Control the Controllables

It´s International Podcast Day, and we have a great guest for this special episode in Yasmin Clarke.

Yasmin is a coach, athlete mentor and commentator. A former pro player, she was GB junior number 1 before quitting tennis at the age of just 19.

She chats to CTC host Dan Kiernan about the challenges faced by female coaches in a male-dominated sport, the importance of family support, and the cultural shifts needed to create more opportunities for women in coaching roles.

This is a great listen for anyone interested in all aspects of the tennis world from a perspective that isn’t normally given a big enough voice.

Episode Highlights:-

• Yaz discusses her experiences with early success, winning multiple junior championships
• The importance of mental health, and the need for a supportive environment in sports.
• She reflects on the pressures of competition, the significance of enjoying the journey, and the evolution of tennis culture, particularly regarding college tennis as a pathway for player development. 
• She discusses the dynamics of coaching within families, particularly her relationship with her brother, Great Britain´s Jay Clarke.

To mark International Podcast Day today, we´ve picked out some of our favourite quotes from our CTC guests! Head over to our Instagram to watch!🎙️

Mentioned in this episode:

Train Smarter Anywhere: Strength & Conditioning for Tennis Players On the Go 🎾

For players who don’t always have access to in-person coaching, progress doesn’t have to stop.

TennisAthlete

Just over 2 years ago, we spoke to GB´s Jack Draper who at 20, had just broken into the world´s top 100 ATP rankings.

Fast forward to 2024, and Jack has moved up to 20 in the world, reaching his first Grand Slam semi-final at the US Open this month.

To mark this, we wanted to bring you a clip from Jack´s episode of Control the Controllables back in June 2022.

In this CTC Short, listen to Jack talk about the danger of outcome goal setting, and the importance of good people setting the right environment to grow and develop.

🎧 Listen to all of Episode 166 with Jack Draper

🎥 Watch the Control the Controllables Podcast on You Tube

Mentioned in this episode:

Train Smarter Anywhere: Strength & Conditioning for Tennis Players On the Go 🎾

For players who don’t always have access to in-person coaching, progress doesn’t have to stop.

TennisAthlete

Today's episode wraps up the final Grand Slam of the year. 

Our panel discusses all things US Open, and there were certainly lots of storylines for us to get stuck into! With two new US Open Champions in Jannik Sinner & Aryna Sabalenka, GB´s Dan Evans winning the longest ever match at Flushing Meadows and GB´s Mika Stojsavljevic winning the Girls title, New York did not disappoint!

Davis Cup Captain Freddie Nielsen and coach of Wimbledon Men´s Doubles Champion Henry Pattern, Calvin Betton join our host, Dan Kiernan to give a unique perspective on the events of the US Open 2024.

And find out if their pre-tournament predictions were right?!

Episode Highlights:-

• Is there an asterix on Jannick Sinner´s title given his recent failed drug tests?
• Will Sabelenka continue to be a dominant force in tennis and can any other player keep up with her going into the final couple of months of the season?
• An interesting take on the drop in form of Carlos Alcaraz
• Talking points of the men's final. Taylor Fritz or Taylor Swift?
• Coaching whilst the match goes on, a good thing or not?
• Our panelists share their opinions on what good coaching looks like from the sidelines of a match court.

Review, comment, like and follow the podcast on all platforms!

Tag us @ctc.podcast and enjoy the episode.

Links Mentioned in this Episode

• Control the Controllables: Website | Instagram | Email
• SotoTennis Academy

Mentioned in this episode:

Train Smarter Anywhere: Strength & Conditioning for Tennis Players On the Go 🎾

For players who don’t always have access to in-person coaching, progress doesn’t have to stop.

TennisAthlete

In today´s episode we speak to Damian Hughes from the High Performance Podcast.

Damian is a best selling author and international speaker who excels in building high performance cultures. He´s worked with Sale Sharks, Warrington Wolves, England and GB Rugby League team, and his podcast with Jake Humphrey has hosted some of the top names in sport.

Dan chats to Damian about:-

• How his Father created a high performing culture.
• How he was given an education on world class coaching watching his Dad and other top coaches in the boxing world.
• Imposter Syndrome and ways of dealing with it.
• The shift in understanding that mental fitness is as important as physical fitness.
• Damian´s 3 non-negotiables.

Plus many more captivating stories that Damian and Dan share together.

Links Mentioned in this Episode

• Watch Damian´s TED Talk
• Find out more about Damien´s High Performance Coaching Days
• SotoTennis Academy
• Follow us on Instagram

With the final Grand Slam of 2024 about to get underway on Monday, we´ve brought our amazing panelists together to discuss all things US Open.

The tennis world has been talking about one thing only in the run up to New York - men´s world number 1 Jannik Sinner being cleared of doping, after testing positive twice for clostebol.

Davis Cup Captain Freddie Nielsen and S&C Coach Kieron Vorster join CTC Host Dan Kiernan to discuss the story which has divided tennis this past week. They also give their predictions and players to watch in today´s episode.

Will in-form Jessica Pegula continue her recent form to claim her first Grand Slam or will Coco Gauff manage her defend her title at Flushing Meadows? Can Djokovic build on his Olympic Gold to win back-to-back US Open titles?

Whoever ends up lifting the trophies, we are in for a brilliant fortnight!

Send us your thoughts and predictions by tagging in @ctc.podcast on Instagram on all social media platforms!

Mentioned in this episode:

Train Smarter Anywhere: Strength & Conditioning for Tennis Players On the Go 🎾

For players who don’t always have access to in-person coaching, progress doesn’t have to stop.

TennisAthlete

This week on CTC, we welcome to the show coach of 31 time Grand Slam champion Alfie Hewett, Craig Allen!

Craig is a fantastic and generous guest, telling the great story of how he came to coach Alfie, giving his opinions on all things wheelchair tennis, and telling us about his experience coaching some of the brightest juniors in the UK, including Alistair Filmer and Lewis Burton.

This one is a must listen for all young coaches as Craig shares his invaluable advice from 35 years of experience, as well as sharing a little about how to get into pro-level coaching without necessarily being a professional yourself.

Craig's insight and passion for the game of wheelchair tennis is also endearing and fantastic to see so enjoy the episode!

Tag @ctc.podcast on Instagram or Twitter and check out our YouTube to let us know what you're thinking, and to check out exclusive video clips of all our podcasts!

• Alfie Hewett on Episode 202 here
• The Vodafone advert is here
• Lewis Burton on Episode 113 here
• Alistair Filmer on Episode 134 here

Mentioned in this episode:

Train Smarter Anywhere: Strength & Conditioning for Tennis Players On the Go 🎾

For players who don’t always have access to in-person coaching, progress doesn’t have to stop.

TennisAthlete

This week we welcome back to the show 31-time Grand Slam champion, but first time singles wheelchair Wimbledon champion Alfie Hewett. On Episode 202 of CTC, Alfie spoke to us about his tennis dreams, and top of the list after two finals defeats in a row was clinching that elusive Wimbledon singles title.

Now chasing a career golden slam at this year's Paralympics later this month, Alfie comes on to talk all about his recent success, his ambitions for the summer, and whether the US Open is making a mistake by cancelling the wheelchair event this year.

Listen to Episode 202 of CTC here

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter, and subscribe to our revamped YouTube channel as well to catch unfiltered and never-seen-before clips from our latest episodes

Mentioned in this episode:

Train Smarter Anywhere: Strength & Conditioning for Tennis Players On the Go 🎾

For players who don’t always have access to in-person coaching, progress doesn’t have to stop.

TennisAthlete

This week we bring to you a brand new format requested on CTC. With this new show, we'll be bringing to you some of the stories you might not have spotted in the world of tennis, from the top level all the way down to the lowest level of professional tennis that rarely gets a mention.

In this first edition, we explore everything that's been happening in this first 6 months of the year, discussing the one handed backhand, tennis players retiring, college tennis and so much more, as well as bringing you a load of exciting sections, uncovering statistics you never knew you needed.

Every edition of this series, we'll be bringing on someone toiling on the fringes of the ATP Tour and Dan will quiz them on their experiences of some of the crazier and wilder things happening in tennis' version of the Wild West. This week, we welcome Finn Bass, ranked 1100 in the world ATP singles, and 800 in doubles.

Let us know what you think of this brand new series and give us some ideas of what you would like to see on the next editions of the show!

Some links from the episode:

• Our socials: Instagram | Twitter | YouTube
• Finn's tweet is here

Mentioned in this episode:

Train Smarter Anywhere: Strength & Conditioning for Tennis Players On the Go 🎾

For players who don’t always have access to in-person coaching, progress doesn’t have to stop.

TennisAthlete

What a brilliant two weeks of Wimbledon that was! And as always Dan is here with the usual amazing panel to discuss all things SW19. We also have some amazing guest appearances from the most iconic final of this Grand Slam!

Our panelists are:

• Denmark´s Davis Cup Captain and 2012 Wimbledon Mens Doubles Champion Freddie Nielsen.
• GB Coach Calvin Betton who is currently working with Henry Patten.

Our panel debate and dissect a range of the cutting edge topics at the forefront of the tennis world, including doubles' role in tennis with Wimbledon winning players and coaches, Novak Djokovic's tournament and where is women's tennis going next!

And we want to hear your opinions on this! Tag @ctc.podcast on Instagram or Twitter and check out our YouTube to let us know what you're thinking, and to check out exclusive video clips of all our podcasts!

Mentioned in this episode:

Train Smarter Anywhere: Strength & Conditioning for Tennis Players On the Go 🎾

For players who don’t always have access to in-person coaching, progress doesn’t have to stop.

TennisAthlete

As we enter Finals weekend here at Wimbledon, we look back to Episode 188, when we welcomed our first singles Wimbledon champion to the show, the one and only Pat Cash!

As we wait to see whether new champions will be crowned on the world famous Centre Court, Pat gives an amazing insight into what it's like to try and lift the famous title as he did, beating Ivan Lendl in straight sets 37 years ago in 1987.

This episode has great advice for both players and coaches on how to lift yourself to become a true champion, so we hope you enjoy!

Check out our socials for more clips of this episode and so many more, as well as behind the scenes content as Dan coaches as Wimbledon:

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter, and subscribe to our revamped YouTube channel as well to catch unfiltered and never-seen-before clips from our latest episodes

Mentioned in this episode:

Train Smarter Anywhere: Strength & Conditioning for Tennis Players On the Go 🎾

For players who don’t always have access to in-person coaching, progress doesn’t have to stop.

TennisAthlete