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.