Why not?

The PTA addresses collective concerns of the parents relative to that of the schools ongoing activities.  The PTA connects parents and teachers to address their concerns and so could a CTO, CPA, or a PCA.  The PTA requests additional teacher support or school support and so could a CTO, a CPA, or a PCA.  The PTA provides feedback to the school and its teachers as to how things are going or not going and so could a CTO, CPA or a PCA. The PTA brings in guest speakers, brings in book fairs, and conducts fund raisers and so could ...

You get the point, so maybe its time to pursue this helpful association.

Thanks for joining us on our journey!

TR
www.tennisrockers.com
 

When we make a mistake that costs points in a game or looks silly to our coaches and practice partners are we really just thinking a thought or are we feeling something as well?

If we sing along to a rock song are we just thinking about the words that were said or are we caught up in the emotion of the beat, harmony, or melody and just going with the flow?

In both playing tennis or singing along to a rock song, we're using our heads (the mental side) and our hearts (the emotional side) in engaging with either of these activities.  

Whether playing an instrument or playing with a racquet, we need to employ our "mental" or thinking capabilities in order to know what to do and when to do it.  But once we engage in this play, our "other" capability, our emotional capability, kicks in and starts affecting our play.  

You miss an “easy shot” and chastise yourself with “I suck” or “come on, you’re better than that” or you go old school with your inner coach and tell yourself about how you don’t belong there.  These are thoughts, but they emanate from feelings - raw feelings of disgust or anger at your abilities or sadness at your potential loss of points or the game at the hands of your insufficient skills.  They are feelings that have been built up from years of living life: interactions with family, friends, coaches, teachers and people who have floated in and out of your life.  Feelings that have likely been allowed to fester because you likely didn’t have anyone with whom to talk it through.  You didn’t have a support group.

In this episode, we explore the importance of starting and maintaining your own personal support group to deal with your feelings.

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com  
96

A plan developed from a careful and considerate evaluation of each players emotional, mental, physical, and tactical abilities to play the game of tennis?  A plan which provides a path forward for each individual tennis player to pursue based on their results.  

Without analysis and conclusion a path and a plan can’t be proposed and a player is left to guess and either overestimate or underestimate their potential in tennis. 

If a child starts playing and taking lessons, what is their path forward in tennis?

• Do they just continue to play as a recreational player?  
• Do they just play high school tennis and then play recreational tennis for the rest of their lives?  
• Maybe they try to play for the college club team or try to make it into a D3 school?  
• Should they even try to make a D1 college team?
• At what point is pro an actual consideration? 

Don’t all players deserve an answer to the question “now what”?

In this episode, we explore the possibilities of creating a national testing plan to help tennis players get realistic feedback on their potential and receive a plan which sets out a path forward.  

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com

In this episode, we spark a nutritional conversation about protein in the hopes of providing a different perspective on the cultural protein push.  

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennis rockers.com
101

Meaning is the magnet which draws people in and makes them want to come back.  But in today’s transactional and mechanistic approach we have favored getting it done and making money to building meaning.  

What brings meaning?

Addressing a coaches or clients emotional and mental needs with a physical manifestation of that meaning.  If players would appreciate a lounge to hang out (like a teen lounge or a Starbucks) then give it to them.  The money you’ll spend in furniture will be made back through sales of lessons, products, or future court time.  

Prototype it, give it time, gather feedback, and implement what works.  The results might just bring the meaning, and eventually the money you were looking for.

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com

Maybe you don't want to - things are good.  If you're the coach, hey, they come to lessons, seem happy or somewhat engaged and I get paid - done.  If you're the student, they teach me, it's not always easy, but I learn something and sometimes it's really fun.

Kept that way, it works - but on what basis?

The relationship works at its most basic level, but ultimately, is that what either the coach or student want for their entire time together?  And what happens when that relationship breaks down because we don't periodically revisit this relationship?  What happens when we don't communicate?

A coach/student relationship can deteriorate and at some points be destructive and the relationship with teenagers can be one of the toughest relationship challenges.  

