I would just like to say...

A big welcome to Guadeloupe, the Netherlands and Poland to the blog. You have joined another 13 countries that look and read. If you feel you can contribute to this blog just let me know! After all its not a one man show but a sharing of ideas from coaches and players world wide.

Also welcome Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia, Ireland and Germany!

Thankyou for looking in!

Pics from the past

Working with some top class players!

Pre match Anxiousness

I coach a number of club players who play well in practice or in lessons but when it comes to matches they become toast. Why is it that we are successful on Saturday yet suck on Sunday?

Remember it is a normal response to the upcoming match to feel nerves. This is just your mind and body getting ready for the effort. Before i carry on with some tips let me take you to a story......
Two players about to step out to the court in for an important match one turns to his coach and says i have butterflies in my stomach, i feel sick as he rubs his clammy hands together. The other turns to his coach and states i feel nervous, what a great feeling. Coach i am ready!

1. If you are nervous, deep slow breathing helps lower your arousal level or listen to your favourite music that is suited to your situation. Never underestimate the use of music!

2. If you are without anxiousness be wary that you are too relaxed and may start the match too passively. Raise your arousal level!

3. Review your main strategy and revisit your confidence cv.

Good luck

I Quote...

If you aren't going all the way, why go at all?

Gameplans...

When on a forum about gameplans i have to share this post stated from a good friend of mine Duey Evans

First, last and always figure out the riddle of the match. Some places you can start are:
1. Figure out if he/she can beat you? If not, be patient
2. If you allow him to, will he/she beat themselves? Is so, allow them to
3. Find a way to match up what you do best to make the thing he believes is his biggest weapon fail. If he feels his strength (not necessarily a shot but very well could be) is less than your strength you have an advantage.

Remember to keep asking yourself if the riddle has a new twist?

Enjoy the battles!


Thanks Duey!

The Art of Confidence

Confidence is a delicate form, it can take time to build but only a second to lose!!

If you are with Confidence then you have a strong belief in that area, with a strong belief in that area comes a great amount of energy with it. There are generally two types within this area for athletes, general confidence of own skills and specific confidence of particular skills. For instance Ali had one of the best general self-confidence abilities in the world by consistently stating ‘I AM THE GREATEST’.

Exercise…state a truth about your strengths in your game, and live it. Start with I AM…

Simple enough and if you give energy and act as if it is true and you will begin to believe this too.

Specific confidence is the ability to stand up and hit a particular serve to a certain place without fail. You are confident it will work.

Answer this question.....If I was playing against me how would I beat me??

Take your shots you utilise in match play and compare them with the following statements. For instance with your first serve in match play do you hope or know it will work?

I. I hope I can hit this shot (or perhaps you can pray for divine intervention instead)

II. I think I can hit this shot (this is just Stinkin’ Thinkin’ and it will not hold up)

III. I believe I can hit this shot (A great starting place but still requires work)

IV. I Know I can hit this shot (A great aspect but there is better to come, seek and you shall find!)

V. I will hit this shot (The mark of World Class Athletes)

Use the Tennis Tech List (click blue to access this) and fill this out to help yourself.

Use the scoring system below to help:-

I-1/2    II-3/4    III-5/6    IV-7/8    V-9/10

Coach Andy Dowsett

Welcome the following contributors....

Silvija Talaja  is a former Croatian professional tennis player.

Her most successful year was 2000, when she won two WTA tournaments and received career-high ranking of number 18 (on 29 May). She also won one WTA title in doubles, and won a gold medal in 1993 Mediterranean Games in doubles.
She will bring to the blog her experiences and expertise on the world of tennis from her view!



Jason Lampione
http://www.findatenniscoach.com/
http://www.jasonlampione.blogspot.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonlampione
http://www.tennisopolis.com/
http://10nis4all.wordpress.com/
http://www.twitter.com/jlampione
http://www.sportingmentors.com/

His websites, insights and knowledge speak for themselves!

Welcome guys!

Tennis Psychology course latest

The 12-Week Tennis Psychology programme is going well. Don't forget the start of every month is when i accept a new intake. We have now over 50 students in the programme, try it out yourself!

You can also visit the site www.tennismentality.co.uk for more info!

The course takes the form of the following information.....

Week 1 - Knowing your game

Week 2 - Power goalsetting for performance

Week 3 - The Art of Confidence in your game

Week 4 - The ultimate pre training confidence exercise

Week 5 - The importance of crossing the line for a winning mindset

Week 6 - Personalised Serve Routines

Week 7 - Personalised Return of Serve Routines

Week 8 - End of point play and scenarios to keep you on track

Week 9 - Staying activated and towards the zone

Week 10 - Pre match planning and game plans

Week 11 - After match evaluation and never ending improvement

Week 12 - Free Question and Email Session

If you would like to take part in this programme that will ultimately improve your game then email enquiries@andytennis.co.uk. Cost is a mere £30.00!

or click the title above!

