Return of Serve Training

“OK, do you want to get broken first, or do you want to let me hold?” —What cheeky world No. 1 Martina Hingis quipped at the coin toss before a 1997 match against Lindsay Davenport.

Advantages of returning serve

•    If your opponent is a slow starter, you have a better chance of getting an early service break.
•    If you are a slow starter, you have a better chance of avoiding an early service break.
•    If you serve on even-numbered games, you serve immediately after every changeover. Then you are physically and mentally rested—albeit your opponent also is—and that gives you a better chance of holding serve, especially in the latter stages of grueling matches.
•    If you choose return of serve to start the match, you still have about a 50 percent chance—depending on whether sets total an even or odd number of games—of serving to start the remaining sets. And if you start the match returning serve and you play a first-set tiebreaker, you will serve to start the second set.
•    If you boast an excellent return of serve and your opponent has a poor serve, you may want her to serve first so you can try to gain an early service break and get off to a fast start.
•    The same thinking holds true (in reverse) if you have a weak, attackable serve and your opponent has a terrific service return. You can avoid a demoralizing early service break by selecting return of serve.
•    If your opponent wins the toss and selects a side of the court so that you’re looking into a bright sun and/or you’re against a heavy wind, you may not want to risk losing your serve in the opening game.

THE TECHNIQUE IN PROGRESSIONS

Basics

Utilise a Wide Athletic Stance - Positioning towards the ball

Work out opponents range of serves zone

Lower level players can only serve to specific areas on the court, take not of this and use this to your advantage!

Set up your Y-formation in relation to the above

Change your return position to force your opponent to serve to the areas they don't like!

Timing

Everybody has a timing on the return of serve however i find the best sequence is to step forward on the ball toss and then to split step forward as the racket reaches the lowest part of the throwing action behind the back. From here cut off the angle to return (Y-Formation).

THE TACTICS

Utilise the following tactics to enhance your return of serve game

1. First, stand far behind the baseline. This often encourages your opponent to overhit the serve in an effort to get it past or through you.
2. Second, stand closer to the service line. Many players take this as a sign of disrespect for their serve and become unnerved. Often it triggers a more aggressive, riskier serve than the server might otherwise attempt.
3. Third, a variant of the previous tactic, stand close to the service line before your opponent serves. This can create pressure on the server, then just before the serve, move back to a safer position to actually make the return.
4. Four, stand nearer to one side. Invite the server to serve into the open area of the service box. This tactic can often force a serve to your stronger side.

Return Targets using the 4-Square basic routine

Tactical choices for the receiver in terms of 4-Square.

• If you don’t know the server’s capabilities, at the beginning of the match, it’s wise to use percentage tennis and target the back two squares using topspin or well-struck underspin shot that drives the ball deep into the court.
• As the match progresses, you should start varying your return locations. To hit to the wider squares.
• If you’re looking at a slow, shallow second serve into the service box, you can also use a drop shot to 1 or 4.

Consider the following tactical points also…

Borrow pace from the big first servers

Make something happen when returning second serves. Here, patterns of play enter the picture. Either drive the return deep into the corner or chip and charge and take control of the net. When driving the return of the second serve and remaining on the baseline, simply play the ball crosscourt. No real reason to return down the line, for in that case the net is high, the court is shorter, and most importantly, the recovery footwork is magnified.

Approach up the line

THE PSYCHOLOGY

Pay attention to what happens after double faults (3 in a row is winner)

Now consider the server who double faults, and then misses the subsequent first serve – assuming they would not care to deliver consecutive double faults they generally let up on that next second serve. The aggressive receiver knows this is coming, steps in and makes something happen, working always to apply more and more pressure against the second serve.

For anticipation information on the return of serve check out my latest article http://thelifeofatenniscoachandplayer.blogspot.com/2010/12/art-of-anticipation-serve.html

Overall aim - to play at 60-70 percent of return stroke capability so you can get a high percentage of returns in.

Setting Goals for 2011 5 of 7

f you have reached day 5 then you really are ready for a great 2011, but we have more work to do and more cutting down of goals. After all lets really face it, how many goals can you achieve in a year?

After each remaining goal ask yourself these questions and these relate to session one:

1. Will reaching this goal make me happier?

2. Will reaching this goal make me healthier?

3. Will reaching this goal make me more prosperous?

4. Will reaching this goal make me more friends?

5. Will reaching this goal give me peace of mind?

6. Will reaching this goal make me more secure?

7. Will reaching this goal improve my realationships with others?

If you cant answer yes to at least 2 of these questions then eliminate them from your list. Be sure to consider your family when you answer these questions.

