Tennis IQ Podcast

Dr. Laura Swettenham is a sport and exercise psychologist from the UK, chartered with the British Psychological Society. She has experience working within a range of sports, predominantly professional football (soccer), youth tennis, and e-sports. In her practice, Laura uses acceptance and mindfulness approaches, such as acceptance and commitment therapy, to support athletes and coaches so they can thrive in and out of their performance environment.  

Currently, Laura works at Cultiv8 Academy, the Yorkshire regional player development center for tennis, and is the sport psychology and coach development lead at the federation of e-sports coaches. She is also an associate partner lecturer at the University of Portsmouth and has published multiple research papers within sport psychology utilizing the Think Aloud protocol.

In this conversation, we discuss Think Aloud and its utility in exploring stress and coping mechanisms in tennis. For more information on Think Aloud, please read "Investigating Stress and Coping During Practice and Competition in Tennis using Think Aloud" by Laura and her colleagues. (https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/9077/)  

To learn more about Josh and Brian's backgrounds and sport psychology businesses, go to TiebreakerPsych.com and PerformanceXtra.com. If you have feedback about the show or questions on the mental game in tennis, email us at [email protected] or use the hashtag #tennisIQ​​​​​​​​​ on Twitter. Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube or your podcast platform of choice (Spotify, Apple, Google, etc.) to stay up to date on future episodes!

During a tennis match, there can be several key moments that could determine the outcome. Do you perform well in these moments? Are you good at recognizing them?  

In this episode, Brian and Josh review how to create clutch performances. Highlights of the conversation include understanding what a clutch performance is, the concept of "make it happen," and some practical steps you can take to become more clutch. This is a valuable topic for both players and coaches.

At most levels of the game, tennis players are required to call lines and honor the rules of the game. It is a unique feature of the sport and it highlights the importance of sportsmanship when competing. In this episode, Brian and Josh discuss some coaching and parenting behaviors that can promote good sportsmanship along with some behaviors that can lead to unethical decision making. In the end, we need to understand that good sportsmanship makes us better people, and better people are better competitors.  

Better People Make Better Competitors: https://issuu.com/newenglanduspta/docs/summer_2021_2_/18

This episode reviews how tennis players can build mental fortitude and resilience. Brian and Josh base their discussion on the study “Mental fortitude training: An evidence-based approach to developing psychological resilience for sustained success” by David Fletcher and Mustafa Sarkar. Their mental fortitude training program focuses on three main areas: personal qualities, facilitative environment, and challenge mindset.  

To learn more about Josh and Brian's backgrounds and sport psychology businesses, go to TiebreakerPsych.com and PerformanceXtra.com. If you have feedback about the show or questions on the mental game in tennis, email us at [email protected] or use the hashtag #tennisIQ​​​​​​​​​ on Twitter. Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube or your podcast platform of choice (Spotify, Apple, Google, etc.) to stay up to date on future episodes!

Josh and Brian review some of the bigger stories from the 2021 Wimbledon Championships through the lens of sport psychology. Topics included are Ash Barty and being the best person you can be, Karolina Pliskova and the importance of self-belief, and the mental strength of Novak Djokovic winning his sixth Wimbledon title and 20th Grand Slam title (tying Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal).  

If you have questions or feedback on this episode, email us at [email protected].

Angelo Rossetti is well-known in the tennis and coaching communities as someone who is very positive, very generous, and a wonderful influence on his students. He currently serves as the Director of Racquet Sports for the Inspire Tennis Academy and the Tennis and Fitness Center of Rocky Hill. He's a USPTA P1 Elite Professional, he's PTR Certified, a USTA High Performance and Mental Skills Certified Coach, and ITPTA Certified Pickleball Teaching Professional. He's also a two-time Guinness World Records title holder for the longest tennis rally and the longest tennis volley rally. 

Lastly, Angelo is a published author of the book TENNACITY: The Tenacious Mindset On & Off the Court which is based on his mental skills training for tennis players and athletes (available on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/TENNACITY-Tenacious-Mindset-Off-Court/dp/0998576689).  

His online mental skills course can be found at Tennacity.org.

