ParentingAces - The Junior Tennis and College Tennis Podcast

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 32, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. In this week's episode, we take another look at Spec Tennis, a relatively new racquet sport being used to help new and existing players learn new skills that easily translate to a full-size tennis court and racquet. You can listen to last year's podcast with Nate here.

Intrigued by the size of a pickleball court and recalling the paddle tennis he played as a youth in Southern California, tennis teaching professional Nate Gross had an idea. 

Spec Tennis was originally created by Gross as a fun social experience and an alternative use of pickleball courts. Since then, it has evolved into a bridge into tennis, giving players success, confidence, and fun a lot sooner than they would have with regular tennis. 

“Spec Tennis can dramatically improve your tennis game,” said Gross, currently the Director of Racquet Sports at Clear Creek Tahoe. “The paddle is less powerful than a tennis racquet, yet a similar weight. This promotes better biomechanics, forcing players to turn their shoulders and use their legs in order to generate power. Spec Tennis helps players develop control. Any new shot or tactic you want to learn in tennis can be learned first in the more favorable environment that Spec creates, and then directly translated to tennis.” 

“When I was first starting out learning how to hit a topspin backhand I learned on a Spec court, and it dramatically improved my game,” said former Twitter COO Adam Bain. “I honed that technique on the Spec court, then brought that over to the tennis court. It immediately translated for me. In fact, it allowed me to advance faster because of the work I did on the Spec court. No matter what skill level you are, starting with Spec should dramatically improve your tennis game.” 

Longtime retired men’s tennis coach at Harvard University Dave Fish likes all aspects of Spec Tennis and thinks that tennis needs something like this especially at the entry level. 

“I haven’t liked how the ROGY (Red, Orange, Green, Yellow) pathway has played out—because the racquets are too lively and kids just poke at the ball,” Fish said. “With Spec Tennis, you use a paddle which teaches kids to hit through the ball, and you use the pickleball court, so real estate has already been created and is growing exponentially." 

Gross has created the United States Spec Tennis Association (https://www.usspta.com/index.html) and a unique ambassador program where tennis and racquet directors, as well as Spec Tennis enthusiasts, can grow the sport while receiving commission on paddle sales, and a discount on additional paddles. (https://www.usspta.com/ambassador.html). 

Follow along on social media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spectennis

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SpecTennis

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spectennis/

As always, a big thank you to Morgan Stone, aka STØNE, for our intro and outro music this season. You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic. If you’re interested in House Music, please be sure to check out his social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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 in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!).

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Welcome to Season 10, Episode 31, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network.

This week's podcast is the first in a new series we'll be exploring here at ParentingAces, one that came at the suggestion of my son, Morgan. He had the brilliant idea to check in with some of the players he trained and competed with during his Junior Tennis years to see what they did once finishing high school and where they are now in their early to mid twenties.

There are many pathways in Junior Tennis but maybe even more once that journey is complete. Professional tennis, college tennis, club tennis, and no tennis at all are some of the options, and each has its pros and cons. I hope you find it valuable to hear from the players themselves about what role tennis played in their formative years and what role, if any, it plays in their adult lives.

The first in our new series is an interview with my son's college roommate and teammate at Boise State University, Jack Heslin.

Jack was born in London and moved with his family at a very young age to Auckland, New Zealand, where he and his two brothers grew up. Jack competed in tennis internationally starting around age 14 but always had the goal of playing college tennis in the US. In this week's podcast, Jack describes his Junior Tennis Journey, how he handled college recruiting, and his life after college.

As always, a big thank you to Morgan Stone, aka STØNE, for our intro and outro music this season. You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic. If you’re interested in House Music, please be sure to check out his social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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 in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!).

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

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 30, of the ParentingAces Podcast, part of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network! Anxiety and mental strength are often diametrically opposed - lessen one and the other increases. In this week's episode, noted Sports Psychologist and founder of Mind of the Athlete, Dr. Jarrod Spencer, discusses how we can help our players deal with the anxiety that is inherent in competing at a high level while building their Mental Muscle.

Dr. Spencer has extensive training and experience in the field of health and sports psychology. Before earning a Doctor of Psychology Degree from Argosy University, formerly known as The Illinois School of Professional Psychology, he earned his Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology from West Chester University and his Bachelor’s Degree in Psychobiology from Lafayette College. Dr. Spencer professionally trained at The Jersey Shore Medical Center, Northwestern Neuropsychological Association, and The Diamond Headache Clinic. He is a licensed psychologist in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Michigan and Virginia. Dr. Spencer is also a member of The American Psychological Association, Pennsylvania Psychological Association, and Lehigh Valley Psychological and Counseling Association.

Dr. Spencer travels the country speaking to athletes, coaches, parents, students, athletic directors, health care professionals and business leaders. From pharmaceutical companies to state high school athletic director conferences to college campuses, Dr. Spencer empowers people with his signature message of clearer mind, better performance.

