Superstitions

Superstitions sometimes can be silly (say that three times fast), and sometimes clearly pointless to all that are outsiders, but in reality, especially sports reality, superstitions are not only harmless, but typically accomplish positive results. Superstitions can alleviate stress and unnecessary nervousness, and can place a player into a specific "game time" mindset. They can also help players cope with things that are clearly out of their control, but can be harmful if a player focuses on that thing. Say, for example, a player that I know that turns his cap sideways to cope with the element of the sun. While the cap may shield a little of the sun, he has somehow decided that by turning his cap sideways he is thus impervious to the sun and all of its powers. Say, if he forgot his hat, he would talk about nothing but how the sun was bothering him.

I can tell you that I had tons of superstitions growing up playing tennis, and they carried through into college tennis. Some of them are fairly common, like eating the same thing eat morning if I continue winning, or eating something completely different the next morning if I lost the day before. I had my lucky dresses and skirts and racquets and teddy bears. Some of them were weird; I bounce (and still do) the ball plus two of the number of the ball. Don't ask how this happened, or where it came from, because I have no idea. I wouldn't step on the lines of the court between points.

After sharing my goofiness with some fellow coaches, some shared their superstitions with me. Coach Nick taps his racquet against the fence gently twice between points. Coach Aaron would wash the same socks, shirt, and shorts for the next day's match if he won the day before. Everyone has their little quirks, and these quirks are perfectly normal. If you don't notice, you should realize that these quirks sometimes carry over to life off of the court as well, like the typical don't-go-under-ladders or oh-no-there-is-a-black-cat superstitions. As long as these superstitions don't get out of control, they actually can help a tennis player on (and off) the court. Our brains are very smart and figure out ways to cope with nervousness and things that are out of our control, and superstitions are one way of doing that!

Bag Check

If anyone has ever seen "bag check" on the tennis channel, they'll know that this blog will be able what you should (and what you shouldn't) carry around with you as a tennis player at all times. Being prepared for your match requires that, like Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother says, you "Suit up." Now, this may mean to dress sharp on HIMYM, but on the court that means that you should have everything that you need at all times. Now on bag check, no matter who the cameraman is asking to unpack their tennis bags, you'll find some things in common, like

• a fresh set of clothes
• a jump rope
• a lucky charm of some sort
• a toiletries bag
• racquets and strings

So, a fresh set of clothes. You'll want to have an extra fresh set of clothes on you at all times, just case, say, you spill Powerade all over your new outfit, or if you sweat a lot on the court and need to change into something more dry. Don't wear anything that you have not yet worn in practice; I see this happen all the time, where a junior player wants to wear a pretty new tennis dress with thin strips, only to find that these straps inconveniently fall off every time they hit a ball, or rub them in the wrong places.

A jump rope. This is an essential that a lot of players don't have in their bags as juniors, but need to. Jump rope is a perfect way of getting ready for your match, or shaking out your legs when you've sat around the tournament site all day. I know a lot of players that sit around and watch their friends play until they are called for their match, and then wonder why for the first two games they can't get the ball in the court, and why they feel like they are moving in slow motion. I always tell players to give themselves at least fifteen minutes prior to their match to focus again on themselves, run around and warm up (jumping rope would be ideal here), and hit the court with focus for their match.

Lucky charm. Now this isn't an essential, but let's face it, tons of tennis players are superstitious. This would be a funny blog all on it's own, but just as an example; when I was playing, I would bounce the ball plus two of the number of the ball (So if the ball was a one, I would bounce three times). You ask, where did you get this silly idea? I have no idea. I just remember doing it since I was a kid. Superstitions are not bad, even though they have a bad connotation. Superstitions sometimes actually help players get their mind off of their nerves or make them feel they are more in control of things that they really can't control, like the weather. I've seen countless bag checks and almost all of them show a little toy or lucky charm that they have in the crevices of their bags that help them get through their matches.

Toiletries; for those who do not know of toiletries catered to the tennis player, this includes a mini baggie of chapstick, pain killers, sun block, tape and/or any other injury prevention, deodorant, massage cream (for injuries or post-match soreness), extra visors, nail clippers (hang nails are painful, and gross!), and any stray that refreshes you (I always like the bath and body works sprays).

