Tennis IQ Podcast

Dr. Judy Van Raalte is a Professor of Psychology at Springfield College, a Certified Consultant (CMPC) for the Association for Applied Sport Psychology, and is listed in the United States Olympic Committee Sport Psychology Registry. She has presented at conferences in 18 countries and published more than 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Mental Health, the NCAA, and the International Tennis Federation. She served as president of the American Psychological Association's Society of Sport, Exercise & Performance Psychology and as vice president of the International Society of Sport Psychology.

Highlights from the interview:

4:17 - Judy discusses her introduction to the sport of tennis and her interest in the mental side of sports

7:27 - Negative self-talk in tennis and why the sport causes tennis players to outwardly show frustrations and publicly insult themselves

9:43 - Judy's introduction to self-talk in an academic sport psychology setting

14:15 - How tennis players and athletes learn self-talk

20:06 - System 1 and System 2 self-talk

29:31 - The connection between self-talk and staying mindful in the present moment

33:57 - Instructional and motivational self-talk

38:05 - Pairing self-talk with sport psychology interventions such as imagery and mindfulness

44:12 - The connection between sport psychology research and how it is applied in practice

49:57 - Suggestions for tennis players on how to improve their self-talk

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!

Bob Dallis is in his 19th season as the Head Coach of the Dartmouth College Women's Tennis Team. Prior to Dartmouth he was the Head Men's and Women's Tennis Coach at Colgate University and was the Head Men's Tennis Coach at Boston University. He was a four-year member of the Boston University Men's Tennis Team and played on the professional circuit. Bob completed his doctoral degree at Boston University in Sport and Exercise Psychology where he completed his dissertation on "The Design and Implementation of an Elite Training System for Tennis."

Notable moments from the interview: 

2:34 - Bob describes his introduction to coaching college tennis at age 23 and his path to pursuing a doctoral degree in Sport Psychology 

6:04 - Creating a team culture in college tennis and the difficulty of "getting into the team room" at Dartmouth 

11:14 - College tennis as a team sport and how one player's negativity can lead to the negativity of their teammates 

16:05 - How to practice "positive response training" at practice in a team environment 

19:20 - Bob discusses how his Sport Psychology doctoral dissertation fits into his coaching style and philosophy 

28:01 - The importance of practice matches for college tennis players 

32:40 - How video analysis and match analysis can help improve performance 

36:06 - The importance of accepting the outcome and focusing on the process and doing your best 

41:18 - The improvements of college tennis players over four years 

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!

Tennis is generally considered an individual sport because of the emphasis on singles, especially at the professional level. However, doubles in tennis is extremely popular and prevalent in the game. And unlike singles, it is a team sport that has its own set of challenges.  

In this episode, Josh and Brian discuss the various components of team dynamics in doubles that many players struggle with such as how to form an effective team, implementing successful communication strategies on and off the court, and how to be a great teammate. Lastly, Josh and Brian talk about their experiences coaching doubles teams at the college level from a sport psychology perspective.  

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!

William Boe-Wiegaard is in his fourth season as Head Men's and Women's Tennis Coach at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut. Prior to Sacred Heart, William was a highly successful professional player on the ITF and ATP tours and collegiate player at Bates College. William played on the ITF and ATP tours for 13 years and in 2014 he reached a career-high ATP singles ranking of 1,002 and doubles ranking of 900. He was a five-time All-American selection at Bates College and won the 2006 NCAA Division III singles championship.

Interview highlights:

3:21 - William's background as a junior, collegiate, and professional player and how he got involved in collegiate coaching

13:15 - The importance of writing down your goals and having visual reminders

17:45 - The pros and cons of being an extremely competitive person

22:10 - Life as a professional tennis player on the ITF and ATP Tours and the importance of mental toughness

35:15 - The difference between being competitive and being a good competitor

42:20 - William's coaching philosophy and how to control the controllables to give yourself the best chance for success

51:53 - The NAVY Seal mentality of seeing situations as challenges instead of threats

56:59 - The challenges of college sports during the COVID-19 pandemic and how challenging situations can lead to growth and resilience

The 2020 US Open is reminding us once again that even the best players in the world are human and they can struggle with mental toughness. At the same time, there are also reminders of how incredibly tough and resilient these great players can be. The first 10 days of the Open, have given us a lot to talk about in terms of mental toughness.

