Kris Soutar’s Tennis Journal

Journal entry 39 is from Scottish ATP Tour Doubles player, Jonny O'Mara.

Currently (June 2020) is ranked number 54 in the world. Reached the quarter final of the Australian Open Doubles in 2020 before Co-Vid struck and wiped out the tour.

Jonny talks brilliantly about his junior days, his coaches to date and his learnings from his early days of transitioning from the junior to the senior tour.

He is an intelligent and charismatic young man who has matured hugely in the last 4-5 years. You will hear exactly what he has done to develop into a self-sufficient tennis professional.

The great thing, his best days are definitely yet to come.

Intro/outro music by http://www.hueandcry.co.uk

Artwork by http://olinightingale.com

In journal entry 38, I speak to two guests at same time. Husband and wife dynamic duo of Jordan and Hazel Gray.

Jordan is an internationalist in senior tennis, representing Scotland and Britain many times. He is also a fantastic and passionate tennis coach.

Hazel runs a great fitness business out of their house in Glasgow. She is an absolute dynamo and has many great opinions on both the worlds of tennis and fitness.

This was a really great chat where we chew over the comparisons and similarities between the two world.

Intro/outro music by http://www.hueandcry.co.uk

Artwork by http://www.olinightingale.com

Welcome to entry #37 to my journal where I speak to my pal, and tour coach, Toby Smith.

Toby is the travelling coach to world #54 doubles player, Jonny O'Mara. He has experienced success at every age of coaching, having worked with some of the world's best players U10 all the way through to the main tour.

Toby is a fantastic coach and an even better person. This will shine throughout the podcast. He is humble, hard working and genuinely has his players best interests at heart.

He sees tennis as one big adventure and it is clear he is living his dream.

Please pass this on to your tennis friends.

Intro/outro music by http://www.hueandcry.co.uk

Artwork by http://www.olinightingale.com

Welcome to the 36th entry into my tennis journal.

This weeks guest is part of the senior leadership team at St Georges School for girls in Edinburgh.

Mel Benson started getting involved in delivery of tennis only 4 years ago and in that time has becomes a genuinely inspirational leader in creating opportunities for her school pupils and the local community.

You will hear all about Mel's sporty background and how she has taken all of the content she has learned through Judy Murray's programmes, Tennis on the Road, Miss-Hits, She Rallies and now, Judy Murray Foundation, to create opportunities for girls at all ages and stages.

If you know someone who has potential, send them this podcast and let them see that, with the right tools, support and mindset, anything is possible.

If you are interested to find out more about St George's School for girls, please click on the link below.

https://www.stge.org.uk

Intro/outro music by http://www.hueandcry.co.uk

Artwork by http://olinightingale.com

The 35th entry into my tennis journal is from Wimbledon and US Open doubles champion, Vania King.

Former world number 3 in doubles and top 50 in singles. 15 doubles titles and 1 singles title to her name and is now come to the end of her playing career but starting a new chapter with her charity, Serving Up Hope.

This is non-stop learning with 6 definitive chapters.

You will hear how Vania has used her experience as a tennis pro to adapt to life in lockdown.

Vania speaks about what she learned from all the amazing tennis coaches she's had over the years. The list of names alone is impressive.

Vania gives great opinions on the importance of game development and ensuring you take into account the personality of the player.

You will hear how influential her mother has been on her mindset and perspective on how women can succeed when provided with opportunity.

Finally, we talk about her journey into charity work.

This was a proper treat for me. I could have listened to Vania talk for hours.

Pass it on to your tennis friends.

Intro/outro music by http://www.hueandcry.co.uk

Artwork by http://www.olinightingale.com

It was a great pleasure to finally chat with my friend, David Hamilton.

Author, Speaker and columnist, and genuinely one of the nicest people I have ever met. He is world renowned for his work in the mind and body connection.

10 books later, he has made the time to leave an entry in my tennis journal.

This was a truly fascinating chat which has left me pondering all the possibilities of transferring his work into the tennis world.

You will hear about the side effects of kindness and then we dive around the possible overlaps of the mind/body connection into all tennis players.

There are revelations in here which turn regular tennis thinking on its head and I can't wait to have lots of discussions around these topics with my tennis peers.

Regardless of whether you play tennis or not, there is something in this podcast for everything. The benefits to being kind are far more vast than you would imagine.

Please share this with all your friends.

Intro/outro music by http://www.hueandcry.co.uk

Artwork by http://olinightingale.com

Welcome to journal entry number 33 and what a fantastic chat I had with Mile MacLagan.

Former ATP player, GB Davis Cup team member and tour coach to Andy Murray, Borna Coric, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Sam Stosor and Laura Robson. Equally important, he is a great person who clearly loves tennis and learning.

We chat through his junior days and what it was like to moving from Zimbabwe to London without his parents at the age of 14.

We talk about his playing career, his thoughts on coaching juniors versus seniors and a whole bunch of areas surrounding the world of coaching.

I could have chatted to Miles for hours on end and I hope you enjoy and learn something from his wise thoughts and words.

Pass it on to your sporty friends.

Intro/outro music from http://www.hueandcry.co.uk

Artwork by http://www.olinightingale.com

Greg McHugh is a very successful professional actor. Made famous for his creation of Gary Tank Commander, playing Howard on Fresh Meat and starring in The A Word. A talented writer, actor and comedian for sure.

However, what most people don't know, is Greg's first passion was sport.

In this episode, he talks of his journey through sport, who influenced him as a teenager and how he transitioned into drama.

We then speak about the surprising parallels between the acting and the tennis world.

This was a real treat for me. I could have spoken to Greg for hours and I am sure you will enjoy it also.

Enjoy

It was a real pleasure chatting with ex-ATP player, Ed Corrie. He left a fantastic entry in my journal and one that had me thinking for hours afterwards.

You will hear lots of fantastic reflections from his journey through international's junior events, US college and on to the ATP Tour.

We discuss so many different topics including:

How he felt in those early international junior days

How, even the best players in the world still compare themselves negatively against the higher ranked players

What training at the famous Queens Club was really like

What he learned from his time at the University of Texas

What it was like being coached by his brother on the tour

What his favourite memory was from competing on the tour for 6.5 years

What this current coaching role is like at the National Tennis Centre

What could the silver linings be to the Co-Vid 19 pandemic for the professional tour

What his ideal job be in the long-term

This entry is really laced with great thoughts and opinions from Ed. We could have easily chatted for hours.

Whatever you are doing, get it playing in the background, in your headphones and enjoy listening to a truly great person who has had many amazing experiences.

Intro/outro music from http://www.huesandcry.co.uk

Artwork by http://www.olinightingale.com

In this episode you will hear from wellbeing coach, Sarah Flotel.

This was an enlightening chat, as my perception of spiritual and soulful work was that it is intangible. However, I could not have been any more mistaken as most of the work results in practical activities you can do in your own time.

You will hear about different breathing, tapping and meditation techniques as well as how to develop emotional coherence.

Sarah has an online DIY course and she has been generous enough to offer you a discount code. Click on the link below and enter the word 'POTENTIAL' into the discount section.

https://app.podia.com/products/mindsetmasterysport

If you like this show, I would be grateful if you could share it on your social media platforms and with your friends.

Artwork by http://www.olinightingale.com

Intro/outro music by http://www.hueandcry.co.uk