Sports Health Counseling Blog

Jackie Edwards - 5X Olympian Part 3

2012-01-23T10:24:00.000-08:00

Jackie Edwards a five time Olympian represented the Bahamas in the long jump in the 1992 (Barcelona), 1996 (Atlanta), 2000 (Sydney), 2004 (Athens) and 2008 (Beijing) Olympic Games. In 2003, Edwards was ranked 5th in the world in the long jump. Other athletic accolades include her induction into Stanford University’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008. Twenty years after her graduation she still ranks as the school’s indoor and outdoor record holder. Edwards retired from professional competition in 2009 due to an achilles tendon tear. In her post competitive career she is enjoying being a partner in Urban Safari Design.

Edwards shares insights that enabled her career longevity which includes an inner motivation to push herself to improve as an athlete, good health, and a Master’s Degree in Sport Psychology. This is part three of the three part interview.

SZ: Once you arrived in Sydney did you continue utilizing the visualization exercises?

JE: Absolutely. One of the things that used to affect my performances was nerves. I would feel like my legs couldn’t move. Through visualization I learned how to block out all the distractions. During a field event doing the long jump it takes a long time, especially in the qualifying rounds to get your jumps in. At the Olympics there can be fifty jumpers. There are two runways, twenty-five athletes assigned to each runway. In a normal long jump competition there are typically twelve jumpers qualifying. When there are twenty-five jumpers to a runway it can take up to an hour between jumps.

There is a lot going on in your brain in that hour. While you are waiting other Olympic field events are going on around you. A jumper only has three tries in the qualifying round to make the finals. It’s really easy to start watching other events going on around you. I remember watching the 100 meters, and I wanted to watch it, but then I knew I still needed to take jumps.

SZ: The challenge of staying focused when there is a break in momentum.

JE: The stadium in Sydney seated 110,000 people. The bottom row of seats was at track level, right in the line of sight. The runways were on the outside of the track circle not on the inside. We were very close, like 10 feet away from the spectators. The spectators were saying things, yelling and when I got up to take my jump I could see myself on the giant stadium video screen. My instinct was to look up and watch myself but I couldn’t do that and run at the same time.

SZ: In your peripheral vision you saw your body moving on the screen.

JE: Yes, so I needed to avoid looking up. I also remember the announcer saying, “Now on the runway competing,” and he said, “Jackie Edwards from Jamaica.” Which I was like, “Oh my gosh he said the wrong country,” and I was jumping at the same time. (Jackie was born in Jamaica but is a citizen of the Bahamas). So all this stuff is going on. Other distractions were I would be running down the runway and a starter gun goes off to begin a race. You can’t turn to look at what is happening around you.

SZ: Those are huge. Did you have a routine?

JE: Yes, absolutely. I had a very set routine. I would visualize the movements, I would practice the breaths, I would visualize what position I would start my run up in, exhale a few times, it was quite precise. I would duplicate this over and over again no matter what else was going on.

SZ:Was the climate a factor?

JE: Luckily it wasn’t that much of a factor. People were worried about it because the Olympics were late in September that year. The weather was kind of cool it wasn’t a factor. I’ve had to deal with that at some World Championships in Helsinki (Finland) where it was pouring rain. Track meets are not stopped unless there is lightening. But weather wasn’t an issue in Sydney. When I finished sixth that year having begun with an injured knee in April and thinking I was not going to qualify - to making the mark on my last jump in the last meet to qualify - then being in the Olympics and getting sick after the qualifying event - and ending by finishing in the top eight, which in the sport of track if you make the top eight you’ve done an outstanding job. I wouldn’t have guessed in all the years I competed to accomplish this was because there were definitely years when I was more physically fit.

SZ: Do you think having a routine put you in a more focused state or confident state?

JE: Yes, because during the time I was injured it forced me to use these skills. When I was healthy I just relied on my brawn and I thought, “I’m fit, I can jump out of the pit.” So I didn’t do the mental work that I should have done to accompany my fit body. That year I was forced to rely much more heavily on mental skills and it proved to me that I probably did myself a disservice over the years to not focus as much as I needed on the mental aspect. I would kind of go in and out of using these skills. But that year I didn’t have a choice.

SZ: That’s a strong statement in terms of what mental practice brought to your performance.

JE: I would tell any athlete coming up - I think any performance based skill, musician or surgeon etc., I think it’s critical to implement that part of the performance.

SZ: How much time did you practice visualization each day?

JE: I had to develop it. In the beginning I couldn’t keep my mind on it for five minutes. I also needed to learn how to visualize seeing through my own eyes because my instinct was to see myself outside like watching a movie. It was far more effective to experience the visualization through my own eyes like I was performing it. I struggled with learning how to visualize properly. I built up from five to fifteen minutes. I think the longest I achieved was thirty minutes.

SZ: Did it become an enjoyable exercise?

JE: Yes, I didn’t like it at first. I was like, “Do I really want to do this again?”

SZ: Did you learn to visualize through the classes you were taking?

JE: I didn’t go into the graduate program expecting this. I was taking classes at JFK and working on my Master’s in Sport Psychology because I had an interest. I wasn’t expecting some great impact on my own career.

SZ: You are a partner in Urban Safari Design, an interior design company. How did you become involved in this work?

JE: My business partner and I had always had a passion for interior design and we always kind of did it for family and friends. My business partner was a design major at Stanford, not interior design but product design. She later went on to design school and we began the company seven years ago.

SZ: In the next few years do you envision staying involved in track and field as a coach or spokesperson?

JE: It’s something I’ve thought about but I’m not sure. I still love track and field. I am not as immersed as when I was competing. I’ve been invited to participate in a track camp in the British Virgin Islands next month, for sure I will participate in this. Whenever I give a motivational speech it relates to my involvement in track and how it correlates to the real world. I am looking into being involved in Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move program.

SZ: Would you go for being a trainer on The Biggest Loser?

JE: I like The Biggest Loser. I watch it every week.

SZ: Is it because of the coaching or the human interest side?

JE: Mostly the human interest. I couldn’t yell at those people like they do. I think it’s great the trainers can do that I can’t.

SZ: Do you have any favorite quotes that have guided you on your professional path as an athlete?

JE: My long time coach Brooks Johnson had a saying that was very simple. He would say, “What got you here will keep you here.” Basically it meant in order to maintain the level of results and intensity you accomplish you can’t relax and be like, “Now that I’m here I don’t need to do all this training anymore.” The fact is you have to do just as much if not more to maintain that level. Brook’s philosophy was whether on or off the track you can’t rest on your laurels, because the competition gets tougher. Your competitors are equally hungry and you have to stay one step ahead. I keep the quote in my head all the time. You have to do all the little things. My tips for longevity is to take care of yourself. It seems a simple thing to do but you have to go to sleep at night. Your body has to be rested, you’ve got to stretch, hydrate, avoid living a hard life of up early in the morning and out all hours of the night.

SZ: Respecting the process.

JE: Yes, and it’s really been a process. If you don’t appreciate the fact that this is a process from a to z and you skip lots of steps it’s never going to happen. You also need the support of the people around you. This sport builds character. You have to be able to ride through so many ups and down. There are no world record holders that didn’t have some horrible results or phase of something. You have to be able to rise above it. It’s easy to fade away and say, “I can’t take this anymore.” But to come back and say, “Yes I had a poor result this week but I am coming back next week to compete.” That sets you up for your life.

SZ: Jackie thank you for taking the time to share a part of your amazing athletic journey.

*Featured guests are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro
*This article can also be read @ www.examiner.com

Jackie Edwards - 5X Olympian Part 2

2012-01-18T08:15:00.000-08:00

Jackie Edwards a five time Olympian represented the Bahamas in the long jump in the 1992 (Barcelona), 1996 (Atlanta), 2000 (Sydney), 2004 (Athens) and 2008 (Beijing) Olympic Games. In 2003, Edwards was ranked 5th in the world in the long jump. Other athletic accolades include her induction into Stanford University’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008. Twenty years after her graduation she still ranks as the school’s indoor and outdoor record holder. Edwards retired from professional competition in 2009 due to an achilles tendon tear. In her post competitive career she is enjoying being a partner in Urban Safari Design.

Edwards shares insights that enabled her career longevity which includes an inner motivation to push herself to improve as an athlete, good health, and a Master’s Degree in Sport Psychology. This is part two of a three part interview.

SZ: After turning pro in 1992 what new responsibilities entered your life? Were you surprised by any of the changes from amateur to professional?

JE: There were some surprises working with sponsors. Oakley sunglasses was a sponsor. My government (Bahamas) began paying me in 1998, so there was period of time when my government wasn’t paying me to represent them. I had a manager and I felt that I didn’t want to let him down. During my pro career I had sponsorship with Mizuno and the last nine years of my career Puma was a sponsor. Because I was receiving money or equipment I felt like I needed to earn the right to have all these things.

That act of turning pro wasn’t hard because in track it’s not like competing in the NBA or NFL where people are ooing and awing about the income an athlete is making, or the performances of the athlete. The most difficult part was time management. In college athletes have a structured schedule year to year. Coaches are telling the athlete what to do, when to do it. There are specific practice times. A professional track athlete is in control of their schedule. What meets to enter, arranging transportation to get there, paying for entry fees, all the details. In college you don’t need to think about these details you just show up.

SZ: In college you are told to meet at a certain spot at a certain time, transportation and the details are in place.

JE: Yeah. As a pro there were responsibilities and arrangements I never had to think about before.

SZ: Were there obligations to appear at special sponsor events and make yourself visible?

JE: To some degree yes. I didn’t realize that sponsors paid such close attention to the athletes. For example I like to wear the same spikes when I jump. I don’t care if I have new one’s when the one’s I am wearing are comfortable. At the time I was sponsored by Mizuno and I remember receiving a piece of mail from them telling me that I was to stop wearing the dirty spikes I had been competing in because it was the reason they gave me new ones. At the time I didn’t realize sponsors cared so much what I had on my foot.

SZ: How would they even notice it?

JE: That’s what I was thinking. Like who’s watching? When you jump your shoes get dirty. Unlike a sprinter whose shoes are going to look pretty clean for a long time. A long jumper shoes get dirty very quickly. Mizuno was clear that they didn’t like that I was walking around on these dirty spikes. When you are just concerned about performing you are not thinking about all that stuff.

SZ: You competed in the Olympics for the Bahamas in the long jump in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008. Each Olympic has its own energy. Was there one Olympic year that was more meaningful to you?

JE: Each Olympic is definitely different in it’s own way. One of the things that always stood out for me was the way the torch was lit. In 1992 (Barcelona) the archer stood in the infield and shot the arrow over the torch from the center of the field. I couldn’t believe he got it right because it was so far away. We had been hearing up to the moment of the torch lighting in practice he had kept missing. So I was thinking what if this dude misses? We were all standing there waiting and then he was successful. He got it right. In 1996 (Atlanta) Muhammad Ali lit the torch. He has Parkinson’s disease so his hand was really shaking. It almost looked like the flame was going to burn him because he couldn’t get the thing lit.

Aside from the torches being lit the 2000 (Sydney) Olympics was the most special for me. It was my best finish, 6th place. Leading up to the Olympics in April during my first outdoor meet which was held at Stanford University I was competing in the triple jump for training purposes. During one of my jumps my fibula head popped out of my left knee. It was like this loud cracking noise and I thought I had broken my shin. I’d seen that happen so I was afraid to look because the shin would protrude through the skin. When I did finally look down I was relieved to see my leg fully intact. I went to stand up and I realized the noise that I had heard was my knee popping out. It required a chiropractor to put it back into place. It’s not an injury that requires surgery. I didn’t get my knee put back into place for ten days. I was basically dragging my leg around because my chiropractor wasn’t trained to make this type of adjustment.

I had flown back to Texas and was at the track talking with my coach and this guy who created this chiropractic adjustment just happened to show up at the track. My coach spotted him and said this guy can fix my knee. He put my knee back in five minutes. It was very painful but he put it back in place. But through the injury I had done damage to the area around my knee. I decided to compete in a meet ten days later and had a really good jump probably 2-3 inches off the qualifying mark for the Olympics. But I still needed to qualify and I think I did more damage than good by competing in that meet because afterwards my knee just went. I competed poorly for the next 2-3 months and I hadn’t yet qualified for the Olympics. It came down to the last meet that I was going to try and jump in to qualify. I needed to jump 21’ 10” to qualify. On my last jump of the last meet to quality I did it. To this day I don’t know how it happened.

SZ: This jump qualified you for the 2000 (Sydney) Olympics.

JE: Yes, and so my preparation for that Olympic Game was not what it should have been because my leg was not whole. It was the Olympics where I went in with the least amount of physical preparation because from when I qualified the Olympics were only a month away. But my country put me on the team and I went. The thing that helped me was I had just completed my Master’s Degree in Sport Psychology. Through-out the period of time leading up to the Olympics I couldn’t train and my body was failing me. I prepared by visualizing. I pictured myself performing the jumps even though I couldn’t physically do them. I visualized myself mentally executing a certain technical performance and when I arrived in Sydney my coach specially told me, “Jackie you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You don’t have to jump some super outstanding jump to make the finals.” There is a set mark and if a jumper reaches that mark no matter how many jumpers reach it, you qualify for the final. We knew what the mark was and my coach said, “You can jump that. All you have to do is do what you have been doing.” I knew I was really technically sound just from my mental training not off of anything physical. Sure enough I went in and did what I knew I could do on the very first jump. On that jump I qualified for the finals.

Unfortunately between the qualifying round and the finals there is a day in between and I got sick with the worst cold I’ve ever had. The day of the finals my coach said, “You’re pretty much going to have to get whatever jump you are going to get right away because you will have no more energy.” There were twelve jumpers in the final. Jumpers take three jumps and then the top eight out of those twelve get another three jumps. I just hung onto what my coach told me and I put everything into my first jump and that was enough to get me into the top eight.

Next week Jackie talks about visualization, new technologies that helped extend her career, and her plans for the future.

*Featured guests are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro
*This article may also be read @ www.examiner.com

Jackie Edwards - 5X Olympian

2012-01-11T08:26:00.000-08:00

Jackie Edwards a five time Olympian represented the Bahamas in the long jump in the 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympic Games. In 2003, Edwards was ranked 5th in the world in the long jump. Other athletic accolades include her induction into Stanford University’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008. Twenty years after her graduation she still ranks as the school’s indoor and outdoor record holder. Edwards retired from professional competition in 2009 due to an achilles tendon tear. In her post competitive career she is enjoying being a partner in Urban Safari Design.

In this three part interview Edwards shares insights that enabled her career longevity which includes an inner motivation to push herself to improve as an athlete, good health, and a Master’s Degree in Sport Psychology.

SZ: You’ve enjoyed a stunning 20 year career competing, which includes five Olympics, first qualifying in 1992. How did you manage your schedule in between Olympics to remain motivated and maintain the mental/physical endurance to compete at this level?

JE: One thing most people aren’t aware of is that track and field is a professional sport. You compete year in and year out. The fact that the Olympics come around every four years is an addendum to being a professional athlete every year. I was on the circuit in Europe competing indoors from January to March, then outdoors from May to September every year. My motivation was that I was competing on the professional circuit with the same athletes that I would be competing against in the Olympics, or in the World Championships. The events I competed in each year were how I made my living. In the sport of track and field the athlete is paid either through a shoe company, bonus money based on how the athlete finishes at each competition and appearance fees. I earn a living I traveled to meets all over the world. I’ve competed in 56 countries.
World Championships are held every two years, every odd year there is a World Championship. I qualified nine consecutive times from 1991 through 2007. World Championships for track and field competitors are as important as the Olympics. There is prize money at the World Championships which there is not at the Olympics. There is significant motivation to do well and your shoe contracts and other sponsorships are based on how well an athlete performs at the both the Olympics and the World Championships.

The motivation to keep going isn’t like having to wait four years for the next Olympics. It’s an ongoing process. I trained 10 1/2 months out of every year for all those years and I would have six weeks off per year to rest and regroup.

SZ: When you compete in the Olympics for the Bahamas do they pay you to be on the team?

JE: No country pays their athletes specifically to be on the team. There is no prize money from the Olympics. The way an athlete receives any sort of money out of the Olympics is if they make the finals. Usually the shoe contract will have a stipulation that the athlete will receive “x” amount of money if they make the finals or receive a medal. I competed for the Bahamas and my government paid me to represent them and included incentives that included a year round monthly stipend. Additionally the athletes had bonuses stipulated for winning gold, silver, bronze or reaching the finals.

SZ: Twenty years of competing professionally is a long time.

JE: I really enjoyed it. I always felt like I had not yet quite jumped as far as I was capable of jumping. I was healthy for the majority of my career. Injury prevents a lot of people from reaching their peak. I was luckily blessed to be relatively healthy because you’re never 100%. I didn’t have major setbacks that prevented me from making progress in my sport year to year. Other than a couple of years in there, I just always felt I could do better. It was like proving something to myself certainly much more so than proving something to anyone else. There are always people who would say, “Why are you still competing? Shouldn’t you get another life?” If I listened to those people maybe I would have stopped ten years into my career.

SZ: At your level of expertise and accomplishment it seems like after 10 years any athlete in whatever sport starts to receive those questions. How did you address the retirement questions particularly after a subpar result? Frequently the media jumps on it.

JE: Right, and being from a small country it’s magnified. In the U.S.A. if a track and field athlete has a poor track result you, your coach and a few people in your immediate circle pay attention. But being from a small country where track and field is the sport, people care and make commentaries about your performance. What kept me going is when there are really good results in training you know what your body is physically capable of. Week in and week out I was achieving things in practice that sometimes audiences didn’t get to see in the meet. My challenge was to duplicate that training performance in a competition. I knew what I was physically capable of, my coaches had a belief in my athletic ability. There are certain components to a long jump, that is speed and power. At one point in my career I could squat 350 lbs, that shifted to 375 lbs. In practice I was running 60 meters in 7.35 seconds, and then I was able to run it in 7.28 seconds that means something in regard to how far I can jump.

SZ: You kept your sights on your goals and your capabilities, screening out the distractions.

JE: Absolutely. I knew what I was capable of and I knew that there were jumps where I fouled and they were never measured. Even though it wasn’t measured I knew that my body actually went that far so I knew my capabilities.

SZ: So it remained exciting.

JE: Absolutely. Everyday, well let’s not say everyday. Most days when I woke up in the morning I was ready to go and train. Fall training was a challenge. No-one is going to tell you Fall training is fun. It hurts. You’re tired, you’re exhausted. I knew that three or four times a week my body was going to be at its limit. In six weeks it’s amazing how much the body can return to a civilian body. In six weeks I was almost back to ground zero and then it took another 2-3 months to get back to where I was before I stopped training and competing. But I still needed to take that six week break.

SZ: For body and mind?

JE: Yes.

SZ: Were there phases of your competitive life where things were going on and you didn’t mentally or physically feel like competing? How did you pull yourself up through those segments of time?

JE: Personal situations, dealing with some sort of relationship sometimes made training harder. The last thing I wanted to do if I felt sad or upset about something was to run around a track.

SZ: (both laughing) Didn’t running around help you feel better?

JE: It might help in that hour or so, but leaving the house to get there, sometimes I didn’t want to do that. If I was having a series of poor results that made me question myself. I’ve had times when I over trained. I always wanted to do so much in practice sometimes to my detriment. When I was doing intensive training and the results weren’t showing it I knew people must be thinking, “What’s going on with her. Why doesn’t she retire.” There was a year I over trained and I was jumping at a high school level. It was embarrassing for me. This was leading up to my national championship in the Bahamas. I felt I couldn’t go home jumping this poorly. I made the decision not to train for seven days. I didn’t go to the track. I didn’t jog. I just laid around. I had been doing so much in practice and it wasn’t helping.

SZ: Did you shift mentally as well?

JE: Yes, I did everything that had nothing to do with track. I read books, went to the movies, went shopping, stayed up late, overslept. At the end of the seven days I flew home to the Bahamas. I jogged at the track one day and the following day was the national championship meet. I don’t know what happened but the prior to this meet the last jump I had jumped was 19’10” which is what a talented high school athlete can jump, to during the national meet, I jumped 22’3”, which is significantly different. I just think my body had become so exhausted. I hadn’t been listening to my bodies fatigue. I had kept training and jumping worse. My body reacted positively to the shift.

If I had not stopped to rest I don’t know what I would have done that season with my career because I was at wits end. Sometimes you have to step back and listen to your body. I always want to do more but sometimes you need to do less and it’s hard to pull back.

SZ: After that meet did you scale back and adjust your workout program?

JE: For an athlete like myself I can be hard headed. But it was so tangible to see I needed to scale back. Sometimes when I was struggling during competitions or not having good results I questioned what I was doing professionally. I attended Stanford with classmates who were using their brains and making 5x’s the money I was making competing in track and field.

SZ: What helped you make the decision to stick it out? Was it having free time, travel, the unique challenges?

JE: All of that. I enjoyed the lifestyle. I enjoyed to some degree having control over my own schedule and time. Even though I had a coach and when we scheduled a practice at 11a.m. I had to be there. But if I decided I wanted to go visit my friend for a week I could do that as long as there was a track nearby, or a weight room. It’s not like having a job where you can’t just go and do what you wish. I also enjoy being outside, interacting with people, traveling and the physical/mental challenge. Aside from the money disparities, the experiences that I gained were not comparable to any sort of money I could earn.

Next week 5X Olympian Jackie Edwards discusses, responsibilities as a professional athlete, unique Olympic moments and new technologies that enhanced her career.

*Featured guests are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro
*This article can also be read @www.examiner.com

Dr. Erik Peper discusses Bio & Neurofeedback - Part 3

2011-12-22T08:39:00.001-08:00

Dr. Erik Peper discusses Bio & Neurofeedback: Part 2

2011-12-19T21:29:00.000-08:00

Dr. Erik Peper is an internationally known expert on biofeedback (applied psychophysiology),holistic health and stress management. Since 1976 he has taught at San Francisco State University where he was instrumental in establishing the Institute for Holistic Health Studies, the first holistic health program at a public university in the United States. Dr. Peper is President of the Biofeedback Foundation of Europe and past President of the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (AAPB). He holds Senior Fellow (Biofeedback) certification from the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA) and was the behavioral scientist (sport psychologist) for the United States Rhythmic Gymnastic team in the early 1980's. Dr. Peper lectures and teaches frequently through-out the world and has a biofeedback practice at
BiofeedbackHealth in Berkeley, CA.

