside during ball pick up and explain to them what want to see different.
Even when discipline players, pull them aside and do it privately.
I remember I had a group of cocky high school kids when I first started and they were not into conditioning in class at all and one time one of the players said, we didn’t pay to be conditioned, we paid for tennis. My response was, you just paid to sit in my office and call your mom and tell her why you are in there, if you can beat me to it.
Now I said that in front of the group and probably shouldn’t have, but you can gauge that. The rest of the class conditioned without any complaints.
When it comes to praising someone, say it out loud in class, that only will motivate others to want to try to do the same.
But be careful that you just don’t do it to one person the whole time because then that can cause some issues for sure, because now it looks like you are favoring players and that is not a good thing either.
The key for me, and this was a bit harder, was to know where everyone was in their development.
We used to do a variety of exercises when it came to conditioning
Now there was on kid that could only do ONE pushup but after 10 weeks he improved by 1000% (he could do 10) so there was a lot of room for praise in public and he won the Ironman award for most improved, even though he still did fewer than anyone.
Now, in a private, it’s fairly easy because It’s only you and them, but I found out to get someone to be more receptive to criticism, praise them first and then tell them what they need to do differently and why.
Now this might seem a bit like the command coach, so how would a cooperative coach do it?
Well a cooperative coach might ask open ended questions to get the player to come to the conclusion, like…… Why do you think most of your shots are going long? Now if they have a definite answer, right or wrong, go back and actually test it out on court. Let them use the process of elimination until they get it and if they do not choose your correction, find a way to get them to bring it out.
Just get to know your players to make the learning more efficient.
Bottom Line: be sensitive to those around you that you work with and who you coach. If you treat them as you want to be treated, then it should make for a great environment.
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Back when I was doing basic research after I would finish teaching on court, I started reading about LTAD.
What intrigued me were the “Windows” of development and how we had to get this important stuff in before it became much more of a challenge to develop particular skills.
The first was the window for agility, balance and coordination. The second was puberty.
What I didn’t know that with A,B and C, the window started to shut somewhere around age 10-12. Which meant it was important to have these skills developed as much as possible by then.
Now when I was a kid, it was easy, we climbed trees, played army and had P.E, every day in school., not anymore………
P.E. in a lot of schools is twice/week where I was and kids are on their devices all day, so the best way to develop these skills was to play multiple sports.
I will talk about this in more detail in a future episode, but I got 8 leaders of different sports in town and turned my 10 and under tennis camp into a tennis and sports academy, which was basically tennis every day plus and alternate sport, led by the leader of that sport in the community.
It was extremely successful, plus I got to introduce tennis to a bunch of kids who I probably would not have, because they were coming to play all the sports.
Parents loved it because they did not have to sign up their child for 12 weeks of a sport only to find out the child hated it. They could try a sport for one day and report back with no risk.
The point is, through my drive to want to learn as much as I could, this concept developed into an amazing summer experience and I retained a lot of these kids in the fall, winter and spring.
It was an easy sell to the leaders of the other sports, because they understood the science behind it, plus we promoted their programs to all of the kids at the same time. Win-win for all.
This basic concept of sport science leads us into my interview, with Dr. Mark Kovacs who will simplify “Tennis Science” as he calls it and tells you where you can get started.
Sport Science is basically all of the scientific areas that allow you to teach tennis better.
In it’s complex form, it is a combination of:
1. The physiology of the body
2. The biomechanics of the body
3, The anatomy of how our muscles and movements work
4. Sports Psychology
5. Nutrition
6. Motor Learning
7. How the brain functions
8. How we develop skillets
9. How we teach the
10. How this all integrate with how to hit a ball under stressful situations
But this IS NOT for just the top players
The goal is how we can make teaching and learning more efficient and more fun.
Skill develop is VERY IMPORTANT at all levels of play and makes you a better coach and makes you more versatile.
Where you can start:
1. USTA Sport Science Course
2. Get involved in the international tennis performance association. helps educate you on how to understand sport science and how it relates to make you a better coach and teacher.
1st Step:
The Tennis Performance Training Program
- Not heavy on the science
- Not a lot of big words
- Tries to get coaches to understand the basics in video and written form
- Lots of resources provided if you want to dig deeper in a particular area
You can get there by going to: http://itpa-tennis.org
Bottom Line: Skill development is very important at all levels, especially when players are young, so coming up with a basic plan will not only help you develop these kids but your parents will know that you get it, which makes you MORE attractive to them.
Getting both you and your platers started as early as posit;e will be an advantage for the both of you.
Links
http://itpa-tennis.org
To get a hold of Dr. Kovacs go to:
1. mkovacsphd (Twitter. Facebook, Instagram)
2. http://kovacsinstitute.com and send an email
Good Luck,Coach Mick, USPTA
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So today’s quick tip is: Following some basic Do’s and Don’ts will help you and the staff be more consistent and look more professional
When I started teaching, on my own, I had to write up policies for my staff. I came out of college as a Director at a resort in Northern Michigan.
Not because I was an amazing pro, but I think I had a lot of help from my PTM Director and they really didn’t have any programs yet, it was just an amenity, so I couldn’t screw it up that badly, Right?
I still had to come up with a whole set of programs, policies and processes on how things needed to be done.
What did I do?, well if you listen to episode 003, I copied a bunch of things from my PTM program, camps and internships I worked, called other pros and had some of my own.
To be honest, I was not great initially at developing a “Teaching Philosophy” for the program, and my focus was on just creating one.
Now I was still a Greenhorn Director and Pro, but I did want the staff to be professional and I would worry about the other stuff later. This was all pretty new to me and a bit intimidating because I wanted to do a great job
So I took our Do’s and Don’ts for the tennis professional that we had in our PTM program and applied this to our program, and I want to go over these with you today. They will be in the show notes as well
Remember that these are basic and a bit old, but I think still stand true to this day. If you were taking this in a certification course, it would definitely be more complex, but this should be a great start.
Do’s and Don’ts of the Teaching Professional
Arrive 15 minutes early. Exaggerate alertness and expression. LOOK PROFESSIONAL. Follow the clubs dress code (collared shirt) Make sure that courts and equipment are prepared in advance. Listen to Head Pro’s instruction and objectives. Stay on court during the whole lesson. Help pick up balls.DON’TS:
Show up late. Yawn (or hug your racquet) Lean against the net post, curtain, etc… Talk or bounce balls while the Head Pro is talking. Talk about work related problems with students. Leave court during ball pick-up.BASIC DRILL ADMINISTRATION TIPS
Get Their Attention
Be loud and enthusiastic Exaggerate expression DEMAND ATTENTION
Keep Them Moving Students should not be standing in one spot too long Most important to a parent watching the lesson More fun for students More fun for Director to watch
Setting Up The Drill Explain the drill and objective Demonstrate drill Split students up by ability if needed
Tips For Good On Court Drill Administration Pay attention to safety Pay attention to drill speed Exaggerate loudness and expressionVOLUNTARY ACTIVITIES FOR TENNIS PROFESSIONALS
There are many voluntary activities done by staff members that will enhance the program. These activities are the catalysts that will move the program from an average one, to one that excels. These “freebies” reflect your interest in the programs and will help your students feel a bit more special. These are “Extras” like we talked about in episode 001 These might include:
Hitting with students during free time, even 5 to 10 minutes will have an impact on the student and their parent.
- Helping a student select a tennis camp
- Taking students to tournaments
- Organizing a tournament or fun day
- Watching students play out of class
This is big when you want to make that good first impression like we discussed in episode 011
Bottom Line: Looking professional and acting professional will definitely set you apart from even those pros who think they are better than you. You are in the people business.
Good Luck,
Coach Mick, USPTA
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In episode 018, I interview Jorge Capestany, USPTA/PTR Master Professional.
Jorge discusses the way he judges the value of his pros by using what he call his "Scale of Worth."
The episode will have more detail, but basically this is how he determines what to pay his pros.
One thing to remember is that when we talk about income, it is very geographic, meaning that you will probably make more in New York City than you will in Jorge's home town of Holland, MI., but the costs to live in both places is very different as well.
The whole idea of Jorge's Scale of Worth is that the more valuable you are to the club, the more you will get paid.
So being ambitious is a plus and continuing to learn will benefit you in the long run.
Let's take a look at how Jorge does it:
Level 1 - Can only assist in a class. High school helper or college player, basically a ball bumper - $12/hr
Level 2 - Can lead some of the classes - $15/hr
Level 3 - Can lead ALL of the classes - $18/hr
Level 4 - Can MAINTAIN a private lesson clientele - $22/hr
Level 5 - Can recruit private lessons - $27/hr
Level 6 - Can run a USTA adult team practice - $30/hr
Level 7 - Can run an entire team (lineups, recruiting..) - $33/hr
Level 8 - Able to start NEW programs - 40% Incentive
Level 9 - Grow an existing program ( 6 to 12 players) - % Incentive
Level 10 - ALL above PLUS always available to work - $35+/hr
It is not where you think you are, but there YOUR BOSS thinks you are on this scale.
If you are interviewing for a position, these are good questions to ask, so you understand the system of a particular program
Bottom line: Your with is a direct reflection on what you can deliver for your club or facility
Good luck with this and please email me at [email protected] with any questions you may have.
Coach Mick, USPTA
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017 – Verbal Communication
Today’s Quick Tip Is: Learn some basic verbal communication skills.
These skills will attract players as much as your teaching skills sometimes.
I have witnessed it over and over with pros on my staff.
There are two types of communication: non-verbal and verbal
Nonverbal communication is all about gestures, facial expressions, body movement, touch, and anything else done without actually speaking.
Verbal communication includes sounds, words, tone of voice, volume, and pitch are all ways to effectively communicate verbally and will make a big difference in the lesson.
In a lesson it might be:
1. Saying students names
2. Inflection
3. Talking the right amount
Saying students names, especially on the first day can be the most important. Nobody likes, “Hey you in the red shirt”
When I was a USPTA tester, it was important to use the students name 6 times and tim, tim, tim, tim, tim, tim didn’t work.
This may be tough, but come up with a good system that will help.
Inflection was also on the test and this Is wheee your voice goes up and down
There are lots of opportunities to work on this, so with a little practice, you should be good to go.
How we speak is important, and you can even break it down to the group you are teaching.
If you are teaching some 8 year olds, the adult comments will mean absolutely nothing.
You have to speak their language for sure, whatever that me be.
How about when or how often to talk to your students, well this might tie in with your coaching style like we talked about in episode 014
If you are a Command Style Coach, it probably means you will be doing a lot of talking while you have the group all together and while they are hitting on court.
If you are a submissive style coach, you might be a bit less talkative and let the group run the practice more on their own terms
As a cooperative style coach, there might be a little of both. More talking during the “Huddle” but then less during the hitting, except for things like “Why do you think you won/lost that point” because this lets them give the input.
When I look up effective Verbal Communication Skills online These popped up and I tried to connect them to teaching.
1. Be friendly.
2. Don’t talk too much.
3. Be your authentic self.
4. Practice humility.
5. Speak with confidence.
6. Learn the art of listening.
BOTTOM LINE: Having good verbal Communication Skills is important and can make up for some of the areas you are lacking for sure. Just keep practicing in those other areas…….
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016 – The Milkshake Moment
Today’s quick tip is: Remember the Milkshake Moment, but look to make a lot of Milkshakes, even when they don’t ask.
First of all , one thing I was taught at an early age is that the number one gift you can give anyone, is your time. Like money, we only have so much of it to give and we need to use it and invest wisely. This is where the milkshake comes in.
Ok, so here are some typical “Asks” from members at a club”
“Can you be our 4th? Susie didn’t show today. Can you stick around and get this racquet strung so the member can take it home tonight (He lives 20 miles away) Can you do a 6:00 AM for tis hotel guest who is in meetings all day? Remember what Scott Did in episode 1? Scott gave the customer a “Milkshake Moment” and it landed him a job as manager and head men’s and Women’s coach at Ferris. There is No Water I the cooler and we are out of cups Can you apply what Stevie missed in his group lesson, due to being sick to a private lesson? Tricky because if he makes up in a group, it won’t cost you anything, but if you do the private, that is an hour of your time. Are there any 4.5,s you could set me up with? When someone is coming in late for their lesson as you are leaving for homeThere are internal guests too (The people you work with)
Can you fill in for Doug, he did not show today Or, “there were only 6 signed up for red ball today but 12 showed, can you help me outAlso, look to Make a Milkshake, even when they don’t ask.
Hit with someone while they are waiting for their opponent to show up If you see someone struggling with their serve (While practicing) go give them some advice, if you know they will accept it. Bring the sunscreen & extra towels out on a hot day Go over if you can (I remember an hour lesson lasting over two sometimes at the end of the day)BOTTOM LINE: Remember, when you can make something happen, even when it is not convenient, look to do it for your members and look even to make those milkshakes even when they are not expecting one ………. unless they are lactose intolerant
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Today, I interview Marc Gelina, the Associate PTM Director at The University Of Central Florida, Rosen Campus.
In this episodeWe talk about how to handle different levels of players in the same class.
Before coming to Central Florida, Marc was a Tennis Director for over 30 years and has a lot to offer pros who are just getting started and those who have been on the business a long time.
The talented players may "Revolt" if you do not have a creative practice plan.
You have to add in challenges.
The middle group needs to be incentivized by the better players.
The top players need to know that they have to dominate the Middle group.
For me, it is always a good time to work on weaker skills that need to be developed when playing against players that are weaker.
As a pro, you are going to have to work with ALL the levels.
Don't get caught just hanging out with one of the three levels.
The lesson p,an is the key.
For more on The UCF PTM Program go to: https://hospitality.ucf.edu/tennis/
Coach Mick, USPTA
- Se mer
