ParentingAces - The Junior Tennis and College Tennis Podcast

Welcome to Season 11, Episode 23, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week, Lisa's son, Morgan Stone, rejoins the podcast to discuss his life after tennis.

The last time we checked in with Morgan, he was working in tech sales in the California Bay area. He had graduated from San Jose State by way of Santa Clara University and Boise State University with a major in Business and a focus on Marketing. He was also producing house music with the goal of moving out of sales and into music full time. Then came NFTs.

Morgan is now the CEO of Roo Troop, a Web3 company initially funded by non-fungible tokens that is working hard to fill a huge need in the Web3 ecosystem while maintaining a philanthropic mission as well. Roo Troop has donated over $30,000 to date to Rainforest Rescue, a non-profit to preserve the habitat of the endangered tree kangaroo in Australia (click here for a video on how Roo Troop is making a difference). If you don't understand what that means, just listen to the podcast. Morgan has had to explain these concepts so many times to family, friends, and business associates who are learning about this new technology and financial ecosystem, and he's become an excellent teacher!

For more information on Roo Troop, go to RooTroop.com. If you'd like to follow Roo Troop on Twitter, click here. To follow Morgan, click here. For the Roo Troop Instagram, click here. You can find links to everything Roo Troop on Linktree here. To watch or listen to our previous podcast with Morgan, click https://parentingaces.com/articles/my-sons-journey-with-morgan-stone/.

If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by clicking here. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!).

CREDITS

Intro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNE

Audio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 11, Episode 22, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this week's episode, Lisa talks with Lavie Sak, a coach who recognized a need for an update to the commonly-used tennis gear currently on the market then started a business to solve for that need.

ADV Tennis products have been created by designers and engineers who play, coach, and know tennis. In addition to getting feedback from pro level players and coaches across the globe, they make it a priority to listen to all tennis players to understand how ADV can create the best tennis gear. From overgrips to bags to a tennis training kit, ADV is bringing products to the market that can help every player at every level achieve their goals.

But ADV Tennis isn't just about product creation. Lavie and his team are also committed to giving back to his parents' country of origin, Cambodia, as well as other communities in need around the world. They are working with these countries to provide tennis opportunities to those who may not be able to afford to get started in the game due to financial or other hardships. ADV Tennis not only sends equipment but also provides financial assistance to promising young players. This company is a great example of marrying capitalism with philanthropy and making a real difference in peoples' lives.

Lavie is offering a very nice discount to the ParentingAces Community. Simply use promo code PARENTINGACES (all caps) at checkout to receive 15% off your entire purchase.

For more information on ADV Tennis and to reach out to Lavie directly, visit their website here. You can also follow on Instagram and Facebook. To watch the documentary Lavie referenced on his work in Cambodia, click here.

If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by clicking here. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!).

CREDITS

Intro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNE

Audio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 11, Episode 21, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. Coach Todd Widom is back for this episode to discuss Old School (or, as he calls it, Proper School) coaching versus New School coaching. Then the conversation segues into how best to utilize the information provided by ratings and rankings. This is a good one!

Todd grew up being coached by the ultimate Proper School coach, Pierre Arnold. Todd has incorporated the lessons he learned from Pierre to provide an environment for his students to learn and achieve whatever goals they have set for themselves. It's not always easy and it's not always fun and games BUT it is always with the intent of helping his players become the best tennis player they can be.

That said, one thing that seems to get in the way of that intent is the prevalence of ratings and rankings and the focus on the number instead of overall development. With USTA implementing yet another rating - the ITF's World Tennis Number (WTN) - Lisa and Todd felt it was important to have another discussion on growth versus fixed mindset and what best serves our junior players. For more information on WTN, read Lisa's recent article here.

If you have any questions or would like to get information on Todd's training, you can reach him at [email protected]. If you aren't already, be sure to follow him on Facebook and Instagram as well.

If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by clicking here. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!).

CREDITS

Intro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNE

Audio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 11, Episode 20, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this week's episode, Lisa talks with George Opelka, Tennis Parent to ATP professional, Reilly Opelka, and the Head of Pro Player Relations and Head of Community (Southeast) for SwingVision.

For those of you who might be new to our podcast, you may not have heard of SwingVision. However, if you are the parent or coach of a junior or college player, you absolutely need to know about this innovative company using video and artificial intelligence to create crucial data points as well as video analytics of match play and practice sessions.

To access our previous podcasts discussing SwingVision, including video demonstrations, click here and here.

Tennis has been a bit slow to embrace data collection and analytics, but we are now seeing our sport catch up to the rest of the world. SwingVision not only provides a simple way to record practice sessions, lessons, and match play using only your iPhone, but it also delivers usable data to help players understand what's happening on the court in real time while helping coaches develop training programs based on the needs of each player.

