The New Year and Lots of Homework

As the beginning of the New Year as come and gone, we’ve buckled down and geared into high school semesters, high school and middle school tennis seasons, and lots of drilling and focus on technique in practice at Seminole High Performance. It’s time to set New Year’s resolutions, and with that needs to come lots of experimentation and knowledge building. For example, one of my (many) resolutions is to better myself as a coach by reading more about the coaching profession and engaging in “professional development,” if you will. That’s what I do almost everyday as a teacher, and why shouldn’t I do so as a coach? Knowledge has always been a source of power, success, and focus for me, and I believe that if players want to continue to develop their games and focus in on goals in the New Year, knowledge building is one of them. But why stop at players? Why not build knowledge of surrounding support systems, like parents, high school coaches, college coaches, and other support systems? That’s why for the first blog of the year, I’ve decided to do my homework so that your homework is a little bit easier—below is a starter list of articles that I’ve gleaned from that are NOT dry and boring to read through. Read what is of interest, and continue your education from there!

For players:

http://www.tennispsychology.com/quotes/motivational-champions-players.php*

*Who better to listen to than professionals?

http://www.usta.com/Improve-Your-Game/Sport-Science/114398_Sports_Medicine_Is_it_Bad_When_my_Body_Goes_Snap_Crackle_and_Pop/ *

*Interested in injuries? When your body does snap crackle pop? Read this article, and check out the tabs on the right side of the article for more short but interesting reads.

http://www.donovantennis.com/features/20140417.php *

*We have lots of kids at SHP (sadly) leaving us for college. But what a journey! Interesting read here about preparing for college once you’ve committed to play on the team. Check out this site for more high school to college transition articles; important reads for tennis players that are seniors in high school.

For coaches:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/10/sports/tennis/to-excel-in-tennis-united-states-should-look-to-high-schools.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 *

*Interesting read about playing tennis in high school versus competitive tennis and how the two connect.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2465304/ *

*A little bit of a drier read, research article and such, but still an interesting research study done on tennis motivation comparing the elements of success in the game from the coaches and players perspectives.

http://drmichellecleere.com/2012/a-tennis-coaches-guide-to-motivation/ *

*Psychology made easy; understanding the learner’s goals and motivations definitely helps coaches develop the correct approach to every individual player

For parents:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11305376/Roger-Federer-warns-against-the-perils-of-pushy-parents.html *

*From the perspective of a tennis great Roger Federer, this is a great read for any parent, but especially those who struggle relinquishing control

http://www.tennisicoach.com/en/content/parental-involvement-in-tennis-how-to-help-children-enjoy-their-experience-of-tennis.aspx *

*This one has great tips in terms of DO’s and DON’Ts for pre, during, and post match play.

http://www.wtatennis.com/nutrition-and-hydration *

*As a parent, you are in charge of helping your player get the right nutrition to be ready for the court. This article, despite being a WTA site, has a ton of interesting and useful articles for any player regarding sports nutrition, from what they should eat to what supplements are a good idea to incorporate.

Avoiding the Ache

As you begin to gear into practice and get ready for the upcoming tennis season in the spring, I’m sure you all are working hard on and off the court. Most likely, you’ll be doing squats, lunges, pushups, and a variety of other fun workouts on the side as well, meaning, well, you’ll be sore the next day.

There is a way to prevent that. Well, actually, many ways to prevent that. You can always go the most painful and tedious route for the best results by drawing an ice bath for yourself. As a huge fan (NOT) of ice baths, I remember vividly the days in college when, after stadium runs, legs shaking, we would head together as a team to the ice tub, sit for ten painful minutes, and then walk out penguin-like about the rest of our day. The first two minutes are the worst; once you get sufficiently numb, as long as you stay as still as possible, you won’t feel much other than the numb awkwardness of your toes. Despite the frigid 45-55 degree water, and despite the pain, this technique actually works wonders for your body, not only flushing out lactic acid that causes soreness but also conditioning your body. Next day, no pain. I have a love-hate relationship with ice baths. While painful and horribly, well, cold, it really is the best technique for flushing soreness out of your body. Try not to submerge all the way though—stick with your legs and hips only.

Of course, not everyone has the luxury of an already made ice bath cold and ready for you. To make your own, fill a tub halfway, then add ice until the water is a frosty 55 degrees. Don’t stay in any longer though than ten minutes though—a little goes a long way. You can also flush lactic acid out of your system doing a contrast shower, running the water very hot then very cold, on and off, 2 minutes at a time.

Don’t like the idea of painful water? Stick with stretching. Now, you may think that you are actually stretching when really, you aren’t doing much. Each stretch needs to be held for at least ONE MINUTE; that’s right, a full 60 seconds. No bouncing, no moving, just full on stretch for one minuto. Now, that means that in total, you’d probably be stretching for about 20-30 minutes. Better yet, go to a yin yoga class; sounds cliché, but you’ll feel like a new person afterwards.

Other ways of fighting soreness include massage and Jacuzzi time!

Till next time, adios, and stay sore-free!

Homework and future blogs to come!

Lately as a staff we’ve come to the conclusion that some of our players need to focus some more on match play outside of Seminole high performance. When we do our clinics, we focus on a variety of things, from drills to live ball to set and point play. We vary our focus depending on our student needs, which range from age, experience level, and tournament schedules. Our differentiated instruction is certainly different from most tennis academies where drilling is a primary focus. With our family of students, we are able appropriate different strategies for different kids, which means we really do stay connected with our players throughout the course of their tennis lives. 