So what should we consider around these challengers?  We should start with our communication and in this episode we acknowledge and seek answers for coaches, students, and parents to a common situation - a lack of proactive communication.

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com

Everyone talks about burnout in the general sense, but not a lot of people put specificity around it.

Maybe, in part, burnout comes from not telling players the whole story - both at the beginning and during their individual journeys - of what it takes to learn the skills involved in the sport of tennis?  If players were more informed, they might have time to “think” about their “feelings” about tennis and in turn work through this complex mix of human byproduct and in turn feel more confident and comfortable in the direction they want their tennis to take.

If a coach communicated the possible paths in tennis then maybe a player might be more informed and develop a more intelligent and in-depth interest.  So what are some of these sample paths: 

• Recreational
• Recreational -> tournaments -> tennis team
• Recreational -> high performance -> tournaments -> college
• Recreational -> high performance -> tournaments -> college -> professional tennis,
• Recreational -> tournaments -> high performance -> pro/am circuit (or futures) -> professional tennis

Could knowing and keeping these paths in mind make a difference and avoid burnout?

In this episode, we explore the concept of clearly communicating the paths available to players as they traverse along their own individual tennis trail.

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com

* Customers/students are paying for movement, not reading.
* The court isn't setup like a library or classroom, how would this even happen?
* What's the connection to tennis or how is it relevant to the game?
* Nobody else is doing this, why should we

That's because a tennis expert is tethered to their experience, tennis convention (i.e. this is the way we've always done it and this is the way we'll continue to do it!), and the threat of embarrassment and questions, while a zero gravity thinker and contributor (i.e. a non-tennis expert) is not.  Zero gravity thinkers don't have expertise in the area they're studying but they do have experience with creating and other aspects of life which they can bring to tennis.  But only if tennis lets them in, listens, takes action, tries/fails, and keeps the good things which work.  

But because tennis is struggling with attendance, commitment, and programs, we need to find some new solutions.  We need to invite some zero gravity guys into the game of tennis to help build it back into something better.  

In this episode, we consider the possibility of adding a reading exercise to the tennis lesson.  A concept that zero gravity thinkers would consider and tennis experts might condemn.  

Thanks for joining us on our journey!

www.tennisrockers.com
98

Promotional words used to "assist" and "persuade" shoppers to purchase their product.  Promotional words which make their product "appear" to be a moderately healthy choice so consumers can justify purchasing and eating it and feel good about purchasing it again.  They are words we see and hear everywhere from print media, to television, and online advertising.  

They are words that build trust in a product that isn't really best for us.  That trust in turn causes us to often overlook the ingredients label and discover something deeper and a bit duplicitous about these words of trust.  We discover a long list of non-healthy ingredients such as: sugars, pseudo-sugars, oils, preservatives, colors, and conditioners call into questions the claims of health printed all over the rest of the package.  

And while there are occasional public service announcements reminding us to read labels, eat right, and be careful about our calorie consumption, these are rare.  But what if the tennis club could help the cause?

Every day, tons of people filter in and out of tennis clubs all across America to learn to play and play this great game.  We have an opportunity to help the eating healthy cause and in this episode, we kick around what that could mean and look like.   In this episode, we contemplate how the tennis club can help provide more balanced nutrition messaging to the people they serve. 

Thanks for joining us on our journey! 
www.tennisrockers.com

We have all normalized these food products and convenience foods which are rife with chemicals, enriched flour, oils, preservatives, salts, and sugars but we are feeling and seeing the after effects of such a life style.  

But when we visit a tennis club or facility, we enter into a different world in which movement and health are the main part of the program.  The social culture of the tennis club is a perfect fit for seducing club members into selecting a nutrition class that could benefit both their bellies and your bottom line.

In this episode, we use a food documentary film as a jumping off point for encouraging more clubs to include diet and nutrition classes.

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com

But is what another person said really sabotage or just an attempt to insert their own impression (find a seat at the social table) or even fill their roster and put food on their table?