Book of the Week...

This is my book of the week. All coaches should have this in their collection period!
One link if for the US version and one for the UK. Saves you all looking!

I Quote...

Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires to reach their potential.

Developing your Philosophy

Developing Your Coaching Philosophy 

Self Awareness:

Why do I coach?

What are my goals as a coach?

Am I a good coach?

What would make me a better coach?

How would my athletes describe me as a coach?

What do I value most about coaching?

Personal Philosophy:

Do you think that a coaching philosophy that includes an emphasis on optimal development and experience is unrealistic or naïve in today’s society?

Do you believe that the greatest athletes in the world care about optimal experience and optimal development as much as the bottom line, winning or losing?

Do you think your philosophy should remain the same regardless of the age or ability?

Is it important that all your athletes and assistant coaches (if you have any) accept and believe in your philosophy?

Can the philosophy of coaching male and female athletes be the same (why or why not?)

The life of a tennis coach week 43-2010

Coaching Hours - 24
Sets played - 4

Training undertaken - 3 hours

Books read - 2 chapters

Rained off sessions - 0 (but had the pleasure of getting wet a few times!)

What a roller-coaster of a week. But a week of finding myself.
School Holidays in a club can either be busy or bare. Not sure what i had on this one, Monday and Tuesday turned out busy. However whilst participating in a match i decided to play the worst tennis in years. Outcome - Win.
My head is having trouble with the win part, i am not happy winning and playing pants whilst i would have preferred to have lost and played outstanding. Wow what a confidence drop in my game. Need to consult my confidence cv to bring this back up again.
The 3rd book i am co-writing with a collegue is well on the way and going great guns, i am hoping to finish this get the remainder of the work done and hand this over to the publisher who is waiting for said book.
Thursday was a family day to Disney on Ice, wow it seems i am so not used to having a day out! O2 and a trip to Hamleys in London.
Saturday i committed to just 5 hours coaching and then my wee girls 3rd birthday part 1, followed by her actual halloween party on Sunday.
Strange week my father grows weaker by the day it seems with MND and this week surely is the start of the slog to wherever. Not sure how this leaves me nor how i feel about it but life goes on and right now i need to finish the year off. I have realised i need to leave the past behind and move on, why do i feel i still owe people when actually who really cares? I have turned down many opportunities and offers so not to offend and ultimately who does this affect? Myself and my family!  

For sure i have had some great times this year but i am ready to start 2011 right now.
My next two months will be my winter for taking stock and building projects ready to harvest in the new year.
This should show fruition for the Spring ready to reap in the Summer.
I knew the seasons meant something!

My weeks lesson
This is more a question that i need to answer - What is my life mission right now, what is my personal and coaching philosophy?
I have blogged this on a seperate page for you to print and check out yourself!

Catch up with you all next week

Andy

Purely stolen from Ed Tsengs Blog but i like it.....

Someone once said, (and that someone was Ed Tseng), that good teachers borrow and GREAT teachers steal.

Well, today’s message was stolen.

My good friend and mentor, the great Rob Gilbert, Ph.D, one of the top sports psychologists in the world shared something with me recently.

He said that Lou Holtz, the former head coach of the Notre Dame football team once said that there are four types of people in the world…

The cop-outs.

The hold-outs.

The drop-outs.

And the all-outs.

The cop-outs make excuses.

The hold-outs hold back.

The drop-outs give up.

And the all-outs go all-out all the time.

Which category do you fall into?

I Quote...

When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this: you haven't!

Tennis has got Talent

Help me with a simple question.
One question, possible multiple answers

Will appreciate your time

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YC6W3D2 (click title above in blue to access)

Thanks

Andy

The life of a tennis coach week 42-2010

Coaching hours - 28

Sets played - 15

Training undertaken - 3 hours

Books read - 4 chapters

Rained off sessions - 1

A busy week indeed from running around the schools and to visiting my old club to cover a few hours to school runs and writing my latest book along side Mike Barrell of Evolve9 fame.

My tennis groups are growing in stature and i believe the club is beginning to enter into a 'tipping point' scenario. School sessions are showing fruition funding is still coming in and word for sure is getting out there.

My aim still is to attain 40 hours of work a week on court, off court i am used to working and writing but thats pleasure rather than business. The Stonebridge Academy idea is a step closer to becoming reality, numerous phone calls with the fella show we have alot in common and a common philosophy in the way we teach.

This will hopefully (all being well) ready and up and running come September 2011.

A trip down memory lane took me to Stockbrook my old haunt to cover some coaching for a good friend. Wow it felt good to be back and see so many familiar faces! There is a reason for everything and lets see what comes of this wee venture in the future. 

After an enormous downpour of rain overnight i was set to run all Saturdays coaching sessions indoors in the hall but decided against this and continued my 9 till 5 spate of coaching outside. Not one drop of rain today either till i finished the day. The gods truly are looking upon me and my family after some eventual good news from what has turned out to be a rather torrid year so far. Too many changes for my liking and hopefully the next few weeks will have seen a corner turned in fortunes and prosperity!