Now, racquets and strings (just in case you break your strings on your current racquets) seem like a very obvious addition to a tennis bag, but you'd be surprised how many times I've seen players come to a match with only one racquet, or with racquets that are not "tournament ready," meaning they are not gripped or strung the way the player likes. This is different for all people. I know I liked to play with the grips I had from practice, but my brother, whose playing ITF's right now, likes to play with newly gripped racquets when he plays matches. Strings are also something that is personal preference. I kept in my bag a new racquet that was freshly strung at the tension I liked (57 pounds), as well as a practiced racquet that would have lost a few pounds of tension, just in case I didn't feel like I was controlling the ball as much as I could have that day. Multiple racquets are a must. You never know when strings will pop, nor do you know what could happen to your racquets.

Of course, when it's match day, you also need to bring hydration. This includes water as well as a supplemental beverage, typically Powerade with electrolytes, but sometimes more natural hydration like coconut water (which has equal amounts of electrolytes and double the amount of potassium compared to Powerade). You'll also want to bring sun block, hats and visors, wristbands, and a towel.

So that's your bag check for today, make sure when you come to Seminole High Performance you keep these rules in mind as you never know when your next bag check will be!    

The Elements of Tennis

Hi all!

As I trudge through my rhetorical theory class and read up on some Aristotle and Plato, I realize that tennis does not have a theoretical grounding as much as, say, literature does. Perhaps no sport truly has a theoretical ground, but it certainly has elements that, if not working in tandem, will not work at all. That is why in this post, I give to you ladies and gentlemen, the elements of the game that need all be present in a perfect equilibrium to represent all that is in your control as a player that can make you the best that you can be.

Keep in mind folks, if you don't know what equilibrium is, that these elements must be found in a balance with each other, and should never take over one's life in a way that makes tennis the be all and the end all.

Element ONE: the game of tennis. Of course, to be the best you can be, you must have physically gone onto the court. That would be good. All jokes aside, it's really up to the player individually how much they can be on the court and still remain fresh. I've written about this in previous posts, but I cannot make more clear that there is such thing as too much. It's called getting burnt out, like when you try and light a fire by striking the match too quickly, or not allowing the embers to get hot enough before you start trying to build a bigger fire. Nevertheless, tennis takes time and commitment if "the best that you can be" is your goal. For younger kids, start out slow with lots of fun, but still get an hour or two in privates in to form technique. For average players with some experience, exposure is important; an hour or two of privates and lots of clinics and groups would be great exposure and fun for students who are developing their game. Advanced players need equal individual attention and clinics, part a for technique and real intense work, and b for some fun and exposure to match play and different tennis game styles.

Element TWO: fitness. You go to the gym once a week? Try going three for weights and more intense body work, and two for cardio. If you're playing a match soon, go with three cardio days and two more intense body work days. Fitness is the difference between an average player and an elite player. An elite player does not get as tired, is quicker and more agile, and has less injuries than an average player. The muscles on an elite player are toned but not bulky, a sign of proper fitness training. Should a player under eighteen do weights, girl or boy? Not really, unless it's under twenty pounds for arms and under half the body weight for legs. I've seen sixteen year olds get really hurt at the gym trying to bench press. Wait for college or the pro tour for that! A young players muscles are still developing, and need to be lengthened, not tightened. Plyometrics, band work, body resistance, and various cardio exercises, like stadiums and sprints, are much more effective than weight training for a budding tennis player. If you think you can't get enough of a workout with these training regimens, ask one of the coaches and we'll give you a workout that will leave you wishing you didn't. But really, you should never hesitate to ask, since we all know fitness routines that would help each individual personally.

Element THREE: mentality. Ha! This really should be number one, but remember that these aren't in any particular order, and we are looking for equilibrium. Find me a player who does not have any issues mentally on the court, and I'll give you a million bucks. (Or maybe twenty or so, who am I kidding!) Mental issues can range from being nervous before a match to the extent that it inhibits play to choking (not physically, mentally; as in leading the entire match and then losing and not being able to close out the match) and chucking the racquet across the court (aka tantrum) whenever something doesn't go your way. I wish I could tell you there is a magical pill that will solve all of these issues for you, but then indeed I would be a millionaire. It takes effort and practice to deal with these issues, and every player is unique in how they deal with their own. Typically my response to issues with mentality includes that the player has not yet had enough match play and experience to understand how to recognize and deal with these issues, but they don't go away with more match play. They do ebb and flow; one month may be awesome, another terrible. Tennis mimics life in that aspect; while the game will always stay the same, the person playing it won't, and mentality will always continue to be part of the game. Even pros deal with these issues all the time.