The tennis court can be a place of heated contention and in this episode, we deconstruct misinterpreting other people’s actions.  

Join us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com

A nutrition class, hosted by a registered dietician who does it for free in order to get exposure to potential paying clients, could be a draw for non-tennis playing people and current customers.  It says "I care about you and your health" and in caring for someone else, you engender emotional credibility.  

Take a few minutes to noodle on adding a nutrition class to your club whether you are an owner, pro, or player, it just might be the outstanding offering you were hoping would help.

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com

Maybe it's because the clients don't play enough to feel the effects of poor nutrition on their performance and recovery.

So, if you play for only a couple hours a week, you probably won't feel the effects of eating a diet rich in flour, oils, preservatives, salt, and sugar.  In fact, you'll probably feel just fine.  But dietitians and nutritionists will tell you a different tale - a tale about the effects of good diet and nutrition over bad.  

In this episode, we listen and reflect on a couple of important clips from a food documentary about the long tail effects of nutrition on the body in the hopes of understanding how we can implement a nutrition class at a tennis club that has teeth!

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com

In the interview with certified stringer, master racquet technician, professional racquet advisor, tennis pro, and parent coach of his own D1 college playing son, we learn a little bit about a lot and along the way see that tennis has both a lot to offer and a lot to teach.  

If you are the parent of a tennis student or a tennis player, you will learn something about:

• How to think about racquets
• How to think about string composition, selection, and tension
• Working with a certified racquet stringer
• What you should want your kids to focus on in a tennis lesson

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com

It seems to us that there are at least five types of self-talks that people put themselves through at any one point in a game, lesson, or practice and these include:

The analyzer
The blamer
The criticizer
The outburstor 
The reflector 

Once we know them, what do we do about them?  Do we just ignore them and keep on going or could there be a more "coachable approach"?  We think this is an opportunity to organize around and start scheming up some solutions.  

For starters, any club could bring in a sports psychologist to train tennis coaches or even conduct co-pro/student classes to discuss the cycle of emotional and mental self-talk to help people identify and work through their own styles of self talk.  This could take place a couple of times a year and the costs could be defrayed by hosting a mandatory separate class that all students have to go through once a year in order to practice and play at the club.

But that's just the beginning.  Studying self talk can build interest and personal meaning for our sport - a bit of gratitude for a sport that helps us deal with our own "attitudes".

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com

We junk up their cognitive runway or a person's emotional and mental space they need to "takeoff" or "land" their "plane" (body) while playing tennis.

In this episode, we discover the cognitive runway.  What it is, how and why this analogy helps, and when to recognize that you could be junking it up.

Thanks for joining us on our journey!

Fans expect rock stars to show up and represent the face of their music and in the image they have established to the world - their brand.   When the rock star shows up and represents their brand, their fans know it, love it, and live for it.  They are a model for what a rock star should be. 

Tennis students expect the same thing but what are they getting?  Are they getting the girl or guy who shows up as a rock star or someone who shows up indifferent?  Ideally, like the actual music rock star, the tennis should pro walk on the court, model movement and introspection like someone playing a slam.  But most of them don't and that's a problem for students because it sends mixed messages - YOU (the student) are supposed to be and play a certain way - when the coach isn't flying the flag of the tennis brand as best as they can.

Dr. Albert Mehabrian, who focused on the communication of human emotions, found that people (your students or a rock stars audience) will interpret most of the emotional content of your message by interpreting your nonverbal communication rather than by what you actually say. 

So, if your coach is yelling at you to move a certain way but can't or won't do it themselves, how are they showing up?  What about a coach whose feet never leap off the floor and always feeds out of the cart?  Are either of these people flying the tennis flag?  Are they showing up as a rock star or as an idol of indifference?

In this episode, we take a look at the effects of idols of indifference and what it would take to start making a change in who shows up on court.  

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com

The emotional cloak of invincibility quickly turns into emotional self-consciousness and potential embarrassment.  This in turn  produces a kind of personal resistance and maybe even actively trying to slow your colleagues down - if I can't get it, nobody is going to get it.  