Now to prepare myself for my two matches mens and a postal mixed. The latter i am aiming for the finals in redbridge later this year.

Overall this truly has been a great week for learning. My summation for this is Talented individuals can make it up the ladder of sporting excellence some way before falling short, but a growing mindset and hunger to train, learn, understand and improve will take you to the top. Insight number 2 takes me to believe that whereas technique in tennis is important the ability to play the game with the important technical pieces (and to my mind there are 3 on the serve, 3 on the forehand and 3 on the backhand that need to be utilised) the ability to play and understand the game is more important. Insight number 3 is the ability to not get our students to think of what happens on his side but what happens on the other side of the court.

As my great friend and collegue Jason Lampione says 'See you at the Top'

The short ball.....

You know i have been taught and have been on courses whereby tutors have taught many aspects in tennis of attacking a short ball.
I was even lead to believe that a short ball is anything that lands in a certain area of the court and this should be attacked at all costs being an attacking baseline player. For many years this was the case for me until i eventually worked it out myself! If only my coaches when i was younger had taught me this simple application then i may have won more trophies!

The trouble with this scenario was whilst playing matches i always found it difficult to get into the net or up the court on certain short balls! Perhaps you have had the same problem?

Now as a player, instinct told me to stay back or attack/approach on these balls but how do we teach this to our students?

Take a look at the diagram below. This was designed by a great coach Ray Brown who amongst many accolades is a tour coach in the USA.

This explains it all. I had been on countless courses in the UK whereby coach education tutors where teaching nothing like this, except ''for your standard anything short should be attacked''. By looking at the diagram above you can understand why many shots hit by the top players land short but keep many players back! The amount of driven spin on these shots make approaching or attacking a little more difficult.

Here are my 3 top tips on attacking short balls

1. Be alert and  be ready for when you get that short ball you jump on it straight away
2. Take it on the rise
3. Throw your body into the shot and carry on moving through the shot

If you want more advice on any of these articles then please feel free to email me enquiries@andytennis.co.uk

I Quote...

Only those who dare to try new avenues and perhaps fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.

Matches for Juniors

How many matches should your juniors play per week according to age?
I have put this in the following way, age, number of sets per week, total matches per year

Under 10
2 full sets or 2 abbreviated scoring matches per week
Up to 40 matches

Under 12
4 sets or 2 full matches per week
40-60 matches

Under 14
4 sets or 2 full matches per week
50-80 matches

Under 16
6 sets or 3 full matches per week
60-80 matches

Under 18
6 sets or 3 full matches per week
60-80 matches

This is only a guide but it will give you an understanding of where your students are and where they need to be. One of the problems in many clubs is getting the kids down the club to play. In  your squads create a session where they all meet and play to practice with eachother per week, create a ladder league or box league just for this group to compete in.

Hope this helps with your knowledge

Coach Dowsett

The life of a tennis coach week 41-2010

How many hours of coaching is enough to produce a love in your job and how much is too much? I think i would be happy with 4 days and 8 hours of coaching per day. The perfect lifestyle i think.

This gives me time to spend with the family which is important this day and age. Especially when people around you are getting older. Next year will be my 40th and would i have changed a thing? Probably but why look back? Its better to look to the future and what can be!

In my days this week i have finished jotting down the outline for a 4 week primary school coaching programme. Full of drills and ideas. This is perfect to get the kids buzzed up enough about tennis and into your club. I have just finished a four week schedule in one particular school and managed to bring 8 children from the school back to the club in the first week. Give this two to three weeks and we will see how many turn up through 'friend pressure'! The feed back from the kids and school teachers is energy enough to keep going  back! I will post the ebook free on my website for 1 week before i start charging. So keep an eye out!

I am in talks about running some coach education in the USA this will be based on 1 or possibly 2 day courses spread over a week in a few centres around certain cities. A great opportunity and certainly one i wont be passing by! I am also being interviewed for tennisworldusa which should be interesting. I will post the article here and let you all know how it goes.

In a reminiscing kind of way i visited my old club that i think set my on my way to coaching excellence. Here i was doing a 45 hour week and enjoying every minute of it. Days were busy and evenings were down to 3 a week and half a day at weekends. Plenty to run a small academy and teach ample of kids and adults. Amazing to go for a coffee and still be recognised and even asked to come back and work part time. The place is having a makeover and has planning permission for indoor courts!

All very good but i have plans (family permitting) at my own club with a players academy and the Adrian Stonebridge coaching academy next year. My job is just to get through the winter like all outdoor coaches and make it i guess to March. From there on in things will be a breeze and enjoyable for all! For now i will take said position and build up some day work, after all i love my job and twice already i had to be reminded to take the money from group sessions after walking away to go do another lesson!

Meanwhile i keep writing, plotting and planning.

See you next week!