What remains now are our true goals and tomorrow we will divide these up into workable chunks. Remember and inch is a cinch but a mile is a trial.

Results for tennis organisation Survey

Okay here are the results for the Survey


Question 1 - Which tennis organisation has given you the most knowledge as a coach to be the best you can be?


1. Modern Tennis / PTR
2. LTA
3. RPT / Inspire2coach


Question 2 - Which organisation is most important for your career as a coach?


1. LTA
2. All others with 0%


Question 3 was for me but a resounding note on drills was key in continuing education courses.


The winner of the Barricade Trainers has been emailed.

Setting Goals for 2011 4 of 7

Day 4. 

I have had many questions on goal setting already and although i have answered these individually for you all, i will use examples in my next blog to show you all how easy these can be.

But before i digress, you are doing well if you are at this stage, although yesterdays work wasn't difficult.

Now I want you to take further goals away from your list as we continue to cut away the naff stuff.

Ask these four questions, ALL of which must have a ''yes'' answer:

1. Is it really my goal?

2. Is it consistent with my other goals?

3. Can i commit myself to finish this goal?

4. Can i see myself reaching this goal?

Remember this will help to reduce your goals on your i really want to be, do or have sheet and make the whole process more manageable. We are now one more step away from realising your true goals list and that will become the focus of tomorrows session!

Using Ball Machines for Singles Practice

Ball Machines – Using them for Singles Practice

by Ken DeHart

USA High Performance Coach

PTR & USPTA Master Professional

Go to www.kendeharttennis.com for additional tips on improving your tennis & teaching

Ball machines are great for practicing your singles shots – if positioned correctly.

5 things NOT to do when using a ball machine:

1.      Do not place the ball machine only on the baseline in the center of the court

2.      Do not have the ball machine oscillate only from deuce court to ad court

3.      Do not use the ball machine to practice only your ground strokes

4.      Do not stand still after each of your shots

5.      Do not return random shots of the in-coming ball

5 things TO consider doing when using a ball machine:

1.      Place the ball machine off center where the opponent might be when making a shot

2.      Have the ball machine direct the shots where the opponent might hit based upon their position on the court or particular tendencies of a know opponent

3.      If you wish to have the ball machine oscillate, have it direct he ball within the options available if it were playing from that position in a rally.

4.      After each shot recover to a new position on the court based upon where you place your return of the ball then recover quickly based upon where the next ball is coming from the ball machine.

5.      Direct each ball you receive back toward an intended target. Aim for a direction and depth using the appropriate spin as you send the ball back over the net.

There are many options to consider in planning your practice to improve the quality and effectiveness of you practice time with the ball machine.

5 things to consider when PLANNING your practice:

1.      Getting advice from someone on how to adjust the ball machine and how to vary deliveries of the ball

2.      The length of time you want to practice – half an hour or an hour based upon your goals, shots you wish to work on and conditioning level

3.      Having a friend join in with you to practice volleys off your ground strokes, lobbing off your volleys when at the net or alternating hitting after a certain number of shots or pattern has been completed.

4.      It also helps when it comes time to pick up the balls when the machine is empty so you can spend more time hitting. That may include taking turns putting balls in the machine while either of you are hitting then rotating turns. Consider serving all the balls that did not make it over the net when you do have to pause to pick up the balls to work on your serve as part of your practice.

5.      Write down drills you create or ask your tennis professional to suggest some drills that would be good for your singles game.

10 options to make your PRACTICE PRACTICAL:

1.      Select real singles targets using the 4 squares on the opposite side of the net. Square 1 is the deuce service court, square 2 is the space behind the deuce service court, square 3 is the space behind the ad service court and square 4 is the ad service court. This will help you with the direction and depth of your intended target and make your practice more practical.

2.      Even though the ball machine is set to send the ball to you as a ground stroke, practice moving forward after your initial shot to play a half-volley and then moving in further to play a volley or two.

3.      As you play shots moving in toward the net, select targets for direction and depth that you would actually use if your opponent were on the baseline where the ball machine is located and your were attempting to capture the net.

4.      When you get to the net, recover back quickly and retreat back toward the baseline as though you were put on total defense by your opponent. Pause to make a shot from your position and then retreat further back until you choose to advance forward again.