Element FOUR: diet & sleep. Sleeping is good, and so is a healthy diet. Sleeping in a routine that suits your schedule (as in, you won't be late to school/work/tennis) is essential for a growing and/or training body to stay fit and firing on all cylinders. You may not feel the effects of sleep right away, but they will come in forms that you won't expect, like grouchiness and cramping. Additionally, healthy food is essential for an athlete. Hydrating with coke, for example, would be like feeding a racehorse sugar cubes instead of hay. Avoid foods that are "empty;" nutritionists call foods empty because they do not give the human body any nutrition and usually add a bunch of not-so-good stuff on top of that, like processed sugars, or even worse, processed chemicals and dyes. Yuck! What I've been doing lately for my diet is checking the ingredients on the back of the product. Fun fact: the first ingredient is always the ingredient in highest concentration. So if, say, my unsweet tea that I have in front of me has the ingredients of filtered water, brewed tea, caramel color, and potassium sorbate, the ingredient my tea is made out of is firstly water, then tea, then all that other stuff. A good athletic diet does include plenty of carbs that you burn off when training, so "diet" may be deceitful as it registers as typically eating less, not more. Healthy is the key work here: Chik-fil-a, while delicious, isn't a pre-match meal!            

Seminole High Performance takes the Tallahassee Super Series by storm

Seminole High Performance takes the Tallahassee Super Series

The day in pictures

Saturday started out with three of our Seminole High Performance boys, Brennan, David, and Brian playing next to each other at the Tom Brown courts. All three won their matches in straight sets! It started out as a pretty chilly day at 8:30 am. Whenever it's cold outside, and/or you are playing an early match, make sure you make time to give yourself extra time to warm up. Jogging and hitting are the best warm up ideas!

Brian  played an awesome first match against a challenging opponent. He played with patience, hitting high and heavy until he got the short shot to attack, a great technique!   

David also played an excellent first round match. He stayed focused on his own court even though his friends and fellow Seminole High Performance teammates were playing next to his court. Even though David lost the first game of the second match here, he stayed positive and eventually got the lead, and took out another excelling player. Remember, when you go out to play the second set, focus hard on centering your mindset on getting the first few crucial points of that set.

A big shout out to Addison Hultquist, who won the tournament in her division! She fought back after being down in her match and portrayed fantastic positive body language and fought until the very end. She's got many more tournament wins to come! Don't forget, tennis tournaments start at a very young age, so get your players in clinics and privates early to gain a lead on other players. 

Here are some of our silly Seminole High Performance kiddies goofing off and having fun! They are supporting our other players. From left to right: Matt, Ben, Drew, and Brennan.

Some more FAQ!

Frequently asked questions section two has commenced. Enjoy! Check out last week's posts for the top three FAQ!

4.) My child is complaining about (type injury here). There doesn't seem to be anything wrong (no swelling, bruising, ect.) but I can't keep my child on the court without a complaint (and/or my child avoids the court like hot lava). What should I do?

Whenever I have a kid complaining about an injury, I check for serious signs, like bruising, swelling, or discoloration. If I don't see these things, I typically have the kid go back on the court, and, nine times out of ten, they keep playing and they're fine. However, this doesn't mean that a player isn't injured if there is nothing to show. I, for example, had a knot in my shoulder that would get so inflamed that it would cause a pinched nerve, none of which you can physically see, but definitely something that I could physically feel (tingling down my arm, not feeling my fingers, massive pain in my shoulder after playing).

 Injuries in tennis are hard to deal with; there has to be an intricate balance between pain tolerance and injury prevention. I say pain tolerance because tennis players will typically have niggling pains, like tendonitis, especially if they play on hard court and are growing. Imagine pounding your feet over and over on concrete, and that's what a player goes through everyday. Injury prevention means icing (or warmth for knots and tight muscles), stretching (not for five seconds), eating well and hydrating (we're talking dehydration here as an injury too), massage, ice baths, and DAYS OFF.

I know tennis is a sport where you need to be on the court as much as you can to compete. BUT, if the injury is getting in the way of your player (or you, as a player) practicing well, there is no point in practicing at all! Taking a day off may be the smartest move, but it is up to the player to keep an open line of communication with parents and coaches without feeling guilty about needing a break. A chronic injury or a worse injury can develop out of a niggling injury that will disappear with a few days of rest and active recovery.
 
5.) I play awesome in practice, but it doesn't carry over into matches. I get super tense and tight and I play much worse than I know I am capable of. What should I do?

There are two types of tennis players: one type plays much better in matches compared to practice because there is something on the line, and they are in a competitive atmosphere. Then, there are players that play much better practice, typically because they are looser and know that there ISN'T anything on the line! For those who get nervous, the first step is becoming aware of this nervousness and asking for help. The first way of asking for help is simply asking, while the second is asking for some privates or additional days at camp. Let me explain:

Tenser players tend to think too much on the court. If you go out there without the confidence that you are better than the player on the other side of the net, it's practically impossible to play at your top level. Adding confidence means adding more practice. Going out there knowing you put in the work more so than the other kid does major things to your mindset and approach when you are playing.

In the meantime, think of ways you can replicate pressure in practice (adding sprints, say, if you miss a first serve, works fairly well as pressure) and try out different strategies on coping with that pressure. I always suggest what worked for me: going to the fence, focusing on breathing and counting to ten, wiping my face with a towel I always had with me, and focusing on something I could control, typically my feet. The first thing that goes when you get tense on the court is your footwork, so always focus on moving, whether it's doing some butt kicks or high knees to get you relaxed or just focusing on bending your knees when you hit the ball, footwork is always the first thing you want to focus on. 

       

FAQ's about tennis

I get asked questions from parents often, and find that other coaches get the same questions. So, here are some frequently asked questions and some frequently responded answers. More to come next week! :)

1. When should my child start playing tennis?

Honestly, the earlier, the better. It really depends on what your goal is. If your child is around six and you're thinking of getting them into the sport, six is actually a good age to start working on introducing the game to the youngster, in short periods of time a few times a week. If your child is fourteen, it also isn't too late. Any age, whether you are six or forty-five, can start the game of tennis and get some healthy fun out of it. However, if you wish your child to be competitive in the game, the sooner the better. The sooner the child gets on the court, the more we as coaches can expose them to correct technique. At Seminole High Performance, we personalize the exposure the child receives to the game of tennis depending on a.) expected performance level and b.) the child themselves. Every child is different, and different times, length of exposure to the game, and technique instruction is necessary for proper accommodations.

2. Should my junior tennis player be playing nationals or ITFs?

First off, nationals are tournaments that give you a USTA ranking, and ITF's, of International Tennis Federation tournaments, give you a ranking on a different system, so they are not equivalent. National tournaments have a great advantage: they are all in the United States. ITF's, however, can be hosted in numerous countries around the world, and sometimes can get expensive to travel to. Both are extremely competitive, and both provide ample competition. If your goal is to go pro, ITF's are what you want to focus on. If your goal is to go to college, USTA tournaments give more exposure to potential collegiate athletes to the college coaches that can easily travel to these tournaments. This isn't to say ITF's are not good for college exposure. When I played, I played primarily ITF tennis tournaments, and I was still recruited heavily by colleges. What you don't want to do is expose your child to both equally. While playing both is not bad at all, playing one primarily will give you the necessary tournament count compared to other players that allow you to climb the rankings in either one or the other. Someone who plays every ITF that is in the US and in the vicinity (Caribbean, South America) and gets to the quarters and semi's each tournament will be higher ranked than a player that plays a few tournaments and wins them.

3. How often should I play in groups versus privates?

This answer really depends on who you are asking about. If you are asking about a younger player who is just beginning tennis, it is best to get a few days a week of group clinics and equal, if not more, privates in. Privates allow a coach to work personally with a player to set their grips, techniques, footwork, and form correctly. While we do this in group clinics as well, the individual attention a private lesson gets you is far superior to that of a group lesson, which cleans technique but does not often set it. Playing in groups gets the player exposed to hitting with others and experimenting with their shots with more live ball drills, incorporating footwork, form, and technique into many of the drills. Without proper technique, footwork, and form, the player will miss more and become more frustrated.