In this week's episode, Dr. Spencer discusses the major causes of anxiety in young athletes and how we as parents can help reduce it. He offers concrete, detailed suggestions to help our players develop strong mental habits both on and off the court.

For more information and to reach Jarrod Spencer, visit his website at http://www.mindoftheathlete.com/. You can also email him at [email protected].

As always, a big thank you to Morgan Stone, aka STØNE, for our intro and outro music this season. You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic. If you’re interested in House Music, please be sure to check out his social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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 in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!).

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

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 29, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network! This week we tackle a topic suggested by one of our long-time listeners: off-court training for Junior Tennis Players.

Dean Hollingworth has more fitness and tennis certifications than pretty much anyone around. Although based in Montreal, Canada, Dean works with tennis players both in person and virtually and has helped so many of them on their journey to US College Tennis and the professional circuit.

In this week's podcast, Dean shares some very specific information for all of you hoping to help your Junior Players develop to their utmost ability. I highly encourage you to watch the video version as Dean shares some great visuals in this episode. He also provides detailed answers to the questions you submitted via email and Facebook:

1.      How much non-hitting training should juniors do?

2.      Should juniors attend specific agility/speed facilities that are popping up all over?

3.      What weight lifts are most important to tennis?

4.      What footwork drills are best?

5.      What are some dynamics a junior player on hiatus can do while recovering?

6.      What is a good upper body strengthening technique to make shoulders stronger for a better swing?

7.      Tennis specific resistance band strength training for my junior twins.

8.      Tennis specific 15 minute stretch I can get them to do as I’m making breakfast, packing their lunch and filling water bottles for a full day of tennis before I drop them off. I want it to become automatic but don’t know which exercises they should do every day to stretch and prevent injury.

9.      How safe is weight training and conditioning before puberty?

10.  How many days per week and how long should a player being doing off court fitness for different age groups, like under 12, 13-14, 15-16, 17-18

11.  Are there any online resources for parents/kids that can help with ideas of what a good fitness routine should be like or what are the best exercises?

12.  Is it better to do in a small group vs one on one?

13.  How do you find the right fitness coach?

14.  Can a second sport be fitness training?

15.  How important is flexibility and how do you build it?

16.  What should a junior player be doing to prevent injury?

17.  What is appropriate for younger juniors considering growing bodies?

18.  How should junior players prepare for the rigors of college tennis?

19.  What is the importance of sleep in terms of an overall fitness program for jrs?

To see the videos Dean references in this podcast, click here. For more information on Dean and to get in contact with him, visit his website here. You can also follow him on Facebook and Instagram for new videos and other valuable content.

As always, a big thank you to Morgan Stone, aka STØNE, for our intro and outro music this season. You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic. If you’re interested in House Music, please be sure to check out his social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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 in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!).

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

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 28, of the ParentingAces Podcast, part of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network! Have you ever thought about what it might be like for your child to train with someone on the ATP or WTA tour? This week, Coach Todd Widom joins Lisa to talk about the opportunities his lucky players have to do just that!

Some of you may remember from past podcasts with Todd that Daniel Yoo joined the Todd Widom Tennis coaching staff. Daniel has been working with Korea's top male player, Soonwoo Kwon for the past several months which means Soonwoo is on-site training and in need of hitting partners. Guess who fills that role? Todd's junior players!

In this episode, Todd discusses the benefits to these juniors having the opportunity not just to watch a pro train but also to be on the other side of the net from him, feeling that pro-level spin and power, and seeing first-hand what goes into becoming a Professional Tennis Player.

Even though the majority of Todd's players will not make a living on the Pro Tennis Tour, what an incredible opportunity for them to reach their highest potential in preparation for College Tennis!

For more information on Todd, visit his website here and be sure to follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

As always, a big thank you to Morgan Stone, aka STØNE, for our intro and outro music this season. You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic. If you’re interested in House Music, please be sure to check out his social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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 in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!).

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

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 27, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network! Our guest this week is Coach Bill Patton.

Bill Patton is a lifetime USTA member, senior contributor to SportEdTV, a part of the leadership group of The Winning Summit, and a Catalyst for the Evolutionary Sports Collective. He was formerly a long time certified tennis professional. He is the author of 12 books including How To End Cheating In Junior Tennis, Visual Training For Tennis 4th Edition, The Art Of Coaching High School Tennis, and his magnum opus The Athlete Centered Coach. All written since 2014. 

In this week's podcast, Bill starts by sharing a short rant on cheating in Junior Tennis followed by the five misconceptions about Vision Training. He then goes on to discuss best practices to develop better visual acuity on the tennis court and offers some at-home exercises and apps Junior Players can use to improve this aspect of their game.

Finally, Bill has a special offer for those of you who listen all the way to the end!

To learn more about Bill's work, visit his profile here. You can see and order his books here. If you have specific questions for Bill, email him at [email protected].

As always, a big thank you to Morgan Stone, aka STØNE, for our intro and outro music this season. You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic. If you’re interested in House Music, please be sure to check out his social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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 in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!).