In this conversation, Josh and Brian discuss the exit of Novak Djokovic, the Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Borna Coric match, and Serena Williams' quest for major title # 24 through the lens of sport psychology.

1:35 - What happened with Novak Djokovic and the difficulties of anger

18:15 - Tsitsipas vs. Coric: Closing out matches and coming back when you are down

29:24 - Serena Williams: Lots of three set matches, nerves, etc.

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 of 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!

Coach Jorge Capestany is our guest for Episode 6 of the Tennis IQ Podcast. Jorge is one of only eleven people worldwide that has earned the distinction of Master Professional with the USPTA and International Master Professional with the PTR. Jorge is also a certified Mental Toughness Specialist through the Human Performance Institute based on the life work of the legendary Dr. Jim Loehr, and he holds a USTA Sports Science certification. He has coached three US national champions (Gold Ball winners) and players from his programs have won more than 180 High School State Tennis Championships in Michigan. In addition to coaching, Jorge is an author, worldwide speaker, and he is the founder of Capestany Tennis Inc. (CapestanyTennis.com) which includes a website with drills for tennis coaches (TennisDrills.tv) as well as video lessons for tennis players (JorgeCapestany.com).

In this interview, we discuss Jorge's background as a junior tennis player and his introduction to the world of coaching. We talk about the importance of having a well-rounded game from a young age which includes the development of every shot and style of play. We also discussed the use and training of "sabotage" tactics within his tennis program, which allows players to disrupt the rhythm of their opponents and make themselves tougher to compete against. Lastly, we discuss Jorge's concept of Tennis IQ, which was part of the inspiration behind the name of this podcast; Jorge describes how he conceptualizes Tennis IQ and breaks down this concept into three levels.

Interview highlights:

3:38 - Jorge describes his introduction to the sport of tennis

5:32 - The importance of playing multiple sports as a kid for athletic development

8:10 - Jorge talks about how he started coaching and the development of his coaching philosophy

13:58 - The concept of "Tennis IQ" and its three levels

30:17 - Seeing tennis as a combat sport and looking for ways to sabotage the game of your opponent

37:43 - The importance of having a clear game-plan going into a point to utilize your strengths and target your opponents weaknesses, and how this can be trained in practice

43:07 - How competing regularly and playing more practice matches leads to tennis players developing mental toughness

51:43 - How tennis players can focus on the present moment and the next point by directing their thoughts to the acronym WIN (What's Important Now?)

54:28 - Playing "mission-based tennis" and having a clear intention going into every point

58:17 - The importance of having options instead of just playing one-dimensional tennis

1:00:50 - Establishing a junior tennis development plan and helping players improve on the five most important aspects of the game at every age

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 with future episodes!

For episode 5 of the Tennis IQ Podcast, Josh and Brian address their first listener question: How can tennis players improve their ability to handle emotions? As we all know, tennis players often get frustrated and show negative emotions when things aren’t going well on the court. And this often leads to performance issues.

To address this question, Josh and Brian discuss how expectations and perfectionism can lead to anger when things aren’t going well on court, and how players should go into competition assuming that the match will be challenging and have ups and downs. They also talk about the mental challenges associated with the tennis scoring system and the frustration that it can cause when athletes are too caught up in the result of the previous point. Lastly, suggestions for on-court and off-court interventions are provided so that tennis players can learn to manage their emotions better in competition.

Articles and videos mentioned during the podcast:

Novak Djokovic on the need to constantly remind himself when he has doubts: https://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/news/articles/2019-07-15/2019-07-14_novak_djokovic_final.html

Novak Djokovic on visualization: https://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/news/articles/2019-07-13/2019-07-13_novak_djokovic_semifinal.html

Jim Loehr’s 16 Second Cure: https://youtu.be/AviGTb3GKhQ

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. Please subscribe to stay up to date on future episodes!