In this episode, we examine how to spot and work with our own and others cloaks of invincibility through recognition, inquiry, acknowledgment, and validation through group support.

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com

What happens when a player or person is over-aroused?  You're too jacked and you overhit causing it to go into the net or out of the park.  What happens when a person or player is under-aroused?  You can't bring your best of anything and you set a low standard for yourself.  

To play at your best but not overplay takes a considerable amount of observation and modulation of personal emotional arousal states.  

In this episode we examine human arousal states; what they are and how they effect us for the purpose of helping clubs, coaches, parents, and players appreciate how harnessing them can help and ignoring them can hurt a players performance and their long term love of the game.  

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com

If we make peace with this perspective and prune the ranks of the tennis tree, we allow for new growth in the form of bringing back old friends and enlarging the tennis family!

Join us on our journey to figure out how to bring players back - one door closes and another one opens up:)
www.tennisrockers.com

Someone new to the sport could experience blocks related to the emotional chain from:

• Walking into the tennis club - a place they either haven't visited or don't visit that often
• Wearing tennis shoes they don't normally wear
• Gripping a tennis racquet they don't normally grip
• Interacting with people they don't normally interact with 
• Being asked to move their body in ways they don't normally move them
• Listening to and processing instructions from a coach you don't regularly listen to
• Converting these instructions into automated body responses

The emotional chain = new experience -> self-consciousness -> internal dialogue -> anxiety -> tension -> physical rigidity/lack of fluidity

We end considering that emotional rigidity can lead to intellectual rigidity and hinder learning and developing a love for the sport of tennis.

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com

• Bring something to the court that your child is already interested in
• Integrate with item into some of the on-court activity
• Don't make the net the barrier or the goal
• Ask them what they want to do and go with it
• Suggest, but don't push the game onto them
• Apply lots of patience 
• Repeat and hope for the best

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com

If you know what to look for, you can spot the thinking face and you'll be glad you did.  

The thinking face is all about Intrinsic motivation - self-motivation - and a key to the student falling in love with our sport and deciding to come back.  The thinking face says professes interest and neural activity and an opportunity to take personal ownership.

Next time you're teaching, see if you can spot the thinking face and then allow it to simmer with your student.

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com

We choose these products in lieu of the real raw food that contains fiber and nutrients our body needs to stay in balance.  Real food that can prevent injury and long term chronic illness.  We choose these products in part because there is not enough messaging to counter the messages of easy, fast, healthy, and just like the real thing we're getting from the food products companies.  

But tennis could help.

Tennis clubs and the people who both work and play there could develop and project their own messages of choice and health.

In this episode, we talk about:

• The prevailing "nutrition" messages attached to food products and food-like products
• How these products, while making it "easy" from a consumption standpoint are making it "hard" on us from a physical standpoint
• Why the insurance industry hasn't banded together with government to create and propagate counter-messaging around our choices
• What a tennis club could do to develop and propagate its own healthy eating lifestyles that serve as a safe haven for those of us seeking an effective counter-message and something that will stand with us in our fight for better quality of life and longevity

Thanks for joining us on our journey!

www.tennisrockers.com

Maybe an alternative to all that is boredom.  

What would happen if you took away all the choices and let boredom work its magic?  A type of kid bored that forced the student (and the coach) to make their own fun?  Would they get so hungry that they would do the tough stuff if that was the only option?

In this episode, we explore the option of boredom as a motivating force in any tennis lesson to do the tough stuff.  

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com

No one wants a drill instructor for a dentist so why would they want one in a tennis pro?

In this episode, we examine the energy these two types - their motivations (control?) and how they impact other co-teaching pros, students and the facility.  We also speculate as to why people would choose and stick with such a pro - higher visibility or instantly appealing (an emotional purchase?) - and what it would take for them to change.