This is part 2 of a 3 part interview with Dr. Peper discussing how the tools of bio and neurofeedback are utilized to enhance sport performance, age appropriateness, technological advancements and simple products available for consumers.

SZ: What age is bio or neurofeedback effective for young athletes to begin using as a training tool?

EP: I don’t think there is any systemized data on this. I can only speculate. Some people can work with young children and some cannot. I would say by 5 or 6 years old biofeedback techniques can be used fairly easily. You have to make it fun. I’ve worked with children 8 years old and younger. You can teach them to warm their hands by using visualization and teach them to shift their breathing. The critical part is that biofeedback equipment shows the child that they have control. That the shifts that they are making in their bodies with breathe and visualization is something that can be quantified. It is in the seeing the change that they believe and know control is possible and there is an effect.

SZ: When a child is anxious because he is distracted by worrying about outcomes engaging the child in a visualization or having them focus on their breathing interrupts their worry thought processes by redirecting their attention to an internal awareness.

SZ: An individuals brain continues to grow well into their 20’s. Does the developmental growth stage of brain development affect the usefulness of utilizing bio or neurofeedback?

EP: In youth neuroplascity is more possible. On the pragmatic side the brain is growing and changing into our mid 20’s. It means I can give biofeedback feedback of electrical patterns produced by the brain (electroencephaphy feedback/neurofeedback) which are equally behavioral patterns, thinking patterns or blood flow patterns in the brain. The learning process seems quicker when the person is young although it may relate more to just doing the practices without judgement with a playful attitude.

SZ: You are saying at a younger age it’s more effective.

EP: It’s much easier to teach a new habit than to inhibit an old one. When you think of sports athletes have done the same movement thousands and thousands of times. When you are attempting to alter the move you have to first undo it. It’s totally possible and that’s the exciting part. However, it is easier to learn a new movement than correct an over learned response. What makes athletes really easy to work with is there is less of a question of “Should I do it?” Instead, if they experience and know it is useful, they are more likely to ask, “How many times should I do it?”

SZ: To implement the change?

EP: The athlete is more willing. They understand the concept and the type of attention it takes. The underlying theme for some beginning athletes and I’ve worked with many of them, is that the one’s who struggle often are trying too hard. Part of doing well in a sport is having a certain type of trust in your skills.

Years ago I worked with a woman who had to pass a physical for her job that required a running test. She would quickly run out of breath and it affected her ability to pass this part of her test. As I observed her I could see that she was breathing very rapidly and high in her chest and people who breathe like this often hyperventilate. They may run a couple of blocks then are too out of breathe to continue. First in the lab I taught her how to breathe lower, she could do it walking but not running. After teaching her to breathe lower and slower while walking and running in place, we would go to a track and I would run behind her and remind her to breathe lower. I essentially became her biofeedback machine. After a few practices on the track she was able to transfer her awareness and breathing mastery to do it for herself. She mastered breathing more diaphragmatically without effort by attending to her breathing while running. She passed her physical.

SZ: What technological advancements in the equipment utilized in bio and neurofeedback have made instruments easier for qualified professional administrators to use with clients?

EP: The computerized systems have become very small. I can take a laptop with me to the location of the athlete. I can use a system of telemetry and see how the person behaves in real time while engaged in their sport. The systems can keep track of multiple signals at the same time and easily quantify the data. What athletes like is feedback, it quantifies what is going on and it demonstrates mastery. They want to know that they are doing better and the equipment can measure how they are doing. More recently there has been a trend to track heart rate variability. We used to think that a heart rate of 60 beats per minute was a good sign. It’s now known that a healthy heart rate should have variability. When the heart beat can go up and down by itself that is a sign of health.

SZ: Why is this a good sign?

EP: The heart should be responsive to the demands of the body. If it no longer can quickly speed up or slow down then damage may occur. Health is flexibility with the ability to respond to the demands of the body and environment as well as rapidly allowing recovery. The heart rate changes, commonly called heart rate variability, is easily demonstrated by taking a fairly large breath the heart rate would tend to speed up its natural rhythm. That is sympathetic activation. Then during the exhalation the heart rate slows down again it’s shutting down the sympathetic activation, which is called parasympathetic activation. What you want to see is a heart rate variability balance of sympathetic and parasympathetic. Heart rate variability is used to track an athletes ability to center themselves and recover/regenerate after exerting themselves within a physical performance such as scoring points, between races, etc. The key is to learn to monitor and modulate the appropriate energy level needed for a performance. For example gymnasts have to learn to modulate their energy level. They have to check in and notice if they are too tight, too anxious or too relaxed and if so bring that level down to or up to where it’s most effective to perform well. They can’t worry about falling. If they worry about a performance they are not present and usually perform worse. This type of destructive worrying can be identified during mental rehearsal of the performance when the athletes brain waves are monitored, as has been discovered by Vietta S. Wilson Ph.D. in her work with athletes. When a gymnast is connected to an EEG (electroencephalograph) during the relaxation and mental rehearsal and if there is a 18hz pattern in the recording the biofeedback/neurofeedback practitioner can interpret this as a worry spike. Other biofeedback can also be used to identify unaware muscle tension patterns.

Muscle tension is monitored and also given feedback with an EMG (electromyography). EMG’s are useful in practicing mental rehearsal as it can indicate the subtle body responses associated with imagery of a performance. For example in baseball a player can imagine taking a perfect swing at a fastball. The player will see it, and feel it yet the observer may not see any muscles twitch a tiny bit as the athlete is visualizing the movement. The EMG can record the very low level muscle tension which is invisible to just looking at the athlete. If the EMG registers movement from the players muscles then it's likely that the visualization is effective. If no EMG activity is observed in the appropriate muscles that should have been activated by the specific motor skill movement of the performance, then you would then go back and work to train the athlete to visualize more effectively.

Next: Dr. Peper shares ideas for simple biofeedback products and the impact of 3D virtual reality combined with biofeedback.

*Featured guests are not current nor former clients of Susan Zaro
This post can also be read at www.examiner.com

Dr. Erik Peper discusses Bio & Neurofeedback

2011-12-14T21:19:00.000-08:00

Dr. Erik Peper is an internationally known expert on biofeedback (applied psychophysiology), holistic health and stress management. Since 1976 he has taught at San Francisco State University where he was instrumental in establishing the Institute for Holistic Health Studies, the first holistic health program at a public university in the United States. Dr. Peper is President of the Biofeedback Foundation of Europe and past President of the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (AAPB). He holds Senior Fellow (Biofeedback) certification from the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA) and was the behavioral scientist (sport psychologist) for the United States Rhythmic Gymnastic team in the early 1980's. Dr. Peper lectures and teaches frequently through-out the world and has a biofeedback practice at BiofeedbackHealth in Berkeley, CA.

This is part 1 of a 3 part interview with Dr. Peper that discusses what is bio and neurofeedback? How these tools are utilized to enhance sport performance, age appropriateness, technological advancements and simple products available for consumers.

SZ: You are an expert in the field of biofeedback and also work with neurofeedback. What events captured your interest to bring you into this field of study?

EP: There are a number of events that captured my interest. One there was an opportunity to study with some remarkable people who weren’t athletes but studied pain control. In 1971 I studied an interesting person who voluntarily put a skewer through his cheeks and through the sides of his body and reported zero pain.

SZ: You studied this?

EP: Yes, here was a person that took a skewer and we made the skewers by taking bicycle spokes, sharpened and sterilized them. The first thing he did at the lab, this was at NYU, he dropped the sterilized spokes onto the floor took his dirty shoes, which he had been walking around with outside and he sterilized the spokes in his own terms by taking his dirty shoes and rolling over these at that time sterilized spokes. Once the spokes were really messed up with all these outside germs then he began his skill demonstration.

SZ: This person took a skewer and poked it through his cheek?

EP: Through one cheek and out the other and also another one through one side of his body through the flesh and out the other side.

SZ: This person did this exhibit for the sake of doing it?

EP: He did it more for the concept you can have voluntary control. I had heard about this skill initially through the New York Academy of Sciences where the discussion was can you have voluntary control? This was the era where people did not even believe you could warm your hands with voluntary control, through the use of imagery. This idea was very much in
dispute at the time. Through the years I’ve known other people who could do this discipline. Recently, at San Francisco State, a 62 year old Japanese yogi, Mr. Kawakami with thirty seven years of experience practicing various forms of yoga demonstrated this discipline. Mr. Kawakami, pushed unsterilized skewers through his tongue. Sitting calmly with skewers in his tongue and throat, he showed no signs of discomfort; rather he radiated peace. Removal of the skewers left neither open wound nor bleeding.

SZ: Why did he choose to demonstrate this discipline?

EP: A major reason people with this type of mind control do this is often for themselves to point out they’ve learned these meditation techniques, and feel they need to prove it to themselves. and second reason yogi Kawakami wanted to do this was to demonstrate to his students that the limits of their beliefs are the limits of their experience. If you have other beliefs you may have other outcomes. (Yogi Kawakami is founder and chief executive director of own school of yoga and the Institute for Research of Subconscious Psychology in Fukuoka and Tokyo, Japan).

SZ: These people have conditioned themselves for this particular exercise.

EP: They have learned how to control their attention. Any good sports performance is where you are able in most cases to control your attention and not have negative thoughts or distracting thoughts. Historically athletes went to a sport psychologist when they were performing poorly. That is still often the case, but the field has shifted to how can you use these concepts of Sport Psychology to optimize performance? A slightly different way of thinking. When you look at the word “motor rehearsal” that’s the use of imagery and if you talk with top athletes as a rule they generically say, “when I am in competition, it’s 95% mental control.” If athletes are standing in a line with their competitors in most cases at the top level of sport all the athletes can win. In most competitive sports there isn’t that much unique difference and so the key is how is the athlete thinking? If you think of psyching out in sports where the athlete could basically win but somehow gives up. We came up with a series of strategies to try and shift that.

When I think of peak performance one skill for athletes is mental rehearsal, how can you show athletes how to use their brains in a sense to improve their performance, and how can you teach them to recover quickly during and after performances? I learned this in a sense not from sports initially but around 1971 I worked with a well known Opera singer who was singing at the Met. After a performance the performer would be excited which is normal. The performer would go out for a late dinner around 11pm and having another performance the next day there wasn’t enough recovery time. The question became how do you recover more quickly? This is a theme in sports regardless of where you are, what happens, whether you win or lose, you need to be able to shift back.

One of the uses of bio and neurofeedback are for recovery and regeneration both on the cognitive side, letting go of whatever happened and the physical side getting your body to recover. It involves learning to let go of muscle tension and breathing slower.

SZ: The terms biofeedback and neurofeedback can seem a bit mysterious for some people. Please define the terms in simple form.

EP: Let me start by saying feedback is just immediate information usually about what is going on. When someone plays basketball and they take the ball and are trying to shoot it through the hoop. They receive immediate visual feedback. If they miss the target they keep adjusting, by throwing higher, lower, sideways etc. They may get coached by people who have other hints and eventually they get it right and make it in the hoop. They keep doing this until they become better at the skill. That is what feedback is.

Biofeedback is monitoring what happens in the body and displays it back on a device. The person then can either use that information or not. A classic example of biofeedback is if a person goes to a doctor and they take his blood pressure and the machine reads back that the person has high blood pressure. If the doctor just writes down “high blood pressure” then it’s just information for the doctor. If the doctor on the other hand tells the person to sit quietly and take a couple breaths. Now the blood pressure is taken again and the persons blood pressure drops. The person can see that they did something that affects the blood pressure. Biofeedback is really ongoing measurements of some process in the body where the person can see changes, or that there aren’t changes. Hopefully as in this example with information the person can try new things to affect their blood pressure. Different biofeedback systems can monitor, heart rate, muscle tension, brain wave activity.

Example: In class I have my students perform an exercise where they are instructed to relax, let their arms hang and bend forward to touch their toes. I ask them if they are relaxed and most students say “yes.” But if you are observing them from the side you will notice many students are slightly lifting their heads. They don’t notice they are doing this. We then place electrodes on their necks while they are standing. There will be a little bit of tension on their neck because the neck muscles have to hold their head’s up. I have them hang forward and touch their toes again, the muscle tension in their neck should be close to zero, little muscle activity, however ten out of eleven health students will register significant muscle tension in their neck when they are saying they are relaxed. All we do now is add an auditory sound which is the biofeedback and I tell the students when they are doing the exercise that if they are relaxed there will be no auditory sound when they are bending forward. What typically occurs is that the student will life their head many times and each time they will trigger the auditory tone which gives them information that they are tensing their neck muscles. But the average student can learn to shift and do this correctly with about five minute of practice, even without prior training.

Often people are unaware of tension patterns in their body and that makes sense because they are interacting in the world. They are not focusing on what is happening within their bodies.

SZ: They have an external focus.

EP: Correct. What biofeedback does is make the unaware aware. The undocumented documented. One of the early pieces we observed in biofeedback is that people are highly unaware of what they are doing. They aren’t aware they are shifting position or shaking. They don’t observe their internal language where they may be using lots of buts, and negatives.

SZ: How is neurofeedback different?

EP: Neurofeedback is a subset or specialization in the field of feedback where you only record from different areas of the skull. Historically there wasn’t a separation between the two practices. A practitioner would do muscle feedback, heart rate feedback, temperature feedback and brain feedback. In 1995 the field separated. The neurofeedback scientists record with different electrodes on the head and look at these patterns. From my perspective the two, bio and neurofeedback are not really apart. Neurofeedback is a specialization. However the brain and body are one. Changes in the body affect your brain. Changes in your brain affect your body.

*Featured guests are not current nor former clients of Susan Zaro
This article can also be read on www.examiner.com

Kimberly Jones - Athletic Training Programs

2011-11-23T23:09:00.000-08:00

Kimberly’s experience with sports performance training include Division I Universities, (UCLA, Cal State Northridge), high school varsity sports, and the U.S. Tennis Association. She designs fitness programs for weekend warriors, artists in the entertainment industry, Functional Adult Training Camps, (F.A.T.), onsite team sports performance training, and partners with Bright Horizons providing fundamental skills programs to kindergarten classes at child development centers in Los Angeles.

SZ: What sports did you play/compete in while growing up? Describe the fitness programs attached to your youth participation when you were actively competing. What made training in your junior days fun?

KJ: I played basketball, ran track, and was on a competing dance team. Outside of conditioning, rarely was any kind of fitness/strength program implemented. My track coach implemented strength training during our workouts. Because we practiced on a college track, and there was a weight room on campus. Based on what I know now, it was not periodized through training cycles, and it was mainly open chain, machine based exercises. Fortunately,I grew up with three older brothers, and we had a leg extension and weight bench in our garage. Since I had some prior experience with weights I definitely enjoyed lifting for track. Overall it was a fun experience and I respected the fact that our coach was trying to get the team stronger.

SZ: What are some influences that helped you decide to become a strength and conditioning specialist? Were there certain events that pulled you in the direction of becoming a strength and conditioning coach?

KJ: Ultimately, it was my attendance at Cal Berkeley’s Basketball Coaching Clinic in 2004 that sealed the deal. At the time I was a Health/PE teacher and Head Varsity Basketball Coach at my alma mater, Notre Dame Academy. While at the coaches clinic I saw the strength and conditioning coach taking the women’s basketball team through some agility and plyometric drills. To be honest, at that time I had no idea it was even a profession. I knew there were personal trainers, and I was certified as one at the time. However, I was not aware of strength and conditioning as a professional field. After the clinic I did realize it greatly enhanced performance in athletes. Within the next year I became certified as a CSCS and began implementing pre-season training with my basketball team. I also trained varsity women’s volleyball as well.

SZ: Have there been trainer/mentors in your professional field that have influenced your training methods? How have you broadened these influences to form your unique program offerings.

KJ: I have had the opportunity to work and train under remarkably talented strength coaches. While I interned with UCLA Football in their Athletic Performance program I learned a great deal from their talented staff. Jill Robinson taught me how to perform Olympic Lifts. John Farr, who trained women’s tennis, helped them achieve their first NCAA Championship in the school’s history. He imparted a great deal of knowledge about periodization, and the types of exercises and metabolic conditioning methods he preferred to use with men’s and women’s tennis. Daniel Kohn was the head strength coach at California State University, Northridge. We were the only members of the strength staff, so I was able to pick his brain about exercise selection, periodization, and relative intensity. I cannot say that I had one single mentor. There have been a number of people who have influenced me throughout the years. I am a lifelong learner, so I take in helpful information whenever possible.

SZ: Prior to beginning your company Jones Strength, you were a strength and fitness specialist at the U.S.T.A. Training Center - West located at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA. What was the age range of junior players you trained? How many times a week are elite level junior tennis players physically training off-court to improve their power, speed, strength, and endurance levels?

KJ: The age range of Junior players was 9 – 17. The USTA juniors trained four days a week. Twice a week they did on court agility followed by conditioning, which targeted the phosphagen and fast glycolysis energy systems. The other two days they did strength training in the weight room followed by speed endurance or aerobic based conditioning. Sessions usually began with pre-hab exercises to target shoulder and hip mobility. Shoulder pre-hab entailed scapular activation, some variation of resisted external and internal exercises, and/or high volume upper body pulls with resistance bands. Hip mobility either entailed closed chain exercises such as hurdle step overs and mini-band lateral and linear walks, or open chain exercises like glute bridges, clam shells, scorpions or fire hydrants.

SZ: What are some of the main physical stress differences between junior boys and girls that trainers need to be cautious of to avoid training injuries with this age group?

KJ: Different muscles become more prominent in boys and girls after they hit puberty. Girls tend to become more quad dominant, and guys develop stronger upper bodies and more hamstring and glute strength. Common feedback is knee pain in girls, and shoulder pain for both guys and girls. Boys are developing stronger upper bodies, so they tend to muscle the ball to generate force instead of loading the hips properly. Girls do this as well as they mature. Girls are also lacking strength in the muscles in the posterior chain that stabilize the knee. Their quad dominance does not allow them to generate power by loading the glutes and hamstrings efficiently.

When trainers program double and single leg lower body pushes (squats, lunges, step ups, Bulgarian squats etc.), it is vital that they watch for a lack of knee stabilization, in both pre and post pubescent athletes. Valgus, or the collapsing of the knee towards the body’s mid line, is an obvious sign. If knee stabilization is lacking, trainers should focus on programming more pre-hab exercises that will strengthen the athletes’ glutes, hamstring, and core muscles surrounding the trunk (transverse abdominals, erector spinae, obliques etc.) Trainers must also teach both guys and girls how to generate force through their legs. That power will transfer into the ball, which hopefully will limit overuse injuries in the muscles and tendons in the shoulders, elbow, and/or forearms.

In general, tennis players tend to have strong lats, but significant weakness in the scapular region. Strengthening muscles in the mid-traps and rhomboids should be imperative in every trainer’s program. Improvements in scapular stabilization will definitely benefit any tennis player, as it will correct the forward rounding of the shoulders and slight kyphosis in the upper back. Trainers must also ensure that they program an equal ratio of upper body push and pulling movements. Otherwise, they run the risk of neglecting areas in their trainings that can help keep tennis players shoulders healthy.

SZ: How are exercises/work-outs conducted to avoid soft-tissue and bone/joint development injuries?

KJ: Overuse injuries are common in sports. Athletes must listen to their bodies. Fatigue and pain should be warning signs signaling athletes to rest their bodies. With that being said, there is a high incidence of injury during the deceleration phase of movement. Muscle imbalances and muscle weaknesses can negatively impact athletes as they change directions, land from explosive types of movements, or follow through with their rackets on forehand shots and serves. Therefore, acute injuries must be addressed properly. Athletes need proper recovery time so any inflammation, strains or sprains have time to heal efficiently. Returning to sports prematurely can possibly worsen the condition. Once the injury has been diagnosed by an Athletic Trainer or Sports Physician, athletes must be diligent about performing rehabilitative exercises. If the athletic trainer or sports physician has given me the green light, I usually have athletes continue strength training with all of the healthy limbs. This way they do not lose a significant amount of strength during this recovery period.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS6NpjMWhsU

Implementing a proper warm up is important as well. Athletes should perform an active dynamic warm up prior to practice sessions or matches. This will increase the core temperature of the body, and raise the heart rate, which increases blood flow and oxygen to the muscles. Dynamic warm ups also increase flexibility in the muscles and allow the joints to move through ranges of motion that are similar to movements on the court.

Trainers must also be aware of joint pain during growth spurts, and Osgood Schlatters. I train a freshman male tennis player with this condition, and we never squat during our strength training sessions. Instead, we deadlift and occasionally I will program lunging type movements if his pain is not substantial that week. This also means I cannot program many lower body plyometric exercises, since jumping and flexing the knee prove to be too painful. Instead we perform variations of an Olympic Lift called Clean Pulls. The goal is to recruit as many muscles as possible in the least amount of time. We get the same force production through this exercise as we would with plyos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9HYJHolObk

SZ: What are some exercises you find to be useful and fun for the juniors in off court training to increase, reaction time, speed, agility, flexibility, balance, without using weights?

http://youtu.be/XgZXQB4pDBU

KJ: I have found that fun on court agility exercises such as ball drops, competitive relays, and reactive type drills keep kids excited and engaged. Closed drills require an athlete to perform a specific pattern of agility. Open drills are less predictable and they force athletes to think, react, and execute specific movements as fast as possible. At the USTA I would form teams and have players compete for points. I also have the kids help me judge the execution of certain drills so that they can see what it looks like to do drills the right way and the wrong way. They enjoy this because it teaches them to be efficient with their movements.

For instance there is an agility drill called Side Shuffle. One athlete is straddling the center service line on each side of the court facing each other. When I yell go, the athlete side shuffles to the doubles line, crosses over and shuffles back to the other doubles line, and finishes with a crossover and side shuffle back to the center service line. Sometimes athletes side run during this drill. This means their bodies are not square to the net, so the toes are turning out, and the hips are turned diagonally in the direction they are moving. The minute an athlete sees the opposing team side running they alert me and, they can no longer win a point for that rep.

SZ: Competitive junior tennis players spend a lot of time on the tennis court drilling, playing, and practicing. The routine of court to gym can become quite tedious physically and mentally. What are your methods for creating a fun, entertaining, stimulating environment for juniors so they will continue to participate?

http://youtu.be/DZpP12VSx6E

KJ: Using a variety of drills keeps athletes engaged. Monotony will definitely bore the players. I change drills about every two weeks. I program similar drills for the first two weeks of the month, so players can familiarize themselves and work on improvements. Then I switch the exercises for the next two weeks. I also allow players to give input for drills, particularly for agility sessions. Sometimes I will incorporate a different element to a drill of which they are already familiar. For instance, for ball drops, one of my players said he had been working on “touch” with his coach. He asked if he could incorporate hitting the ball with his racket, instead of sprinting to catch the ball before it bounced twice. I enjoyed the new element and welcome that find of feedback. Though not all parts of training are democratic, I think it is great for players to communicate with me about enhancing the specificity of agility drills. Players really enjoy the Mirror Drill as well. They have to react to the person across from them and sprint/shuffle/back pedal to the same cone their competitor sprints to. Usually players go head to head with this drill, but players can also react to a coach as well.

SZ: What psychological role does periodization play in the athletic training experience?

KJ: As players go through different cycles of a periodized program they begin to feel the effects of the training. As their strength grows they experience physical and psychological rewards both on and off the court. Athletes get excited when they move up in weight on exercises because it is a testament to their strength gains. They also notice enhancements in their performance on the court as well. They can hit heavier balls, change directions faster and react to shots quicker than they did before. These are all added incentive to stay consistent in the weight room. Players also become more confident in their ability to compete against strong competitors. As they get stronger and begin to move better on the court they feel they have a better shot at beating opponents who are bigger and stronger. This is why it is important that the strength coach is knowledgeable about the different training cycles (max strength, hypertrophy, power, maintenance), so that it doesn’t negatively effect a players game. There have to be unloaded weeks, so athletes don’t over train and the volume has to be appropriate for the training intensities. If players feel for a second that weight training is making them slower, less flexible, or too tired for their matches, they question the program. Therefore, having athletes buy in is heavily dependent on how well the training is transferring onto the court.

SZ: Do you have any favorite quotes, stories, or tips that have guided you on your path as a professional trainer?

KJ: The biggest lesson I have learned is that you have to be very observant during training. No matter what is programmed for that day, if an athlete is becoming sick, is tired, or burned out, it is up to the strength and conditioning coach to adjust the workout accordingly. Some of the ways to do this include: lowering the volume, decreasing the load/weight, utilizing dumbbells instead of a barbell, decreasing the number of exercises, or even having a recovery day, with foam rolling and/or ice baths instead of a regular workout. Sometimes athletes also have tough practices with their coaches, or days with very long match play. Sometimes they have been studying for tests, or have had a lot of homework and have not been getting much sleep. If trainers are observant of players body language, they can modify workouts, and spare players from placing any extra stress on their bodies.

Kimberly thank you for taking time to share your insights regarding athletic training. This post can also be viewed as published on www.Examiner.com

*Featured guests are not current nor former clients of Susan Zaro

Dancing at the Palomar

2011-10-25T19:35:00.000-07:00

Jeremy Pilling is the owner of the Palomar Ballroom in scenic Santa Cruz, CA. Jeremy has won several Rising Star Rhythm and Open Professional Rhythm competitions during his professional dance career. Jeremy has been teaching and performing ballroom for 11 years. His teaching style is very technique-oriented while still achieving the goal of having fun.

SZ: What events led to your decision to become a professional dancer?

JP: I started dancing at age 8 with tap & ballet, but only for two years. After that, I had no formal training until college where I took my first ballroom group classes. I didn’t become interested in professional dancing until after I completed my internship in corporate fitness, which I needed to do to complete my degree in sport science. I was working in the fitness industry and just dancing socially and a friend of mine who I used to go swing dancing with told me that a nearby studio was looking for male dance teachers. Of course, I didn’t know how to teach, but she said they would train me for free, so I said why not. Six months later, I was teaching beginners to dance.

SZ: What sports did you compete in while growing up? Were you playing these sports and dancing at the same time?

JP: I competed in baseball and basketball in elementary school, soccer, track and basketball in junior high, and track, cross country, and basketball in high school. I wasn’t dancing during my junior high or high school years other than the school dances for fun.

SZ: Who are some of the dancers you’ve admired through the years and why?

JP: My idol and one of my inspirations for dance was Jose DeCamps. He is the current National American Rhythm champion. His musicality, presence on the floor, and Rhythmic dance style is what made me want to dance ballroom. He is very masculine and confident on the dance floor. I used to watch videos of him and his partner.

SZ: A large community of dancers come to the Palomar Ballroom for classes and dance parties. One group are competitive amateur dancers. What are some entry level skills that dancers need to acquire to have a positive experience competing? What basic information and training is useful for people to be aware of prior to participating in competitive dancing?

JP: I have several competitive pro-am students who compete with me. Most of the dance technique is learned over time, some just pick it up faster than others. Two things that help are confidence and personality on the floor. These are things that can be learned, but if a student already has these qualities, they will excel much faster. Things that help set a good foundation for ballroom are other forms of dance including ballet and jazz. Flexibility is also important, so Pilates and yoga can also be beneficial. I believe anyone can compete, but it takes time, practice and of course money to succeed in the long run. Believing in yourself is half the battle.

SZ: Beyond learning the physical steps to dances, timing movement to the music, being in sync with your partner, what are the mental/emotional challenges to competing?

JP: The biggest mental block for most dancers is over thinking. When you step onto the floor to compete, you have to get rid of all the input in your head and focus on just the output, or dancing. As some would say, “putting emotions to motion”. The other thing is being able to “own the floor”. In other words, being confident in what you are doing. Every step or move should have intent, meaning and focus.

SZ: As a professional dancer/teacher you dance competitively with your students. What are frequent tips you offer to students to help them manage their emotional energy during competition?

JP: The hardest part of competition is getting students to relax and enjoy it. Performing in front of people can be nerve-racking and stressful and I always tell my students that the more they perform or compete, the easier it will get. I always encourage them with positive reinforcement and reassuring words before they go on the floor. When students get tense, they tend to hold their breath at times. Breathing and grounding yourself is also important.

SZ: What are common misperceptions people unfamiliar with ballroom dancing have regarding this sport?

JP: 1) "I can't dance." Most people think that because they don't have natural ability that they can't dance, when in fact hard work and dedication is all you need. Time and practice can make a great dancer.
2) "I want to learn to dance in a week/month."
There are many technical elements to learn in dancing, and to be good it takes longer than most people think. It takes a long time to be good at any sport or instrument. You can learn a few things in a month, but you need to use your muscle memory over time to learn posture, footwork, lead and follow techniques, music/timing, character and more.
3)"I need group classes." Personal attention is crucial in the learning process which is why individual attention in private lessons is the best way to supplement your group classes. There are many things that you cannot learn in a group lesson such as technique, lead/follow skills, musicality, etc.

SZ: Do you have a favorite quote, story or tip that has guided you on your professional path as a dancer and instructor?

JP: “Life is a journey, not a destination”…dancing is the same thing, there is always something more to work on, but enjoy each step of the journey.

Jeremy thank you for taking time out of your very busy schedule to participate in this interview.

*Featured guests are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro

Dr. Erin Boynton - Sport Injuries

2011-09-26T13:17:00.000-07:00

Dr. Erin Boynton is the first woman to work as an Orthopaedic Surgeon in Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League and Canadian Football League. She has served as a consultant to many professional athletes and has worked with the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tour for over a decade.

SZ: Did you become an orthopedic surgeon with the intent of working with high level athletes? Or did opportunities arise that led you in this direction?

EB: I became interested in medicine when I was a teenager, after I had sprained my ankle playing basketball. I did not have the specific intent of working with athletes when I first entered my residency in orthopaedics, but I found myself always gravitating to the sports arena. My past experiences as an athlete helped me to understand what the patients were going through and were very compatible with my goal of keeping people moving and doing the activities that they love to do. To me, Life is Motion.

SZ: What are some of the job pressures and challenges of working with professional athletes as a surgeon?

EB: One of the toughest challenges as a surgeon working with professional athletes is the time pressure to return the player back to sport. There can be a major conflict between the mind pressure that the athlete and team places upon the body to perform, and the reality of the physical healing and readiness of the body to compete.

SZ: Are there injuries that professional women tennis players are more prone to that require surgery?

EB: The vast majority of injuries in women's tennis do not require surgery. The shoulder is the joint that most commonly requires surgical intervention. Most injuries are secondary to overuse. Over time repetitive stress to the musculoskeletal system can lead to imbalances in the soft tissues, that is muscles, tendons, joint capsule. The imbalance occurs when the soft tissue becomes too tight and or too weak. This soft tissue imbalance can eventually lead to breakdown of a tendon or joint structure such as a labrum (secondary joint stabilizer). There is a threshold in the soft tissue imbalance that may be tolerated for years, but once the threshold is crossed pain can spiral out of control. Surgery may be required to reestablish structural integrity to the joint. Many patients struggle after surgery if they fail to do their rehab exercises. The key to success after surgery however, is to rebalance the soft tissues and strengthen the muscles surrounding the shoulder girdle so that the structure that was repaired is protected.

SZ: During a season professional athletes are required to adapt to time zones, which can affect sleep schedules, acclimate to various weather conditions, it can be hot weather in one location and the following game or event, cold and windy. The physical stress of constantly adapting to new environments. How much do these factors contribute to the potential for injury?

EB: Sleep deprivation can have significant effects on neurocognitive function and motor performance. There is no question that significant fatigue can interfere with reaction times, and the ability to focus on an activity, possibly leading to poor performance and the potential for injury. Changes in normal eating schedules and diet occur with travel, and dehydration is possible. Ideally, for major events, the athlete should travel early enough to allow for acclimatization, this is not always possible as we observe in most Major League Sporting Events, with teams competing all over the country. Steps should be taken by the individual or team to ensure that extra rest time is available for the athletes and education with regards to proper nutrition and hydration during these changes in environment should be provided.

SZ: I read an article http://ontennis.etondigital.com/news/sharapova-finding-her-game-again where you are quoted as saying, (Maria) Sharapova has a certain laxity that people naturally have in their joints. With how long her arms are, the lever arm and the force she generates on her shoulder and elbow relative to someone who is much shorter and smaller is much greater.” What type of shoulder injuries are more common in shorter players and why? Can athletes tall or short prevent most injuries by proper strength training and stretching?

EB: It is not really the height of the individual that puts them at risk, but the length of the lever arm relative to the strength of the stabilizing muscles that control the specific joint. Individuals, with longer lever arms place more stress on the joints than people with shorter lever arms, but an individual with a short lever arm and weak stabilizing muscles is just as much at risk for injury as a taller player. I will commonly see injuries in young athletes who are going through their growth spurt. When the young athletes arms and legs grow, they often have a relative weakness of the stabilizing muscles around the shoulders, CORE and hips that predisposes the player to injury. The key for these individuals to perform CORE stabilization exercises, and flexibility exercises to maintain proper balance of soft tissues (muscles, tendons, ligaments) around the joints to prevent injury.

SZ: You are an internationally ranked senior tennis player. Are there focus and concentration commonalities you’ve developed as a surgeon that help your experience as a tennis player?

EB: There are definite focus and concentration commonalities between athletics and surgery. I have a tremendous ability to be in my senses while I operate, this allows me to be in the moment and see the anatomy, recognize the pathology and perform the corrective technical surgery. I have found that my ability to “be in the moment” during surgery is a transferable mental skill to tennis. One of the major differences is that in the operating room, I am in control, I control the pace of the surgery, and am in charge of the environment, obviously, the tennis court provides a very different dynamic...no control.... one day I am going to show up to the tennis court in my surgical mask and gown.

SZ: Was tennis the sport you played growing up?

EB: I was an avid athlete, but did not really focus on one particular sport, I did play some tennis in the summers, but focused on other sports in the winter. Winters were spent skiing, playing basketball, volleyball, track and field. I was naturally good at most sports and was voted Athlete of the Year in my High School. I became side tracked with academics and training to become an Orthopaedic Surgeon during my college years, I won the John Copp Bursary at the University of Toronto Medical School for all around athletics and academics.

SZ: Does your knowledge of sport medicine improve your chances of being injury free?

EB: It is one thing to know what to do, it is another thing to do it! I am at an absolute advantage as I know how to address the many sensations of pain that arise during a normal exercise program. My strength however is in my discipline and determination to become the best person that I can be and this involves giving to my body.

SZ: What are your future tennis goals?

EB: I want to be the best tennis player that I can be. I started playing tennis when my daughter was 2 years old (she is now 16), and have played fairly consistently, only missing a couple of years because of work and family commitments. To me tennis has been a great barometer of my mental, physical and spiritual maturation over this past decade. I have faced a number of obstacles, and sport has been a great vehicle for me to learn and understand the relationship between my mind, body and spirit.

Dr. Boynton, thank you for taking time out of your very busy schedule for this interview. Best of luck to you on your upcoming tennis goals.

Dr. Boynton is a mother of two teenage children, she is presently living in Toronto, her career focus has shifted to research, writing and medical legal expertise. Her passion is to keep people moving and performing in the activities that they love.

*Featured guests are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro

Jeff Raz - Performing Artist

2011-08-31T23:33:00.001-07:00

A decade ago Jeff founded the Clown Conservatory the only comprehensive professional clown training program in the United States. He is now the Bay Area Casting Partner for Cirque du Soleil, the Artistic Director of the Medical Clown Project and a coach with the global consulting firm Stand & Deliver.

A graduate of the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre, Jeff has performed with Cirque du Soleil, The Pickle Circus, Vaudeville Nouveau and Make*A*Circus. In 2007, Jeff spent the year touring the U.S. as the lead character in Cirque du Soleil’s “Corteo.” In 2009, he reprised his role in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka, Japan. He will continue to perform with the company from time to time.

SZ: Jeff you performed as the lead clown in Cirque du Soleil’s “Corteo” how much leeway was provided for creative spontaneity in this role?

JR: I was replacing the man who originated the role and had hoped to make some changes in the routines and add some of my circus skills. Given the complexity of “Corteo” and the fact that most CdS shows run for decades, there is not much room for big changes. That said, I had a lot of leeway with the language, improvising and re-writing sections of my part. Daniele Finzi-Pasca, the director, designed the show for flexibility, asking the performers to bring their own personalities and relationships to the stage every night. This gave the show, and continues to give the show, a freshness that is rare in a long-running production.

SZ: Did your performance transform a lot over the duration of time you played this character? Physically or mentally? Can you offer an example of the transformation you experienced over time?

JR: Yes. For one, I performed the role in English (with little bits of French, Italian and Russian) for 385 shows and then did it mainly in Japanese for another 115 performances. When doing 8 – 10 shows/wk, it is a struggle to be an artist every day and not slip into being a hack (someone who does what they do without intention, without heart.) Every show, I would try to focus on a particular scene or change my approach to a certain moment that had become stale. Luckily for me, “Corteo” is so complex technically that there are often little glitches, glitches that forced me to improvise and kept me from ‘dialing it in’. For example, it was the last show of a 10 show week, 10 minutes before the final bow. I was on the bike, suspended in the wings ready to make my computer controlled flight across the stage – a beautiful picture for the audience that was not much of a strain for me. I was dreaming of my day off. My cue came and went but the bike didn’t move. My mind flew into overdrive, reworking my lines, thinking about ways to get down, etc. Finally, the computer kicked in and I flew across the stage, improvising madly. The glitch saved that scene and kept me honest.

SZ: You’ve been a performance clown for over thirty-five years. What types of physical/mental training is useful in becoming a performance clown outside of performance training? Are there other disciplines you study or studied that have influenced your performance skills?

JR: It takes about 6 hours of practice a day for quite a few years to become a professional juggler. I started when I was 14 and that discipline has helped me immensely as a performer. Acrobatics is more social and the training, while more painful, is not as monotonous. It is, however, dangerous and scary. For an acrobat, the acting concepts of ‘risk’, ‘a life or death situation’ and ‘trusting your partner’ are visceral. If an actor loses focus, the scene dies; if an acrobat loses focus, their partner might die. In the ‘80’s, two partners and I had a company called ‘Vaudeville Nouveau’. We ran the business together. I learned how to write grants, do budgets, set up a not-for-profit, negotiate contracts, etc. These skills are invaluable for a free-lance performer. Finally, my experience as a teacher, which started out of necessity (I had to pay the rent and teaching is often a ‘fill-in’ gig for a performer) has grown to be one of my favorite things to do. When I am performing, I try to follow the advice I give to my students. This can be very hard – I was never a good student and I find I’m no better when I am the teacher.

SZ: While performing a show with a consistent story line show after show for over a year what are engaging elements of performance that feed a performers energy and help keep up the level of excitement for the actors?

JR: A ballerina came up to me after a workshop and said, “I could never do a show over and over like you do.” For her, the joy of being an artist was the variety and challenge of learning and performing 5 – 8 ballets/year. I understand her completely – variety has been a hallmark of my career. So the challenge of a long running show becomes a new artistic horizon. As I mentioned before, technical glitches are gold for a clown (when the sound board crashed and I got to talk with 2800 people without a mic and without competing with the band, I was in heaven.) Cast changes, different audiences, ideas from the director, etc. also kept me awake and alive on stage. Finally, I tried to interact with at least a few audience members before every show, to warm up my heart and ground me in the reality that this show, while old for me, is new for them.

SZ: You are currently a coach and director of the consulting firm “Stand & Deliver.” What are some of the challenges of working with business leaders in developing performance skills?

JR:: Now that I’ve become somewhat familiar with corporate culture, I find that my corporate ‘students’ are facing the same challenges and working on many of the same skills as my professional clown students – How to be fully yourself in front of a bunch of people? How to use all of one’s tools –voice, body, mind and heart – to engage other people and influence them? The moment when I can see a student’s block, name the challenge and watch them become fuller and more dynamic in front of their colleagues’ eyes is as rich a moment in a boardroom as it is in a ring.

SZ: Aside from presenting interesting and relevant material, what is a presentation skill that most people find immediately effective towards capturing the attention of their audience?

JR: Using their bodies to support their material rather than distracting from it; talking with audiences rather than at them; varying the pitch, volume and tempo of their voices to shape the meaning of their words and keep an audience from tuning out.

SZ: What are some of the life perks that have come along with the distinction of being a high level performance clown?

JR: Working with fascinating, skilled, wildly creative people on a regular basis; meeting people who were fans when they were kids become kids again when they see me; visiting interesting places around the world (although I often complain more about the plane trip than crow about the sights); watching my students succeed and surpass me in their skills and careers (now that I am officially an elder of the tribe, my cutthroat ambition has mellowed to mild jealousy mixed with pride.)

SZ: You and your wife psychologist Sherry Sherman recently launched the Medical Clown Project. Can you describe what the organization provides?

JR: Through the therapeutic art of play and humor, medical clowns help patients and their families reduce fear and anxiety while increasing their strength and motivation to cope with illness. The medical clown connects with patients in a way that is markedly different from the rest of their experience in the hospital.

Clowns use expressive therapy modalities such as magic, music, circus and puppetry as part of the healing process with patients, families and medical teams. They provide services in many settings including patient rooms, intensive care, emergency departments as well as in hallways, waiting rooms and elevators.

SZ: Your career embraces a global range of experience. Do you have a favorite quote or story that has guided you on your professional path? Many little stories – I collect and remember them.

JR: My mentor, Jael Weisman, has dropped many pearls over the years, including “If the first half goes well, pretend you really blew it so that you don’t get complacent in Act 2.” A couple of others: Auditioning for a big shot director; he liked me and asked to see more. I got excited and started showing him everything I had – juggling, acrobatics, music… Finally, he said “Stop. I like you now, don’t change that.” I got the part and the show eventually went to Broadway. Whenever I want to throw the kitchen sink at a scene, I remember that one. Another director once said, when I was complaining about something or other, “I agree, it is terrible. The worst thing you can do to an actor is give him a job.” That shut me up and broke off a big hunk of my actor’s cynical armor.

Jeff thank you for your taking time out of your very busy schedule to chat about life as
a performing artist.

Jeff wrote and is performing in the play, “The Road to Hades.” Performances continue at John Hinkel Park in Berkeley through Sept. 11th.

*Featured guests are not current nor former clients of Susan Zaro

Rennae Stubbs - A passion for playing - Part 4

2011-08-21T22:14:00.000-07:00

Rennae Stubbs - A passion for playing Part 3

2011-08-17T19:52:00.000-07:00

Rennae Stubbs just short of her 40th birthday is enjoying a career of semi-retirement from professional tennis. Stubbs the longest serving member of the Australian Federation Cup team has made her professional tennis mark as a doubles specialist. Over her twenty year career on the tour she has chalked up sixty tournament wins, including six grand slam doubles titles. Stubbs made history this year by becoming only the fourth player in World Team Tennis history to be on five Championship teams. Stubbs participated as the co-captain on the Washington Kastles. The team was the first in WTT’s 36 year history to have an undefeated season. Rennae’s tennis career is not over but as she winds down she’s been shifting into a new role as a t.v. commentator.

This is the 3rd installment of an interview with professional tennis player Rennae Stubbs
held during the WTA Mercury Insurance Tournament at La Costa Resort and Spa.

SZ: Playing on the tour you are away from home for great stretches of time. What do you do to relax mentally and physically to stay fresh on the road?

RS: It depends on where you are. I do think it depends on how much you are playing, winning or losing. If you are losing you’re on the practice court a lot in the day.

SZ: You don’t take a day off when things aren’t going well?

RS: I would need to take a mental day. I have the tendency to churn over losses and need to get away. There are some players who just want to get back out there and practice. It depends on your personality. Some people like to chill out in their room and get on the computer. When I began the tour there wasn’t the computer so I’d read. At a tournament like La Costa I can go surfing. A couple of times I won here and I surfed everyday, or played golf. But not every tour stop is La Costa. If I am in Berlin I can go to see some history or something to get away.

SZ: Is it fatiguing going out to see the sights while you are traveling?