Part of our focus these next two weeks is preparing our tournament players for a big upcoming event as well as getting down to the fundamentals of shots and footwork for our up and coming competitive juniors. Just like in the classroom, though, it’s important that we put what we learn from clinics and SHP coaches into practice, so we have been incorporating homework assignments each week on Thursday for our players to focus on completing over the weekend. Last week, it was to find three different people in SHP to play a set against. This week, we’re challenging our players to compete in a three out of five set match against one of their peers in our SHP family. This ensures multiple things; that we are growing our peer to peer communication and strengthening our commitment to each other and our team, that we are practicing over the weekend independently, and that we are working on specific fundamentals, technique, and strategies that we have learned over the course of the week. 

I cannot tell you enough how important set and match play is, and all of our coaches at SHP encourage you to do your homework, don’t procrastinate, and come back on Monday with it completed!

On another note: stay tuned to future blogs about up and coming SHP spotlights! I’ll be writing about a few of our standout students from the past as well as college plans for some of our current competitive SHP players, and reminiscing about good times before we sadly have to say goodbye to these SHP players.   

Seminole High Performance Gives Back

As you all probably know, in my non-tennis non-coaching life, I aspire to be an excellent teacher-educator. I find that teaching is one of the most fulfilling things I’ve ever done and that teachers are one of the most important impact factors in people’s lives every day, whether it be as a student or as a parent. Unfortunately, teachers also don’t make a good living, or, more importantly, don’t get the recognition that they deserve in our society. 

It brings me great joy to say that Seminole High Performance is making a difference in teachers’ lives. First of all, they are making a difference in MY life (as I am teacher) by giving me the opportunity to work with such an amazing staff and with such amazing kiddos. Secondly, SHP has donated t-shirts for a raffle that will be held at the Florida Council of Teachers of English next week in Lake Mary, Florida. Out of their own generosity, SHP has donated garnet and gold cotton t-shirts to the cause of giving back to the teachers we all love and admire. These gifts will go to deserving teachers all across Florida. A little goes a long way—to know that there is someone there that does not know you but yet appreciates what you do for children and for adolescents means the world to me, and I know that it will mean the world to every teacher who gets a Seminole High Performance t-shirt.  

The gesture is reminiscent of our mission at Seminole High Performance; to develop players with integrity. That’s something that comes from mentors and an environment that is, day in and day out, a positive and disciplined one. So thank you, on behalf of all teachers in Florida, and everywhere, thank you for making a difference Seminole High Performance Tennis.   

Seminole High Performance Back in Action!

And I’m back! 

What a journey these past few months have been with Seminole High Performance! A great finish to the last three summer camps, where the kids had fun and worked hard despite hot temperatures and tough practices! We take tennis seriously at Seminole High Performance; there is no time for games that don’t make a positive impact on a player’s tennis game, but there is plenty of time for fun games that also encourage correct technique and live ball play! 

Recently we’ve begun our afterschool program again. It runs Monday through Thursday, 4:30-6:30 pm. On Mondays, we meet with our “big kids” at the FSU courts; this is when we train competitive tournament players in a closed atmosphere focusing more on match-play, footwork, and fitness. On the other side of town on Mondays at Killearn Country Club, we train our up-and-coming players, and we focus more on technique and drilling to set up good habits for their future tennis! We take our technique seriously, but differentiate instruction to each individual player’s strengths and needs, making our program unique. We give special attention to EVERY player in our camp, and keep open communication with both players and parents to ensure they are getting everything they need out of every day of practice! 

On Tuesdays, we have a plus program that we run from 1:30-4:30, where students have the option of coming 1:30-3:30 or 2:30-4:30. This plus program focuses on intense, individualized tournament training and gets our players out on the courts for more practice because practice makes us better players! 4:30-6:30 our afternoon clinics begin, and we have a range of players that come for this time to the FSU outdoor courts, from 6-8 year old beginners to 16-18 year old competitive players, and with everything in between! Every player that comes to our clinics gets better, both mentally and physically. 

On Wednesday, we have a 4:30-6:30 clinic at Killearn Country Club ONLY, and we do that so players can train on clay courts as well as hard courts, giving them more diversity and more practice compared to other training facilities. Again, we have a mix of players on these days that suit every players needs, and coaches that will help with anything from tournament development to proper nutrition. 

 Thursdays we have our plus program again at the FSU courts from 1:30-4:30, similar to how Tuesday’s are run. On Thursday we finish up the week with all of our players at 4:30 reflecting on how we did that week, and setting goals for the following week. We wish our tournament players good luck in their weekend tournaments, and encourage friendships and partnerships amongst our kiddos, helping them connect with each other for match play over the weekend!

Throughout the week, our coaches are open for private lessons to help players further develop their games. Like I’ve written in previous blogs, I suggest two private lessons a week for beginners, once a week for intermediate players unless a change in technique is being made (then twice or even three times a week helps), and once a week for tournament-level players to brush up on technique.  Call me, Eddie, Nick, Andres, or Taylor for a private lesson!

What we have that no one else in Florida has is access 24/7 to the FSU indoor court facility. That means when everyone else is home because of weather, we are still practicing and getting better because we have access to the indoor courts! 

This past two weeks we’ve been focusing on doubles preparation for our players at Seminole High Performance. We’ve been working a lot of volley, overhead, approach shot, and serve drills, and we’ve been playing a lot of doubles specific games that all of our players LOVE. I want to remind you all that a good doubles team always is aggressive and moves to the net before their opponents do! They also make first serves and communicate with each other; good communication is key to a great doubles partnership!

Want to work on your doubles game? Your singles game? Your tennis game? 

Seminole High Performance is the place for you! Visit http://www.seminoletenniscamps.com/ for more information or call Tami Brown, our director of tennis operations, at 850-644-1893.