ParentingAces - The Junior Tennis and College Tennis Podcast

Tami Matheny became a Mental Game Coach in 2008 and started Refuse2LoseCoaching, LLC. She knows the role the intangibles play in career success and longevity and has had experience with working on the mental skills at the collegiate level with tennis, basketball, softball, baseball, volleyball, golf, field hockey, cross country and soccer student-athletes.  

Tami believes that while it’s important to work on the physical and technical aspects of sport, the mental side is just as important; mental skills are often the differentiating factor for the most successful athletes. Tami understands that talent can not always overcome a lack of confidence or mental toughness, but a high level of confidence and mental toughness can often overcome a lack of talent. She enjoys interacting and working hands on with coaches, athletes, and teams to make a difference. 

In addition to working with student-athletes and teams, Tami has written The Confident Athlete: 4 Easy Steps to Build and Maintain Confidence in hopes of providing a easy but productive way for athletes to take control of their confidence. Tami also has spoken at various businesses, Rotary Clubs, churches. She has also presented at Dan Tudor’s Recruiting Conference.

In addition to Mental Game Coaching, Tami Matheny was one of the most successful tennis coaches in USC Upstate tennis history. Working physically and mentally with the men and women’s teams to produce nationally ranked teams, conference champions, and numerous individual awards.

Matheny became the head men and women’s tennis coach at USC Upstate in 1998. During her five-year stint with the tennis programs, she elevated the programs to levels never before seen. In her first two seasons as coach, Matheny led the women’s team to a remarkable improvement, as the team went from 0-12 the year before she took the job to 9-16 in 2000 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 2003. The men similarly quickly developed after an 0-12 season in her first year. The Rifles won five matches the next year before reaching the NCAA Tournament in 2001. By 2003, Matheny earned the Peach Belt Conference Men’s Coach of the Year, thanks to leading the Rifles to a 20-2 overall record and a share of the Peach Belt Conference regular season crown. Matheny coached the men to the Peach Belt Conference championship match and to the NCAA Tournament for the third straight time. On the women’s side, a 15-8 record helped the Lady Rifles earn their first bid to the NCAA Tournament since 1995. The women finished the season ranked 25th in Division II. In total, Matheny coached one All-American, five All-Peach Belt Conference selections and 39 Peach Belt Presidential Honor Roll selections. She took the Spartan men to the NCAA Division II Tournament a school-record-tying three times.

You can find Tami online at the following:

Instagram: @refuse2losecoaching

Twitter: @r2lcoaching and @tamimatheny

Thank you to STØNE for our music! You can find more of his original creations at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic  

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I can't tell you how thrilled I was to run into my old friend, Craig Cignarelli, at the BNP Paribas Open last weekend! It's been quite a while since we've chatted, and I knew he had some incredible knowledge to share with all of us. Thankfully, he agreed to sit down with me and talk junior development pathways and how technology is impacting today's up and coming players (and their parents). He also shares some "secrets" that coaches don't necessarily want us Tennis Parents to know, so you don't want to miss this one!

In this Bonus Episode, you will hear Craig reference data regarding how many matches juniors should play and how many hours per week they should practice. You can find links to that data here.

Craig also references using technology to upload video for coaches to analyze. Our friends at Tenicity can provide that service - click here for more information.

Thank you to Craig for the conversation. I look forward to many more insightful episodes with him!

You can find Craig on Twitter at @CraigCignarelli

Thank you, too, to 10sballs.com for sponsoring my trip to Indian Wells and to STØNE for our music! You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic  

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Sixteen-year-old Ronnie Hohmann, who won the 2017 Eddie Herr 16s, recently had the unique opportunity to train with several players on the ATP tour. Both Ronnie - and his coach, Todd Widom - learned so much from these training sessions beyond just hitting forehands and backhands.

All junior players and their coaches can learn a lot from studying how the pros train. With so many pro tournaments across the world, there are typically at least one or two days before the main draw starts where the players are on site and getting used to the courts. Practice sessions - other than for some of the very top players - are usually free to attend and open to the public. Consider taking your junior players to watch and see what it means to train like a pro.