RS: It is. People don’t realize how draining it is. People assume we are so lucky traveling and seeing the world. To be honest of the great places I’ve been I haven’t really seen the cool parts. A lot of that is because it’s too physically and mentally draining. People ask me what I mean when I say this, but I say, “When you go on vacation and you go to all those sights that day aren’t you tired at night?” When tennis players have to play a match the next day sight seeing is not easy to do. When you are out of a tournament you are on a plane and onto the next event because if you’ve lost early in the tournament you’ve got to pull it together and prepare for the next tournament. If you’ve had a great tournament you’re straight on a plane to the next event and playing within a day. There’s a lot of down time on the tour but not a lot of that can be utilized in ways that most people would when they have time off. It’s more about conserving your energy.

SZ: Do you plan extra days at some locations so you can have chill time before the next stop?

RS: If depends where you are. If you’re in San Diego you’ll see the players hang around for a day or two. You can’t really plan because you don’t know how you will do. I remember talking with Steffi Graf about this and she said if there’s one thing she wish she had done more of is to have enjoyed her wins, but you don’t have time.

SZ: The responsibilities.

RS: Yes, the responsibilities. The pressure to do well the following week. When you are doing well there are more demands. You get to the end of the event, you win it, you have that moment where you see players cry they are so happy, you give them a couple of hours of joy and the trophy, sit around and talk about the week and then it’s bang, straight onto the next week.

SZ: The slate starts clean.

RS: It’s, “Get over it because you’ve got to play tomorrow at the next event.” It’s constant ups and downs. If you lose you’re upset for three days or you keep thinking about the shots you missed. I can’t tell you how many times at the next practice if I missed a certain ball during a match and I miss it again in practice, deja vu, it’s not fun.
Then you slowly let it go. Then you get into the next week. It’s a tough cycle.

SZ: Did you plan down time and go home?

RS: Having down time, getting away from tournaments and focusing on practicing things or working on fitness is as important as winning matches. When you are doing really well it’s as important as ever to give yourself a day or two to not think about tennis and stress. It feels as though you’re tuned in from the first moment of the year of playing to the very end. During the season you don’t feel like you have down time. I always saw the day after the Tour Championships as the day I could breathe without stressing, because I knew I had six weeks before the Australian Open began.

SZ: Did you ever work with a sport psychologist during your career?

RS: I didn’t. I did when I was at the Institute of Sport in Australia because it was stressed upon us. I think it’s an individual thing. I think it’s really helped some players. I talk to players and friends about how to handle situations. I have found that to be more beneficial to me. For me it was difficult to listen to a sport psychologist when it felt like, “You don’t know how I feel. You don’t know what it feels like to have break point and not think about the outcome of that". You can tell me to breathe and do certain things, maybe it’s just my personality. I’m combative. Whereas if a player says to me, “Listen this is what I did in this moment, this is what benefited me.” Then I think to myself, “Oh I’ll try that.” It’s an individual thing.

SZ: The tour is unique in that players start it at a very young age and this is the only environment they are immersed in for many years. Then they get outside that and someone can see that a player is strong in certain areas of their lives but outside these boundaries, a lot is missing.

RS: Yes, it’s something the WTA is trying to do, to teach more life skills. I don’t think this gets talked about enough. I talk to players about it because you’re in such a microcosm of the world and you’re such a small part of life. You don’t get life skills. Simple things like how do you pay your bills? You get parents looking after the details for you and suddenly you turn 30 and wonder what have I been doing with my life? It’s scary for players that have been on the tour since they were sixteen. Everything is catered to like booking your hotel room. The tournaments make it easy for players. On the flip side there are certain things a normal 17 or 18 year old girl can’t fathom what we go through. So it is what it is. But I think life skills aren’t part of the tour. You’re taught everyday to wake up and work hard, practice, hit the ball and everything else will be okay. There are many players I talk to and ask them what they are going to do when they are done playing and they don’t know. Even for someone like me, I’ve always taken an interest in television. I’ve always been quite social and networked yet it’s still scary for me. It’s so different.

SZ: It’s a transition of who you know yourself to be.

RS: You’re receiving this accolade, you’re hearing people tell you how impressed they are you’re a professional tennis player and it shifts to you’re a normal person again, and that’s hard.

SZ: That’s interesting because it doesn’t matter what you are doing, you have value as a person. You've enjoyed this stage and the highlights of this commitment you've given to tennis and the success of your professional involvement. You’ve demonstrated great competence. You have great resources, connections and people have tremendous respect for you and what you’ve been doing the last twenty years.

RS: It’s always been the plan to think of life after tennis. It’s funny because I’ve thought I’ve always done that really well but to not play professional tennis, it’s been the biggest part of my life and not have that any more when it’s time to stop it’s like jumping off a cliff into safety but where? The unknown is always a bit scary for anyone.

SZ: What has been the transition path from being a competing player to the next stage of your career? You’ve been participating as a t.v. commentator for awhile now.

RS: I started in broadcasting when I was eighteen. A well known Australian broadcaster asked me what I was going to do when I am done playing tennis? I said I would love to work in television.

SZ: Early on you had an opportunity.

RS: Yes, the broadcaster said, “Well come up to the booth tomorrow.” My first reaction was,
“You’re kidding.” He said “Come on do it”. So I did and the first piece I did I was on camera. I remember the match. I remember who played.

SZ: Was it fun?

RS: Yes, I loved it. I worked the finals of the Australian Open for ESPN in 1997, with Cliff Drysdale when I hurt my wrist. I worked a bit with Pam Shriver during Fed Cup and we did Chicago together. This was when they were a little less professional about tennis. Now they’ve got their team and I’m just trying to slowly fit into that team. I work a lot for Australian t.v. now and have sporadic work with the Tennis Channel.

SZ: Has the transition been easy or a steep learning curve?

RS: It’s a process because I am still competing professionally on the tour part-time. I still play team tennis.

SZ: You can’t drop right off the cliff.

RS: Some player’s like Steffi, she was completely done. She just stopped cold turkey.

SZ: She had Andre (Agassi). It wasn’t like she was walking into a total void.

RS: That’s very true. I think that’s very important. I think people say well you shouldn’t stop playing because of someone else or stop because you don’t want to travel anymore but sometimes that's a big reason to stop. Even for me settling down and not wanting to be on the road all the time. But we’ll see what happens. It’s part of the learning curve.

Next week final segment, advice for parents and young players thinking about a life on the tour.

* Featured guests are not current nor former clients of Susan Zaro

Rennae Stubbs - A passion for playing - Part 2

2011-08-15T16:05:00.000-07:00

Rennae Stubbs just short of her 40th birthday is enjoying a career of semi-retirement from professional tennis. Stubbs the longest serving member of the Australian Federation Cup team has made her professional tennis mark as a doubles specialist. Over her twenty year career on the tour she has chalked up sixty tournament wins, including six grand slam doubles titles. Stubbs made history this year by becoming only the fourth player in World Team Tennis history to be on five Championship teams. Stubbs participated as the co-captain on the Washington Kastles. The team was the first in WTT’s 36 year history to have an undefeated season. Rennae’s tennis career is not over but as she winds down she’s been shifting into a new role as a t.v. commentator.

This is the second installment of an interview with professional tennis player Rennae Stubbs, held during the WTA Mercury Insurance Tournament at La Costa Resort and Spa.

SZ: A singles match can be played as early as 11 in the morning while a featured doubles match may not go on court until 9 or 9:30 in the evening. How do you negotiate planning your day?

RS: When you are young it’s easier because your body responds. One big reason I stopped playing singles because I was hurting myself in singles to the point it was affecting my doubles. I was losing matches because either I had bursitis in my knee and I couldn’t really move the way I wanted on the court. I knew I had to concentrate on getting my body healthy and then I could be prepared in the doubles. Yes, physically it’s tough, really tough. Some players like Lisa Raymond have been blessed with good genes and have had few injuries. I think about players that I know that were never in the training room for injuries. Then some players are in there all the time.

SZ: Do you go to the gym while on tour?

RS: Usually every event has a gym either at the courts or at the hotel. Players, depending on how long their match is will do a cool down, maybe a work-out if they are only playing doubles they’ll do a training session after. It’s governed by how much you’re playing. If you are playing a lot of matches, if you feel like you are in shape you need to stay at a certain level or if you feel like you’re getting slow. There were times when I felt like I wasn’t getting up for my overheads or not getting to the first volley and I needed to do more explosive work. It depends on how you are.

SZ: Do you have a trainer at home who sends you work-out programs? Or do you have enough knowledge to do it yourself?

RS: In the last few years it’s narrowed down to me being disciplined enough to do it in the gym myself. When I was playing at my prime I would go home and really have training periods and then go on the road and maintain as much as I could. I also like to push myself in practice. I would always push myself on the court during practice and I think that always helped me.

SZ: Because you were more prepared when you got on the court?

RS: I just liked to push myself out on the court. Steffi Graf was like that. She just worked so hard on the court nothing was harder than that.

SZ: It shows, that’s why you’re Grand Slam Champions.

RS: It wanes, you have your up and down periods where sometimes you are working harder in the gym than other times. It’s a long season. Sometimes you see players working a lot at the start of the year and then at the end they are just trying to maintain their health. A lot of players just do yoga or things that keep themselves fresh. It depends on your body type and what works.

SZ: What do you consider to be your professional title. You just retired this year?

RS: I haven’t officially retired. There was bit of a misconception of my retirement at the start of this year because the Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley asked me if this is my last Australian Open. I said it is, and he said Tennis Australia wanted to do something for me during the Australian Open because I am so rarely at home.

I never retired and haven’t retired from the WTA so when I saw a ticker at the bottom
of the Tennis Channel saying I had retired, I was like “No, no it’s my last Australian Open.” I’ve also said I wouldn’t play Australian Fed Cup anymore because I’ve always made myself available for Fed Cup. I wanted to give the other players an opportunity. Having said that if they said, “We really want you to play, would you play?” I probably would have.

SZ: Can you see yourself coaching Fed Cup for Australia?

RS: I’d love to. I’ve always said if I were asked I would be honored and I would love to do that but I’m not going to boot anyone out. I think everyone is doing a great job.

SZ: Did you enjoy participating on Fed Cup?

RS: Absolutely.

SZ: You’re a team player.

RS: No question. I was orange girl, or hitting partner, or showed up to stand in the corner and do whatever was asked. “Rennae, we need you to serve a hundred balls to a player, or we need you to go out there and win our 5th rubber.” It was just sort of like whatever you need me to do.

SZ: That’s one feature that makes you a great player. You love your environment. You love what you are doing.

RS: I think tennis players are selfish and in their own world. I just love the team environment of Fed Cup. It’s a very Australian thing the mate mentality and I just love it. It’s been really great to play and we have so much fun. I mean our team dinners, the stories, the matches some of the memories from Fed Cup are irreplaceable.

SZ: So it would be be neat if you had an opportunity at some point to be involved with Fed Cup Australia on the coaching side?

RS: No question, it'd be great.

SZ: You are one of the consistently successful players on the tour. In your opinion what are mental toughness qualities that help talented professional players become successful week after week, year after year? Part of it sounds as though it’s just the passion for the game.

RS: I think it’s the passion for the game. The respect for the outcome in the game itself.

SZ: The history?

RS: A little bit. More than anything for me it was about a legacy every time I walked onto the court I wanted to give 100% and never tanked a match. I never threw a match. It was always very obvious that I wanted to win and I think you have to love to win but hate to lose more.

SZ: You have purpose when you play.

RS: You have to have purpose in practice. I tell kids now that I hit with that are sort of half-assing it in practice, “Listen I just want you to know that this is the way you are going to play for the rest of your life, because you can’t practice one way and turn it around in a match. If you can’t do it now you’ll never be able to do it in a match.” Just being around Steffi Graf and some other greats through-out the years I saw that. I’m a pretty jovial kidding person but when I walked onto the court I was very serious about what I did. I think you’ve got to have this yearning to be good everyday. You’ve got to surround yourself with the right people who also want success.

SZ: Who were your early role models and mentors, the people that enriched your life and appreciation of tennis and life?

RS: As a young Australian Liz Smylie was a big influence. She was doing well in doubles, won Wimbledon doubles and was a good singles player. I just sort of hung out with her a lot and practiced with her and Kathy Jordan. They took me under their wing and we would practice and they would make me feel like I had potential to be as good as them. There’s little things I’ve grasped from people. I remember Kathy Jordan yelling at me in practice because I’d hit a volley a certain way and she said, “Don’t ever hit that volley there,” and that resonated in me. I probably say the same thing to younger players now. I just think that’s the great thing about life it’s exposing what you’ve gone through in your life to someone younger and seeing the fruition of it.

SZ: The tour is an unusual place because players come and go. It’s the opportunity to be mentored by this flexible family of people.

RS: It’s true. I’ve had different people just sort of tell me different things through-out my career that I grabbed ahold of and used to help me through big matches. Todd Woodbridge would tell me things during mixed doubles matches that I would remember on the doubles court. Todd had told me he would play with me if I reached number one in the world in women’s doubles. I got to number one in the world and he didn’t play with me. I had to beat him in the Australian Open final before he agreed to play with me. We ended up winning the U.S. Open (2001) together which is pretty special.

SZ: You haven’t experienced huge gaps in your career, you’ve been consistent.

RS: Yeah, I take pride in that. In 2009 when I played with Samantha Stosur and we made the finals of Wimbledon and the finals of some big events we ended up not winning a tournament that year, although we made the end of the year Tour Championships. We had a good year but it was the first time since 1992 I hadn’t won a tournament. I said the year I don’t win a tournament is the year I quit. I got to the end of 2009 and thought I had such a good year it would be a bummer to stop on this note so I played on in 2010 and Lisa Raymond and I won the tournament at Eastbourne which made it 60 tour titles for me and 70 titles for her. It was kinda cool. You don’t think about it until people begin saying 60 tournaments, it’s a lot of tournament wins.

Sandra Cecchini was an Italian singles player and she won an event every year she played on the tour. When I heard that I thought that would be an awesome accomplishment. I thought it was a good goal.

Thursday, part 3 of the 4 part interview, do players relax on tour, how
sport psychology fits for players, and thoughts about her career transition.

Featured guests are not current nor former clients of Susan Zaro

Rennae Stubbs -A passion for playing

2011-08-14T21:45:00.000-07:00

Rennae Stubbs just short of her 40th birthday is enjoying a career of semi-retirement from professional tennis. Stubbs the longest serving member of the Australian Federation Cup team has made her professional tennis mark as a doubles specialist. Over her twenty year career on the tour she has chalked up sixty tournament wins, including six grand slam doubles titles. Stubbs made history this year by becoming only the fourth player in World Team Tennis history to be on five Championship teams. Stubbs participated as the co-captain on the Washington Kastles. The team was the first in WTT’s 36 year history to have an undefeated season. Rennae’s tennis career is not over but as she winds down she’s been shifting into a new role as a t.v. commentator.

This is part 1 of a 4 part interview with Rennae that spans her starting out as a tour player, training on the road, goals, players who mentored her, the challenges of life on the tour, career transition, and advice for parents and players thinking of about a career as a professional athlete.

SZ: It was kind of you to offer Sloane Stephens, (rising young American tennis player), encouragement after losing her match this afternoon.

RS: For me it always translated better when it came from a peer rather than a coach because you see a coach as a coach but you don’t see a coach as a peer unless of course if you’re being coached by someone who’s been there and done that. When I heard it from peers I was a little bit more receptive. It sunk in more.

SZ: Early on you played doubles with Helena Sukova?

RS: Yes, I won my first WTA event with Helena.

SZ: Did it help you recognize your talent as a player that she asked you to play as her doubles partner?

RS: Of course. I felt like I could lean on somebody out there, because I felt she could sort of get me through something that I didn’t understand and I could sort of lean on her or sort of feel like you’re just running behind them, and they are going to clear the air for you a bit and make it easier.

SZ: So you trusted her.

RS: When you are playing with someone who’s achieved so much you just think it’s routine for them and if I just sort of do what I’m doing, she’ll tell me if I’m not doing it right. Then I’ll know I’m not doing it right. Whereas if she is encouraging me then I’m
probably doing something right. So you just sort of keep doing your thing.

SZ: You have an enviable professional career doubles record. Did you envision yourself as a career doubles player?

RS: I sort of felt before I even walked on the court with Helena for the first tournament that she felt I was worthy to be out there. It’s a funny story. I had played against Helena in Tokyo and I guess she saw something in me that there was potential to be a pretty decent partner. She she came up to me and asked if I would be interested in playing in Osaka the following week. I mean when she asked I instantly thought to myself, “Oh my god no way that’s too much pressure.” I didn’t have any plans to go to Osaka so my instant reaction was, “No, I’m not playing there.” But inside I think it was more like, “Helena Sukova just asked me to play doubles and I’m not ready for that.” I don’t think I was mentally ready for it. About twenty minutes went by and I was sitting with myself going, “What the hell have I done? What am I joking one of the best doubles players that have ever played the game has just asked me to play a doubles event. So I went “Okay this is my chance, take it.” I remember walking back and saying to her, “Helena have you found a partner for Osaka?” She said, “No.” So I told her I would go and play with her and we ended up winning the tournament.

SZ: Fate and Destiny?

RS: I think in some respects I would have been a good player eventually anyway because I felt like I had the skill. But I think that everything happens for a reason and I think my sort of taking the bull by the horns and saying, “yes” in the end and taking the responsibility that if we didn’t win the tournament it would be my fault. That’s how I felt. If we don’t win the tournament it’s 100% because of me. I’m the one that sucks between the two of us. That’s what you think when you’re young and you haven’t achieved anything. So when we won it I was pretty pleased.

SZ: Was there more pressure going forward?

RS: No because the next tournament I won was with Steffi Graf in Germany. So that’s pressure! Basically I learned that the secret to doubles is picking people who are much better than you. That’s the secret.

SZ: Is there a bit of humbleness going on?

RS: No. I always say pick someone as good as you or better.

SZ: Does it motivate you to show up?

RS: I think when I was younger of course when Steffi asked me to play the doubles event in Hamburg, again I said, “No.” Playing with Steffi in Germany, even though we were friends I was still like, that’s pressure. I was playing club tennis for her club in Germany at the time and really needed to be back for a match on Saturday. It was a match against a rival club team and she said, “Don’t worry you’ll be back for the semis because we play, Jana Novotna and her partner second round, so we will lose.” These were Steffi’s words, “So we will be out of the tournament and you’ll be back in time to play the club match.” So we win our first round and end up upsetting Jana Novotna and her partner in the second round. I went back and played the club match near Frankfurt and then flew back to Hamburg in the same week. I played the semi-final club match which we won then I told Steffi she had to tell the guy I was playing for at her club, that ended up being her manager, that I can’t get back to play the big club rival final and it’s her fault because we were in the finals of the tournament. Steffi and I ended up winning the tournament.

SZ: You have an amazing career record of winning 60 doubles titles, 6 of them grand slams. Many people have no idea how incredible your doubles record has been over the years yet ninety-seven percent of people who come to watch professional tournaments are social recreational players who play doubles. As you shift into your burgeoning career as a t.v. commentator do you envision making doubles a premiere part of your broadcasting future?

RS: Most people watch singles because they see these players on t.v. and in print media. People who follow tennis know who I am and sort of know what I’ve done through the years. Certainly when I played with Lisa Raymond or Cara Black we loved going to events like San Diego, and Eastbourne and different events around the world that really appreciated who we were as a doubles team. The audience would share with us how much they loved watching us play and that’s sort of one of the reasons you keep playing, because the people really appreciate what you do and they can’t believe the shots you can make because they play doubles.

Doubles is a different game. Even Serena Williams has said to me when we were playing WTT, she wasn’t returning very well one night and she said, “Returning in doubles is so much harder than in singles.” So you know there are things about doubles that are much more difficult than in singles. The physicality in singles is obviously more difficult because you are essentially covering the whole court and you are out there by yourself. Doubles is tactically much more difficult than singles. Anticipation, having the courage to move at net on balls that are just sitting there. The timing and ability to take a ball quickly out of the air, and there’s obviously the precision in returning serve. If you look at where a opponent is standing at the net there’s only a few spots in the court where you can hit a clean winner. That would be a perfect return down the line which is over the highest part of the net which is difficult to do. Or a clean winner inside out and then you’ve got to get past the volleyer so it’s very precise. Doubles is a very different game than singles. I don’t think it’s explained to people enough how difficult it is. As Serena said it’s so much harder to return in doubles because in singles you can hit the return of serve back into the middle of the court. In doubles the middle of the court is the worst shot. So it will be nice to promote and educate to help people understand how difficult it is to do what the really good doubles players do.

SZ: Did you have an idea you would be involved in doubles for your professional career or were you hoping to be more involved in singles?

RS: I don’t think any player starts out thinking they are going to make their living playing doubles. I was always a better doubles player. I played a lot of doubles as a kid in team events in Australia. The weekends were filled up with a lot of doubles for me. I think it just lends itself to my nature, my game and it just came naturally. Singles I had to really work on. Then I got some pretty bad injuries that affected me. When I came back and trying to qualify for singles events I was always doing well in doubles so the problem was I couldn’t really go and play qualifying at some of the events for singles. So that’s another reason why some players only go into doubles because they are making money doing it that way and then they have to forfeit essentially doing well in doubles to go and play a qualifying event in singles. That becomes difficult because the player ends up giving up a guaranteed decent pay check to go and possibly get another one in singles. It’s hard because you are paying your own way and I had bills to pay. I was on my own so those decisions you make over time. I mean I didn’t quit playing singles until I was 29 so I played a long time but it was hard for me because I was always doing so well in doubles. I had to make a decision and when I did it was when I really started to excel in doubles.

Tomorrow, Rennae reflects on training on the road, goals, players who mentored her.

Featured guests are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro

Raquel Giscafre - Mercury Insurance Tennis Director

2011-07-27T22:17:00.000-07:00

Raquel Giscafre is the tournament director of the professional women’s tennis event being held at the La Costa Resort and Spa beginning July 30th. Raquel a former player brings a wealth of experience as a player and tournament director to this event. During her playing career was the number one player in Argentina for six years, number 13 in the world in 1975, semifinalist in the U.S. Open in doubles and mixed doubles. The Mercury Insurance Open runs, July 30th-August 7th is headlined by Kim Clijsters, the world’s No. 2 ranked player and Wimbledon Champion, Petra Kvitova.