For students who have already been playing for a few years and have some experience with tennis, a few more group clinics a week than privates works just fine, but this also depends on whether the player's technique is set correctly or not. If not, then a little less than equivalent exposure to groups and privates may be necessary. For example, if the player plays three times a week in groups, two private lessons a week may work best. For those who have the correct technique set, one or two privates a week works best so that the coach can always allow individual attention to keeping the technique correct and continuing work on bettering the games of these learning players.

For advanced players, it seems like less privates and more groups would make sense, but this is where private lessons become as essential as group clinics. Competitive players around the world often have exposure to private coaches that work with them on a daily basis on top of match play and group instruction. This becomes essential for competitive players as they move up in their tournament play and as they get older. Privates become more about advancing the players and strategy work as well as keeping the player in tip-top shape rather than technique work, which happens but more seldom than, say, a beginner would have. I can tell you the importance of privates from my own experience. I played in group clinics everyday in New York when I lived there, and played with my dad, who is my coach, a few times a week when we could get it in, or about an hour a day if it was possible. Moving to Florida allowed me to take school online and focus on tennis, which then turned from about an hour a day of play to five hours of practice, with three in the morning and two in the afternoon, often times with individual attention all morning. This training really made my the player I was in junior tennis and later on in college.

More to come next week!  

New Year Resolution

As we start the new year and are fresh off of our holiday cheer, it’s time to get back into the habit of working and head back onto the tennis court. In celebration of the new year, let’s set some resolutions for your tennis game. Whenever the new year would come around, I would always resolve to be at a certain point with my tennis, but oftentimes this goal was a numerical goal, like to get to the top ten in Florida, or top hundred internationally. While great goals, these goals don’t explain HOW you’ll get to them, and the journey is the most important aspect of setting a goal. So take out a pencil and a piece of paper, and let’s set some physical and mental goals for you that helps you achieve the ranking or tennis skill you want for 2013!

Physical goals. Anything that concerns your body is what you place under these goals. Want to run the mile under six minutes? Add track training to your goals. Want to trim a few pounds to get lighter? Add intense workout and diet schedule to your goals. Pick a goal that is doable and keeps you motivated. I recently asked a junior player what his goal was, and he told me he wants to be top ten in the nation. I asked him how he’d get there. He promptly replied with a shrug. Regardless of where you are ranked, focus on what you will do to change your ranking, not the numerical status of your goal. While a valiant resolution, it’s talk that isn’t backed up by any real goal, like setting a specific regiment of waking up and going to sleep on time, or focusing more on footwork on the court.

Additionally, don’t overwhelm yourself! It’s great that you get excited and add a plethora of physical goals to your resolutions, but try and focus on two or less particular goals that you can achieve in the short term. Want to fix your technique on your forehand? Aim for setting two private lessons a week rather than one or none. Want to be able to move your feet like Nadal? Set yourself up with a coach who can show you a good routine and set a schedule for you that is realistic. Once, I had an odd obsession with getting my abs super flat. I resolved to do twenty minutes of an abdominal routine everyday. Not too hard, right? It did wonders for both my resolution AND my tennis! Had I set my goal to be ranked in the top ten, I would have been frustrated with every loss or set back that I had, which is part of the tennis life. I knew that the ab routine was something I could control, whether I played bad that day or not.

Now for the mental goals. These go hand in hand with physical goals, as you need a strong head on your shoulders to not give up on your resolutions. Mental goals are also tough to set, because a lot of times people set goals that they do not know how to achieve, like “not to go cray-cray on the court when my opponent cheats or is not very nice.” A noble goal, but what is going to stop you from acting like a rapid dog when your opponent does cheat? Set yourself a routine, or a method, of helping your mentality. Whether this is to slow yourself down on the court between points by counting to ten or twenty, or focusing on a specific routine on the court that can help you when you get the match-point jitters, setting a mental goal always involves some kind of physical action. I know that I would get super nervous when I had match-points, and would get tight and tense when my opponent would fend off a match-point, so I decided, my senior year of college, to serve and volley, or chip and charge, for match point. I knew that the jitters I couldn’t control, but I could control what I would do about it. It worked. It worked so well, that eventually I got rid of the jitters, and didn’t have to focus on my nervousness during match-point!    

So after you jot down your ideas, share them! Blog about it, post it on Facebook, or even respond to this blog post and share some ideas with me. Go get ‘em!