Coach Todd Widom made the most of his player's time hitting with the pros and found a way to point out and then incorporate those professional behaviors with the players he trains. Hear more about what he learned and how he's using it in this week's episode. 

You can find Todd online at www.twtennis.com.

Thank you to our sponsor 10sballs.com! Thank you, too, to STØNE for our music! You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic  

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In order to further junior tennis development, it is crucial that coaches learn about and use the new technologies being developed. One of my favorites in terms of planning and communication is Tenicity.

Harsh Mankad, the founder of Tenicity, is back with us to talk about the latest updates to his platform, including a new mobile app that parents, players, and coaches can use to track progress and keep the lines of communication open. Tenicity is all about organizing data, communicating the data, and understanding how to learn from it. 

As Tenicity grows and develops as a strong tool for overall player development, Harsh is traveling to meet with college tennis coaches, junior coaches, and national governing bodies to help them understand the platform and integrate it into their existing systems. As a former top junior and college player, and now, as a developmental coach himself, Harsh truly understands what it takes to help players reach their highest potential.

I was happy to hear that Tenicity is partnering with the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) to get the platform into more college tennis programs. This could be a great recruiting tool for coaches who are looking for players interested in developing to the next stage, and Prospective Student Athletes (PSAs) and parents should definitely ask about Tenicity when meeting with college coaches.

You can find Tenicity online at www.tenicity.com. If you have questions, contact Harsh Mankad at [email protected] or 651-285-7280. 

Thank you to our sponsor 10sballs.com! Thank you, too, to STØNE for our music! You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic   

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I recently had the opportunity to be interviewed by the amazing talents behind the Great Shot Podcast, Alex Gruskin and Max Rothman. We did the interview as I was driving back to Atlanta from the Blue Gray Tennis Classic in Alabama, and I had a blast chatting with these guys!

From their website:

Welcome toooooo…. Another special edition of Hey, Great Shot!! In today’s episode, co-hosts Alex Gruskin and Max Rothman sit down with Parenting Aces founder Lisa Stone to discuss the many rule changes being proposed to alter the game of tennis. The crew debate topics such as the implications of the newly announced ITF Transition Tour, the merits of ad vs. no-ad scoring, what role coaching should play during matches, and much more. The guys also ask Lisa about her personal history with the game of tennis, and why she chose to make her website tennis parent-focused.

Personal note from the GSP hosts: We cannot thank Lisa enough for taking the time to do this interview with us. Her kindness, intelligence, and passion for the game were contagious throughout the episode, and we hope she is willing to come on the podcast again in the future. To find more of Lisa’s content, be sure to checkout her wonderful Parenting Aces Blog or listen to her Parenting Aces Podcast.

As always, the opinions in this podcast are our own, and we are happy to debate them with anyone kind enough to listen to or comment on our episode. The podcast feed is now live, so please share our episodes with your friends, and subscribe to our show on iTunes. Thank you for listening, and we hope you enjoy our eighteenth episode!! A special shoutout to Super Producers Max Fliegner and Daniel Westhoff, the men behind the scenes who make these episodes possible.

I hope you enjoy hearing a little more about my background and the story behind ParentingAces. Be sure to subscribe to Great Shot Podcast here as well as their sister podcast, Cracked Interviews. They are a great social media follow, too!

Find Alex and Max on Twitter: @GreatShotPod

Cracked Racquets on Twitter: @CrackedRacquets

Cracked Racquets on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crackedracquets/

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As an adjunct to this week's podcast with Tim Russell, I also had the opportunity to chat with Dave Miley who has written a very detailed article about the ITF Transition Tour (https://www.facebook.com/davemileytennis/posts/987689468064829). 

Dave Miley was the Executive Director of Tennis Development for the International Tennis Federation from 1991 until 2015 and in this role he lead the biggest department of the ITF and was responsible for the non professional activities of the ITF including junior tennis, senior tennis, wheelchair tennis, technical and anti-doping as well as the ITF’s Development Programme. During this time, he visited over 140 countries advising National Associations, conducting coaches’ workshops and directing junior training programmes. Dave was actively involved in the ITF’s High-Performance programmes, helping to establish 5 residential training centres in Africa, Central America and the Pacific and overseeing the ITF’s Grand Slam touring team programme which involved 150+ players per year and included Gustavo Kuerten, Marcos Baghdadis, Grigor Dimitrov, Victoria Azarenka, Li Na, Hyeon Chung and Cara Black. 

Dave established the ITF’s coach education programme in 1993 and was involved in producing the ITF’s recommended syllabi for coaches which is now available in over 20 languages. He started the publication “ITF Coaching and Sports Science review” in 1992 and was the author of 7 tennis books including the ITF Advanced Coaches Manual, the ITF Schools Tennis Initiative Teachers Manual and Developing Young Tennis Players. He also was responsible for the creation of the tennis i-coach which was launched in 2007 as the ITF’s distance learning platform. He oversaw the growth of the ITF Worldwide Coaches Conference which grew from 100 coaches in 1991 to 850+ coaches from 100 + nations in 2013. Dave has presented at many conferences worldwide including the Worldwide Coaches Conference, the European Coaches Conference, the USTA, LTA and Tennis Australia national conferences as well as at various IOC and Peace and Sport conferences. 

In the area of tennis participation, Dave chaired the ITF Intro to Tennis Task Force which was instrumental in the development and implementation of the ITF “Tennis…Play and Stay” campaign to increase tennis participation which was launched in 2007 and for the development of tennis 10s and for the adult programme tennis express.  This led to the Tennis10s rule change in 2010 which mandated that 10 and under competition use one of the slower red, orange or green balls. He also was responsible for the development of the International Tennis Number (ITN) which was launched in 2003 in Australia as the rating system for world tennis. 

Before working at the ITF, Dave owned and ran an indoor tennis and fitness centre in Kent with 6 indoor courts and 25 employees. On the playing side Dave was a Irish National Champion in 1982, 1984 and 1987. 

Dave holds a Bachelor of Commerce from UCD (82) and a degree in Business and economics from Lander University in South Carolina, USA (81). He holds the top coaching qualification from the British LTA (84). 

Dave was a member of the ITF medical commission (98-2015) and the Tennis Industry Association (2008-2015).

You can listen to Part 1 of this discussion at http://traffic.libsyn.com/parentingaces/Tim_Russell_podcast.output.mp3

Thank you to our sponsor 10sballs.com! Thank you, too, to STØNE for our music! You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic

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On February 1, 2018, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) sent out a press release describing its effort to reduce the number of professional tennis players through the creation of a Transition Tour (see http://parentingaces.com/repost-zootennis-itf-junior-rule-changes-2018/ and http://www.itftennis.com/news/278962.aspx for more info). 

What's obviously missing from the ITF's announcement is a clear-cut pathway for those juniors who choose to go to college instead of turning pro straight from their junior careers. I decided to reach out to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) CEO, Tim Russell, to get his thoughts on how best to navigate this new arrangement. As you'll hear in this week's episode, even Tim doesn't have the answers just yet though he is certainly doing his due diligence to get them.

You can learn more about the ITA at www.itatennis.com. Tim Russell's email is [email protected]. He is incredibly responsive to anyone reaching out with questions - I am very grateful to him for that!

I also had a follow-up conversation with former ITF Director of Development Dave Miley who has published some very detailed thoughts on this new Transition Tour and its potential impact. So, lucky you! This week's topic is a two-fer! Part 2 is available at http://traffic.libsyn.com/parentingaces/Dave_Miley_podcast.output.mp3

Thank you to our sponsor 10sballs.com! Thank you, too, to STØNE for our music! You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic

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Just because you're an experienced coach yourself doesn't mean you can't learn from the Great Coaches who came before you. Former college player Chris Trieste has learned that lesson first hand as he researched then wrote his book, 14 Great Coaches: Learn Their Lessons, Improve Your Coaching, Have A Lasting Impact.