Could it be the drill instructor is more visible than the co-conspirator pro?  Could it be the drill instructor seems appealing on the surface but then their coarseness overtime is emotionally or mentally stifling?  What kind of a mixed message are we sending to kids who interact with these pros?  On the one hand, we're telling them the tennis club is a place to have fun and learn a cool sport but in practice, many times, we're putting them into a situation with coaches who are trying to "produce" a product (a competent tennis player) using a drill instructor mentality.    

Hopefully we've helped.  

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com

In this episode, we take a look at each of these personality types, in the context of:
How these personalities effect a students selection or avoidance of them
How these personalities are interpreted by club staff help students navigate the choice of coaches
Why students might want to change coaches after making the commitment 
Why coaches may choose a certain approach because of their "forward facing" role in interacting with students and the public
What coaches should consider when reflecting on and altering their on court approach 
The economics and reciprocity of coaches recommending students switch to a coach that is better suited to their own personality

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com
 

All that time spent practicing "reactive tennis" may be unknowingly leading us into the "fixed mindset" trap of responses:

• This isn't how we play tennis!
• Why do we need to learn this?
• Can't we just play?
• Aren't my strokes good enough to win?

Cutting the "neural pathways" in working on proactive tennis (strategy) is difficult, especially for new players and so it's tempting to ditch it in favor of the "fun" of just hitting.  

But the "reactive tennis" mindset can become an invisible barrier to improving our game.   A barrier that can lead to emotional plateaus or trenches which cause us to become deflated, lose confidence in our game and skills, and for some to walk away from the game for awhile or forever.

We think doubles could be the key. 

Doubles forces players to focus on tennis from an emotional and mental place of being proactive rather than reactive.  It could also build that illusive team environment that people complain tennis is always lacking.  

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com
 

Why not?  Wouldn't it aid a students acquisition and emotional and mental processing and retention of the concepts, movements, strategies, technique, and terms a tennis student is expected to acquire?

In this episode, we leverage yet another series of struggles coach Sully has had with some outside ideas from coach Claude to find a suitable solution for both coaches and students - the paper notebook.

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com

And tennis parents play a very important role in the development of their children.  All emotional, financial, and mental support these parents provide as their child works their way through the game is very serious.   These parents have the experience, perspective, resources, and tools that no one coach or mentor can ever possibly provide.  

But something happens along the way and we think we know what it is.  Too many tennis parents stay "outside" and off the court instead of getting on the court and inside the game.  They pay, but they don't play.  They become a customer and a critic but never have to deal with "how to make the dough" which cuts against their street cred they have with their own kid and creates unnecessary anxiety and resentment which can lead to resistance, burnout, and walking away from the sport.  

In essence what makes the crazy tennis parent is they become too much of a payor and not enough of a player.

In this episode, we take apart the tennis parent and pursue some possibilities that could make healthier relationships among coaches, parents, and players.    

Thanks for joining us on out journey!
www.tennisrockers.com

In this episode, we continue to take apart the internal commentator to figure out how to work with it instead of against it.  

Here is what we have so far:

• Slow down your transfer of personal data - you, not your student is skilled in tennis techniques, movement, strategy - they process slower
• Narrow down the choices a student will have to choose from
• Watch for the outward expressions of understanding or confusion and be ready to roll with it
• Keep in mind what kind of student they are-will to connect, conquer, know, or serve  
• Question whether they have the will to work on what you want - if they don't ask them what part of it they want (their will) to work on
• Work on it together

This of course is just a start.  Tell us where we can take it next!

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com

While the commentator can help us make decisions and steer us away from things that aren't good for us, it can become a bit of an invisible barrier to our growth and personal development both in the sport of tennis and in our outside lives.  

The internal commentator can interfere (as a student) with our acquisition, processing, and practice of newly received information.  It can also interfere (as a coach) with our interpretation (of a students skill level), our forceful teaching (will to conquer) of specific concepts, and our ignorance of the pace at which the student needs to proceed in order to acquire these new skills.  

In this episode we arrive at one problem with the coach/student relationship - projection of the coaches skill/abilities onto the lesser skilled student.  

