Summer Camps 2013

It's that time of the year again to gear up for Seminole High Performance Summer camps! I've been a coach at the camps for two years now, as well as dorm counselor, and I must say, it's a lot of fun and always makes a difference in junior tennis players games. After a day of tennis with a catered lunch break in between, we bring kids home to rest up and then take them out to fun activities during the evenings. This year, we've upgraded the dorms that the players that stay in the dorms will be living at. These dorms are very, very nice, and are in the middle of campus, so are very safe!

The dates for 2013 are below. It is never too early to apply!

High Performance Session #1 - June 16-20

 High Performance Session #2 - June 23-27
High Performance Session #3 - July 14-18
High Performance Session #4 - July 28-Aug. 1

*New Camp Features in 2013*

• New Apartment Style Dorms on Campus
• On-Court Video Technology with 40 inch flat screen TV
• Trip to FSU Seminole Reservation (Canoeing, Sand volleyball, swimming, rock climbing)
• Team Building Seminars
• Ropes Course Available (Team Building or Fun)
• Collegiate Placement Seminars

*New Apartment Style Living in 2013*

• Ragans Hall/Apartments
• 3 and 4 bedroom units available
• Living rooms
• Kitchens with refrigerator and microwave
• Each camper will have their own bedroom
• 24 hour supervision
• 3 meals per day will be served

This is information you can find on the Seminole High Performance website. What you don't know is how awesome Ragans Hall apartments are! They are clean, fairly new, and, did I mention, each person has their own bedroom?? It is the greatest way to introduce your junior player to what college is going to be like, and with plenty of supervision that is around the clock. The three meals per day that are served are fantastic, healthy meals that often are catered from local restaurants. 

On-Court Tennis Focus

• High Intensity collegiate style drilling
• Indoor Tennis Training
• Focused individual Instruction
• Competitive Match Play
• Small Group Drilling
• Personalized Goal Setting
• Advanced Fitness training and seminars
• Sports Psychology Training Daily
• Cutting edge tactical training

The coaching staff at SHP is very knowledgeable, made up of previous college tennis athletes and current college tennis coaches like Coach Nick and Coach Dwayne! Not only is the tennis high intensity, fun, and focused, but we also include lots of options that make us stand out from a lot of other camps, including indoor tennis, personalized goal setting, advanced fitness, sports psychology, and tactical training that involves the highest tech gadgets out there, including a cool hand-eye coordination technical tool!

Off-Court Adventures (Nightly Activities)

• Disco Night Bowling and Chili’s Restaurant on Campus Night
• FSU Seminole Reservation(Canoeing, Sand volleyball, swimming, rock climbing)  and BBQ Cookout
• Fun Station (Go-Carts, Mini-Golf, Laser Tag, Arcade) and Pizza Party Night
• Feature Movie and Games Night

Personally, for me this is where the fun is at. I've experienced tons of fun nights with SHP summer camps, and taking the kids to relax at movie night and have fun at Fun Station is always an awesome experience for us dorm counselors as well as for the kids. This year, we're adding to the fun by taking kids out to FSU's reservation and adding other exciting nightly activities that make sure that your junior tennis player gets the best of both tennis and a summer camp fun experience! 

Camp Prices

Overnight Camp 995.00 per week
Day Camp 725.00 per week
Discounts for Additional Weeks or 2nd Child: 895.50 per week

Other Camp Details:

• FSU camp t-shirts provided
• 6 hours of tennis per day
• 3 meals per day
• Nightly Activities include: Bowling, Movies, Swimming,
• Exhibition
• Chaperones in the Dorm
• Laundry services available
• Airport pick-up available

If there are any questions as to what to bring or anything that may cross your mind in terms of SHP summer camps, don't hesitate to comment on this blog, or email me at kova1227@gmail.com. Hope to see you there!

2013 Registration and Check-out Times

RESIDENT CAMPERS
Check in days: (June 16, June 23, July 14, July 28) from 3:00-4:30 PM at Ragans Hall for all resident campers. There will be a parent meeting at 4:30 PM.

Check out days: (June 20, June 27, July 18, August 1) at 3:30 PM. Check out will be at the Ragans Hall for all resident campers.

DAY CAMPERS
Check in days: (June 16, June 23, July 14, July 28) from 4:30-5:00 PM at the Scott Speicher Tennis Center, there will be a parent meeting at 5:00.

REMINDER: THERE WILL BE TENNIS ON SUNDAY NIGHT FOR ALL CAMPERS FROM 5:00-7:00 PM INCLUDING DAY CAMPERS AFTER THE CAMP REGISTRATION AND MEETING!

The Warm Up

As the coaches siren their calls for warm up, the junior players drudgingly stop their game of mini tennis to form a line and proceed to gossip as they jog hesitantly up and down (or around) the courts for their warm up. There is a reason why this is not allowed at Seminole High Performance. We expect high quality effort at all times, even with the warm up runs and stretches. If you’ve been reading this blog, you know already how into stretching I am, primarily because I didn’t do it when I was a junior player myself enough and now it’s costing me.

But I understand how easy it is, day in and day out doing the same stretches, to autopilot through jogging, stretching, and warming up your shots. Often I see players goofing off in the warm up; i.e. trying to peg someone, attempting to beat a world record of how little steps they can take within a warm up time, exaggerating grunting for attention, amongst other fantastic escapades that never cease to irritate a coach.

Warming up deserves a focused player. A focused player will jog to warm up muscles to avoid injury, stretch while focusing on how their muscles feel that day, and notice changes in flexibility when they do certain exercises, and warm up their shots when hitting with a partner, focusing on correct form and footwork while they are at it. We, as a coaching staff, always remind players that the warm up is important. Know that if you did not come off the court that day exhausted from your work on court, you didn’t do all that you could do and didn’t get better that day. 

Never doubt that there is an opponent working harder than you if you don’t work your hardest day in and day out. Footwork is typically the key in the warm up. If we had to count how many time we had to say “step up your footwork” (or something along the lines of footwork), we’d all be a perfect epitome of a broken-record player. Footwork dictates body movement; if they are standing like tree stumps, everything else will soon follow suit. 

It may seem okay to, once in a while, autopilot through a warm up, waiting to get to the “real” practice of that day, but as a serious tennis player, you should quickly reconsider your outlook on the warm up. It is the way that you will approach practice; if that means your lackadaisical in the warm up, guess how the rest of practice will go?     

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.