SZ: Raquel you were one of the founding members with Billie Jean King of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). What are the significant shifts you’ve seen on the business side of women’s tennis, besides larger prize money purses that benefit tour players?

RG: I was not one of the original nine players that you see in the pictures with the one dollar bill that started the tour. But I was the first Latin American on the board of the WTA. The changes that I see in the WTA are gigantic. It has evolved into a very strong tour, it is the most important tour in women’s professional sports. I don’t have the numbers in front of me but I think the tour offers over 60 million dollars in total prize money a year. It’s amazing. Players can make a very nice living and can travel with family, coaches and trainers. At the beginning of the tour we didn’t even have a bathroom in the hotel room.

SZ: Beyond the money what are the benefits you see? Are the players able to create businesses or participate in businesses after leaving the tour?

RG: Absolutely. The WTA has a division that is in charge of educating the players and helping players in their transition from being a tour pro to being able to move on beyond being a player. The tour offers courses and other tools to players and seminars at several tournaments. As a player I enjoyed the social part mingling with sponsors and tournament directors. When I retired I started promoting tennis because I liked the social part. So I began to learn by doing and a lot of players still do that but everything is more organized. There are more tools today for players to make that transition that is so difficult.

Now there are sport psychologists like yourself, (sport psychology consultant), and that is huge. I wish we had sport psychologists traveling with us when we were playing. That’s huge for a players self-esteem. In tennis you lose a lot. Everyday you’re proving that you can be better than your opponent and that you can win. Money has brought the evolution of the sport. Todays tour is strong and has very good people working on it, from the president of the WTA, to tour supervisors, to player relations, and the medical department is very sophisticated.

SZ: The days you played on the tour a player needed to be in the top 15-20 to bring home good money to make a living. How much deeper in the rankings is the range of making a living on the women’s tour?

RG: I personally made enough money to cover my expenses while I played. When I retired I probably had 20k in savings. But I wasn’t a player that played a lot of tournaments. In 1973 the first Virginia Slims tournament was a 10k purse, distributed to 54 players. There wasn’t much money to be made.

SZ: Would the top 50 today make a healthy living?

RG: They can make a lot of money and the players that are only playing doubles can make a great living.

SZ: You participated on the tour at a time players didn’t make enough prize money to hire traveling coaches and trainers. Now that prize money enables players to travel with more resources what are the travel essentials for today’s players?

RG: Most of todays players bring along a coach. In many cases they bring along either their own trainers or their own physical therapist if the player has been struggling with injuries or potential injuries. It’s not unusual for a player to come with two or three people, family, partner, coach.

SZ: Today’s audiences like to feel close to the players and part of the tournament experience. How does the Mercury Insurance tournament provided these opportunities?

RG: The venue of the La Costa Resort tournament is great because it provides a very intimate setting for the tournament. It’s not a large venue like Indian Wells, or Miami where you have a large stadiums. Tennis has been played here for decades. It’s a great venue. The players stay on the property. They love being about to get out of bed and roll onto the courts and walk around the grounds. They have all the amenities provided for them here.There is plenty of security but there is a sense of freedom. It is a favorite tournament for the players.

SZ: What are some of the biggest challenges to putting on this event?

RG: The biggest challenge is raising the money to produce the event and make it profitable. It’s necessary to find sponsors and provide a lot of different events within the events like a fashion show, wine tasting, and music. It’s a different economy. We promoted the tournament at La Costa from 1991 then in 2007 it went away. Two years later the tournament returned. The difference in the economy is interesting. Having operated a tournament in a booming economy and operating this tournament now is different. You rethink how to do everything and you have to be creative to create include everyone in the tennis community.

SZ: What type of events are put on within the tournament to draw community interest?

RG: We work closely with coaches in the community and tennis directors at various clubs and community centers like the YMCA. We put on a kids day, this year it will be held August 1st in the morning and all the kids get in for a free tennis clinic.

SZ: Do the tournament players participate in this or is it mainly local teaching pros?

RG: Some of the tournament players participate in the clinic. Last year Victoria Azarenka who won the 2010 Bank of the West tournament at Stanford came here and did a clinic. That’s how we get the kids involved.

SZ: Are there programs in place to give back to local community organizations from the proceeds of the tournament?

RG: Yes, through the years the tournament has raised over 3 million dollars and given to local charities such as the TriCity Medical Foundation. TriCity Medical Foundation is a sponsor of this years tournament. We put on a big dinner and the tournament donates tickets to the foundation. The tournament also benefits Youth Tennis San Diego.

SZ: As tournament director besides running a smooth tournament what do you most look forward to?

RG: I look forward to the great matches, fantastic atmosphere and seeing people having fun at the event.

Raquel thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to talk about the upcoming Mercury Insurance Tournament at La Costa.

The Mercury Insurance Open is a participating tournament in the Olympus U.S. Open Series. The U.S. Open Series now in it’s eighth year, is a six week summer tennis season that links the ATP World Tour and WTA tournaments together. The series leads into the U.S. Open. The Mercury Insurance Open is the second women’s event within the series.

Emily Miller - Off Road Racing

2011-07-18T00:37:00.000-07:00

Emily Miller is a team driver for Rod Hall Racing. Trained by off-road racing legend, Rod Hall, Miller debuted as a team driver at the 2006 Baja 1000. She has been racing for eight years and has multiple podium finishes and wins as both driver and navigator. She holds the distinction of being the only woman to “ironman” the longest off-road race in the US taking third in the Stock Full Class.

SZ: You are a team driver for Rod Hall, off road racing. What’s it like to be a female race car driver. Are there many females in your sport division?

EM: There are not many women. In fact, in one race last year, I was the only female out of well over 100 racers. It is great to be a woman race driver. I feel very fortunate and from a personal perspective it just doesn’t matter whether you are male or female when you put your helmet on.

SZ: What are the challenges and joys of racing cars?

EM: Challenges – money, time, lack of interest and understanding of off-road racing and its forms in the US. Joys - Working as a team, personal satisfaction, the terrain/race courses are incredibly beautiful, the challenge of keeping focused for such long periods of time, the competition itself

SZ: In what ways if any does gender influence decision making behind the wheel? In what ways is it an advantage being a female driver? What are the disadvantages?

EM: I believe it can be an advantage being a woman for the type of racing I do. I do longer endurance type racing, so being able to make smart decisions over a long period is very important. Finishing often means leaving the ego and testosterone at the door. I also believe women listen and don’t think they have all the answers. Being able to be coached and listening to your coach is key.

In driving, men and women compete directly against each other, which is fairly unique. As a woman, you are under the microscope in ways men just aren’t. And you are dissected in a way that men just aren’t. Driving and any sport can be a real poker game. The challenges of being a woman means that you often have to take all the speculation and talk behind your back and let it roll off of you. If you let it get to you, it will bite you and you will make mistakes by not having your head where you need it to be.

SZ: George Phillips who writes a blog titled “Oil Pressure” recently blogged about Switzerland’s Simona de Silvestro, who was named the 2010 Indy 500 rookie of the year. De Silvestro, has been written about recently for three crashes she has had this year. What are some of the mental challenges de Silvestro faces not only her own as a race car driver but in satisfying sponsors, other drivers and fans that she is back on track?

EM: I really liked that article and it was very well written and fair. I thought Phillips summary didn’t take a subconscious or conscious approach about where she is mentally because she is female. He gave a lot of credit to her drive and talent and really brought up how important the entire team is in performance and the head space of the driver.

Every driver understands the risk when getting into the car. Since I don’t know de Silvestro, personally I can’t speak to what she faces mentally because I don’t know how she processes her racing experiences – positives and negatives. Plus, the racing she does is different and a lot more high-speed than what I do.

However, I can say there is a fine dance between patience and the short term. Drivers can be impatient, wanting results immediately. This year is part of her track record and moving beyond the frustration, the concern, the wrecks could take time. But the good thing about the old cliché is true – “time heals.” The tough thing is the sponsorship and funding game. She has a track record for results, is a great rising star and seems to have what it takes to move beyond the accidents.

SZ: In your experience when a female race car driver of any of the types of racing has a dramatic crash does the media tend to focus the coverage angle on the driver’s level of confidence and whether she belongs in the sport? Does the media approach this angle if it’s a male driver?

EM: Well, we don’t have a lot of women racing let alone having big dramatic crashes for the world to respond to. However, when drivers’ abilities and confidence are questioned, it is tough to hear speculation by people who have never taken the responsibility of sitting in the driver’s seat and make comments as an armchair race driver. But that is just part of the program.

In terms of the question regarding women, I don’t hear “confidence” levels in male drivers questioned.

SZ: Is the sport of car racing in it’s different formats experiencing an increase of female drivers?

EM: From what I can tell, yes. When I was growing up, women only did certain sports. Today, girls get to try many sports (at least in the US and other various countries) and have plenty of female athlete roll models. I also think parents and fathers are doing great jobs giving their daughters opportunities. I think women in car racing will continue to see great growth over coming years and it’s very exciting.

SZ: What are the roads to entry into this sport for female drivers? Once a female driver establishes herself as a capable competitor what are the perks of involvement in this profession?

EM: There are so many forms of racing that it is tough to say. Each discipline is so different. There are some fundamentals though – money, time, practice, great coaching, well-prepped equipment. From a physical and mental perspective, sheer mental toughness and solid physical fitness. I can speak from the off-road racing side. You can start when you are older, and it helps to have general life experience. I think life experience translates directly to decision making in off-road racing. We don’t get to learn courses, practice and memorize corners. It isn’t glamorous, it is hard work just to reach the finish line. If a woman wants to get into off-road racing, the best thing is to first go to the races and volunteer for a team to ensure this is what she wants to do.

The perks of involvement for me are being part of a team, personal satisfaction out of sheer love of driving off-road, but very importantly, getting to see parts of the world from a very unique perspective.

SZ: What is up next on your racing calendar? How can fans follow you?

24 Hours of Paris (first week of September)
Baja 1000 (November)
www.emilysmiller.com

Emily thank you for taking time out of your very busy schedule for this interview.

*Featured guests are not current nor former clients of Susan Zaro.

Dr. Phil Wagner - SPARTA Performance

2011-06-14T08:19:00.000-07:00

SPARTA is an athletic training facility for high school, college and professional athletes who strive to maximize their sport performance while minimizing their risk of injury. Located in Menlo Park, the athletic programs are individualized incorporating a foundation of science, technology, training, nutrition and recovery programs.

Dr. Phil Wagner, owner of SPARTA, “I was always interested in training athletes. My career path has been based around that from the beginning.” The East Bay native received his medical degree from USC and in 2008 set up his training headquarters in Menlo Park because of the city’s location and abundance of high level athletes. Athletes who train at SPARTA are first tested on a force plate using the company’s proprietary software. The test results spotlight how each individual athlete moves and what his/her strengths and weaknesses are in relation to force and time output. Dr. Wagner says the process is similar to taking a fingerprint but of the total athlete. An athletes training program is then developed based on that fingerprint.

SZ:There are many performance training facilities in the bay area, Sparta has developed it’s reputation around being a science driven training facility. Explain how this method is a safer, healthier method of training for athletes.

PW: We focus athletic performance and injury prevention into its simplest need; force production. How much force you can put in the ground determines how high you jump, your sprinting speed, your ability to change direction, and how hard you can hit or throw a ball. The second major aspect of force production is the way you produce force, whether it very quickly or smoothly over a longer amount of time, as this balance determines your injury risk. The final aspect we analyze is the consistency of force production. If your nervous system is healthy and trained, you can repeat the same intensity over and over again.

We use a force plate buried in the ground to measure these qualities, coupled with our customized software to measure the needed values. After completion, we compare the athlete to our database of training over a hundred professional athletes and Olympic medalists of all sports and both genders.

SZ: What are the psychological benefits for the athlete using this method?

PW: There is a psychological component in everything we do, whether it is the tone of coaching feedback or the scientific approach. In the end, the goal is the same, to get results. So psychologically, the athlete feels more confident when they see the drastically improved results every day. If they happen to not improve as much, then they must learn to cope with disappointment and focus on aspects they can control.

SZ: What experiences from your own athletic play or training created your drive to seek out a scientifically organized method of improving athletic performance?

PW: I had countless injuries on the field; seven concussions, several surgeries on shoulders, and dozens of muscle strains and broken bones. While some could not be prevented, most of the setbacks were from pursuing training that was only supporting my innate imbalances. For example, I was naturally strong, so lifting heavier weights was fun, but did not necessarily increase my athleticism or improve resilience to injury. This training made me more explosive but also more prone to muscle strains

SZ: In an article you wrote for The Performance Lab, “Too Much Playing Harms Youngsters,” you mention that, “training the same muscles year round is believed to be the main cause of the rise in overuse injuries in young athletes.” What is Sparta’s system for recognizing overtraining outside of Sparta? Do you have a conversation with the athlete and parent when this occurs? What is a typical recommendation for the athlete when this occurs?

PW: Every athlete over trains, it just comes down to how much. Over trains doesn’t necessarily mean working too much as it does over specialization. Baseball players playing their sport year round never experience jumping or agility, while soccer players never learn how to throw a ball. We provide a stimulus with other skills to prevent the overuse of certain movement patterns, while still trying to enhance the most important parts of their sport.

SZ: What are the most interesting parts of your job?

PW: Improving athletes’ lives, helping them to achieve their dreams and changing lifestyle habits (nutrition, sleeping, etc.) that will last long after their sporting career is over.

SZ: Do you have a favorite quote or story that has guided you on your professional path?

PW: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” Aristotle

The most important thing we measure is consistency; how often you can produce force, reproduce a skill, and pursue positive regeneration habits (nutrition, sleep, etc.).

Phil thank you for taking time out of your extremely busy schedule to talk about SPARTA
and the training it offers to athletes.

To learn more about SPARTA Performance: www.spartascience.com

*Guests featured are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro.

Bay Area Bandits - Women's Football League

2011-06-02T10:35:00.000-07:00

The Bay Area Bandits’ organization was founded by a group of five players who wanted to prove that a women’s football team in the San Francisco Bay Area could be successfully managed, sustained and positively integrated into the community. The mission of the Bay Area Bandits is to afford its members an opportunity to play tackle football, a sport not traditionally offered to women, in an organized, life-enriching manner that promotes teamwork, discipline and dedication, while fostering the skills and knowledge necessary to compete nationally.

SZ: The Bay Area Bandits women’s football team began in 2008. How many players were on the original roster and how many players does the team have today?

Bandits: We started with nearly 68 women who tried out and carried 45 players on the roster for the inaugural 2010 season. In 2011 we began the season with 45 women on the roster.

SZ: How would an interested player learn about where and when try-outs are held?

Bandits: There are try-outs each year for both returning and new players. These try-outs
typically run between September and December, which is during our mini-camp training period. Interested players can learn about our try-outs by visiting our website or via the hundreds of information fliers that are passed out while recruiting prospective players. Our advertisements are typically via free or low-cost media and word of mouth.

SZ: I read that the Women’s Football Alliance which has leagues across the nation is owned by Jeff and Lisa King, and has grown to over sixty teams for the 2011 season.
What are other features of women’s football that readers are probably not aware of?

Bandits:
* Women’s football has been in the U.S. since 2000.
*It’s a league where the women pay to play.
*Several teams nationwide participate in philanthropic youth programs such as,
NFL Play 60, Special Olympics, Girls Inc. etc.
Women’s football is an international sport.
Approximately 30% of the money spent for a single football season is given back to local schools and city parks and recreation departments.

SZ: What are some of the qualities that attract women to participate in football as a sport for health and well-being?

Bandit (Jen Romanini): Football is an opportunity to play a sport that has never been offered to women. It’s a chance to be involved in a team sport and experience the challenge of playing a sport that requires physical aggression.
Bandit (Julia Jalalat): Love for the game gives me the motivation to keep going and push harder during the most mentally challenging and physically strenuous moments during games and while conditioning.

Bandit (Cori Evans): The qualities that attracted me to participate in women’s football include the opportunity to compete beyond collegiate athletics. The challenge to succeed in a new sport that I love and dreamed of playing.

Bandit (Sandra Hernandez): Many women are attracted to being part of a team a unit. Many athletes have experienced that sense of camaraderie and want to feel “a part” of something again. The great physical conditioning is definitely attractive and a physical sense of accomplishment.

SZ: What are some of the physical and mental skill sets that are useful for players to have or acquire who wish to compete on a women’s football team?

Bandit (Jen Romanini): The more physically fit and strong the player the more likely the player will find success playing the game. Physical skill sets range from speed, agility and power to brute strength, endurance, athletic skill and coordination. The skills that prove to be more useful are mental. Work ethic, drive, determination, leadership and the ability to work with others, trust. Much of what a player does on the field affects the rest of the team. Understanding that a players individual success comes from and contributes to the teams success is a crucial key in enjoying and finding success in this sport.

Bandit (Danielle Golay): The mental toughness that is needed to play this sport is something that is ultimately needed for any player to be great. A big heart, a great work ethic, and the desire to continue to become better are also great traits for a player.

SZ: Does the team have a quote, motto or story that expresses the team’s culture and/or philosophy?

Bandit (Jen Romanini): Dedication. Determination. Domination. We ask a lot of the ladies that make up our roster, instilling in them our goal of bringing home a championship to the Bay Area. It takes a lot of time, preparation and organization to be successful in this league and this game. The bar has been set high and is being set higher each year. The longer the opportunity for women to play football is around the stiffer the competition gets.

Bandit (Julia Jalalat): I wish everyone got to experience what it feels like to be running your last 100 yard sprint thinking surely this time you will perish, and have your teammates come and run the final sprint with you, not letting you run or perish alone, their very presence giving you life. In all other athletics I felt tolerated; in football I have a sense of belonging. Feeling like I belong moves me to want to become stronger, faster, better. When I step onto the football field, I am home.

Lady Bandits, Danielle Golay, Cori Evans, Julia Jalalat, Jen Romanini, Sandra Hernandez, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to share your thoughts and experiences of participating in women’s football. As of this writing the Bay Area Bandits 2011 record stands at 5 and 0, next game is Saturday, June 4th.

*Guests featured are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro

Marlene Bjornsrud - BAWSI - Female Athletes On The Move

2011-04-25T21:34:00.000-07:00

The Bay Area Women’s Sports Initiative (BAWSI) was founded in 2005 by Olympic and World Cup soccer stars Brandi Chastain and Julie Foudy and Marlene Bjornsrud. Bjornsrud, BAWSI’s CEO, has over 30 years experience in management and nonprofit work. Bjornsrud was previously general manager of the San Jose CyberRays women’s professional soccer team. Before her role with the CyberRays she was assistant director of athletics at Santa Clara University, where she supervised marketing and media relations as well as eleven sports.

SZ: BAWSI arose from the remnants of the professional Women’s United Soccer Association which ran from 2001-2003. “The rallying point was a consensus that the full aspirations of women in sports are yet to be realized, and that the full benefits of sports in society cannot be achieved without women.” What’s BAWSI’s role in moving this philosophy forward?

MB: Much of that comes from the thought that in our society a little boy can turn on the television and see athletes that look like him competing. ESPN will put on a men’s paintball championship before it will put women’s basketball, soccer, or lacrosse on the television. So our sense was that due to lack of media coverage how could we set about to make the invisible side of athletics, the female side, visible? We chose to do it in a meaningful way by aligning with female athletes in the community and involving them at the grass roots level to make a change in the lives of young girls who don’t have the opportunity to have women athletic role models in their lives.

SZ: In what way is BAWSI’s approach unique from other community based grass roots community sports programs?

MB: One distinguishing feature about what BAWSI does that sets us apart from everyone else, is not our curriculum because what we teach is common everyday playground games, hula hoops, kickball, a little soccer and basketball, but that’s not where the magic comes from. The magic comes from who is serving those young girls and that is women athletes, hundreds of professional, Olympic, collegiate, and amateur weekend warriors. We have a belief that every women is an athlete and any woman who cares about young girls especially those who live in poverty and have very little opportunity to be involved in sports, they are the ones going on the playgrounds and that is the distinguishing feature. Beyond the bay area I don’t know of any other organization that has focused on mobilizing the women’s sports community to serve young girls and that sets us apart.

SZ: That’s a great defining feature. What is the time commitment asked of the athletes involved with the school programs?

MB: We ask them to make a commitment for a semester. There are some teams that can’t make a semester commitment but will participate for four weeks. We are not interested in athletes who want to attend once, because that doesn’t build an authentic relationship. Santa Clara University Women’s Basketball is our shining star in terms of level of commitment. Every year they take on two BAWSI schools in the city of Santa Clara. Team members are on the playgrounds two afternoons a week. The women’s softball team at Gavilan College in Gilroy is the same way. They have a deep commitment year round to the girls that they serve.

SZ: What type of feedback are you receiving regarding the benefits of BAWSI in the schools? What type of benchmarks are you noticing where you can say, “This working it’s a good thing.”

MB: Certainly enough that we keep going and we keep expanding. The number of principals who apply for our programs is getting crazy. At this time we can’t accommodate all the requests we receive to be on campuses. The principal at Washington Elementary in San Jose, which is a very poor community in Santa Clara County, has shared with us that BAWSI is the factor that is allowing the school community of young girls to begin to participate not only on the playground, but it’s also allowing them to build their confidence in the classroom where they are raising their hand more. Teachers are telling us at every single school that often they had never heard the girls speak about college until BAWSI came on campus because the girls had never been around college students. As much as we began as a health initiative there have been a number of factors related to self esteem and confidence that principals, teachers, parents and intervention counselors are talking with us about and saying we want you here every year. That’s why we began a program for the mom’s. The girl’s are the anchor of what we do. They are the rallying point for the athletes but we also noticed early on that as we worked with the girls more and more moms’ would come and watch. A friend of mine from the Hispanic Foundation said, “I would be interested in giving you some seed money to see if you could do something for the mom’s.” We were fortunate to find a Latina elite athlete who has begun the program for moms’ and women that is now bursting at the seams.

If you go to a school in the afternoon where BAWSI is there you will see anywhere from 15 to 50 women working out with an athlete who speaks English and Spanish. The program involves fitness, a fifteen minute session on nutrition and making healthy choices for feeding their families and a few minutes of mindfulness training. So you’ll see mom’s out there in one part of the playground and eighty girls on another. It would be the only time of the week that you would see the females owning the playground.

SZ: What type of growth has BAWSI experienced since it’s inception in 2005?

