Control the Controllables

In this episode, we´re talking all things data with ATP/WTA tennis analyst Mike James.

Mike is a former UK tennis coach who moved into the world of tennis data analysis in 2014. 

Since then he´s worked with many top players and coaches like Stan Wawrinka and Misha Kecmanovic and is now the data analyst for the 2020 French Open Champion Iga Swiatek. He has also set up his own company, Sport Analytics.

Mike tells us how he fits into a pro players team, and what information they will ask him for. 

He explains what he tracks, what trends he looks for and how that data and video footage can be used for player development, scouting reports, pre and post-injury comparison reports etc. 

If you´re a Coach, he also gives you his top tips for how you can use data to help you improve, and in turn improve your players. He also details how he sets up a scouting report on a player.

A great listen!

Highlights from the episode:

[06:50] Mike describes his journey into tennis analysis

[20:03] Mike talks about his experience working with Stan Wawrinka and his coach Magnus Norman

[23:32] Pen & paper at the ready! Mike details how he sets up a scouting report on a player.

[30:31] Find out at what stage in a match there would tend to be longer rallies.

[33:33] Why his relationship will be with the Coach and not the pro player.

[37:11] What is the criteria for a "net point" and why it varies.

[50:19] Mike talks Primary Patterns and if this applies to the top players

[53:52] How he fits into Iga Swiatek´s team and how they use him

[1:00:56] One for Coaches! Mike gives his top tips for how you can use data to improve your players.

Links Mentioned in this Episode:-

Mike James on Twitter: @mikejamestennis

Mike James on Instagram: @mikejames_tennis_analyst

Tennis Coaches Support Network on Facebook

Summer Training Weeks at SotoTennis Academy. Email [email protected] for more information!

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

Carl Maes is best known as being former world number 1 Kim Clijster´s coach for more than a decade.

As a young coach he worked with the top players in Belgium including Xavier Malisse, Olivier Rochus and Justine Henin. He led the Belgian Fed Cup team to the final in 2006 and has since worked with players like Yanina Wickmayer, Kirsten Flipkens and Laura Robson.

Carl spent 6 years at the LTA as Head of Women´s Tennis. He was also the Academy Director at Kim Clijsters Academy for 6 years, before joining Tenerife Tennis Academy as Performance Director in 2020.

He is also currently coaching Sorana Cirstea and is the co-founder of Orange Coach Exchange, which offers webinars and one-to-one sessions where coaches can 'exchange' knowledge.

In this episode he looks back on his career, including his playing days and his journey with Kim Clijsters, as well as the Golden era of Belgian tennis. Enjoy!

Here´s a glance at the episode:-

[6:17] Carl talks about his decision to move to Tenerife.

[10:16] Carl discusses how as  a coach you have to be available full-time for your team of players, coaches and parents.

[20:00] Listen to the SAS system Carl uses as a coach

[18:30] Carl explains his coaching philosophy of making people comfortable being uncomfortable.

[23:35] Why it´s so important to understand why someone plays tennis.

[28:26] Carl tells us about his tennis playing career and why he´s more suited to coaching

[37:16] Carl describes how his relationship with Kim Clijsters began

[39:51] Carl discusses the golden era of Belgian tennis when he was working with Xavier Malisse, Olivier Rochus, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin

[46:53] He reflects on his time at the LTA as Head of Women´s Tennis

[57:11} Why he thinks the culture and tournament structure in Spain works well for developing young players

Check out Carl on Twitter: @carlmaes 

SotoTennis Academy

Tenerife Tennis Academy

Orange Coach Exchange

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Iga Swiatek is the 2020 French Open Champion and world number 17.

At just 19 years of age, she became the lowest-ranked woman to reach the final at Roland Garros since rankings began. She also became the first Polish tennis player ever to win a Grand Slam singles title. Not only that, but Iga didn´t drop a set along the way.

Iga talks to Control the Controllables about her incredible journey from a young tennis player to becoming a Grand Slam champion as a teenager. She reveals how she felt at the time and afterwards, and talks about the impact her Father, an Olympic rower, has had on her career.

A successful junior, in 2018 she won junior Grand Slam doubles titles at Roland Garros and the US Open, as well as the girls singles titles at Wimbledon.

Iga has been training at SotoTennis Academy for 9 days as she prepares for the 2021 Clay court season. She tells Dan how she´s feeling now she´s returning no longer as an underdog, but as a Grand Slam Champion.

Here are some of the highlights of the episode:-

[7:49] Iga talks about the impact her Father who is an Olympic rower has had on her tennis journey.

[13:28] Iga tells Dan when she realized that she wanted to be a Pro tennis player.

[14:44] Iga looks back at winning Roland Garros last year and what was going through her mind.

[17:58] Dan asks Iga if she had moments of thinking she could win, or if she was able to stay in the process.

[20:40] Iga discusses her decision to travel with a sports psychologist and how important that´s been.

[23:10] Iga describes how the relationship with her Coach, 2020 Coach of the Year started by accident.

[26:05] Iga tells us her hopes for the 2021 Clay Court season.

[27:47] Listen to what Iga will look back on as success in her tennis career.

Connect

Follow Iga Swiatek on Twitter: @iga_swiatek  

Follow Iga Swiatek on Instagram: @iga.swiatek 

Follow Control the Controllables on Instagram: @ctc.podcast.com

We would love to hear what you think of the episode! 

Rate, review and subscribe to Control the Controllables on Apple Podcasts. Your reviews really do go a long way! 

You can also email us directly at [email protected] 

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

Tennis fans will know Lewis Burton as a former British tennis player who reached the final of the Wimbledon boys doubles in 2010.

Non-tennis fans will know Lewis as the boyfriend of TV presenter Caroline Flack when she tragically died in February 2020 at the age of 40.

In this episode of Control the Controllables, Lewis looks back on his tennis career which saw him reach a high of 218 in doubles and 626 in singles. He won 26 ITF pro circuit doubles titles and qualified for the Wimbledon Men´s Doubles, before retiring two years later at just 22 years of age.

Lewis discusses the impact tennis has had on his life and how it helped him as he moved into the modelling and business world, as well as dealing with the immense pain and grief that comes with losing someone you love.

Links from the Episode:-

Episode 112: Dan Evans & Neal Skupski – Fire & Ice

Episode 105: Marcus Willis - From Zero to Hero!

Episode 26: Dan Evans – Skills pay the bills!

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

Dan Evans & Neal Skupski speak to Control the Controllables fresh from their amazing run at the Miami & Monte Carlo ATP 1000 events.

Dan made his way to his first ever ATP 1000 semi-final including a stunning victory over world number 1 Novak Djokovic at the Monte Carlo Masters. Up until last week, Dan had only won 4 career clay court matches.

Dan and Neal paired up 2 weeks ago after Neal´s regular partner and brother, Ken Skupski returned home from their ATP 500 victory in Acapulco with a blood clot which will keep him away for a few weeks. The British pair have gone on to have 4 top 10 doubles victories and 8 wins in total on their way to the final of both Miami and Monte Carto. It means they are now number 5 in the ATP race. 

We caught up with Dan and Neal before their first round match in Barcelona this week. They talk about about what they were thinking and feeling during some of the best shots (including those lobs!) and best moments of the last couple of weeks.

Follow Dan Evans on Instagram: @danevo.official

Follow Neal Skupksi on Twitter: @nealskupski

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 this week´s episode we speak to GB´s Jonny O´Mara and his coach Toby Smith.

Jonny O´Mara is a doubles specialist from Scotland who has reached a career high ATP doubles ranking of 44. He´s been working with fellow Scot Toby Smith for more than two years. Toby is the former Head Coach of Tennis Scotland, as well as working with many top British Players to the highest level of the Junior Game. He is also the big brother of GB Davis Cup Captain, Leon Smith. 

They have a wonderful player/coach relationship that has organically grown the last 15 years and we are lucky get an insiders view into what makes them tick. 

Here´s a glance at the episode...

[14:20] Jonny describes his relationship with Toby.

[22:00] Toby explains what he likes to do when he starts working with a new player.

[29:00] Jonny explains why he doesn´t like the phrases ¨talent¨ or ¨potential¨

[35:09] Jonny discusses making the decision to concentrate on doubles

[39:52] Listen to Toby´s thoughts on Jonny deciding to focus his career on doubles.

[46:24] Toby describes Louie Cayer´s influence on his coaching

[1:08:05] Is Jonny happy with where his career his currently?

[1:21:01] Find out who has improved the most on court in the past 13 months, the player, or the coach?!

Follow Jonny O´Mara on Twitter: @Jonny_OMara

Follow Toby Smith on Instagram: @tsa.tennis

Head over to instagram to like our new Control the Controllables page @ctc.podcast

Don´t miss all the latest from the podcast at www.controlthecontrollables.co.uk

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

If you´re a fan of McEnroe, Borg, Sampras, Agassi or Courier, this is a must-listen episode! 

Tom Gullikson reached as high as 34 in the world in singles and 4 in doubles. He is a 2-time Grand Slam finalist, winning the Mixed Doubles at the US Open in 1983. Also known as Gully, Tom was the US Davis Cup Captain between 1994 and 1999, leading the US team of Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier and Michael Chang to victory in 1995.

As Team USA's coach, Tom also helped Agassi win a gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Tom talks to Dan about his playing and coaching career, including what is was like being the other side of the net when John McEnroe yelled "You cannot be serious¨ for the first time at Wimbledon!

He also speaks about his twin brother Tim´s influence on Pete Sampras´career and the impact of Tim´s death in 1996 to brain cancer.

Here are some of Toms best stories.....

• [21:33] Tom speaks about his twin brother Tim´s relationship with Pete Sampras, and Pete´s incredible gesture on the day of Tims funeral.
• [25:42] Tom relives reaching the final of the Wimbledon Mens Doubles with Tim in 1983
• [30:03] Tom describes the week   the Australian Open in 1995, when Pete Sampras broke down crying court against Jim Courier after learning of Tim´s diagnosis with brain cancer. 
• [48:40] Tom tells Dan how he managed all the different characters and personalities in the winning US Davis Cup Team during his 6 years as Captain.
• [1:01:19] Tom describes his experiences playing Bjorn Borg
• [1:06:25] Tom tells all on that infamous You cannot be serious! moment in the match against John McEnroe at Wimbledon! 
• 
  

Follow Tom on Twitter:@captaingully

Control the Controllables is on Instagram!

You can now find Control the Controllables on Instagram! Here we´ll be sharing all the latest from the Podcast on it´s very own dedicated account! Head over to instagram and follow @ctc.podcast 

You can also keep up with all the latest episode on our website www.controlthecontrollables.co.uk  

If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know in the reviews section on Apple Podcasts! You can reach us directly on [email protected]

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

David Mullins is the current Managing Director of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA). He spent 12 years as Head Coach at the University of Oklahoma and previously played for Fresno State in California for 4 years, so he really has seen US College from all sides. 

David is currently leading them through challenging times with 60 colleges across all 5 divisions cancelling their tennis programmes during the global pandemic. David discusses this in great detail as well as his other passion, Tennis in his home country of Ireland. 

Twitter: @davemullins_ITA

Website: www.wearecollegetennis.com

This episode is 12 months to the day of our very first episode on Control the Controllables! We have loved every episode and second of bringing this podcast to you, thank you for listening! 

You can check out all of our episodes over the past year and our fantastic guests on our sparkly new website 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

Holger Rune has been the World Junior Number 1 for the last 3 years and at age 17 he has already started to make his move on the ATP Tour reaching the Quarter Finals last week in Santiago, Chile beating World Number 29 Benoit Paire in straight sets on the way. Holger is full of self belief, confidence and an unwavering focus on the prize ahead.

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

Britain´s Dom Inglot has been as high as 18 ATP Doubles, is a Davis Cup Winner, and Grand Slam Semi-Finalist, but he is much more. He is a smart, articulate man who discusses many topics with Dan including self awareness, US College, dumping partners and so much more. 

This episode was recorded live from SotoTennis Academy in Spain where Dom is training as he prepares for the Andalucia Open ATP event in Marbella. 

A great listen for aspiring players, parents and coaches. Enjoy!

Twitter: @dominglot

Instagram: @dominglot

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