To learn more about Josh and Brian's backgrounds and sport psychology businesses, go to TiebreakerPsych.com and PerformanceXtra.com. If you have feedback about the show or questions on the mental game in tennis, email us at [email protected] or use the hashtag #tennisIQ​​​​​​​​​ on Twitter. Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube or your podcast platform of choice (Spotify, Apple, Google, etc.) to stay up to date on future episodes!

In this episode, Brian and Josh discuss how tennis players can handle pre-match preparation. The co-hosts review how utilizing mental skills the day before and morning of a match can be the difference between performing well and under-performing. They also discuss how scheduling sleep, meals, and hydration can make a big difference in how an athlete feels once their match begins. Lastly, they emphasize that planning for certain scenarios and designing contingency responses can be beneficial just in case those situations end up occurring during matches.  

To learn more about Josh and Brian's backgrounds and sport psychology businesses, go to TiebreakerPsych.com and PerformanceXtra.com. If you have feedback about the show or questions on the mental game in tennis, email us at [email protected] or use the hashtag #tennisIQ​​​​​​​​​ on Twitter. Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube or your podcast platform of choice (Spotify, Apple, Google, etc.) to stay up to date on future episodes!

Mental health and mental toughness were on full display at the 2021 French Open, and in this episode, Josh and Brian review some of the bigger stories from the tournament through the lens of sport psychology. Topics included are Naomi Osaka's withdrawal, two first-time Grand Slam finalists in the women's draw, and the mental strength of Novak Djokovic.

If you have questions or feedback on this episode, email us at [email protected].

Steve O'Connell is an accomplished racquet sport professional and educator who is a USPTA elite certified pro, wheelchair tennis instructor, certified platform tennis instructor and a certified pickleball instructor. Through his careers in both tennis and education, Steve has been a long-time advocate of journaling and writing, emphasizing the many benefits of these practices to his students.  

Interview Highlights: 

1:25 - Steve explains his introduction to tennis 

4:35 - The similarities between coaches and teachers 

8:06 - How Steve got involved with journaling 

10:01 - Using journaling as a tool with developing tennis players 

13:01 - The best ways to get started with journaling 

20:27 - How much time should you wait before journaling about a match or practice? 

27:02 - Introducing journaling to tennis coaches 

33:40 - Helping athletes and coaches commit to journaling on a regular basis 

38:12 - The habit of learning from past journal entries 

45:01 - The benefits of writing things down after tennis lessons, practices, or matches 

51:09 - Best practices related to journaling and final thoughts  

To learn more about Josh and Brian's backgrounds and sport psychology businesses, go to TiebreakerPsych.com and PerformanceXtra.com. If you have feedback about the show or questions on the mental game in tennis, email us at [email protected] or use the hashtag #tennisIQ​​​​​​​​​ on Twitter. Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube or your podcast platform of choice (Spotify, Apple, Google, etc.) to stay up to date on future episodes!

Note: This episode was recorded on Sunday (5/30) which was before the news broke of Naomi Osaka's withdrawal from the 2021 Roland Garros tournament.  

This episode dives into the quote "Keep standards high and expectations low" which was originally used by Mikaela Shiffrin (Olympic and World Cup ski champion), but has been embraced and thoroughly discussed by Iga Swiatek. Brian and Josh discuss the expectations placed on various ATP and WTA players currently, and review how these expectations and pressures could impact them in the 2021 Roland Garros tournament. The co-hosts talk about certain players who have benefitted based on their focus on keeping their personal standards high without too much of a focus on the outcome and winning.  

We’re not the good guys: Osaka shows up problems of press conferences - Jonathan Liew - https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2021/may/31/were-not-the-good-guys-osaka-shows-up-problems-of-press-conferences  

Reporter Congratulates Nicolas Mahut After Loss - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Vnx-q_AdNM  

To learn more about Josh and Brian's backgrounds and sport psychology businesses, go to TiebreakerPsych.com and PerformanceXtra.com. If you have feedback about the show or questions on the mental game in tennis, email us at [email protected] or use the hashtag #tennisIQ​​​​​​​​​ on Twitter. Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube or your podcast platform of choice (Spotify, Apple, Google, etc.) to stay up to date on future episodes!