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

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 26, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. If you've been around Junior Tennis a while, you may have heard of the Little Mo series of tournaments. But have you heard about the Little Mo Club???

My guests this week include Cindy Brinker - daughter of Little Mo herself, Maureen Connolly Brinker - Carol Weyman who runs the Little Mo tournaments, and Gerry, Gael, and Matias Moran who started the Little Mo Club during the COVID shutdown last year.

You will hear both Cindy and Carol talk about the WHY behind Little Mo and the logistics of the tournaments. In addition, you'll hear from the Morans about the need to create a virtual community for young players to stay in touch during the pandemic and how they have teamed with Little Mo to make that happen. Matias is a former Little Mo participant himself, and, at age 14, knows the value these experiences have brought to his life both on and off the tennis court.

As Matias mentions in the pod, he interviewed me for the Little Mo Club website, You can watch that interview here.

For more information on the Little Mo Club, visit their website at https://www.littlemoclub.com/. For information on the Little Mo series of tournaments, go to http://mcbtennis.org/Tournaments_9.aspx.

As always, a big thank you to Morgan Stone, aka STØNE, for our intro and outro music this season. You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic. If you’re interested in House Music, please be sure to check out his social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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 in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!).

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

Welcome to this Bonus Episode of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network!

Lisa is joined by former US #1 men's player, James Blake, and Sora Schools parent, Chris Griffin, to discuss the choices Tennis Families have today over how to educate their children. James shares his junior tennis experiences, including his path to Harvard then to the ATP Tour, focusing on the academic choices his family made. Chris shares his son's experience moving from traditional public school to Sora, a 2-year-old NCAA-accredited virtual school.

For more information on Sora, visit https://soraschools.com/.

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

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 25, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. With all of the craziness with USTA so far this year, I thought it would be interesting to hear how Junior Tennis - specifically, for the 10-and-under set - is being managed elsewhere in the world. To that end, please welcome this week's podcast guests, Shayne Tabb and Jay Deacon.

These two coaches live and work in Australia and have focused their efforts in recent years on growing the game of tennis and making sure new players have a positive experience from Day One. They created a system of competitive opportunities called the ROG Gold Coast Circuit which is being replicated around the country.

Both Shayne and Jay felt the coaches in Australia should come together to develop an effective and fun way to introduce tennis to children. Because their system originated with the coaches then made its way to the governing body, Tennis Australia, there has been a very high level of buy-in from coaches as well as parents and players for this method of devising a competitive structure. It is suitable for players who want to keep tennis fun and casual as well as for players who have loftier goals for their sport. I think you'll be impressed by how the Gold Coast Circuit works, the core competencies that must be met for advancement, and the stories these coaches share.

For more information on the Gold Coast Circuit, visit these websites:

Red Ball: https://www.tennis.com.au/qld/regions/gold-coast/red-ball-tournament-circuit

Orange Ball: https://www.tennis.com.au/qld/regions/gold-coast/orange-ball-tournament-circuit

Green Ball: https://www.tennis.com.au/qld/regions/gold-coast/green-ball-tournament-circuit

To reach this week's guests:

Jay Deacon – [email protected]

Shayne Tabb - [email protected]

As always, a big thank you to Morgan Stone, aka STØNE, for our intro and outro music this season. You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic. If you’re interested in House Music, please be sure to check out his social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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 in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!).

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

Welcome to Season 10, Episode 24, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. This week, we are joined by one of Tennis Channel's own on-air commentators and coach to some of the games top professional players, Paul Annacone.

If you follow tennis at all, you probably know exactly who Paul Annacone is! However, for those of you new to the sport, Paul has coached the likes of Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, Sloane Stephens, Stan Wawrinka, Tim Henman, and, most recently, Taylor Fritz. Before his coaching career took off, Paul spent 14 years on tour as a player where he won three ATP titles and reached a career high ranking of No. 12 in singles. With long-time partner Christo van Rensburg, he won the 1985 Australian Open, and he finished his career with 14 doubles titles.

Paul is now consulting with USTA SoCal's Player Development department alongside its Director of Junior Tennis, Trevor Kronemann, to help the next generation of players in the area reach their full potential on and off the court. He is committed to working with players at all levels and understands that to grow the game, you can't only focus on the creme de la creme in the Junior Tennis Player Pool. Rather, you have to meet players where they are, understand their goals and dreams, then help them become the best they can be through thoughtful coaching and guidance.

He also understands the importance of Tennis Parents in the Junior Development Journey and is committed to creating Parent Education opportunities in the SoCal section. My hope is he'll be so successful that the other USTA sections will have no choice but to emulate what's taking place in my new home area!

For more information on Paul Annacone, visit his website at https://paulannacone.com/. To learn more about what Paul is doing in the SoCal section, visit their website at https://www.ustasocal.com/junior/.

As always, a big thank you to Morgan Stone, aka STØNE, for our intro and outro music this season. You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic. If you’re interested in House Music, please be sure to check out his social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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 in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!).

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