Dissecting High Performance In Tennis

Hi guys, this time around you will get to listen to Brad Gilbert. Brad probably doesn’t need a whole lot of introduction, but in brief highlight he was ranked as high as number 4 in the ATP Rankings. After his playing career he has among others coached Kei Nishikori, Andy Murray, Andy Roddick while he won his sole Grand Slam and reached number 1 in the world as well as Andre Agassi during 6 of his 8 Grand Slam titles. 

Brad has further written one of the most well-known tennis books “Winning Ugly” and “I’ve got your back”. Currently Brad is commentating on ESPN, coaching local juniors and makes sure to have a hit on the wall several times a week. 

You’ll get to know:

Enjoy the show!

Timestamps

01:30 Using Nicknames
02:30 The best coaching over dinner
04:00 How players process information
05:30 How the idea of Winning Ugly arose
07:30 What we can learn from Medvedev and Nadal
08:55 How Djokovic is the new Lendl
10:50 How to learn from losses
12:25 The surprising coaching advice from Allan Fox
14:05 Even keel Chivington
15:15 Taking losses harder as a coach than player
16:15 Amazed at the game of tennis
17:45 The luxury of seeing the 3 best ever competing against each other
19:00 Short term memory loss
21:00 Think about today and tomorrow
22:00 Nothing is a given
22:30 Life is like a tennis match
23:30 The match should be the easy part 
24:30 John Wooden25:30 How to learn from other sports
26:15 How to stay updated on Brad Gilbert

Hi guys, this time around you will get to listen to Craig O’Shannessy. Craig analyses tennis strategy and teaches players, coaches and fans patterns of play and the winning percentages that dominate tennis. Craig has among others coached the likes of Amer Delic, Rajeev Ram, Marcel Ilhan and Kevin Anderson. He was a part of Team Djokovic from 2017-2019 and is currently a part of the team around Jan Lennart Struff.

You’ll get to know:

Enjoy the show!

Timestamps

01:20 The History of Data in tennis
06:30 The old and new mantra for tennis coaches
09:05 Why 0-4 is so important
11:50 Switzerland vs Tuscany
13:50 It’s not ONLY about 0-4
15:20 Why a higher 1st serve percentage is not always better
18:50 3 shot rallies and approaching the net
22:50 Data in Junior Tennis U12-U18
24:50 Like a radio wave opposed to a shockwave
27:10 Permission to miss
31:35 The misconception about 0-4
32:50 Bridging the gap between the mental and the strategy
33:50 Work on patterns rather than shots in isolation
35:00 The longer the rally goes the more even the outcome will be
36:20 Novak loosing 9+ rallies when he won Australian Open 2018
37:05 The first 2 touches are everything
37:50 Anytime you can upgrade a backhand to a forehand you do it
38:50 We gave up on serve and volley, serve and volley never gave up on us
40:20 Winning percentages at the baseline, net + serve and volley
42:35 The run around forehand effect
44:50 Open by Agassi, Rafa by Rafa
45:20 Serving wide in deuce side
47:10 Craig O’Shannessy’s advice for Tennis Coaches
47:55 Craig O’Shannessy’s advice for Tennis Players
48:50 Craig O’Shannessy’s advice for Tennis Parents
49:50 Where to stay updated on Craig O’Shannesy

Hi guys, hope you are all continuously safe, healthy and happy!

You’ll get to know:

Enjoy the show!

Timestamps
01:00 SAP Tennis Analytics
03:20 How Wim use statistics as a Tennis Coach
04:11 What the practice court looks like with Wim Fissette
05:20 Balancing working on a tennis players strengths and weaknesses
06:46 How Wim overinformed Kerber
08:00 Wim Fissette’s learnings from on court coaching
11:10  When it’s time to make a change with a player
12:53 Do you follow the data or do you follow your feeling
14:40 It’s about details with the best tennis players in the world
16:12 Mentality, feet and technical execution
17:45 How Wim Helped Simona understand that she was a top 10 player
19:44 It’s the players responsibility
21:09 You don’t control how well your opponent will play
22:54 What the Coach Program Advisory Committee is all about
25:05 Exciting time for WTA Tennis Ahead
26:05 Women’s tennis is getting more vertical because of slow courts
27:00 How to approach getting players to play more vertically
29:10 Don’t do spectacular drills – Keep it simple
29:50 Separate your professional and personal life
30:40 How Victoria Azarenka got Wim back on the Tour
33:45 Wim Fissette’s advice for Tennis Coaches
34:40 Wim Fissette’s advice for Players
35:30 How to keep updated on Wim

Hi guys, during these Corona Times I have been fortunate to get the opportunity to listen and learn from some very clever and experienced Coaches. This time around you will get an insight into the thoughts of Dirk Hordorff. Dirk has coached a multitude of players but to name a few he coached Rainer Schuettler during all of his career. He has coached both Lars Burgsmüller and Yen-Hsun Lu for 10 years and was with Janko Tipsarevic in the 2 years where he finished inside the top 10. Besides his strides as a tennis coach Dirk owns 2 real estate companies as well as a Sports Management Company and is the Vice President of the Global Tennis Coaches Association. Currently Dirk is coaching Richardas Berankis.

You’ll get to know:

Enjoy the show!

Timestamps

01:20 The Steps of Creating a long-term Coaching relation
04:20 Balancing being respectful and honest
05:10 Trust as a prerequisite to being honest
06:25 Advantages for top 100 players sharing a Coach
09:30 Why top 10 players need their own coach
10:25 The first part of Dirk’s life
11:05 How business and tennis are the same
11:50 How tennis players should go about hiring Coaches
13:20 Why Dirk started a management company
14:40 The steps of managing an ATP Player
16:10 Why Dirk quit his office job and became a Tennis Coach
17:45 Rafa’s Character at 16 Years old
21:05 How Dirk didn’t do his job well enough
23:10 How Data is a part of the equation
24:50 What excites Dirk within tennis
26:15 Novak hasn’t got the respect he deserves
27:40 Dirk’s thoughts on the Corona virus situation
31:25 How Rafa tried to help Janko
33:35 People who are successful can better tell you what to do
34:30 Dirk Hordorff’s advice to tennis coaches
35:35 Dirk Hordofrf’s advice for Tennis Players
36:37 Dirk Hordofrf’s advice for Tennis Parents

It’s Corona-time globally and I wish all of you and your families happiness and health through these times. Robert Davis asked me half a year ago who was on the top of my Wishlist for a Podcast interview. I promptly answered Magnus Norman, and that is exactly who you guys will get to listen to in this episode.

You’ll get to know:

• Balancing being a good listener and at the same time telling the truth
• How Magnus keeps a match journal for Stan
• Magnus’ thoughts on coaches longevity

Enjoy the show!

Timestamps
01:07 Corona Virus
02:34 Reasoning for the Good to Great name
04:12 Inspiration from Jim Collins
05:13 Choosing the coaches for the academy
07:16 The brutal facts of running a Tennis Academy
08:24 Being a good listener and telling the truth
11:09 It’s the player who makes the coach
12:37 Match Journal for Stan Wawrinka
15:18 Coaching Stan Wawrinka the 2nd time around
17:00 Lessons from Triathlon
19:10 Longevity as a Tennis Coach
21:40 You can’t accept random mistakes
23:40 Movement patterns
24:30 Difference on tennis now and then
25:07 Tennis has a great future
26:05 New Grand Slam winner in 2020?
27:00 I thought I knew everything 10 years ago
27:25 Principles over method
28:30 Create a team
29:02 Pep Guardiola and John Wooden
30:23 Magnus Norman’s advice for coaches
31:25 Magnus Norman’s advice for players

An increasing amount of data

Mike James helps us do exactly that. He is a strategy analyst,

In this interview Mike

You’ll get to know:

• How Djokovic is fooling us
• The surprising winning percentage from the baseline
• How to change the practice court

Enjoy the show!

Timestamps
01:40 The 3 ways Mike uses video
06:15 The first 4 shots
07:24 The misinterpretation of stats
07:57 What about big points?
09:12 Analyzing the servers role
11:09 Patterns of play
12:50 Key statistics
14:00 How Djokovic is fooling us
15:14 How to approach Junior development
17:38 How Height Correlate to ranking
19:12 Why data needs video
22:23 Scouting vs data on yourself
24:30 Focus on the 0-4 zone
27:15 The Practice Court is broken
29:54 How can we improve the practice court
32:12 Tennis is game of errors
34:07 Claudio Pistolesi
35:28 Favorite Books
35:52: World number 1’s at 40
37:50 Don’t crowd please
38:40 Tennis has trends
39:50 Expose yourself to different players and cultures

In this episode I’m delighted to welcome back Frank Giampaolo for his 2nd visit on the podcast. In the last episode with Frank, which was number 40, he discussed how to best be a tennis parent and support your children in their tennis journey. This time around Frank is digging even deeper into what he calls ”The soft science of tennis” which is also the title of his new book that recently got released. I had the honor of getting an early copy of the book and was so excited about the way that Frank is able to make soft skills very concrete and easy understandable that I reached out to Frank to get him back on the Podcast and elaborate on his findings and the reasoning behind the new book.

You’ll get to know:

Before we dive into the interview Frank has been so kind to offer free e-books for the first 20 people who email me on [email protected] – so don’t hesitate to reach out if you wish to secure yourself a copy of the brand new “Soft Science of tennis

Enjoy the show!

Timestamps

Whether you are a player, coach or a parent the whole world of American College Tennis can seem overwhelming – Here is an interview with Dave Mullins who recently retired as a College Coach, but went through the process himself of figuring everything out even before the internet back in the day when he was deciding on what college to attend as an aspiring irish player. He then got so into College Tennis that he stayed after playing college himself and have coached DePaul’s Men’s team, then went onto Northwestern University’s Women’s team where he was awarded ITA National Assistant coach of the Year. At last he was named Head Coach at University of Oklahoma at the age of 28 making him the youngest coach at the BCS level at that time.

You’ll get to know:

– What questions to ask yourself

Timestamps

Have you ever experienced your players going for a week or two to a foreign country on a fancy tennis academy and you find your player coming back with a changed grip, awkvard looking technique or what you just used month trying to build comepletely colapsed – Here is an interview with a guy who built a secondary camp and touring academy around NOT changing technique. Dave Bandelin, is a former division one coach of Texas El Paso and was awarded New coach of the year back in 1986. He then moved to Scadinavia and spent 10 years coaching in Hölviken tennis before starting EuroElite that has now got close to 200 players signed up for camps and travels every year.

You’ll get to know:

– How Dave teaches guidelines for life

Enjoy the show!

Timestamps