5.      Vary the speed of your shots. Use the 3 speeds mentioned in other articles: level 1 is slower and has lots of spin, level 2 is a rally speed and level 3 is as hard as you can hit – without missing.

6.      Vary the spin of your shots. Use varying degrees of topspin and underspin to improve your weapons in match play.

7.      Vary the frequency of the shots delivered by the ball machine. Allow little time between shots or too much time like an opponent who plays softly and slowly with their returns.

8.      Vary the spin of the shots delivered by the ball machine to help you learn how to receive different shots that may be difficult for you in your matches.

9.      Limit the number of shots you make without pausing. Hitting 3oo balls in a row just because that is how many the ball machine holds is not effective not efficient practice. After about 40 or 50 balls, use the remote and turn off the machine and reset some feature of the ball you are receiving – change the direction of the in-coming ball, speed, spin or depth of the ball.

10.  Change your targets often. Practice enough returns to specific targets until you feel comfortable with that target then move on to a new target that demonstrates your ability to control the direction, depth, spin and speed of your returning shot.

Ask your tennis professional to use a ball machine in your next lesson to see how it can be used effectively in your practice session. Ball machines are great ways to permit repetition in receiving particular balls and learning a response to that ball. Ball machines also assist in developing confidence in your strokes so you can use them in match play without having to think about “how” to hit. This will allow you to focus more on the strategy of “where” to direct your shots and enjoy playing the game – TENNIS.

Go to www.kendeharttennis.com and click on Blog for additional tips to improve your game.

 Ken DeHart
SJSRC Director of Tennis
PTR & USPTA Master Professional
408-892-3806 cell
www.kendeharttennis.com

Borgs Mental Lessons

Borg's mental lessons

By Bjorn Borg 
Winner of 11 Grand Slam titles 

I used to be one of the worst behaved kids on the tennis court.
When I was 11 or 12 years old I played for my hometown club outside Stockholm where I grew up and one day the club arranged a meeting with my parents to do something about my behaviour.

I practised five hours a day and I wanted to win every single point in those five hours 
Bjorn Borg

Swearing, throwing racquets - you name it, I was doing it. My parents were really embarrassed.
The club decided to suspend me for six months and I was really sad and disappointed because I loved to play tennis.
That was a great lesson for me at the time. When I came back after six months I did not open my mouth and that's probably where I got my temperament from.
Sure you have feelings and you get emotional and angry but I kept everything inside because I think I still had that thought in my mind - I didn't want to get suspended again.
My dream as a kid was to play Wimbledon and maybe one day to win Wimbledon but to win it five times in a row, I remember my match against John McEnroe in 1980 walking off that court, it was the best thing to happen.
To win that last point in the Wimbledon final - that's the most wonderful feeling you can have as a tennis player. That was the best that I could perform.
Of course I felt sometimes inside that I could show an outburst of emotions but I kept them inside and I could still focus and concentrate on the game.
It is a learning process. When I was practising as a kid, I always wanted to win.

BJORN BORG

Born: 6.6.1956 Sodertalijie, Sweden

Wimbledon titles: 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980

Grand Slam titles: 11

Career titles: 61

Prize money: $3,655,751

It didn't matter if it was a practice, I wanted to win every single point. I practised five hours a day and I wanted to win every single point in those five hours.
Still in my mind I had the suspension when I was a kid and I think by being very serious on the court, learning how to play well under pressure, I could play really well on the important points in the match.
I think that was probably one of my strongest points.
I lost my motivation a little bit when I lost to John McEnroe in the 1981 Wimbledon final.
I still played good tennis but I did not have the same focus that I had for many years. I always gave 100% and loved to win and hated to lose but if you lose that little bit of an edge it is very difficult to do well.
Something was missing and for me as a person that is not right. 

Story from BBC SPORT:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport1/hi/tennis/skills/6221710.stm

Published: 2007/06/26 11:51:04 GMT

© BBC 2011

I am pleased to announce World renowned tennis coach and educator Ken Dehart to my blog!
To find out more about Ken and his products and articles visit his site http://www.kendeharttennis.com/



I look forward to some of his many articles!

Andy

Great Reading on Focus and the younger generation

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/technology/21brain.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

Check this great article out on why kids this day and age struggle to focus!

Coach Organisation Survey

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

The life of a tennis coach week 01-2011

Happy New Year to you all!

So having personally completed all my goalsetting many things have happened
1. Opportunities have already shown themselves to me in the form of contacts and jobs!
2. I am more focused with many mini goals throughout the next 2 months

Coming this year i have the next priorities
To get Tennis Mind up and running for Coaches, Parents and Players
To run a new venture for lower level players called 'The Fun Level Cup'
To start the Tennis 2020 venture
Write, plan and run a week long 'Tour Coaching' attendance course
and finally
Having planned and programmed Tennis90 this will be up and running in a postal format

For myself i have managed out of the blue to land a lucrative six month contract providing tennis articles for a company in China.
Had a phone call out the blue again about running a county wide programme on badminton courts for munchkins and mini reds! The courts are available and signed and sealed the programme that i have been working on prior to the phone call is ready and this particular deal will be signed this Friday!
Finally, i have two centres that wish for me to place a programme and coach into.

All these derived after i had set and clearly thought about my goals. Coincidence? Who knows but i do know that give enough energy to a project and then the project will grow. One of the best quotes i learnt was where goes your attention so goes your energy!

I will leave you with that thought

Andy

Setting Goals for 2011 3 of 7

Lets continue....we have our dream list written down at this stage and what a list some of us may have! My goals this year are only 4 work related ones but from here i have a mountain of mini goals/daily goals to get through!

You may find that you have written down many goals but your job is to start cutting out from your list to what you believe is the most important or the most beneficial in your life right now.

For each item you have written down answer the question ''WHY?''. If you cant verbalise in one sentence why you want to be, do or have, then it truly is a dream and not a real goal. at this point you should cross it off your list.

Good luck and see you all tomorrow. Once again i would like to welcome all the new guests from around the world, i am in awe of the different countries that check here and feel blessed to be able to bring you what i think is helpful information weekly to you all.

If there is anything you want me to blog on just ask and it will appear!

Have a great day

Andy

Setting Goals for 2011 2 of 7

So to week 2...

Having taken stock i want you now to make a list of everything that you want or need, desire or wish for in your life, environment and career that will enhance it this year. Anything that will enhance your current situation or take you to new heights in your career..

Write these down (as that is important for the following days to continue on) or type if you feel the need, all that you want to be, do or have. If you have a family, be sure to include your better half and children when you set your goals. This entire goal-setting process helps channel your logical left brain and frees your creative right brain for more effective use of your imagination. Note: you gotta 'be' before you can 'do' and you gotta 'do' before you can have.

Take action TNT – Today not Tomorrow

Goalsetting 1 of 7

Setting goals for 2011 Part 1 of 7

So once again we have approached the time of year to set the goals for yourself in all areas of your life and i am going to take you through this once again in the next 7 days.

Many have asked how I go about this and to save you looking back in the archives I will update and put up again for you all. This should roughly equate to about 2 hours worth of work.

First things first is think back to whether or not you have accomplished any of this years goals (if you set any that is!)

Your job for this session is to take stock of your life right now.

Answer the following questions...are you generally happy? How about your health? Are you respectively healthy? Are you reasonably prosperous? Do you feel secure in life? Do you have a good bunch of friends that you can rely and turn to? Have you peace of mind? Have you good family relationships? Have you hope in your life?

If you answer no to any of these questions then you need to set goals in the impending area. Take stock of the following areas in your life for today's task...

Personal Position

Financial Position

Career

Physical

Spiritual

Family

Social

Environmental

This is very similar to reviewing your past year in regards to everything you learnt, attained and achieved. Jot down everything that you have in these areas, paint a great image in your minds and we will move this onto the following stage tomorrow.

Good Luck and see you tomorrow

Andy

Tennis Psychology and the Ten Year Plan

World class start

For many kids this may be their first time in a sporting environment so it is vital in order for them to keep coming back week in week out that they feelsupported and challenged in an enjoyable way. It’s the role of the coach and the support of the parents that help attain the goals below. The main aim through tennis and related activities here would be:

• To focus on having a positive experience
• To be able to deal with challenges of taking part in team and partner
• To development of brain functions, social skills, emotions,attitudes, and imagination
• Here it is important that the focus of games is for participation and team related.