Jeff Bearup and Tim Donovan are the guests for Episode 4 of the Tennis IQ Podcast. Jeff has received numerous accolades and awards within the tennis coaching field including USPTA Coach of the Year and induction into the USTA New England Tennis Hall of Fame. Tim is the founder of Donovan Tennis Strategies which is a college placement service for tennis players. He was also a standout player at Brown University for four years, reaching a high of #6 in the NCAA Division 1 rankings. He then played professional tennis for four years on the ATP Tour and achieved a top 300 world ranking in singles. Jeff and Tim co-founded the New England Academy of Tennis which has helped thousands of players develop their tennis skills and succeed at multiple levels of the sport. More recently, Jeff and Tim have teamed up again to form Crosscourt Consulting which is a business that assists families through the complexities of junior tennis development.

Interview highlights:

4:18 - Tim and Jeff discuss their backgrounds as multi-sport athletes before focusing on tennis.

11:25 - The importance of not always being prepared and not taking things for granted.

15:29 - The concept of tennis being 90% mental, and how it manifests at different levels of the sport.

27:59 - The importance of taking the pressure off of junior players by focusing on the development process rather than just on results.

31:39 - The trend of junior players solely training through structured activities rather than playing sets with friends and kids not playing enough match play.

38:06 - The changes in the college recruitment process because of COVID-19 and how junior and collegiate players are learning the important skill of handling adversity.

44:19 - The importance of establishing a tennis developmental plan at a young age and how the role of the parents in this process changes as the player develops.

To connect with Tim and Jeff go to CrosscourtConsulting.com or contact them at (617) 842-5901. To learn more about Donovan Tennis Strategies go to DonovanTennis.com. If you have feedback about the show or questions on the mental game of tennis, email us at [email protected] or on Twitter use the hashtag #tennisIQ.

In this episode of the Tennis IQ Podcast, Josh and Brian discuss how tennis players should approach various stages of a set/match through a sport psychology perspective. These stages of a set/match include the start of a match, being ahead by a break, being behind by a break, closing out a set, and starting a new set after winning or losing the previous one.

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 on Twitter, use the hashtag #tennisIQ. Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube or your podcast platform of choice to stay up to date on future episodes!

Brian Barker is the guest for Episode 2 of the Tennis IQ Podcast. He formerly coached James Blake (ATP #4 player in the world) and is currently the Director of Tournament Training Programs at Tennis Club of Trumbull.

In this interview, we discuss Brian's background as a junior player and his success at the junior level as one of the top players in New England, and then at the collegiate level as captain and standout player at the University of South Carolina. We also get into Brian's philosophy on helping athletes take the pressure off of themselves by focusing on their character and focusing on competing their hardest rather than just thinking about winning and losing. This is the same philosophy that Brian used while he was coaching James Blake and his brother Thomas on the ATP Tour.

Interview highlights:

6:18 - Developing the mental side of the game as a junior.

15:44 - James Blake's rise as a junior and professional tennis player, and how his improvements on the mental game helped him improve as a player.

20:22 - How most junior players feel very high levels of pressure, so the goal for parents is to help their children relax as they compete, to prioritize enjoying the sport, and to put less pressure on their kids.

24:42 - Whether he is coaching someone at the ATP level or a junior player the goal is to have players focus on doing their best rather than getting caught up in winning or losing.

30:44 - The importance of failing and losing, and how the biggest winners in any sport, like Michael Jordan, aren't afraid to fail. He discusses how even the best players in the world still lose a high percentage of matches so being able to lose and keep going is a critical skill for tennis players of all levels.

36:00 - In the age of COVID-19, junior players are performing better now that their parents aren't always watching them and putting pressure on them. He also discusses the uncertainty that junior players are experiencing, and how this experience can help them become more mentally tough if they can view it in the right way.