Compete Like a Champion

Today's episode is another Guest Speaker Series featuring Andrea Jaeger. Dr. L and National Coach Lori Riffice takes us through Q and A discussion with the former #2 player in the World at age 16. Andrea shares some of her experiences and journeys from a Junior to a Professional player, to founding her charity for children with cancer called Little Star Foundation. She gives a candid recounting of her unique past of reaching such an incredibly high level of tennis at such a young age and then deciding to walk away from her sport to give away her earnings to the charity she founded. www.playerdevelopment.usta.com Instagram: @teamusatennis / @johnny_parkes Twitter: @larrylauer / @johnnyparkes1

Sports Psychiatrist Dr. Nick Dewan joins the podcast to discuss all things mental health and performance. Specifically, Dr. Dewan talks about resilience and how to develop it. We also dive into the difference between temperament and character, and why it is essential for coaches and parents to understand what can be changed and what has to be managed or channeled. We finish with a discussion about COVID-19 and how this influencing our world. www.playerdevelopment.usta.com Instagram: @teamusatennis / @johnny_parkes Twitter: @larrylauer / @johnnyparkes1

The producer and director of the documentary In Search of Greatness, Gabe Polsky, joins Coach Johnny and Dr. Larry to discuss his thoughts on creativity in sport, coaching for creativity and coaching it out of youth. We go deep into several of the themes in the documentary including parenting talented athletes, the need to be creative to survive, the rage to master and balancing freedom and control. Gabe talks about his own creativity in developing the documentary, and how frustration is a part of that process.

This is a follow-up episode to the interview with Navy Seal and performance coach David Rutherford. Coach Johnny and Dr. L examine the interview with Rutherford and go in greater depth into the fears of tennis players. We then talk about how to deal with your fears in effective and healthy ways.

Special episode for players! The CLC podcast team focuses on what is happening with players resuming normal training in preparation for tournaments. We focus what are some of the issues to be aware of and provide recommendations for having a healthy return to full out training.

Navy Seal and performance coach David Rutherford comes by the podcast to talk about how he got into the Seals, and what it took for him to face his own fears. We take a deep look into fear and how it impacts athletes focus and motivation, as well as how to manage our fears. David's passion for pursuing excellence and helping others is on full display. Listeners will get a clear look into what it takes to find your mission and to achieve excellence.

This is our second installment of a special interview series conducted by Women's Tennis. Mary Carillo is internationally renowned for her commentating on professional tennis matches and also the Olympics. Mary talked about her journey from playing pro tennis to the media and the lessons she has learned along that path. Mary's thoughts on excellence from "just say yes" to preparing at a very detailed level are extremely beneficial. Her unbelievable level of passion and energy for tennis but also for others is clearly on display during this episode.

WTA player Julia Elbaba comes on the podcast to discuss her journey in tennis including the unbelievable experience she had at UVA and playing college tennis, and how professional tennis is different. Julia talks about how she has dealt with injury as well as the dynamics of pro tennis, and also her interest in media. Julia has started her own podcast, Jules on the Hustle and is a sports reporter for Newsday, and she talks about the importance of having other interests as you compete.  

Dr. Justin Tausig, Sport Psychology Professional, joins the podcast to talk about his journey from his first fencing mentor to moving to France and performing internationally. He gets into his struggles as a performer and how he adapted and performed at a world-class level. The discussion then moved into how his fencing career influenced his moving into the field of sport psychology and the importance of how to stay motivated and healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Twitter & Instagram: @drjustintausig

This is a special interview episode where the podcast team is joined by Coach Chani Anderson to conduct a panel interview with professional players Alison Riske, Lauren Davis, and Jennifer Brady. The players talk about how they started in tennis and took us through their journey in junior, for Jennifer in college, and to the pro game. The players provide many insights into their mindset as they went through this journey and how they are continuing to grow and improve.

Twitter:

• Lauren Davis - @LaurenDavis93
• Alison Riske-Amritraj - @Riske4Rewards
• Jennifer Brady - @JennifurBrady95
• Dr. Larry Lauer - @LarryLauer
• Coach Parkes - @johnnyparkes1

• Team USA Tennis - @teamusatennis
• Alison Riske-Amritraj - @riske4rewards
• Lauren Davis - @laurend1092
• Jennifer Brady - @jenny_brady7
• Coach Parkes - @johnny_parkes