Have you seen this in yourself?  Are you ok with it or is it time for a change?

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com

Probably not enough.  

The sound - commentators and commercials alike - could be unknowingly preventing your brain from properly observing, analyzing, digesting, and coming up with a plan to propel the acquisition of your tennis forward.  

In this episode, we break into the subject of the good and bad of the external (broadcaster or tennis pro/coach!) and internal (ourselves) commentator and the effect that it has on our learning and personal development.  

We think becoming aware of and managing these commentators can have a profound effect on the amount and speed of information you can consume, assimilate, and execute at a given moment.  

Join us.
www.tennisrockers.com

/\/\

It's not always what you think.  

Yes, for those who are just starting out, it can be the hardware (the racquets, cart, and cones) or the acknowledgement of their past achievements. But for those tennis pros in it for the long game, it's more about the software.  

In this episode we talk tennis pro software - what it takes for our resident pro to be good to go:

• Be engaged with students
• To have at least one connection (with a student) moment
• A student who doesn't resist what you're teaching
• To be able to introduce and work with a student on a concept or technique that involves struggle
• To have time to reflect and process on where the student's development is at and what you can bring to them
• To receive an emotional reaction that the student is being emotionally effected - no indifference allowed

Whether you're a relatively new pro or a paying parent we hope we can help.  

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com

It's like arriving in your hotel room only to find the previous guest packing things up, with their friends or family members still seated on the bed or using the bathroom that you are going to use and leaving their trash and crumbs on the floor.  

These instances are both annoying and frustrating and can put everyone in a bad mood by the offending dude(s).  

Court etiquette, as it's commonly called, needs a redo.  In this episode, we start to take a look at some possible options for reminding and possibly reprimanding both the slight and the outright offenders.  

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com

With each new piece of music a student brings to a teacher, the teacher may struggle in order to figure it out or show it to the student.  They make mistakes and the student makes mistakes - they go through the struggle together - and there is a tremendous sense of satisfaction which both student and teacher feel together.  

Are tennis coaches and players feeling that sense of satisfaction?   Are coaches going through and appreciating the struggle their students are engaged in?  Are you working with a will to conquer (must win or accomplish something) or a will to know (a sense of curiosity and a desire to work together) coach or student?  

In this episode we move the ball a little further down field in figuring out the vision by adding:

* Nicknames
* Personas
* Signature shots 

Happy new year!
Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com

In this episode, we address another invisible barrier to the acquisition of that vision - the will to conquer and the will to know.  In our conversation, we uncover this hidden approach that most people hold as an operating principal.  We discuss its influence on our ability to acquire skills such as a coveted one-handed backhand both as a theoretical precept and in actual practice of a tennis lesson.  

We'll touch on issues related to:

* Not being self-conscious but at the same time being self-aware 
* Letting go of getting good quickly
* How the will to conquer breeds self-consciousness
* Identifying whether you or a coach has a will to conquer or a will to know
* How to balance the will to conquer against the will to know

Thanks for joining us on our journey!
www.tennisrockers.com

Maybe more students need to come to their coaches (like aspiring musicians do with their music teachers) with a vision of who they want to play like or be like.  Maybe more coaches need to start asking questions to help students get at their vision and refer back to that vision in lessons.  Maybe facilities should start offering vision classes and establish dream boards for students that give them a reference point.  

Take the lead from music and music stores - the kid who comes in wearing the concert t-shirt (like tennis clothes), holding the instrument that a famous musician plays (like the tennis racquet), and asks if you can show him how to play like that musician (tennis player) already has a vision.  

Maybe your coaches or students do too - you'll never know until you ask and follow through:)

In this episode we begin our emotional journey of tennis.  We see the pressure that we put on ourselves or others (as parents to kids) can lead to a whole host of emotions that closes down the brain and causes the body to lock up.  

Seeing the joy in the struggle of our sport won't be for everyone, but it just might help re-energize the way we approach tennis.  

rockerstennis@gmail.com
www.tennisrockers.com