MB: Brandi Chastain and I began with seven girls in April of 2005. We fast forward to just a few weeks ago in 2011 we’ve just enrolled our 10,000th girl. In six years we’ve given the BAWSI girls experience to more than 10,000 girls.

SZ: To date which BAWSI accomplishments are you most proud of?

MB: Every time I walk on a playground I experience a huge surge of emotion and it’s not ego or pride. It’s a funny sense of being both honored and humbled that this little idea is actually working. Because when this idea was created by the eight women who sat in my living room in 2005 there was a sense of we really need to mobilize the women’s sports community to do something right and do something good. I am amazed and moved as I watch what’s happening out there and my greatest sense of pride is the number of athlete’s that have said “Yes.” It’s also a huge tribute to Brandi Chastain who in the earliest stage day in and day out was on the playground every afternoon so that the athletes would see her and say, “If she’s out here I’m going to be out here too.”

SZ: You have an amazing history of involvement in women’s sports and it’s a challenging road. Do you have a favorite quote that has guided you on your professional path?

MB: The incredible highs and lows are like a roller coaster ride. I love quotes and someone gave me one the year BAWSI began and I keep it on my desk in front of me all the time. “What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?” Robert H. Schuller. I think of that a lot because even though we are almost forty years into Title Nine being passed as a Federal Law everything in the women’s sport world is still on the level of attempting to do something extraordinary so that has been something that guided me not just with BAWSI but beforehand with the CyberRays and while I was working at the collegiate level.

Marlene, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to explain how BAWSI works and how it’s influence is growing within communities.

Join BAWSI on Wed. May 4th at the Leavey Center on the Santa Clara University campus
for “Game On,” A Sportsapalooza to benefit the Bay Area Women’s Sports Initiative.
For more information: www.bawsi.org/events/gameon.html

*Guests featured are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro

Steve Young - Mental Toughness & Sport Transition

2011-03-24T09:22:00.000-07:00

After completing his career of more than fifteen years in the NFL, primarily with the San Francisco 49er’s where he received numerous awards including Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XXIX, Sports Illustrated and Sporting News’ Player of the Year from 1992-1994, and the NFL’s Most Valuable Player for 1992 and 1994, Steve Young has made a successful transition to the next professional phase of his career. In 2005 Young was the first left-handed quarterback to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Young is also the highest-rated quarterback in NFL history and has the distinction of being the only signal caller to win four consecutive NFL passing titles.

Currently Young is a Managing Director and Co-founder of Huntsman Gay Global Capital. He also founded and chairs the Forever Young Foundation, which is actively involved in children’s charities worldwide and is currently the broadcast host as well as the former International Spokesperson for the Children’s Miracle Network which has raised over one billion dollars world-wide to benefit children’s hospitals. He remains involved with football for ESPN’s Monday Night Football pre-and post-game shows.

SZ: Steve as a professional athlete playing at the highest levels of football you demonstrated great mental toughness. In your opinion what are the qualities of mental toughness in professional football?

SY: I think like a lot of things people have a predisposition almost towards mental toughness. They just are that way. You can certainly become tougher. It can be taught. But if you really want to accomplish something, and I’m not talking about 4th quarter, down by four, but by daily looking at what you are trying to accomplish there’s a grit that I think you can really develop and accomplish by just demanding grit from yourself. You can be mentally tough in college sports or high school, but playing in the professional game does really separate a lot of people. That highest level, it’s like anything, it’s like any super talent that you develop. Mental toughness is a talent that can be developed. Mental toughness is as much a talent as eye hand coordination.

There are supremely athletically talented people that I’ve known that lack the mental toughness and did not succeed. They stopped a level below. They could have been a great professional player but were finished after college, not due to their lack of athletic ability.

SZ: The mental toughness is it the day to day discipline?

SY: It’s a challenge everyday. You’ve got to challenge yourself everyday if you are going to get there. At the professional level you develop it and you don’t know how to get rid of it. It seems innate. All those guys with mental toughness, they don’t back down.

SZ: Nothings going to get in their way?

SY: I’m not talking about being a bull in a china shop. I’m not talking about hyper-competitiveness where you race someone to the car. Mental toughness is not being overly competitive. It’s a quiet thing in the moment a grit that 99 out of a 100 people would stop or go around the challenge or would avoid it, and the one person who goes through it doesn’t duck.

SZ: A clarity or vision of the goal?

SY: No, it’s an inner will. I know a lot of really nice guys who are exemplars of this iron will. Peyton Manning comes to mind. There’s no backing down, but it’s within a context. I’ve seen people who are hyper-competitive who want to compete in places where it’s not useful.

SZ: It sounds as though you are describing mental toughness as a type of intelligence.

SY: It is. We have to actively engage will. You are right it’s not something that’s mindless. It’s almost like I see what I’m facing and human nature kind of tells me to duck it but I’m not going to and I’ve trained myself to face challenges in this way. It’s an intelligence definitely and that’s an important piece of the puzzle. The strongest willed people are the one’s that I think have learned, have trained themselves and those are the most scary because you go into it and you say, “Wow man this is going to be tough.” That’s a unique person and every once in awhile you find a person where iron will and talent meet and you get Jerry Rice.

You don’t necessarily develop an iron will at age ten but I think it develops very young. It’s how you deal with adversity that’s around you. You can blossom in this way later but I think it’s innate.

SZ: How have these qualities which we’ve just discussed helped you successfully transition into business after a playing career?

SY: I think the thing you hit on was awareness. Because a lot of guys fall off the cliff of retirement and don’t get back up because it’s too much of a transition. I think it’s because you are aware. There is humility to it, “I was really great at something, now I’m not great at anything.” So the misstep is to hold onto what you are great at. You want to talk about it you want to have people around you who talk about it. That activity that you were great at, it’s over, and that’s the challenging part. The process is, “I better become skilled at something new.” The greatest transition I made was saying that exact thing. I began the long haul process of becoming at least good at something else.

SZ: There’s humbleness in that process.

SY: There’s no question. The core piece to that puzzle is humility. You have to have the image within yourself of starting over. The knowledge of, “I did it once in one field, I’m capable of doing it again.”

SZ: Is it an exciting process?

SY: No, it’s a grind. But like anything else that you do head on in time is the most rewarding thing you’ll ever do. You take the best things in living life, after the grind, after the struggle and there’s richness to it. That’s in relationship, sports, that’s in transitions, there’s a depth of what’s accomplished. It comes through the struggle and so that’s why I think accomplishing something worthwhile the first time, you have that resource within yourself to do it again. Though you’ve got to accept it’s going to be a trial.

SZ: What are some of the challenges?

SY: At some level it’s like going back to school at 38 or 40 years old whether it’s metaphorical or real school. It’s not something you necessarily wish to do. That’s where the humility comes in. You have to say, “I’m not that knowledgeable yet in this profession.”

SZ: You already had your law degree prior to completing your professional playing career.

SY: Right so I had a leg up. I didn’t really have to go back to school. I was grateful for that. The fact that I had gone to law school gave me competency, so people could actually hire me. Once you are in the door it’s a game of making it happen. It’s like anything else at some point you get that job, you get that opportunity now you’ve got to make it happen.

SZ: Do you have a favorite quote, story or tip that has guided you on your professional path?

SY: One of the things that really helped me as a young professional football player was my hero Roger Staubach. Roger had served in the Navy for four years then came out and went on to become one of the greatest players for the Dallas Cowboys. I found myself early mid-career saying to myself, “Roger played late, I can do it.” Roger was a role model and inspiration for me.

Steve thank you so very much for taking time out of your extremely busy schedule to take part in this discuss of mental toughness and athletic transition.

*Featured guests are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro

Eric Reveno - Univeristy of Portland's Head Basketball Coach

2011-03-12T21:03:00.000-08:00

Eric Reveno, took over as University of Portland’s men’s basketball head coach in April, 2006, becoming the 20th coach in Pilot history. He previously served nine successful seasons as an assistant coach at Stanford. Reveno has had remarkable results building up the Pilots basketball team since he took on the head coach job. Reveno led the Pilots to a 21-11 record and second consecutive postseason appearance. The 21 wins matched a school record and the Pilots earned a top 25 ranking in the Associated Press Poll for the first time in 50 years.

An imposing 6-foot, 8 inch figure, Reveno commands respect not with mere presence, but with his passion for, and teaching of, a disciplined style of play. Himself a post player for the Cardinals in the late 80’s under both Tom Davis, and Mike Montgomery, Reveno was described as a fierce competitor on the court. After graduating from Stanford in 1989, he spent four years playing professional basketball in Japan. He returned to Stanford and obtained his M.B.A.

SZ: Coach Reveno you played a major role on the Stanford men’s basketball team as a starting center in the 80’s. Years later you became an associate head coach at Stanford. What awareness/ideas from your previous playing/coaching days made an impression on you regarding the importance and structure of a team’s culture?

Coach Reveno: The most important thing I learned from my playing days at Stanford was the value of productive conflict. The team I played on had the ability to confront each other with honest communication and move forward and grow. As a coach, I am cautious when I see a team that always “gets along”. Like any family, team working so hard together is going to have conflict. We try to make sure that team members are always respectful of each other and that the goals of the team are always the top priority.From this culture of honest communication, growth as a team can take place.

SZ: Since becoming the Head Coach of the Portland Pilots you’ve been recognized as a leader in the use of sport performance analysis technology. What types of technology do you utilize with the players in teaching player development? In what ways is this technology useful to you as a coach and for the player’s?

Coach Reveno: Digital video is the most valuable teaching tool that we use on a daily basis. It starts with digitally capturing all of practice and games including individual player footage. From there we log the video either from a team strategy or individual skill development perspective. The objective here is to have the video log based on how you will use it to teach. Sometimes it may be something like the ability to watch all of a player’s turnovers of missed shots. We try to tailor how we use the video based on what the player needs. Not what the technology allows us to do. Therefore, we are always trying to be more creative in what we watch and how we watch. We email clips, put video on in the locker room, post it on a server they can access and have individual meetings. Each player has different areas to focus on and different ways in which they learn so we try to adapt to them.

SZ: Prior to beginning your career as a basketball coach you completed your M.B.A. In what ways was attending business school useful in preparing you for your future as a head coach?

Coach Reveno: The most fundamental way business school helped prepare me to be a head coach is it teaches how to run a business. A Division 1 basketball program has all the challenges of a small business ranging from human resources to marketing to managing budgets. All the nuts and bolts of a small business exist for a college basketball coach. However, I think the most valuable lessons from business school had to do with defining and solving organizational problems. The training in strategic planning and market positioning are just examples of areas that take advantage of classic MBA training.

SZ:You’ve mentioned your passion for the game and look for this quality in your coaching staff. What are the signature qualities you look for in a staff member who fits your definition of “has a passion for the game?” How do these qualities add to the continued success of your program?

Coach Reveno: I think you have to be what Jim Collins calls “functionally neurotic” in the sense that you are truly driven to be the best you can be. No little element is too small to correct if it will help you be the best coach you can be. That approach is contagious and serves as an example for the players. You also have to be hard-wired to believe that truly great things can really only be achieved with teamwork.

SZ:Some of the preparation for the team season involves, players embracing the team culture, physical training, technological analysis, does the team practice mental performance tools or do the above mentioned items create the foundation of mental conditioning?

Coach Reveno: Unfortunately, we do not consistently do mental training exercises. We consciously work to establish pre-practice and pre-game routines and are very aware of the power of the language we use when teaching but I believe we could take it another step. Part of the constraint has been time and the inability to adequately individualize it based on players needs given both time and expertise constraints.

SZ:You became head coach of the Pilots in 2006 and your leadership gave the program an immediate burst of success that has continued. It’s just as important for the coaches to be in shape mentally as it is for the players. What are some things you do to keep yourself fresh mentally season after season?

Coach Reveno: The thing I do the most consistently is study other coaches, either by going to clinics, reading books or watching games and practices. Things do not get stale because I feel I can always be improving as a coach. In addition, I strongly believe you need to adjust to each team each season and also be constantly adjusting to what each team needs throughout the season. Therefore, no two practices are ever the same. What a team needs on any given day to help achieve its goals is truly unique and you are always in search of that “perfect” practice plan

SZ: Do you have a favorite inspirational quote, story that has guided you on your professional path?

Coach Reveno: I love quotes. Well thought out ideas that help guide us daily. My favorite is the poem by Rudyard Kipling “If” It seems to cover it all.

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

Coach Reveno, thank you for taking time out of your very, busy schedule
for this interview. Congratulations on another great basketball season.

*featured guests are not former nor present clients of Susan Zaro

Advocates for Athletes, LLC

2011-02-27T19:39:00.000-08:00

Interview with Steve Britschgi, President of Advocates for Athletes, LLC

As a former college athlete and parent of a recruited collegiate basketball player Steve understands what it is like to go through the college recruiting process. He has been in and around sports his entire life. Through A4A, Steve educates families on how to realistically assess their child’s level of athletic talent and provides a path to take full advantage of the educational and life benefits that can be earned through playing sports at the collegiate level.

SZ: Steve what was your motivation to start A4A?

Steve: My motivation was the experience that my wife and I went through with our son’s college recruiting. We had no idea what to do or where to turn to get the answers that we needed to navigate through the process. Like us, most families sit back and wait for college coaches to contact them, when in reality it is the athlete and families that should be contacting the coaches. But how do you know that, how do you know when to start the process or even what to say? We did some research and located some internet based recruiting companies that we interviewed but found them to be very impersonal. We wanted someone who was local (bay area), that we could sit down with face to face and help us with the process. We did not find that and thus we made many mistakes. We then started talking to other parents of high school student athletes that were going through the same thing and found that we all had the same problem. So my motivation came from frustration. That and the verified need for a coaching business that is available to educate and guide student athletes and their families through this process.

SZ: What are the unique services that A4A provide for athletes and their families?

Steve B: What sets us apart is that the A4A team is all born and raised ex-athletes from the local bay area, so we are vested here. We want what’s best for our local student athletes. The whole team has either coached taught or volunteered locally and all have a passion for helping students succeed. Unlike most of our competition, we educate and guide through one-on-one sessions, and that is what makes us unique. By making it a more personal experience, we get to know the athletes better so that we can together find that right college fit, athletically, academically and socially.

SZ: Share a recent story of an athlete who benefited from the A4A program.

Steve: A4A was approached by one particular family this past October. Their athlete was a senior, very late to start the college recruiting process. He had some attention from a couple of colleges, but nothing like a scholarship offer, just a couple letters of interest. The family, like most we have talked to, was not sure where to turn or what to do. They found A4A by asking questions. At the point of our first meeting there had been nothing done to promote the athlete so we got to work quickly. Through hard work and reaching out to coaches the interest started coming in and by the first week of February the athlete had signed a letter of intent to play his sport at the college he wanted to attend, with a very nice financial package. The gratitude, the thank you’s the look in the young man’s face, and the “we would of never been able to do this without you,” was a clear validation.

SZ: Do you partner with other athletic community resources? Or is A4A a stand alone service?

Steve B: Advocates for Athletes is it's own business, but we wanted to be able to provide our clients with other resources. We have aligned ourselves with reputable local businesses and organizations that we can recommend to our clients if the have a specific need or interest. All have stellar reputations in the community and have a sincere passion similar to A4A for helping young student athletes on the peninsula. We are truly proud to be associated with them.
The Riekes Center for Human Enhancement, Mr Test Prep, Breakthrough, The Bay Area Womens Sport Initiative, and Sports Health Counseling.

SZ: Do you have a favorite inspirational quote that has guided you on your professional path?

Steve B: I do, it's by Vince Lombardi. "A man can be as great as he wants to be. If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive, and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be done."

Steve thank you for taking time out of your very busy schedule to explain the services that Advocates For Athletes provides.

Contact information for Steve Britschgi is steve@advocates4athletes.com
www.advocates4athletes.com

*Featured guests are not former nor present clients of Susan Zaro

Fight or Flight

2011-02-06T21:38:00.001-08:00

Many coaches and athletes are familiar with the term fight or flight. The phrase is used to describe an instinctual reaction of fight or flight that occurs when faced with a perceived, real or unreal threat. Common physical/mental reactions in this state include:

• Increased breathing (typically shallow)
• Increased heart rate
• Racing thoughts
• Increased muscle tension
• Time speeds up

The majority of sporting events that most athletes participant in do not pose a physical threat, and most athletes report low to non-existent signs of stress during work-outs or practices. Yet, frequently an athletes physiological/psychological response leading up to or during a competitive event creates an “as if” reaction. When an athlete enters a state of fight or flight their athletic skills and abilities may derail creating additional frustration around sport participation. In extreme situations athletes may decide they are not able to compete any longer and give up participating in their sport competitively.

Although there are rarely quick fixes to this reaction, athletes can develop successful management strategies to lessen the physiological/psychological stress reactions of competition that can precede the state of fight or flight.

Useful management strategies include:

• Preparation for competition. Being well prepared mentally, physically, technically, leading up to a competitive event. Practices should include competitive like conditions to mimic the types of stresses of the upcoming event.
“Stress can occur when athletes are uncertain that they will be able to do what is expected of them and when the outcome is important to them.” Rainer Martens.

• Stress management techniques. Utilizing skills of visualization, controlled breathing, positive inner dialogue and tools which provide balanced mental energy.

• Identify obtainable goals. Process goals vs. outcome goals allow a more balanced gauge of short and long term improvement. Everyone’s outcome goal is to win, but process goals are the steps and details that lead to the wins.

• Healthy support team. Support from coaches, family, friends who care about the athletes goals and support those goals, yet aren’t overly invested in the athletes outcome.

Effective management of fight or flight responses begins long before an athlete steps into the competitive arena. Using management strategies can help alleviate the negative aspects of the fight or flight syndrome and can even be the detour from it occurring.

SMI - Sport Injury Treatment

2011-01-21T06:33:00.000-08:00

Mark Fadil is clinical director of the Sports Medicine Institute (SMI). SMI offers evaluation and treatment of sports related injuries and provides massage therapy geared towards injury prevention and performance enhancement for individuals and athletes of all abilities.

Sz: Mark what has been your professional path to becoming a certified massage therapist? What’s the training process?

MF: The training has changed as far as certification goes in the state of California. When I became certified right after I completed college I took a basic class at one of the massage therapy schools. At that time all that was required was a 100 hour certification class. I took the class and was fortunate to immediately begin working with Len Debenedictis, who had been my massage therapist when I was a competitive athlete. He took me under his wing and the training was arranged as an internship where he mentored me. Our arrangement was set up where we would both work with a client at the same time. Initially it was me watching him and then I began becoming more active in the sessions. As I learned more I did more of the work on my own. We did this for a year or so before I started working independently with clients.

Sz: Was Len working specifically with athletes?

MF: He was. He did a lot of work with athletes when I was on the Stanford track and field cross country team. That’s how I was introduced to him. He was working with a number of athletes on the Stanford swim team, track and field team and recreational athletes. He had really tapped into that community so it was a great way for me to become involved.

Sz: So you were a competitive collegiate athlete at Stanford.

MF: Yes, I ran the steeple chase and cross country.

Sz: Do you continue to be active in sports?

MF: I still run. I haven’t competed since college but I run and have been road cycling for about two years, for enjoyment, health and to stay in shape.

Sz: Did your experience as a competitive athlete bring you into the field of body work?

MF: Yes, I had an IT (lliotibial band) injury and was hurt for about nine months to the point I couldn’t run more than a mile without experiencing knee pain. I was participating in a lot of conventional therapies. This was back in the early 90’s. The therapies involved basic stretching, doing some strength exercises, and a couple of cortisone injections. My injury wasn’t improving and I ended up going to see Gerard Hartman, a physiotherapist in Gainesville, Florida. I went to Florida to spend ten days with Gerard. He worked out of his home and had his practice set up where clients, primarily runners, would stay with him for two or three weeks at a time. His clients were from around the country and around the world. His method was to work with a client everyday for 2-3 hours. It was deep, aggressive, painful work. The treatment helped and my injury healed. That experience really sparked my interest in body work.

Len whom, I had been working with in the bay area, had been doing more general sports massage on my injury. When I returned home I shared Gerard’s approach with Len and that sparked Len’s interest. He added dealing with injuries as well as general work, injury prevention, and maintenance to his practice.

After I graduated from Stanford I decided that this was the field I wanted to be involved in and started the courses to becoming a certified masseuse, then began working with Len.

Sz: Do you feel your experience as an athlete gives you a connection with the competitive athletes and better connection to what they are experiencing?

MF: Definitely. I think that competitive athletes approach things with a certain mentality. It’s hard to understand what that mentality is and how that plays a part of whom they are and how they approach an injury. Not only in regards to an injury but often times the sport or their activity defines who they are and that’s difficult to understand unless you’ve experienced it or been around these athletes a lot.

I had a good friend of mine who was a 1500 meter runner years ago. She was having some knee problems leading up to the Olympic trials a few years ago. She went to see an orthopedists and was working with him a few weeks and her knee wasn’t improving. At one point he said, “Well have you thought about picking up swimming.” Her response was, “Have you thought about picking up pediatrics?” A competitive athlete isn’t participating just for the fun of it. For many athletes competing in their sport defines who they are.

Sz: Describe what massage therapists at SMI do differently from traditional massage therapists.

MF: A vast amount of the body work that therapists do at SMI is to focus on one area. A client presents with a specific shoulder problem. The therapist will spend the appointment focusing on the clients shoulder. From my experience the majority of sport massage therapists will spend additional time on the shoulder area but within the context of a full body massage. Our niche is to focus on the problem area and as a result we see clients with specific injuries. The therapists here also work with the athlete on injury prevention and maintenance. But even there it is usually in the context of working on the specific trouble area. The sessions tend to be very focused and individualized. There’s not a set routine. Our therapists are trained to be in tune with the client needs and streamlining the session for their individual needs.

Sz: Baby boomers and health is a very popular topic in the media right now. Studies show that boomers are actively involved in sports later into their lives than any generation in the past. Has SMI experienced an increase in boomers utilizing the clinics services?

MF: We’ve always had a lot of clients in their 40’s and 50’s. The San Francisco bay area is a very athletically active community and it’s been an active athletic community for a very long time. I’ve been doing body work for fourteen years and ever since I’ve been involved in this work I’ve always seen a number of athletically active clients who are in middle age and beyond.