In this week's podcast, Chris discusses his book and the invaluable lessons he learned and now applies in his own coaching as well as in his life as a Sports Parent. I first learned about Chris when his book was named as a Staff Pick by Changing the Game Project. Shortly after, Chris emailed me, and I was pleased to hear he wanted to come on the podcast to share his knowledge and coaching approach with all of us. Chris feels he can help other Tennis Parents choose good coaches for their young players as they read the lessons learned from the great coaches featured in his book, so he and I both encourage all listeners to check it out!

Read more about Chris's book here: http://changingthegameproject.com/culture-code-2017-book-year-plus-staff-picks/

Contact Chris at the following links:

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Being sidelined by injury is never a good thing. In the short journey that is Junior Tennis, taking even a few weeks away from training and playing can wreak havoc on development, so it becomes that much more important to keep the body healthy.

In this week's podcast, Dr. Erin Boynton, an orthopaedic surgeon who is also a Tennis Parent as well as a competitive tennis player herself, talks about the specific steps juniors can - and should - take to keep their bodies performing at the highest level. We need to understand the firing patterns of the various muscles and how to warm them up properly before each training session or match. Erin suggests we parents (and coaches) do a thorough warm-up ALONGSIDE our kids to encourage proper form and performance.

Erin also talks about why playing multiple sports is so important, not only in terms of injury prevention but also in terms of overall athletic development. She offers some great suggestions for coaches and academies to encourage cross-play which could help prevent burnout as well as overuse injuries. 

Visit Erin's website at http://doctorerinb.com/. Follow her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DoctorErinB/ and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/DoctorErinB.

Thank you to our sponsor 10sballs.com! Thank you, too, to STØNE for our music! You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic

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Wondering what your high school or college player should do this summer? USTA tournaments? ITA Summer Circuit? ITF Pro Circuit? Something else?

Former USC Women's Assistant Coach West Nott has started a new summer tennis tour that takes male and female players who are currently in high school or college to a variety of tournaments along the Pacific Coast in California, Oregon, and Washington. What an incredible opportunity to travel with a former college coach, play some great matches, and learn from some of the best former college players in the game! In this week's podcast, West talks about the West Coast Tennis Tour, who should take advantage of it, and how the ParentingAces Community can get a discount (hint: mention ParentingAces when you call to get information!).

According to West, "The idea is to take 30 players from San Diego to Seattle to compete in 13 events in 3 months during the summer. We are targeting high school kids looking to play college tennis, and we are looking for current college players who need events to play to keep improving during the summer months. We are forming a strong group of mentors to make the experience great for the kids, seeing many new things along the way, staying in giant homes, traveling as a team, one big road trip."

West also discusses what he was looking for in a college player when he was recruiting for USC and how he will share that information with Tour participants. It's a tough process, and the more information you have, the better. Coupled with last week's podcast with Renee Lopez, you should now have a pretty thorough understanding of what this process is all about.

West has also created a great college viewing opportunity for junior players called www.collegetennistours.com. The College Tennis Tours idea is simply taking junior players to the NCAAs to watch the Sweet 16 and on. This is a great way for parents to send their kids to get excited about their future and what playing for a college team is all about. He is selling 2-day, 3-day, and 4-day packages and is offering a special ParentingAces package as well. #SaveCollegeTennis 

The book West discusses in the podcast is BECOMING A SUPPLE LEOPARD by Kelly Starrett (click here for more information).

Get more information on the West Coast Tennis Tour at https://www.westcoasttennistour.com

Contact West directly by phone at 858-322-3171 or email him at [email protected]

A big thank you to Morgan Stone and STØNE for our music! And congratulations to him on having his first original song, TIBET, made available on iTunes and Spotify. You can find more of Morgan’s music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic

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