SwingVision takes each practice or match and eliminates any non-tennis footage such as picking up balls or sitting on a changeover. Now, analyzing a 3-hour match is compressed into 20-30 minutes, making it easier for players and coaches to take the time and understand what needs work. The app also creates highlight video clips that players can use in their college recruiting efforts.

It's very simple to set up SwingVision. Simply download the app onto your iPhone or iPad, mount your device on the rear fence using Siri to help you find the correct alignment, then start recording. As soon as your session is complete, you can view the video and its analytics, helping you and your player to identify strengths and weaknesses sorted by stroke, score, and/or court placement.

A new feature of SwingVision includes its line calling feature. We all know how much "poor vision" has infiltrated our sport. Now, players can have a tool using their Apple watch to challenge line calls and keep fair play at the forefront. Though it hasn't yet been approved for competition, I'm hopeful it will be in the near future. Click here for a video explaining how this feature works.

If you'd like more information about SwingVision, you can contact George Opelka via email at [email protected] or direct message him through his Twitter and/or Instagram account.

To access the generous ParentingAces discount on SwingVision, click here. The discount code will give you $20 off the pro yearly subscription ($129.99 instead of $149.99) + a 30-day trial as well as $100 off the newest phone mount bundle offer ($159.99 instead of $259.99). 

If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by clicking here. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!).

CREDITS

Intro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNE

Audio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 11, Episode 19, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this week's episode, Lisa talks with Chris Boyer, a fellow Tennis Parent and a founding committee member for the new Southern California Pro Circuit.

Per a press release Lisa received:

The SoCal Pro Circuit is a transitional tour designed to create a path to the pro ranks for up-and-coming professional, college, and high-level junior players (with all main draw and qualifying wild cards to each event going to American players from Southern California or attending university full-time in Southern California). The first three $15,000 tournaments – part of the ITF World Tennis Tour and USTA Pro Circuit – will take place in San Diego County, with the final three events in Los Angeles and Orange County. 

“Southern California has a long history of producing some of the most celebrated tennis players in the game like Billie Jean King, Serena and Venus Williams, and Pete Sampras,” said Southern California Tennis Association (SCTA) President Bob Hochstadter. “We see the SoCal Pro Circuit as a way to keep this legacy alive.” 

In addition to Chris, the committee includes such SoCal tennis notables as Lindsay Davenport, Paul Annacone, Pam Shriver, Peggy Michel, and Marianne Werdel. Tournament dates are as follows:

 May 30-June 5: Rancho Santa Fe Tennis Club 

 June 6-12: University of San Diego 

 June 13-19: Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego 

 June 27-July 3: Jack Kramer Club in Rolling Hills

 July 4-10: Los Caballeros Sports Village in Fountain Valley

 July 11-17: Lakewood Tennis Center 

Attending the events is FREE, so there is no excuse if you're in the area! Our friends at Cracked Racquets will be live-streaming and commentating on each event, so be sure to tune in if you can't attend in person. (Click here to listen to the Cracked Interviews podcast with Chris about the circuit)

For junior players, their parents, and their coaches this is an incredible opportunity to see professional tennis up close and personal. It is an invaluable learning opportunity for coaches to take their young players and use the events as a living classroom to teach warm-up protocols, tactics, footwork, mental skills, and the like. There may even be opportunities for area juniors to act as hitting partners for the pros.

An ITF iPin is required for entry into the qualifying and main draw events but NOT for the pre-qualies. If you need to get an iPin, click here for juniors and here for ages 18+.

If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by clicking here. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!).

CREDITS

Intro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNE

Audio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 11, Episode 18, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. Coach JY Aubone is back to discuss how junior players and their parents and coaches can best manage both the mental and physical challenges during the course of tournament competition.

Both JY and Lisa have been asked numerous times about the best way for a junior player to manage themselves throughout a tournament. Whether it's the warm up, cool down, hydration, meals, sleep, or another facet of competing, there are so many variables when your child is competing. Knowing how to best help them, especially when they are playing multiple matches a day for 3 or 4 (or more!) consecutive days, is an ever-changing challenge. Each tournament is different. Each child is different. Being willing and able to adapt as needed is one of the keys to success when it comes to making sure the player has the energy needed to compete as well on Day 4 as on Day 1.

JY has extensive experience both as a player and as a coach. He has played at the highest levels of our sport and has coached players at every level from beginner to Top 20 on the ATP tour. And he's seen junior competition change from playing 1 or 2 matches per day to now playing up to 4 matches a day. Teaching a junior player what to do before, during, and after each match is key to helping them become better competitors. In this episode of the podcast, JY goes through some very specific steps every player should take to have the best possible tournament experience.