Sz: Is there a frequent injury the boomers seem to have in common?

MF: It really boils down to the sport they participate in. We see a lot of swimming, cycling, and running clients. The running population has a lot of IT band issues, hamstring problems and planter fasciitis. Cyclists tend to experience neck, and back issues. Swimmers deal with rotator cuffs, shoulder, neck and lower back injuries. The injuries seem to be sport oriented not age specific.

Sz: Sport medicine statistics report that younger athletes are experiencing serious over use injuries. Has the clinic noticed an increase in young athletes needing the clinics services?

MF: We have seen a pick up of clients in the junior high and high school age group. We do have a number of junior and high school athletes coming in on a pretty regular basis, not only for injuries but for injury prevention and maintenance. It probably is a shift to parents being more aware of the potential for injury in younger kids and parents are trying to stay ahead of the game.

Sz: Do you feel the increase in the youth population is because there are a greater number of youths participating on sport teams, or do you feel some of the younger athletes are being over trained and over played in their sports and not introduced to enough cross training and seasonal breaks?

MF: I do think there is over training and over structure of training. I reflect back to my youth and before I began running I played soccer. I played soccer all the time but it was less structured. I participated on a travel team and the season lasted about six weeks. We would take road trips maybe once or twice a season. The rest of my playing consisted of pick up games. I’d go to the field and players would show up and we’d split up the teams and play until we were tired. Now with all the drilling structure it’s seems as though it’s become more like work than play for youth. I think that when kids are just playing they are less likely to get hurt.

Sz: Because they are less stressed physically and mentally?

MF: Exactly.

Sz: As you see athletes going through the injury rehabilitation process and struggling with their psychological response how do you handle these situations?

MF: That can be a challenge. It’s not just dealing with the athlete it’s also working with the parents.

Sz: As a service provider you may see beyond the presenting problem, yet you’ve been hired to perform reparative massage.

MF: We remain respectful. We try to keep the athletes welfare in mind.

Sz: Do you have a favorite inspirational quote that has guided you on your professional path?

MF: I do. It’s a quote from Rudyard Kipling. In addition to being a writer he was also a runner. “If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run yours is the earth and everything that’s in it and which is more you will be a man my son.”

Mark thank you for taking time out of your busy day to talk about the work at SMI.
Mark can be reached at: www.smiweb.org

*Featured guests are not former nor present clients of Susan Zaro

2011 Fitness Resolutions

2011-01-06T21:49:00.000-08:00

Have you written down and begun acting on your New Year Resolutions? Becoming more fit is always one of the top New Year’s Resolutions and a recent online survey rated fitness as number two this year right behind spending more time with family and friends. It makes sense that this choice is a high priority for people as the benefits of exercise and fitness are heavily supported by research. The Mayo Clinic lists seven benefits of regular physical exercise as;

1) Improves mood.
2) Combats chronic disease.
3) Helps manage weight.
4) Boosts energy level.
5) Promotes better sleep.
6) Can put the spark back into your sex life.
7) A way to have fun.

Many people who wrote “better fitness” as a resolution for the New Year are probably already aware of the benefits of fitness and exercise. Heading into the second week of January there are a group of people hot in their pursuit of their commitment to succeed in becoming more fit. Another group may have already slipped back into their pre-resolution habits and routines, meaning they thought about beginning a fitness routine but haven’t begun. Another group may have begun and is now starting to feel the pull of life distractions that can hijack their efforts to integrate fitness into their daily lives.

Here are six ideas for supporting your New Years fitness resolutions.

1) Create variety in your routines. Frequently people join a gym and within a few weeks become bored with the routine. When you join a gym find one that compliments your schedule and interests. Most gyms offer a large array of fitness equipment and free classes ranging from, aerobic and step classes, cycling, kick boxing,Zumba, water exercises and more. A gym or work-out facility that offers both, variety in fitness programs and provide peer camaraderie is a good way to stay physically and mentally committed to your fitness routine.

2) Engage your friends. Find friends who will join you for a day of kayaking, hiking,bicycling, jogging or even dance lessons. A base cardio work out routine
is useful but unless you are training for a specific race or event in which you need
specific weight, speed or agility training, there is no need to go to the gym
for all your fitness work-outs. In the bay area there are ample opportunities to join social/recreational league teams. These league teams typically offer a selection of several skill level categories, beginner, intermediate, advanced. There are basketball leagues, tennis leagues, ultimate frisbee leagues, soccer leagues and
many other sports. If you prefer to keep your exercise noncompetitive there are social bicycling, hiking, walking and running clubs.

3) Join or begin a healthy cooking class or group. People often begin an exercise program and neglect to alter their diets. Fitness and diet are best in combination. Taking a health conscious cooking class can enlighten and empower your nutritional choices and creativity. If taking a class doesn’t fit your schedule think about starting a group with friends. One format could be each month pick whose home will host and what the recipe theme will be for that meeting.

4) Know your distractions. Take a piece of paper and draw a line down the center of the page. On the left side of the page write down a list of past distractions that have drawn you away from your previous resolutions to become more fit. On the same side of the page continue your list of additional distractions that could emerge during the days, weeks ahead. Examples of this could be, couldn’t get to the gym because of work, family commitments, too tired etc. On the right side of the page write down solutions to the distractions that you wrote from the left side of the page. If you can’t think of a solution, ask friends or family for solutions to help you think of new ways to keep to your goals. The answers needn’t be perfect. The idea is to help you think of these problems in new ways.

5) There will be bumps in the road. Avoid minimizing your progress or giving up your goals on the days and weeks you fall short. For example if the plan is to exercise three times a week and for whatever reason you only exercise two times that week, move onto the next week with the same goal. Trying to make up for the lost day by adding an extra exercise day the following week may become a recipe for failure. If it works out great do it. But avoid the mentality of trying to catch up on lost days. Let it go and move on. When people begin to fall behind and the list of things they need to catch up keeps growing the goal becomes unobtainable and typically they quit.

6) Have fun! There is no reason a fitness program needs to be drudgery.

Understand that change occurs gradually and it is easy to become discouraged particularly in the early stages of beginning a new behavior. To improve your odds of succeeding stay proactive in combating the discouraging stages. Create variety in your routines, participate in activities that are fun, be flexible, engage in new activities, know your distractions, and build a support group of people to participate along with you as you to continue taking action towards achieving your New Year resolution of fitness.

Dick Gould reflects on creating a winning team environment

2010-12-30T07:12:00.001-08:00

For 38 years beginning in the fall of 1966, Dick Gould was the Stanford men's tennis coach. During that reign his teams won 17 NCAA team championships. For thirty-five years every four year member of the team earned at least one NCAA team championship ring. The most well recognized names from these teams being John McEnroe, who became #1 in the world in both singles and doubles, Mike and Bob Bryan, who are the current #1 in the world men’s doubles players.

In 2004, Gould retired as head coach but remains active on campus as the John L. Hinds, Director of Tennis.

SZ: You’ve said, “Great players have tremendous egos.” Through the years how did you manage these talented players with egos and keep them focused on the team goals?

Gould: When you say, ego’s I don’t want to mistake that, they had tremendous belief in themselves. As a coach I wanted to continually try to help players become better. To do that I had to continue to pump them up and help them feel good about themselves. It was hard for me to take a player who was already very cocky and had supreme belief in himself and try to bolster them. I felt one thing I was able to do well was to make the team part very important. It’s a very important lesson for them in life because they were going to be a part of a team eventually, whether in business later in life. If they couldn’t function on a team, if they couldn’t give up for the team, if they couldn’t sacrifice for the team, if they couldn’t make the team better, by what they do, if they couldn’t lead the team, they were not going to be effective with what they did later on. This is a really big thing for people who are involved in individual sports to learn.

I was with these players all the time three, four hours a day six days a week easy days, tough days, stressful days, all kinds of situations for most of the year and I really got to know them well. One of the beauties of coaching tennis is you can treat each player differently. My greatest strength as a coach is that I could be flexible with the team and the individual needs of my players.

When I first began coaching at Stanford my goal was to win a national championship within five years. I was so caught up in winning the national championship that I was not a good coach because I made that the team goal. There are so many other things you’ve got to do before you get there. Once I won the first championship in 1973, I became a much better coach because I didn’t care if I won another one, but we did. Then I stopped talking about winning national championships and I just started talking about trying to be sure that my players felt that they were improving individually. If you ask me for a blueprint for winning national championships I couldn’t give you a formula. Every year we did it differently, but I think that flexibility and adaptability as a coach is relevant.

I'd like to thank Coach Gould for taking the time to chat about his team philosophies and his many years of excellence as head coach at Stanford.

*Featured clients are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro

Alcemy of Excellence

2010-12-07T18:45:00.001-08:00

Parents and juniors frequently ask me, “What skills and dedication is required to become a really great tennis player?” There are many paths to reaching the top tiers of junior and professional tennis. Nick Saviano, who is one of the leading developmental coaches and founder/director of Saviano High Performance Tennis Academy, in Plantation Florida, reflects on his formula for helping players achieve excellence.

Sz: What are the favorite parts of running a world class tennis training academy for players who aspire to compete at the collegiate and/or professional levels? Are all the players training at the academy striving to achieve the goal of collegiate or world class play?

NS: Virtually every student is a tournament player even in the early stages as young as 8-9 years old. They are all aspiring to play at least collegiate tennis. Most will play collegiate division 1 tennis others have a dream of playing world class tennis.

To understand what I enjoy most working with these young people, you have to understand my philosophy. My philosophy is that working with young people is a sacred trust. It’s a sacred trust to the children and it’s a sacred trust to the parents and you always have to honor that trust. In that context, what I enjoy the most is helping the young people learn the principles of striving for excellence and learning life skills that will help them through their lifetime. Tennis in this situation is the vehicle by which to do that. It’s a long process.

If you are out on the court and if you are just working on forehands and backhands and neglecting the bigger issues of work ethic, of appropriate preparation, of dealing with adversity, all those life skills that are required to strive for excellence, then you are missing the most rewarding part. So in a long winded way it’s teaching the young players how to strive for excellence. Educating them on that and then the enjoyment comes from seeing the growth and the relationship over the years, particularly as the kids get older and you can see there is a deep appreciation and understanding for the fact they know you never steered them wrong. That you never took advantage of them, and that you were always trying to make decisions in their best interest.

Sz: It must be incredibly gratifying at this stage in your career to see how many kids have come through your academy and experiencing that growth in relationship through the athletic process.

NS: Yes, it’s immensely gratifying. You take some players that, and I don’t profess to be the only person that’s worked with certain individuals, I don’t take ownership of young people or as they’ve grown into adults, or whatever, but people who I’ve had a significant influence and involvement over the years, when you see someone like Jim Courier whom I’ve known extremely well since he was fifteen and spent time with him, and traveled with him starting when he was fifteen. I spent fifteen weeks on the road with him when he was seventeen and remained close through out his career. He was gracious enough during his induction into the Tennis Hall of Fame to fly my wife and I up to the induction ceremony. And now he is the Davis Cup Captain. It’s neat to see the cycle. I’ve maintained close relationships with a whole host of other player’s through-out their careers as well.

Sz: Tennis is a great sport for individuals. The sport promotes an environment of making decisions for oneself and owning responsibility for the outcome. This is both the beauty and the challenge of playing tennis. It’s not unusual for developing juniors, particularly teens and professional player’s to hit ebbs and flows of confidence and motivation. At times breaking through to new levels of skill and achievement take longer than anticipated. What types of strategies have you found useful for players when progress becomes stuck and the confidence and motivation in their game falters?

NS: If progress is stagnating that’s a red flag and there is a reason. Progress should not stagnate. If it does something needs to be addressed. In my opinion healthy goal setting is predicated with far more emphasis on performance goals as opposed to the outcome goals and therefore if the goals are working properly you should see good and steady progress. Sometimes slower, sometimes faster, but it should not stagnate. If it is, then you look at; is the training appropriate, is there something going on in their personal life, are they fatigued? Whatever it is the onus is on the coach when he sees that progress is not developing at a healthy rate.

Sz: Do you look at a player’s progress, statistically? How do you track the progression of a 12 year old girl who is competing in tournaments and doesn’t feel she is getting to a new level of ability?

NS: You can get lost in statistics. If someone is struggling with a stroke or something, that’s different. If you are talking about specific performance and how they are able to perform that skill I look at, is the player performing and competing well? Are their skills becoming more consistent? But I also focus more generally on what I see when they are performing in a competitive environment and also how they are performing skills when they are training.

I don’t have a definitive plan for saying okay if they aren’t progressing I’m going to chart this. If you are talking about someone struggling with the serve then that would be something you can get some empirical data on. You can then say okay you’re only getting 50% of your serves in. But then from my perspective, I would already know that based on what I’m seeing in training and so on. I would know whether they are making the type of progress I want. Also, progress sometimes doesn’t manifest itself in simply statistical form. A player could be making a certain amount of mistakes but the quality of what they are doing is much higher and they have to continue to refine what they are doing.

Sz: How do you help players notice their progress? Particularly when you notice that they have improved but they don’t notice the improvement because it isn’t translating into winning matches.

NS: You have to get the thought process on the right things. You have to clearly articulate what constitutes success. The success isn’t measured directly and the goal is not the winning. The winning is a by product of being successful over time. For example if I have someone who has improved their groundstrokes and I keep putting them in competition or practice against people with skills that are superior to them where they don’t have a chance to derive some competitive success or success in the drills, then I’m not doing a good job of developing them.

Sz: You put the player in a situation where the environment supports their skill levels and they can evaluate for themselves how they are progressing.

NS: It gives them part of the evaluation. For example you don’t want them going much below a 2-1 loss ratio. You want the player to stay within a 2-1, 3-1 win/loss ratio. If you have a child playing a tournament and they keep losing first round each week, I don’t care how well they are hitting the ball, I don’t care if it is Roger Federer, he’s going to run into trouble with his confidence and his development, and that’s an accomplished adult. Conversely with a player if their win/loss record is 5/6 to 1 they probably aren’t playing enough quality opponents. They aren’t learning the skill of being challenged and managing a losing situation. That is a part of the skill in developing a player. It’s all fine to practice with quote better players, but if that is in lieu of a person ever winning you are going to have a problem with that. This applies to the training skills of a young professional as much as it is a twelve year old.

Sz: Do you create this ratio by placing them in appropriate tournaments?

NS: Yes, and that’s a critical part of being a developmental coach. You have to be able to manage that with the parents, even when they are little tots just getting started. If you get a young child and you put him in any game and they have no perceived success for a length of time what is that kid going to do? They are going to quit and go play something else. Even when they are little munchkins you’ve got to allow the player to have some success. You have to create environments where they experience an amount of perceived success in order to psychologically feel good about what they are doing. Otherwise, it gets discouraging for them or any of us, who wouldn’t be discouraged?

Sz: Competitive juniors spend an abundant amount of time with their parents being driven to practices, tournaments etc. Normal teen development shifts towards behavioral independence, spending more time with peers; pushing further out to explore the world independently. What role shifts are important for parents to remain involved, supportive yet respectful of the developmental stages of a child athlete?

NS: I think it’s consistent with the increase of independence and decision making that they would give their child in a normal developmental environment. A parent obviously is not going to allow a nine year old to make a tremendous amount of decisions on their own. They should be allowed to make some decisions but not a great deal. When the child is 14 or 15 years old they should be allowed to make far more decisions and a little more independence and it moves progressively. The key is you want the young person to cultivate a sense of ownership of what they are doing and take increased responsibility. So it’s a progression that varies with circumstances of where someone lives, their background, their cultural background and so on. But I think it should to great extent mirror the natural developmental process and parental decisions that one would make whether they participate in a sport or not.

Sz: Do you find tennis parents, in a protective way more engaged in the decision making process? Or are your programs designed to address this?

NS: In our program the parents are part of the developmental team period. In tennis given the extraordinary amount of time that parents spend, the profound impact that any parent has on their child’s overall development, you have to realize that they are a part of the developmental team in order to effectively cultivate the skills and the talents of the young person.

By including the parents as part of the team you have discussions with them and you go over even basic things about how they are going to deal with a child’s wins and losses. You need to understand their basic philosophies, what’s their plan, what’s their emphasis? The parental role always must be respected. My feedback to parents is that they should emphasize to their children, the life skills and the life principles that are congruent with their personal philosophies, work ethic, sportsmanship, preparation, all that those basics. The parent needs to make it clear to their kids that they demand certain things, not necessarily results, but they demand effort, commitment etc., in order to allow them to continue with the privilege of playing tennis.

Sz: How do you prepare parents to deal with their child’s wins and losses? Is this part of the program that the parent receives in the overall development plan of the player?

NS: It’s a mutual thing. If the child loses and the parent is frustrated, whenever you discuss with them certain things that you think are really critical, I explain in advance, “look your child seems to be getting upset, or anxious here, here’s what I am picking up, these are some of my suggestions for this situation. This is how I would handle it, and this is how I think we should handle it.”

Sz: So you are interacting directly with the parent around these issues?

NS: Yes, absolutely.

Sz: Nick, in your article “Developing World Class Fundamentals” you mention, “every young aspiring player should balance his time striking tennis balls with other activities that promote his or her athletic development. How essential do you feel it is for players to participate in multiple sport activities as an integral part of their athletic development?

NS: There are different forms of other sport activities. There are formalized and informal. It varies significantly with various players. There isn’t a specific answer. Between the ages of 7-12 years old that rough area is a huge window for an athlete’s development. During this time the player should be doing a lot of different athletic activities. Even if they are playing a great deal of tennis they should have some other athletic endeavors in order to cultivate and physically train in a lot of different ways, to develop their coordination, rhythm, timing and all those skills. That should be done a great deal during the younger ages and maintained through-out. Obviously as they get more serious about tennis the emphasis is more and more on striking the tennis ball, but I believe that they should be doing an hour a day of physical training in addition to the tennis. At the age of twelve for every couple of hours of tennis played the player should include 45 minutes to an hour of other activities a day.

Sz: Are you talking about sports like, soccer, basketball?

NS: Soccer, basketball or if they have a physical training program where they are doing core strength work. I believe that’s a critical part of the development.

Sz: Is this during the ages of 7-12?

NS: Yeah, it depends on how serious they are. You have to understand when we talk about 12 years old there is 12 and there is twelve. There are kids that are developing nice levels of junior tennis locally and there are players that at 11-12 their families have moved to warm weather climates and are making a complete commitment to their children to become world class players. I won’t try to quantify it in specific time but suffice to say that I don’t think somebody who is 10 years old should be playing four hours of tennis a day but I think that if they are playing a couple of hours a day that they need to be doing significant physical training in addition to tennis, in other areas.

Sz: Is this weight bearing or non weight bearing activities?

NS: Agility, timing, rhythm, coordination, it could be juggling, it could be jumping rope, it could be dance, it could be yoga, it could be core strength work, or basketball, soccer etc. You will be hard pressed to find any player in the top 10 in the world or the top 20 in the world, currently, that wasn’t actively involved in a lot of athletic endeavors whether formal or informal training in other sports during their early years. You just won’t find them.

Sz: Was Maria Sharapova involved in other sports?

NS: She was extremely involved in physical training at a young age.

Sz: Distraction and concentration strategies, positive competitive focus, positive inner dialogue, imagery, managing emotional energy etc. are basic mental skills training tools. Mental skills training is frequently on the low end of a player’s “to do” list. How do you explain the value of mental skills training to player’s and parents so it doesn’t get left off in the training process?

NS: It should be an active part of every training session.

Sz: On-court and off-court?

NS: It should be an active part of every training session. In other words you talk with the player on the court. You talk with them off the court. The whole mental approach to training, everyday the player trains you’ve got to be cultivating the proper approach to competing. Striving for excellence, is asking, what are you doing, are you focused, are you playing at 100% intensity, are you distracted by your parents being here? It’s ongoing in day to day training and also there should be talks and literature especially for the parents. I find that really speaking with the parents becomes critical.

Sz: How do you do that? Do you hold private sessions with the parents?

NS: Not necessarily. I will if there is a problem. But it’s consistent discussions with parents either in groups or with their child or just in casual conversations on the side of the court.

Sz: Do the player’s engage in formalized mental training? Visualization, writing in journals etc?

NS: Yes, I have a lot of the players do visualization. They write out goals. They focus on certain things on the court. We give them literature to read. We give the parents literature to read that kind of thing.

Sz: So, let’s say a player is becoming frustrated on the court and they are yelling or doing something that’s unproductive, specifically, do you teach them breathing techniques and some of the standardized things, like focusing on their strings, tying their shoe, taking a breath and brushing off distractions?

NS: Yes, also when someone is yelling, we don’t allow that disruption. If a player is having trouble controlling their emotions there are two ways to address it, one, to give them tools to help address the symptoms of the issue and then you have to make sure you are constantly discussing the core reasons for the issue.

Sz: Who are some of the people over the years that have significantly influenced your coaching philosophies? In what ways have they influenced your philosophy of coaching?

NS: There are a lot of people over the years. There were coaches, like Poncho Segura, who was a great help in learning strategy and tactics. Other people were brilliant technicians. I’ve enjoyed such an unusual and unique background progressing from playing juniors, to playing college tennis at Stanford, to playing world class tennis on the tour for nine years, after playing competitive tennis, coaching privately, then becoming a national U.S.T.A. coach for five years, then director of men’s coaching and coaching education at the U.S.T.A. I’ve interacted with literally thousands of coaches over the years. There are so many people that I’ve grown from and been influenced by I couldn’t possibly narrow it down to one or two.

Sz: What an amazing career so far.

NS: I feel like I’ve really been blessed. I wake up everyday and genuinely give thanks for the blessing of being able to be healthy, and just doing something that I’m enjoying. I work extremely hard, and people don’t realize how much work and effort goes into it. I share with the players, my mistakes and try to use myself as an example. I share with them, “look it’s not easy,” and if you go into things thinking or expecting it to be easy, you’re missing the point. If you are striving for excellence by virtue of doing that you must accept that there will be struggle because without struggle and the effort to expand yourself there is no excellence. If something comes without any kind of struggle or extraordinary effort then it’s not really that special. The nature of striving for excellence means you must be willing to rise above adversity and challenges, frustrations, and all of the stuff that comes with it.

