Because you can’t have at all.  You can’t always have a quiet and respectful environment, that also contains the best junior competitors in the world, while they’re going through puberty and their hormones are running wild. The best competitors live on the edge. They’re all in physically and emotionally, and considering that we’re dealing with kids, they’re all immature to some degree.  If they get upset, it’s going to be hard to always control it. If you can’t handle their emotional outbursts from time to time, you’ll have to reconsider the pathway your family is allowing your child ..read more

A tennis player spends approximately 80% of a match WALKING around. Not running and playing. Walking.  And when they’re walking, they’re thinking. Consciously or unconsciously, they’re thinking.  That thinking can either be a powerful tool, or a dangerous tool. The job of a tennis player is to obviously make it a powerful tool. A powerful tool that puts themselves in the best state of mind to perform well during the next point. When that point is done, they need to use the alone time wisely again, and prepare for the next point. And over and over it goes……until the match is done. The ..read more

Most families are stuck in a position where their child splits sets, they’re able to receive coaching, and they have no coach there. If you know me well, my thoughts are that the coach should be there. For most though, they’re not. So the parent is left as the de facto coach. What should they do? They’re not a coach, but here they are, with their child about to go into a nerve wrecking third set tiebreak (or regular set depending on the tournament), and are looking for guidance. Most parents put on their best coaching hat, and provide coaching advice such as play more aggressive, attack the ba ..read more

“A champion is someone who gets up when he can’t” - Jack Dempsey Michael Jordan. Tom Brady. Wayne Gretzky. Leo Messi. Lebron James. Steph Curry. Djokovic. Federer. Nadal. Phelps. Nolan Ryan. Tiger Woods. These are some of the greatest athletes of all time, and the most important thing they have in common is a “Champions Attitude.” Not a good attitude. Not a great attitude. A CHAMPIONS ATTITUDE. And there’s a big difference. It shows up when things are going against them. When they don’t feel well. When they’re hurt. When they’re tired, and when they’re facing adversity. They don’t back down. T ..read more

Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Podcasts We have another special guest episode with Jonathan Stokke (full bio below) from the Baseline Intelligence podcast. If you haven't listened to the Baseline Intelligence podcast, and you're a tennis coach, parent, or player, you need to! Stokke has an incredible wealth of knowledge, from his experience as a junior and collegiate player, playing in the US Open, coaching in college tennis, and now a private coach with an amazing podcast. He's interviewed many incredible people like Paul Annacone, Brad Stine, Jessica Pegula, Gil Reyes, Lindsay Da ..read more

This blog was a difficult one to write, so I will be directing you to the podcast instead. Answering this question is straight forward, but finding that type of environment is difficult. There will always be a higher level training group so at some point, a coach has to say no, they can’t move you up. So here are the main points of the podcast, and I encourage you to watch or listen to the podcast to get all of the details behind my thoughts: Yes, the better your training environment, the better your chances are of improving as a player. But you can still get better training with lower lev ..read more

One of my favorite things to do at the end of the year is to take some time to reflect. Days can quickly turn into months, and just like that, the year is over. It’s hard to stop, slow down, and evaluate things, yet it’s something I try to do as much as possible. It’s during these moments that we can fine tune our process, and redirect our coaching energies to the most important places. Here are the 3 things I learned in 2023, as well as 3 things that stayed the same. 3 Things I learned 1. We can’t be afraid to talk about winning At the end of the day, if you’re in the high performance space ..read more

The growth of pickleball has been amazing to follow. It’s now on tv. There are professional teams, and facilities with only pickleball courts are being constructed. It’s incredible! But more importantly, as a sports coach, I care about participation, health, growth, and happiness. And there are many tennis courts that used to sit empty that are now being used by pickleballers. I’m not 100% sure what these people were doing prior, but it’s great to see them outside, exercising, socializing, improving their health, and having a great time! But as a tennis specific coach, I just wish it would hav ..read more

Two things have stood out as the most valuable tools in my life. First is traveling. Second is reading. And the current book I’m reading, The Invisible Gorilla, is a gem. For those that haven’t heard of the invisible gorilla experiment, volunteers were told to keep track of how many times a few basketball players tossed a basketball. While they did this, someone in a gorilla suit walked across the basketball court, in plain view, yet many of the volunteers failed to notice the gorilla. What the invisible gorilla study shows is that, if we are paying very close attention to one thing, we often ..read more

When we think of the word weapon in tennis, we’ve been trained to think of a powerful weapon. A big forehand. A monster serve. The ability to finish points at the net. Something that can overpower your opponent, and take the racket out of their hand. I’d like to redefine that that.  I’d like to redefine the definition and interpretation to be that a weapon is anything that can disrupt your opponent’s game. That can be a great drop shot. A nasty slice. Beautiful angles. The ability to put 7 millions balls in play and outlast your opponent. The ability to read that your opponent actual ..read more