FUNdamentals

During this stage we introduce aspects of mental training. This should be dispersed throughout the final 2 years of the 3 year cycle the kids spend in this area. Here we look at…

• Confidence
• Concentration
• Motivation
• Relaxation
• Thought awareness/positive self-talk

Learning to Train

Here we can become a little more in depth with

• Imagery/Visualization
• Relaxation
• Goal Setting
• Continuation of thought awareness and self talk

Training to Train

The aim of this stage is to introduce athletes to more advanced forms of sport psychology/mental training. The new skills are:

• Profiling and understanding their game
• Continual Goal Setting and Reviewing adding long term aspects
• Enhancement of Imagery for Training and Competition
• Concentration Skills
• On and off court Performance Routines
• Match Preparation

Learning to Compete/Training to Compete

This stage is important as school life needs to be balanced a little more with exams at the forefront of life. This stage is important that our athletes understand themselves and can become self aware of their own particular needs in this area.

• Performance tracking and Match preparation
• Evaluation of Performance through a journal
• Consistency and Persistence in matchplay

Learning to Win

Part time jobs may come to the forefront here and again require balancing with the whole scheme of things. Our athletes have a great deal of knowledge but will need the following attributes…

• How to maintain Confidence, motivation and stay highly competitive
• Maintain a high level of knowledge of themselves
• Deal with the pressure of success or failure from themselves, coaches and peers
• Consistently fine tune their performance to raise their levels
• Be able to prepare and implement game plans
• Be able to scout potential opponents and keep notes on matches played
• Begin to teach life balance and financial skills

Training to Win

Athletes now must maintain a strong work ethic and understand they must train more effectively and regularly than those in the top 200 in the World!

My Ten Year Long Term Athletic Development Plan

Welcome the TENNIS2020 programme

Capitalising on the Ten year plan and the rule of thumb that it takes 8-12 years of training or 10,000 hours of training to produce a top class athlete. Here is the programme i have just instilled at my club.
Send me your thoughts and if you are interested i will send you the completed version (when finalised) so you can run something similar!

Stage 1 - World Class Start
Here the key is to get kids out of primary school in the early years and onto the court. Our aim and mission is to get them to turn up for tennis habitually and fall in love with the sport! We start the key areas of fundamental movement and having fun while exploring.
Stage 2 - FUNdamentals 
Concentrating on a high class mini red programme (of which i have a few courses for you next year to understand this more) our first goal here is to teach everything needed to build the fundamentals to consistently rally co-operatively on a micro court (shorter than a mini red).
Goal Two - to develop an all round basic play  incorporating groundstroke and net development drills and play along with serve, return drills and tactical decision making skills.
Goal Three - is to work on consistent precision over the mini red court and to understand more about tactical decision making of what shot when!
Psychology training also starts here.
All the above will be used by the excellent and proven methods from 'Modern Tennis'
Stage 3 - Learning to Train
This encompasses the Orange ball and Green ball at appropriate times.
The goal here is to complete the training and understanding of growing performance factors movement skills and evolve into the full court with green ball.
Stage 4 - Training to Train
This is a key area whereby students are reaching the critical age of 12 whereby i believe there should be no underlying technical flaws and by now our students can think and problem solve for themselves on the full court from green to yellow ball. Speed, strength, continuing flexibility and consolidation of skills are our goal here.
Stage 5 - Learning to Compete
In this mini stage our students are taught to know how to enforce their game onto their opponents, where to look, how to look and how to start competing and evolving as players. They are taught to evaluate and feedback performances to coaches and peers.
Stage 6 - Training to Compete
Here our goal is to put the above into practice more automatically.
Stage 7 - Learning to Win
We aim to hit home the psychological aspects here and gain a wealth of experience in matchplay. They will feel what it is like to win close matches, easy matches, from in front and behind, any aspect that will present itself in the next stage will be experienced and taught here with key warrior mentality skills. One of the key areas here is how to lose correctly and develop to become a more formidable opponent.
Stage 8 - Training to Win
With this particular plan our students will be 15/16 years of age and literally training to see if this would be the life for them! Its decision time and the results here will speak for themselves. This is a time for evaluating and fine tuning.
Final Stage - Competing to Win
Here lies the ultimate goal of continuous improvement to enhance this! Constant and never ending improvement is key.

Although this is how i see it and what i will go with personally, feedback would be great. Although you will not see the actual year to year planning you get the gist of the programme. Feel free to steal away and utilise for yourself and if you want a more detailed programme, i will send this to you for those enquiring.
enquiries@andytennis.co.uk
00447850237342

For those interested in the programme for their youngsters then again email me on the above, this is based in the Essex area, UK. (Forgive me rest of the world but i can liaise with you if you want to set up such a programme in your area!)

Enjoy and see you on court

Andy
www.andytennis.co.uk

I Quote...