If you have more questions or would like to get in touch with JY, you can reach him via his website, AuboneTennis.com. If you aren’t already, be sure to follow JY on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as well.

In this episode, you will hear JY talk about "dynamic warmup" - for more information on what that is and how your player(s) should prepare for practice or matches, watch this podcast with Dean Hollingworth (click here).

If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by clicking here. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!).

CREDITS

Intro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNE

Audio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 11, Episode 17, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week, we've got something a little different on tap.

ParentingAces creator and founder, Lisa Stone, does a deep dive into the ParentingAces platform, including ParentingAces.com and its social media channels. Learn how best to use the website, Facebook page and groups, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube offerings to help you have a more positive experience throughout the Junior and College Tennis Journey.

If you have more questions or would like to get in touch with Lisa, you can reach her at l[email protected]. If you aren’t already, be sure to follow ParentingAces on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as well.

If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by clicking here. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!).

CREDITS

Intro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNE

Audio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 11, Episode 16, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week, Lisa chats with coach Todd Widom about how parents should go about selecting a short-term training or camp experience for their junior players.

The topic of summer camps and Spring Break training opps comes up pretty regularly in the ParentingAces community. There are so many options out there - most of which are pretty pricey - and choosing the right coach and facility for your player can be challenging.

Coach Todd Widom shares his thoughts on the questions to ask when considering your options. Not only should you make sure the coach is a good fit for your child, but also that other players who will be there have similar goals and experience so everyone gets the most out of the experience.

If you have more questions or would like to get information on Todd's training, you can reach him at [email protected]. If you aren't already, be sure to follow him on Facebook and Instagram as well.

If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by clicking here. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!).

CREDITS

Intro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNE

Audio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 11, Episode 15, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week, Lisa chats with Brett Connors, current producer at the Tennis Channel and son of World Number 1, Jimmy Connors, and his wife, model Patti McGuire.

Growing up as the child of world-famous parents can be a pressure cooker. You're always being held up in the world's eye to the uber-high standards set by your parents. In Brett Connors's case, he definitely faced some of that pressure but has found a way to forge his own path and identity both in and outside of the tennis world.

Not only did Brett and his younger sister, Aubree, have to deal with their parents' fame but also with their dad's frequent time away from them as he traveled the world competing. That said, their mother found a way to bring a sense of normalcy to their childhood while encouraging them both to pursue their own interests and dreams.

After playing both golf and tennis as a young child, Brett eventually chose to pursue golf in college and still plays to this day. Leaving junior tennis and discovering a passion for photography and production have helped him find his own unique identity separate from his "Pops" and also led them both to co-hosting a podcast, Advantage Connors where they talk about tennis, for sure, as well as other topics of interest.

To see Brett's photography and keep up with his latest podcast episodes, you can follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The Advantage Connors podcast is on Instagram here.

If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by clicking here. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!).

CREDITS

Intro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNE

Audio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Season 11, Episode 14, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week, the topic is developing great competitors as opposed to simply great ball strikers. Coach Jonathan Stokke, a former college coach and current junior developmental coach, shares his strategies with the ParentingAces audience.

Jonathan grew up playing tennis and went on to have a great college career at Duke University. Prior to working at Duke, Stokke served as an assistant women's tennis coach at Wake Forest for two years. Before coaching at the collegiate level, he instructed highly-ranked junior players at the Smith Stearns Tennis Academy in Hilton Head, S.C., with Stan Smith and Billy Stearns.

Stokke became the first student-athlete in Duke Men's Tennis history to win the ITA National Arthur Ashe Sportsmanship & Leadership Award in 2006 while also earning the USTA Sportsmanship Award – just the second Blue Devil to earn the honor next to Smith. He was an All-American and a two-time All-ACC selection while being named to the All-ACC Academic Team and ACC Honor Roll for three years.

As a junior, Jonathan reached the quarterfinals of Kalamazoo Boys 18s Singles and won the doubles with partner, Rajeev Ram. They defeated John Isner and Brett Ross to win the championship.

Jonathan Stokke now hosts his own podcast, Baseline Intelligence, in addition to coaching junior players in the Charleston, SC, area. To reach him, you can follow him on Twitter or email him at [email protected].

If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by clicking here. And check out our logo’d merch as well as our a la carte personal consultations in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!).

CREDITS

Intro & Outro Music: Morgan Stone aka STØNE

Audio & Video Editing: Lisa Stone

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices