April 30, 2007
How to know a good draw when you see one
This weekend at the Austin Tennis Academy I was watching our players praticipate in CATA junior team tennis. During one of the matches I had an interesting conversation with Andy Stockdale about what constitutes a good draw.
Players in our program participate in tennis tournaments from the lowest level CATA tour events, to ZATs, to open tournaments, to Champ Major Zones, to Super Champ Major Zones, to National events, to International Tennis Federation (ITF) events to college tennis and finally onto professional tennis tournaments. Most players and parents when they talk about a "good" draw seems to be defined as one that allows you to advance furthest in the tournament. I would like to propose that there could be some other definitions of a "good" draw.
An unseeded player goes into a tournament and draws the #2 seed in the first round. At first glance this might appear to be a "bad" draw. However, the unseeded player goes on to beat the #2 seed, gain big time confidence and makes it to the finals of the tournament. What appeared to be a "bad" draw, actually turned out to be a very good draw.
A player is the final seed in a major event. In the first round he plays an unseeded player. But that non-seed happens to be the highest ranked player in the tournament who did not get seeded. Is this a "good" or a "bad" draw?
A player draws their arch rival, someone who they hate playing. They've played this person in every tournament for 3 months and lost each time. "Good" or "Bad" draw? On the surface a bad draw, but what if this is the time they beat that rival? Suddenly it's a great draw.
The point is that draws are neither "good" or "bad". Players who make the most of their competitive experience gain the most from that experience. A player could lose 0-6, 0-6 and have it be the best match they ever played in their life. That same player could win 6-0, 6-0 and have it be a very average match for their development. If a player is playing someone weaker, they need to be aggressive and go after that person and not fear losing. If they are playing someone on their level, it's a great way to measure progress. (What did I do this time, better than the last time I played this person or a person of this level?) If a player is the underdog, practicing fighting, scraping, digging for every point is a skill every tennis player needs. Every draw offers an opportunity of some sort for the player. Having the right attitude and perspective will allow a player to maximize his experience, win or lose.
Your draw does not make you or break you as a competitor. Your attitude about your draw just might.
Coach Newman
Posted by Jack Newman at 6:48 AM | Comments ()
April 27, 2007
Being in the moment-how to get there, how to stay there
This week in practice we have been trying to get our players to be more concious of how they think, talk and act. More specifically we have been trying to have them become more aware of their negative thoughts and actions as athletes. We are trying to help them differentiate between positive and negative energy. One way we did this was to offer a financial reward. At the start of an hour practice, $10 was available to split between those players who were able to go the entire hour without a negative comment or exhibition of negative body language. Guess what happened? Everyone made it through the first hour. Is $10 divided between a group of 10-20 players really that motivating? We we discussing it as a group and what we decided is that the financial reward was just a catalyst. What really happened was that everyone was concious of their responses to mistakes or good shots by their opponents. Just that act of being concious of what your resonse was going to be changed behavior. Instead of old habits of negativity, a new pattern emerged from the act of being concious of what you were doing.
I subscribe to zaadz: The Philosopher's Notes and today's notes are about savoring things. I would say we were trying to get our players to savor their tennis by eliminating negative thoughts and actions. The article started with sure fire ways to make sure you don't ever fully experience the pleasure of the moment. Those things were:
Think like a'Kill-joy"
Worry about what other people think.
Multi task
Be Rushed
Ways to prolong and intensity being in the moment were also listed:
Share it
Build memories-Consciously try to store away the memories of the event for future recall.
Congratulate yourself
Sharpen the Experience To heighten the intensiity, use "effortful concentration" to focus on certain aspects of the experience and try articulating the experience into words as well.
Compare the Experience Try to think of all the wonderfully unique attributes of this particular experience.
Be absorbed Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls it being in "Flow!" (he wrote "The Psychology of Optimal Experience", others call it, "being in the zone" Tennis players call it treeing. Whatever you call it, get absorbed.
Block Interference
Enhance your attention
Each of these elements is something we talked about with our players in trying to get them to be more concious about how they react. We will be working more on this in the next few weeks.
If you are interested in the zaadz site, you can reach it at:
Coach Newman
Posted by Jack Newman at 8:37 AM | Comments ()
April 25, 2007
How to Praise
Jane Carlisle forwarded this article on Praise that mentions Dweck's work.
http://nymag.com/news/features/27840/
Posted by Jack Newman at 10:52 AM | Comments ()
April 24, 2007
Book Recommendation: MINDSET by Carol Dweck
Bitsy Rice sent me an email about a new book entitled MINDSET, The new psychology of success by Carol S. Dweck. I bought the book and I am in my second reading of it.
Dr. Dweck was the William B. Ransford Professor of Psychology at Columbia University and is currently the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University.
I wanted to share some of the thoughts from MINDSET:
Dr. Dweck talks about two mindsets.
“For 20 years, my research has shown that the view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life. If can determine whether you become the person you want to be and whether you accomplish the things you value. How does this happen? How can a simple belief have the power to transform your psychology and, as a result,
your life?
Believing that your qualities are carved in stone—the fixed mindset—creates an urgency to prove yourself over and over. If you have only a certain amount of intelligence, a certain personality, and a certain moral character—well, then you’d better prove that you have a healthy dose of them. It simply wouldn’t do to look or feel deficient in these most basic characteristics.”
“There’s another mindset in which these traits are not simply a hand you’re dealt and have to live with, always trying to convince yourself and others that you have a royal flush when you’re secretly worried it’s a pair of tens. In this mindset, the hand you’re dealt is just the starting point for development. This growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts. Although people may differ in every which way—in their initial talents and aptitudes, interests or temperaments—everyone can change and grow through application and experience.”
“…as you begin to understand the fixed and growth mindsets, you will see exactly on one thing leads to another—how a belief that your qualities are carved in stone leads to a host of thoughts and actions, and how a belief that your qualities can be cultivated leads to a host of different thoughts and actions, taking you down an entirely different road. It’s what psychologists call an “Aha” experience. Not only have I seen this in my research when we teach people a new mindset, but I get letters all the time from people who have read my work.”
Some findings regarding participation in sport that Dr. Dweck’s research shows:
“Those with the growth mindset found success in doing their best, in learning and improving.”
Those with the growth mindset found setbacks motivating. They’re informative. They’re a walk-up call.”
“People with the growth mindset in sports took charge of the processes that bring success—and that maintain it.”
Dr. Dweck also has sections in this book about mind set in Business, in Relationships and for parents, teachers and coaches.
I found this to be a very good book for those that work with or have children and recommend it to you.
Posted by Jack Newman at 9:04 AM | Comments ()
April 21, 2007
Learning while Teaching
As a college tennis player, I was a very average competitor. After 2 years of coaching I was a better tennis player. After 10 years of coaching I was a much better tennis player and achieved a number of #1 in Texas rankings. As I taught my students, I learned much about the game and was able to apply that to my own game in competition.
Our students at the Austin tennis academy have this same opportunity to “Learn by teaching”. The ATA’s collaboration with the Lake Travis Youth Association in developing and delivering the Scoop it up program allows our students to work with 1st through 6th graders. Each Saturday over 175 novice tennis players descend on the ATA tennis courts for Scoop it up, a pre tennis team game. ATA coaches, parent volunteer coaches and ATA players work with these novice players.
There are multiple benefits to academy players in helping with Scoop it Up. By attempting to transmit the information they have about tennis, our players find out how much they know or don’t know about the game. By working with these younger players, our tournament competitors gain some new enthusiasm from players fresh to the game. Communication skills are honed. Patience and poise are practiced as not every player can do what you ask them to do, the first time around. Often our older players gain a new appreciation for their own level of accomplishment, seeing how far they have come from the beginning of their tennis careers. Being part of a big team, contributing to the whole gestalt that is the Austin Tennis Academy is also an important part for our more experienced players.
I once read an article that talked about retention of learning. The highest level of retention was from those that taught. This is a great chance for ATA players to try out this theory.
While one is teaching, two are learning.
Posted by Jack Newman at 9:04 PM | Comments ()
April 19, 2007
Jeffrey Offerdahl's entry from B14 Nationals
Easter Bowl was a great experience. I got to play the #1 seed and almost beat him. It was fun to play him in front of the crowds and almost get there to pull the upset. The wind the next day was bad, so that was a fun experience. Then I played the #5 seed, #10 in the country and got that big win. Every match here was hard and you have to give maximum effort if you want to win.
Posted by Jack Newman at 10:15 PM | Comments ()
Nationals update April 19, 2007
In Palm Springs today, the last 24 players in Boys 14s Nationals continued their journey. ATA's Jeffrey Offerdahl won his first match this morning, against the #5 seed. He won 6-3, 7-6 against a boy who is currently ranked #10 in the USA in Boys 14 & under. In the second match, Jeff went down to fellow Texas Dane Webb. To be in the tournament this deep, every player is good, every match a challenge. Jeff ends this event with a great step forward in his confidence and experience in competing at the national level. Many of the players at this level have been competing for 4-6 years at the national level. Jeff's progress continues as he marches toward his major goal for this year, the 2007 Boys 14s National Clay Courts in July in Florida.
I have asked Jeff to make an entry in this Blog so the next entry will be from him.
Posted by Jack Newman at 10:04 PM | Comments ()
April 18, 2007
Nationals update April 18
Of the 128 best players in boys 14 & under who started this USTA Spring SuperNationals called the Easter Bowl, 24 are left. After losing to the #1 seed yesterday 2-6, 6-0, 4-6, ATA's Jeffrey Offerdahl defeated two players ranked ahead of him today.
Today's matches took place in 40-50 mph winds. One side was with the wind and players usually won the games on that side. Hitting into the wind was another matter. It was tough to win a game hitting into the wind and the player that could get a game on that side was almost always the winner of a set. In these conditions, the tennis is usually ugly. However, the quality of tennis by Jeff and his opponents was remarkablely high level. Composure and poise were the order of the day. The player who cracked first mentally lost the match. Jeff was tough as nails mentally today in the wind and beat two high calibar players.
Tomorrow, Jeff plays the #5 seed, a player ranked in the top 10 in the USA. Getting to play the #1 and #5 seeds is why Jeff is at this event, to get exposure to high level competition.
Posted by Jack Newman at 10:36 PM | Comments ()
How to get to Nationals
Friday I left for Palm Springs California for one of the four United States Tennis Association Supernationals. Jeffrey Offerdahl and Jill Saunders are slated to competed in the Boys 14s & under and Girls 16s & under respectively. These four tournaments, one in July, one in August, one in December and the one we are traveling to this week are the top level of competition for players competing in the 12 & under, 14 & under, 16 & under and 18 & under level of junior tennis competition. Last summer, ATA’s Ashley Weinhold was a finalist in both singles and doubles at the Girls 18s Hardcourt Nationals in San Jose, California. At that event she won a wildcard into the USOPEN. She has been following a professional tournament schedule since then.
How does a player like Ashley or Jeffrey or Jill get to this level of competition? What is the pathway that leads to this level of competition? This week, while these players compete in the springs nationals, we will be sending emails back to ATA chronicling the process of the week and the process that led up to this week.
The journey of 1000 miles begins with one step. Most of the players who end up going to nationals from ATA start in All Stars or the junior development. Their goals have nothing to do with nationals, but with having fun and learning skills. In All Stars and in Junior Development we lay the foundations of the game, technically, tactically, physically and mentally. Many of the best tennis players from our program did not focus on tennis solely until they were 11 or 12 if a girl or 12 or 13 if they were a boy. Tennis is what is called a late specialization sport. Because of the multifaceted nature of tennis, many, many skills are required to be accomplished. The more “sport” skills a player has before focusing on tennis, the higher the ceiling his or her game will have in the long run. Running, tracking, throwing, swinging, all sorts of dynamic movement skills and many other skills are required in the game of tennis. As young players begin to learn the game and play the game, it becomes more important to learn the technical and tactical skills of the game. Some time during the process competition is also brought into the mix.
Players begin by playing games in their group lessons like around the world, tennis baseball, and jail. They move on to intra group minitennis tournaments. The first “real live” competition comes in the form of junior team tennis and CATA tour tournaments. Junior team tennis pits teams from different facilities against each other in a league, similar to little league baseball or soccer. There are a series of matches against other club and tennis facilities and a league champion is crowned. CATA tour tournaments are entry level tournaments for kids in the Austin area. CATA stands for the Capital Area Tennis Association, a local body that organizes tennis in Austin. CATA is part of the USTA Texas Section, which is turn is a section of the United States Tennis Association, the governing body of tennis in America.
Once children begin competing they often times want to compete more or at a higher level. The Texas Section of the USTA provides a three tiered system of competition for junior tennis players. There are ZAT tournaments (Zone Advancement tournaments) which are the entry level of individual competition. Players begin at the level trying to “Champ Up”. This means moving to the middle level of competition. Like at the ZAT level, the CHAMP level offers competition for boys and girls in the 12 & under, 14 & under, 16 & under and 18 & under age divisions. Players may compete in 12 and under until the month of their 13th birthday. Players may compete in 14 & under until the month of their 15th birthday and so on. Once players have made the CHAMP level they are on a mission to “SUPERCHAMP UP”. Once at the superchamp level, players compete for spots to the national level tournaments like the Spring Nationals Jeffrey and I are traveling to this week.
Each round a player advances in a superchamp event gives theim certain number of points. You take your points from your best 5 tournaments in a 12 month period and rank all the players by their points to get the age group rankings in superchamps. These rankings determine who gets an automatic spot to nationals.
Once you are an accomplished superchamp level player, you can vie for a spot at the USTA supernationals, the top tournaments for junior tennis players in the United States. College coaches offer scholarships based primarily on the Boys and Girls 18 & under USTA National Rankings. Players get high rankings at the national level the same way they do at the sectional level as superchamp players…points awarded for rounds advanced in the tournaments.
Jeffrey is playing his last year of 14 & under tennis. In the Texas Section of the USTA is playing mostly superchamp level tournaments in the 16 & under age group. During this year he will play 8 national level tournaments. In December he played the winter Nationals in Tucson, in February he played a National Open in El Paso (National Opens are the second highest national level tournaments) After Palm Springs, he will play another national open in May, in July he will represent Texas in the USTA Zone team championships for boys and girls 14 & under and then he will conclude his 14 & under career with the USTA Boys 14s Clay Court SuperNationals.
Both Jeffrey and Jill have started well in the Easter Bowl Nationals. Jeffrey is in the third round of the main draw this morning against the number 1 seed. He had a bye in the first round of doubles. Jill plays second round of both singles and doubles today after advancing in both yesterday(Sunday).
Posted by Jack Newman at 8:24 PM | Comments ()
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