Yips and Giggles

Our first Scottish athlete joins us this week - Melanie Woods! Melanie is a wheelchair racer who has competed in numerous Paralympics, World Championships, and Commonwealth Games. Just this summer, she won 2 gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow (technically, you could say 3 medals but we’ll get into that in the episode). After going through such traumatic injuries to then finding her new purpose in sport, Melanie is truly inspiring to all athletes. We chat about her path to parasport, being a role model for others, how to stop ruminating on the past, and celebrating the wins in life! 

(00:00) Intro

(01:38) Berlin marathon

(04:34) Melanie’s background and story

(06:15) Social support during rehab

(08:45) Finding purpose and competing at the Tokyo Paralympics

(10:47) Education on parasport: classification and community

(12:26) Keeping perspective in sport

(14:26) Dealing with rumination

(15:30) Positive reflection and celebrating success

(17:26) Commonwealth Games: forced to re-race after winning gold

(21:35) Adapting and training

(27:00) Paris Paralympics

(28:36) No superstitions or yips here!

(31:30) What’s next for Melanie?

(33:42) Outro

Laughing and learning!

This week we chat with Ellie Schulson, a former D1 tennis player at Furman University who achieved a career-high doubles ranking of 34 in the country. Ellie gives a refreshing and realistic take on sport not only from a playing perspective, but also a coaching perspective due to her experience as the volunteer assistant at Furman and mentor of elite junior players. We discuss the pros and cons of various coaching styles, what it was like competing again with INTENNSE, and all the things we've learned since finishing competitive sport. Enjoy!

(00:00) Intro

(01:15) What's Ellie up to now?

(02:56) The value of female coaches and what it's like being a volunteer assistant

(06:29) Coaching styles

(09:01) Indoor vs outdoor tennis

(13:05) How 5-for-5 has impacted recruiting for juniors

(14:05) INTENNSE: behind the scenes

(21:51) Crucial elements to coaching

(23:28) Giving back to the sport

(24:20) Enjoy playing while you can!

(26:39) Importance of aligning with multiple identities

(28:21) Exercising after competitive sport

(33:48) Superstitions: it's all about the hair

(35:04) Yips or just a mental breakdown?

(36:33) Outro

We have such a fun episode this week with Josh Hublitz - a former Division I tennis player and investment banker who is now all in on content creation and entrepreneurship. We explore how Josh has taken his athletic identity and transferred it into all of his daily endeavors, and he also gives great advice for anyone looking into making content. In addition to all of that, he is also a practice partner for the top tennis players in the world! Pretty cool side job if you ask us. So, this episode, we get into how he transitioned from investment banking to content creation, hilarious stories from his ATP hits, and his new development of Post Grad Tennis Club - a social wellness club for elite-level tennis players. Enjoy!

(00:00) Intro

(02:00) US Open influencers

(05:34) How tennis has shaped Josh's careers

(07:58) From investment banking to content creation

(15:26) Building a personal brand

(18:38) Monetizing content

(25:50) Burnout and balance as an entrepreneur

(28:02) Hitting with top players as a practice partner

(34:30) Funny ATP practice stories: Medvedev

(41:15) The idea behind Post Grad Tennis Club

(52:26) Superstitions: bouncing the ball before serving

(53:46) The yips: another unfortunate victim

(57:37) Outro

Kate Sharabura joins us on the pod today to chat about her time playing Division 1 tennis at Georgia Tech before ultimately turning pro. Kate has a unique story as she started as a walk-on who rose through the rankings and became an All-American in doubles. She now competes predominantly on the ITF and UTR Pro circuits and has played 2 seasons with INTENNSE tennis. Listen in to hear us discuss how she became so successful in doubles, the benefits of playing college tennis, and how she enjoyed jumping back into the team atmosphere with INTENNSE.

(00:00) Intro

(01:50) Kate’s background

(04:00) D1 tennis career

(05:25) Doubles success

(11:52) From walk-on to All-American

(13:54) Importance of academics alongside athletics

(15:26) Deciding to go pro and the benefits of college tennis

(16:45) Pro circuit breakdown (ITF and UTR)

(25:15) Motivation

(25:22) INTENNSE league vs pro tour lifestyle

(39:30) Superstitions

(41:30) Experiencing the yips

(45:05) Outro

We have a fantastic guest this week - Sophie Chang! A WTA player with a career high ranking of No. 217 in singles and No. 59 in doubles. She has been inactive on the tour for the past year due to injury, but decided to test herself this summer by playing INTENNSE - a team-based, pro league which has completely changed viewership of tennis. We also get into how Sophie has turned to coaching during her time off, what it’s really like to play at the highest level, focusing on a mastery mindset, and reducing burnout and finding new passion in competition. 

(00:00) Intro

(01:30) Pro-am shenanigans and getting pegged in doubles

(03:53) Anya’s concussion protocol

(05:25) Dealing with injuries and plans to return to the WTA Tour

(09:57) Freezing rankings

(11:15) From playing to coaching

(15:12) Mastery vs performance-oriented mindset

(18:50) Turning pro as a teen

(23:00) How the Tour has evolved

(25:25) Choosing pro over college

(32:14) INTENNSE pro league

(56:46) Finding enjoyment in playing again

(59:25) Music as an outlet

(01:04:00) Superstitions

(01:06:00) Outro

Welcome to Season 2 of Yips and Giggles! We are so excited to be back! If you are new here, you've chosen a great episode to start with because there is a lot going on in college sports right now! The NCAA has announced the 5-for-5 rule which changes eligibility and is not as clear cut as some may think. So, we do a deep dive into this new ruling that impacts athletes, coaches, and teams - but we also go further into NIL - what it is, how athletes are taking advantage of it, and what it might mean for the future of college sports.

00:00 Intro

02:15 Episode overview

03:06 Before we get into it -> have we made it?

05:33 US Open chat

10:24 Media day for athletes then vs now

11:41 UCONN basketball documentary

15:42 NCAA rulings and 5-for-5 breakdown

31:54 NIL: what is it and how are athletes and programs using it?

40:00 Financials and scholarships

51:39 Advertising in college sports

55:31 Outro

The World Cup group stage delivered unforgettable fan moments in incredible host cities, shocking upsets, and lots of competitive games ending in draws. So, we wanted to break down the biggest stories on and off the pitch, from Canada's historic run and Cape Verde's Cinderella story to Roy Keane's WAG comments, and what it's really like following a team during the WC. Plus, why this tournament is proving that football really does bring the world together. 

(00:00) Intro

(01:30) Team kits

(03:15) World Cup fans taking over

(11:27) New group stage format: underdogs succeeding and big dogs falling

(16:19) Host countries to the knockouts

(17:37) Media negativity and rotating players

(21:11) Behind the scenes

(23:18) Team WAG

(27:50) Reporter’s inappropriately commenting on personal matters

(31:33) Host country doubts silenced

(32:29) Outro

For our final episode of this season, we are giving everyone a quick preview of the World Cup, and this episode is great for anyone who is a little unfamiliar with how the World Cup works! This World Cup is quite different than most because of the travel, weather, ticket prices, and overall structure of the tournament. So, we will be breaking down all of those topics along with a look into how teams prepare for the biggest competition in soccer (or football depending on where you live). 

(00:00) Intro

(01:42) Soccer vs football

(02:23) Season 2 of Yips and Giggles

(03:52) Overview of the World Cup: host cities, travel, weather

(06:50) How this World Cup is different: group stage structure

(09:45) Home World Cup!

(10:36) Ticket prices

(13:05) Breaking down the groups

(15:15) How hard is it to win the WC?

(18:26) Team preparation: training camps and friendlies

(22:12) Roster selection

(27:32) WC qualification

(28:12) Blonde moment

(28:45) Who are we rooting for?

(29:55) Games we are going to!

(30:56) Outro

In this episode, we explore the challenges athletes face when transitioning through and beyond competitive sport. From retirement and identity shifts to adjusting to university athletics, we discuss coping strategies, athletic identity, finding purpose outside of sport, and more. We also share the inspiration behind Peyton’s new program: Aligned Performance Coaching and how ACT-based psychological skills can help athletes navigate change, build confidence, and create fulfilling, values-driven lives both on and off the field.

(00:00) Intro

(00:40) French Open predictions and prize money news

(08:16) Overview: athlete career transitions and Peyton’s new program!

(09:30) Anya’s personal retirement experience

(12:47) Peyton’s personal retirement experience

(14:25) Work vs student-athlete exhaustion

(16:12) Finding purpose

(20:58) Peyton’s research: initial reactions to retirement

(26:22) End of career circumstances

(30:57) Learning how to exercise and fuel your body again

(37:00) Exploring identities outside of athletics

(42:20) Transferring skills into careers outside of sport

(42:55) Feeling behind after retiring

(44:16) Maintaining connections to your sport

(46:45) Changes in your social circle

(50:00) Transition from high school to university as a student-athlete

(55:15) Aligned Performance Coaching - check it out at www.alignedpc.com!

(01:08:50) Outro