Success is never ending, Failing is never final!

Pre-Court Rituals and Routines

Whilst sporadically playing the vets tennis tour, it is interesting to talk to many players about what they consider their pre-match rituals. They range from the most strange (warming up in the toilet cubicle) to the having no idea at all. But the question is where do you fall into this equation? Are you a player that just rushes on to the court a few minutes prior to the match and just cuff it?

Remember the match starts way before you step onto the court and by becoming aware of a great set of pre-match rituals you give yourself an even better chance in the battle arena. I am going to cover your routine at the venue itself.

Everyone has there own idea of a pre-court routine but below are 4 key areas that should be apart of any routine.

·         Scouting of opponent for his/her strengths or weaknesses

·         Taken in the right nutrition and hydration prior to playing

·         The appropriate amount of your time for relaxation or energising yourself and to work on strategy

·         The ability to take note of the conditions to ensure you try to plan what end to start from if possible

During the warm up

Look to get your feet moving and get a rhythm and looseness about your strokes. This doesn’t mean going full out to hit at 100% of your all out speed. Start slow and then gradually pick up the speed to your match rally pace. Aim to go out and warm up without missing a ball! That will warn your opponent he is in for a match with a very consistent player!

Remember your aim is to look at what your opponent likes to hit and then look between the lines, what shots has he/she not hit? Why not?

Now go work out your personalised at venue pre-match plan and again help yourself to winning ways.

Andy

The life of a tennis coach final week

Did i write this last week?
Ah no matter. Well the years has come to an end and now to relax for a few weeks.
Next year has brought in a great opportunity to jump back into coach education with a Worldwide growing organisation. Having been in the wilderness for 6 months now is the time to jump back in and give back to coaches of the UK and world. Certainly a project i am looking forward to and having missed such a role in the last half a year i cant wait to get up and running again come February.

I am expecting to produce at least 5 coaching DVD's with a great pal of mine next year and the upgrading of my qualifications to the top level in the next few years will see me okay i believe!

Well we have now hit 33 Countries around the world reading this blog. Let me know if there is anything you want covered and i will cover it or get someone to write an article on this if not my area of expertise!

Have a great rest of the year and may 2011 be healthy and prosperous for you all.

Thankyou for following and i will continue to post interesting and groundbreaking articles

Andy

Playing Tennis to Reach the Top

Having researched and spoken to many top class athletes and tennis players,  the common denominator between them and the average player is their ability to concentrate on working hard to improve daily! These players think more in terms of what they can gain than what they have to lose.

Think of this as climbing a mount everest, to reach base camp is a great feat. Consider you would have endured easy aspects and difficulties to get there. In tennis to reach a high world ranking will have also endured its own loses and wins on the way but to reach this level you would have gained immensely! You will have learned and improved along the way and whats more gained valuable experience. To reach the next level to camp 1 and 2 through to the summit (ultimate goal) takes a lot of training, hard work, sweat and guts. Not forgetting persistence, perseverance and the ability to take knocks on the way.

In terms of playing tennis look at starting out to reach base camp then travel through the next 4 camps before eventually reaching the summit. Every time you win and learn you raise another stage in the mountain range, every time you lose and learn you stay the same but are armed with information to work on in order to win and reach the next stage.  

Imagine a player who in there first year on tour reaches top 250. Great work to get there and for sure has reached maybe camp 3 on the Mountain of Everest. Then comes the time to work on defending points! To get to the original camp was a fun journey but then you look down and then you start to wobble and become pressured. All sorts of thoughts come into your head, can I do it again, what if I don’t manage to attain the level I acquired? Will I be able to reach the next camp (level) am I strong enough?

Wow take a look at your thoughts at this stage, what were you thinking on your way up? What are you thinking now? What has changed?

Remember where you thoughts go so goes your energy! Change your thinking and you change the way you play. From here you will be back on the track to the summit. Remember to always evaluate, learn and evolve regardless and you cant go wrong!

It is far to easy to become insecure and have a million and one reasons to stop climbing. Find a great group of people who will help you climb (sherpas) and help you with your work, you are the leader and these are your guides, you have to commit to the work but your guides will help you when you fall off or need to rest. Your surrounding team for sure have to be on your wave length and will need to help you push to the summit. When you reach the summit you can rest for a while but there is only room for one at the top and you have people climbing up to knock you off so work even harder to stay there.

Good luck and if you need a Sherpa I am just an email away!

Andy