I tell the players, I love what I do. I am still passionate about it. But believe me there are days when it’s not easy. So you educate them in that way. It’s a slow process and they learn it’s gratifying. There is a young man who first came to work with us when he was 13 ½ and was 70 in the state of Florida. By the time he left the academy to attend Duke University on a full scholarship he had won 2 national boy’s 18 titles and reached as high as #2 in the nation. On a school break he came back to the academy to work out and I could see the maturity the growth in him and it was really good to see. It’s a lot of fun.

Sz: Do you have any favorite inspirational quotes that have guided you on your professional path?

NS: There are a few. One is from Aristotle, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act but a habit.” Essentially it means, excellence is a learned skill.

The other one which I think is one of the most profound and simple statements about life and I use for the parents. “Enjoy the journey because the journey is the reward.” And it’s so much deeper than what it says. The journey is the reward the opportunity is today and today is what your life is today. You must grasp the moment and make the day the best you can.

Nick thank you for taking the time out of your incredibly busy schedule to chat with me and share your formula for success and excellence.

Nick Saviano is internationally recognized as one of the top developmental coaches and coaching educators in the sport of tennis. Over the past 24 years, he has coached and helped develop many male and female players who have gone on to become some of the best in the world including Grand Slam winners in both singles and doubles.

Nick can be reached through the Saviano High Performance Tennis Academy in
Plantation Florida.
www.savianotennis.com

*Featured guests are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro

Ron Artest Credits Sport Psychology

2010-10-19T20:02:00.000-07:00

Superstar, Los Angeles Laker Ron Artest recently has made huge strides in lessening the pseudo stigma that has surrounded Sport Psychology. During the Lakers post NBA celebration interview Artest openly thanked his psychologist for helping him stay calm during the championships. In the last few years Artest says he has been seeing a psychologist who has helped him manage his emotions and gain a bigger picture of his life as a father and an athlete. Although the psychologist that Artest sees doesn't identify herself as a Sport Consultant - the professional skills of life management, energy management, focus, keeping calm under unusual pressure are all skills that are taught and incorporated into a well balanced sport psychology program.

The recent article by Shelley Smith regarding Ron Artest and his growth as an athlete and individual through counseling - speak to the benefits that have come to Artest's life through awareness, dedication and shift of his life strategy from defense to offense. His long term goals are to develop into the best person and athlete he can be on and off the basketball court. He is very clear he will never be perfect - but hey dude - whoever is? Congrats on your success!

http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/columns/story?id=5698248

To Choke or Not to Choke

2010-09-30T20:12:00.000-07:00

The ability to perform successfully under pressure is a valued quality in sports for players at any level of ability. Competing when “it counts” brings more emotional attachment to the event. The mental game is a learned skill. Each sport has unique mental skill requirements. Some athletes are naturally adept at focusing on the important details to get the job done. The athletes that stay in the game are the one’s that understand they have control and manage their emotional behavior and focus –

Check out http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/09/the-tight-collar-the new-science-of-choking/

10 NIS 4 ALL Interview

2010-08-30T07:25:00.000-07:00

I was recently interviewed by freelance sport journalist Andre Christopher Smith for his site, 10 NIS 4 ALL. The following are excerpts from that interview.

1) 10 NIS 4 ALL: Susan thank you for spending time doing this interview with me. Please explain what a sport psychologist does and the type of training/education you must go through to do this.

Great question, although a complex answer. The field of sport psychology is still in its infancy. Currently, individuals from several different educational backgrounds can work in this field. While many colleges and universities offer Masters Degrees in Sport Psychology, there is not a Doctorate degree in this field. Individuals in the sport psychology field who have a Ph.D., Psy.D. or E.D.D. may have their Doctorate in clinical or counseling psychology, education, exercise physiology, kinesiology or a variety of other disciplines. Sport psychology practitioners may be either licensed or unlicensed to practice. In order to be called a sport psychologist a person must have a doctorate and be licensed as a psychologist by the licensing board of the state.

Certification programs developed by the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) are setting standards for the profession of sport psychology and are continuing to gather momentum as consumers look for ways to find referrals to reliable resources. Any consumer interested in using the services of someone in the field of sport psychology should inquire about a practitioner’s credentials, licensing, training and experience prior to making an appointment.
AASP has developed a helpful guideline for choosing sport psychology consultants. In addition, consumers can check with professional organizations such as the American Psychological Association (APA, division 47).

I combine my knowledge and extensive experience as a competitive athlete with years as a coach and psychotherapist to provide sport psychology services to individuals and groups. My practice is made up of a wide population of athletes including professional, collegiate, high school and those participating on a competitive/recreational level. After playing tennis both collegiately and professionally I decided to work with athletes in the area of sport psychology. My training began with a Master’s Degree in Counseling from Santa Clara University. This was followed by 3,000 supervised internship hours in counseling settings. This led to my licensure as a Marriage and Family Therapist. When I am working with athletes in my counseling practice, I refer to myself as a sport counselor or sport consultant. I continue to broaden my educational experience, and knowledge through sport organization memberships such as AASP. I am trained in level II Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) and in biofeedback, and I have a level II Sport Science Certification from the U.S.T.A. and Sports Science Specialist Certification through the U.S.P.T.A. High Performance Competitive Player Development Program.

After becoming licensed I began working primarily with athletes. One of my first opportunities arose in the athletic department at Santa Clara University. I developed a pilot project for a group of injured athletes at the university. I met with the athletic director and expressed my idea of creating a six week pilot project for injured athletes. The athletic director said if the head trainer felt a pilot project sport injury group would be useful to the athletes then I had his permission to create one. As soon as I met with the trainer and handed her my proposal she said, “Yes, absolutely. There is a need for this type service for the athletes.”

The group was co-ed and primarily filled with athletes that had recently undergone knee surgery, back injury and were experiencing difficulties coping physically and mentally with the injury and issues surrounding the injury. The group met for ninety minutes once a week for six weeks. The meetings provided a positive environment for the athletes to talk about the problems of adjusting to their injuries, concerns about returning to their pre-injury performance level, issues regarding relationships with coaches and teammates and whether they would have a chance to regain their position on the team. Each week the group was introduced to educational materials, self management skills and problem solving ideas to help them maintain a positive performance recovery mind-set. A few of the injuries were severe enough that it was appropriate for the athlete to focus on transitioning out of their athletic career. Membership in the group kept these athletes from becoming isolated. It was a wonderful experience for me and the group members. Individuals in the group bonded closely during the six weeks and as players returned to their sport other group members supported them by attending their games. I could not have asked for a more rewarding beginning in sport psychology.

Sport psychology as well as peak performance have become familiar terms to the general public in the last 10 years. Peak performance skills are now equally recognized in other fields such as the performing arts and business. Sport psychology consultants are being called upon to provide a variety of services. In my practice the most common services I provide for clients include:

a) Creating customized athletic performance programs through the introduction of relaxation techniques, developing pre-match/game focusing routines, goal setting, mental rehearsal, creating positive cognitive dialogue, and teaching emotional management skills.

b) Helping athletes, parents, coaches and families manage issues surrounding competition. There are many types of pressures that arise around competition. Pressures may develop from within the athlete, expectations of a team, coach, or parents, and even media.

c) Helping athletes with psychological counseling and support prior to and during injury rehabilitation.

d) Developing and/or enhancing the experience of youth sport program participation. Sports involve developmental stages. For example: the skill sets, practice, mental focus and social needs of a five year old child will be very different than for a ten year old participating in the same sport. The skill sets, practice, mental focus and social needs for a ten year old will be very different than for a fifteen year old playing the same sport.

e) Developing sport for health for individuals and groups wanting to engage in an exercise program without engaging in competition. Engaging in a program of regular exercise is beneficial for mental and physical health and well-being. As a sport psychology consultant my counseling skills and sport knowledge serve to help clients stay motivated to continue a program of exercise or explore issues related to exercise adherence.

f) Counseling clients who are experiencing life transitions. Whether experiencing transition from high school to college, college to the pro’s or pro’s to retirement significant life change can effect mood and an athlete’s performance. Other transitions such as moving away from a coach, relationship issues, and grappling with new time management requirements can disrupt an athlete’s life.

g) Working with clients to prevent and manage burn out. Players, coaches, trainers, families can experience burn out if they are not able to manage the stresses, pressures and time commitments involved in all the activities and commitments related to playing sports at a high level.

2) 10 Nis 4 All: I see that you attended and graduated from Santa Clara University. How did you enjoy your time at Santa Clara and was Psychology what you planned on getting into from the very beginning?

Attending Santa Clara U. for graduate school was the first time I immersed myself in an academic environment without competing athletic distractions. One of the initial steps in the application process was being interviewed by one of the graduate school professors. During the interview I shared with him my background as an athlete, that I had played competitive tennis through the juniors, attended UCLA for two years on a tennis scholarship, and competed a short time on the women’s professional tour. I explained to him that my goal upon graduation and becoming licensed was to work with athletes and associated issues. He was quite intrigued with my story and thrilled I had a clear plan and focus for obtaining a Master’s in Counseling Psychology. He appreciated I understood the unrecognized, and at that time unmet needs for counseling in sports and the sensitive issues within this arena.

In the following years during the academic process I chose class projects and papers around sport subjects and issues. I think most of the professors found it a creative use of the program. I appreciate the immense support I received towards my goals through the Santa Clara University program.

3) 10 NIS 4 All: As I read some of your bio I noticed that you participated in tennis, first as a junior player then collegiate and eventually at the professional level. As you look back on those years can you explain what impact these years in tennis weighed on the decision to go into the sports psychology career you are in now?

The influences of my life experience, opportunities, enjoyment of playing tennis and awareness that studying psychology has brought to my life definitely has impacted my decision to work in the field of sport psychology. In the era I played competitive tennis, the path to success was singular, play, play and play. The most talented and hard working athletes who had drive and the good luck of living near a tennis club with an engaging teaching pro who knew something about competition were the ones who had the best chance of rising to the top. I was fortunate to grow up in Palo Alto, California, where Stanford University is located. Dick Gould was just beginning the Stanford dynasty. Tennis was and continues to be a very active social past time in the community. There were and still are many talented juniors and willing adults to practice against.

Today through the internet there is a plethora of useful sport science information available to athletes, coaches and trainers. Through social networks and organizations coaches have vast amounts of information to help their players develop. Most coaches spend their time focusing on a player’s technical, strategic and tactical skills, footwork training and may have some awareness of psychology. Few coaches formally study or provide a full spectrum of psychological and peak performance services that a trained sport consultant is able to offer. The overall process of committing to a sport is more complex than in the years I played.

In my path to becoming a sport consultant I’ve taken and will continue to take sport science classes to keep my skills current. The sport sciences are made up of several disciplines including sport medicine, biomechanics, motor learning, sport psychology, nutrition and exercise physiology. My knowledge in these areas is an important part of a consultation with athletes when they ask for a peak performance assessment.

A typical example of how I integrate my sport science training is a player comes to my office and asks for help with mental performance because they keep losing third set matches. Within the process it’s important to sort out if losing in the third set is created by mental, physical, nutritional or strategic influences. After listening to the athlete, sometimes it makes sense to refer them to a nutritionist, or a conditioning coach in addition to working with me on mental performance. Some players become physically exhausted due to inadequate nutrition or conditioning and think it is a mental issue. It is a mental issue to the extent that being dehydrated or physically fatigued will slow down a player’s mental process and reaction time. Tired players may try to end points too early by taking risks that frequently don’t pay off.

An experience that contributed to my belief in the value of a total training program happened towards the end of my competitive playing days. I had the opportunity to work with a physical trainer who had some interesting ideas regarding sport conditioning. He invited me to join a group he was working with that was comprised of mostly male football quarterbacks and receivers. I spent a lot of time sprinting on the field, running play patterns and laughing. It was great physical training, although I don’t think I ever intercepted a throw nor caught a pass unless I was spotted 10 yards. I spent several months working out with the athletes, both on the field and in the gym. The trainer understood I needed speed, flexibility and stamina, not bulk. Eventually, through the work with him, I obtained a base of physical fitness that enabled me to be conscious of a new level of energy and stamina which significantly contributed to my physical and mental confidence as a player. Tennis specific training today would not include working out with football players, but many of the speed, agility and balance exercises I engaged in would be similar.

I assume I could have accomplished more as a player had I worked with someone knowledgeable in the sport sciences early in my career, but I have no regrets. I recall the dramatic shift in Martina Navratilova’s win/loss record against Chris Evert after Martina began working with a physical trainer and nutritionist. From that point on physical preparation for the game of tennis became immensely essential to a players success. Player’s must be physically fit to play well consistently.

4) 10 NIS 4 All: I have coached tennis in high school, team tennis, and individuals. I have seen all aspects of the parents of these players; what do you feel is the reason that youth who start so strong in tennis at a young age start to lose interest by the time they reach the college level or even sooner?

To obtain a high competitive skill level in tennis, players must possess an array of unique mental and physical qualities. During a player’s early years parents can manage and reward a young player to a degree that can drive early success. Typically the scope of competition begins within a pretty small arena. In a recent article for TennisPlayer.net, Nick Saviano, Director of Saviano High Performance Tennis Academy said, “There is too much emphasis in lower levels of junior tennis on the person on the other side of the net. The emphasis is on how to beat other kids when it should be on how to play the ball and how to recognize situations in points.” I agree with him. Being the top player in an age group in the 12’s or 14’s is not a guarantee of future success. Parents and players frequently become caught up in results instead of looking at the game for the long haul. To become successful in tennis, parents and coaches need to understand a player’s stage of physical, mental and social development. An example of this is that at the high school level interaction with peers is very important and a player may choose to play on a high school team because it is a fun activity to engage in with their friends. Motivation for these players is often grounded in a group purpose.

At levels of the game where juniors reach high national or international levels of success, they already have a certain established inner athletic motivation and confidence. Coaches and parents at this point can provide career guidance and support but players at this level have to have inner motivation along with the opportunity to continue to achieve. Within each new competitive level the group will weed out the players who for some reason cannot keep up with the new group and the presenting challenges. As much as I believe goal setting can help a player define what they are striving for within a specific time period in their sport, I think this skill is only useful to a certain point. I imagine sitting down with John McEnroe or Andre Agassi when they were 17 or 18 and asking them to write down their goals for the year. I think each of them would have had very different responses. John’s response would be completely different because his motivations and reasons for playing were so different from Andres. By the time a player is 15 or 16 competition at high levels becomes too challenging to play for someone else’s dreams and goals. This is a hard reality for many parents involved in their children’s athletic career and who have put in years of devotion to see their child’s success. At this point parents may feel a sense of disappointment that the child doesn’t share the same goals and dreams. Historically the mid to late teen years is when players act out or drop out for various reasons.

I encourage both players and parents to recognize all the benefits that are created because of the child’s sport involvement. The dream may not turn out as the parent or child had imagined at an earlier stage in the process but tennis is a sport of a life-time. The skills a child learns from competing, training and participating will remain with them. There are many opportunities to play in different settings throughout the course of a lifetime. Examples of this are collegiate D-1, 2, or 3, collegiate club tennis and beyond college there are many levels of adult tournaments and leagues. I’ve seen players who thought they were done with playing, take it up again in graduate school. Players rediscover tennis as a great opportunity to network and the pressure of winning isn’t the same intensity. They engage in the sport on their own terms.

5) 10 NIS 4 ALL: As a certified Sport Science Specialist for the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) what type of cases do you come across that have been an overwhelming cause of a player’s downfall? And how do you treat players to correct this problem?

I received certification through the USPTA Sport Science Specialist program. I am not referred players directly through the USPTA because of this certification. Although in my practice I do work with highly ranked tennis players who have incurred injuries. Most of these players are high school and collage age. Often the cause of injury according to their sport medicine doctor is probably due to muscle imbalance and overuse. Player’s see me for help with the psychological impact of the injury. Sadly several players undergo surgeries on their back, elbow, hip, wrist or shoulder before they reach college. Many of these players have been highly ranked, developed sound technical skills and then due to an acute or chronic injury, were forced off the court for three months to a year. The amount of time on the side-line can greatly impact a player’s skill development particularly when these injures occur in the later teen years. Junior or senior high school players on target to play at a D-1 school who are forced to sit out a year with an injury typically experience a significant decline in their national ranking. Some player’s in their sophomore or junior year in high school receive letters of interest from the athletic department of colleges. After the players ranking disappears those invitations, not always but often, fade away as well.

All players have weaknesses in their bodies. There are many sport medicine and training concerns for young athletes as the muscle structure of adolescents isn’t developed enough to take the constant physical demands of tennis as it’s played today. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) recommends that players have both medical screenings by a sports medicine practitioner and a sports physiotherapist to evaluate general health and injury risk. Feedback from the screenings is given to the tennis coach and fitness trainer so they can plan effective training programs, and periodisation phase schedules to fit the needs of the athlete.

Typically a player comes to see me because of an emotional issue related to chronic or an acute injury. A sports medicine doctor may prescribe that the athlete cut back or alter their physical routine and add a cross training program to give their body time to fully heal. Besides talk therapy, visualization, and progressive goal setting are useful skills I teach to players during their recovery and gradual full reintegration into their sport.

6) 10 NIS 4 ALL: As a player on either a junior circuit or a player on the pro circuit it is a struggle to keep your mental game on focus, because of the media, fans and even family. What would you suggest to these players to develop a pattern to stay focused with their mental game?

The mental game on and off the court is an acquired skill. It’s valuable for a player to filter out distractions that can be avoided. When I work with a player and their family I help them assess whether something is a distraction or whether it is of value to the goals and health of the athlete’s development. These skills of judgment improve as the athlete matures and through life experience.

7) 10 NIS 4 ALL: I have not seen your cable TV show “Pieces of the Game.” Tell me about it and how you came up with the idea.

“Pieces of the Game” was a short lived cable show I created for the recreational player. At the time I thought it would be useful for people to have an opportunity to watch the skill transformation of 3.0/3.5 players. The show was divided into three parts, technical assessment and instruction, drills for practicing stroke and footwork, and concluded with mental skills tips.

Lindsey Davenport, I believe was the number one female player in the world. Tennis was shifting to explosive power and it was clear to me that most if not all the people with whom I was teaching at the time would never be able to hit the ball as hard as the emerging players. My concept was to work with a few 3.0/3.5 players, point out the common errors made by players at this level and demonstrate how to correct the errors. I was working on the hypothesis that if the audience had the opportunity to see the transformation of a player at their skill level improve, they would feel motivated that they too could acquire new skills and become a better player. I guess it was my version of reality t.v. without the prizes or booting players off the show. I had a lot of fun creating the shows and working with the players. In the weeks following the broadcasts some people told me they had watched and enjoyed the segments.

With the technical tools available nowadays, most tennis professionals through the U.S.P.T.A. can and do put their own instructional videos on-line or on u-tube. Instructional sites such as The Tennis Channel, or TennisPlayer.net to mention a few bring an abundance of great content for all levels of players on-line.
Today, I continue utilizing the many convenient technologies available to help players improve. It’s just not broadcast on public t.v.

8) 10 NIS 4 ALL: When you attended U.C.L.A. you attended under a tennis scholarship. What was life like being on the tennis team and what were the pressures you dealt with?

I loved U.C.L.A. and competing under the U.C.L.A. banner. I thrived with the athletic opportunities. It was, however, a challenge mixing the academic pressures that were inherent at UCLA with the athletic schedule of team practice, season collegiate matches, and individual year round tournaments. By the second year I reached a crossroad and needed to choose between tennis and academics. I knew I could always return to school so I chose tennis.

I wasn’t prepared for the complexity of professional tennis. I was young and didn’t have the type of support for this transition that is now available to athletes. Today players have many more choices. Kids in high school are being home schooled so they can play tournaments all over the world. Players earn scholarships to tennis academies or may be in a situation where their family can send them to an academy for two or three months at a time. Athletic departments particularly at schools such as U.C.L.A. now have incredible support systems intact for student athletes. I attended a tennis reunion at U.C.L.A. two years ago and met several players who played on the team in the years after me. It was interesting how similar my experience as an athlete playing on the team had been to their experience. Many of these players had left college and jumped onto the professional circuit for a few years. The demands of being a student athlete had been too much with too little internal guidance and support from the college. Over the last several years the system has shifted. The athletic department began listening to the needs and providing in-house support to these high level athletes so they could attend this high level academic school and manage the demands made on their time and energy. Today I think universities are awake to the reality that 99% of student athletes will not have professional athletic careers. They are more tuned in to the tremendous long term returns in providing a system for athletes to train and stay in school. These athletes will contribute to their team for four or five years and graduate as happy alumni. Happy alumni will encourage their children and their friends children that U.C.L.A. is a great school that respects and takes care of their athletes. It’s a win/win situation.

I work a lot with athletes who are making the transition from high school to college. I help them think about what they want from their college experience both athletically and academically.

9) 10 NIS 4 ALL: Can you tell me about Sports Health Counseling and how your business helps athletes, families and coaches? Walk me through the steps you take when you are contacted.

The process begins when a client finds my services through a referral from an athlete, coach, sport medicine doctor, fitness trainer or through my website. The client is typically looking for counseling services related to a sport issue or looking to improve performance through a peak performance mental skills training program. When an athlete, family, coach or sport organization contacts me the first step is arranging a time to meet for a free 30 minute consultation.

I work with a wide variety of athletes, high school, college, professional and social recreational. During a consultation the client discusses the presenting issues, and the methods that have been attempted in the past to work through the issues. In my experience almost all performance issues have fundamental counseling components whether the presenting issue is time management, developing routines, energy management, difficulty focusing, parental/coach issues, injury issues, transition issues and so forth. I assess with the client which of the customized programs and services I offer are appropriate for the client’s specific needs. By the completion of the meeting we decide whether the work together will meet the client’s goals and go forward from there. The work I do is very rewarding and typically the clients I meet are very motivated to make positive changes in their lives that will benefit their long term athletic goals.

10) 10 NIS 4 ALL: I read a little on your website about EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing). It is fascinating please explain what this is all about.

EMDR can be thought of as a physiologically based therapy. EMDR was discovered by Dr. Francine Shapiro in 1987. Dr. Shapiro first worked successfully with victims of trauma and later war veterans who had for years suffered from post traumatic stress syndrome. EMDR is based on a theoretical information processing model which says that, “When someone experiences a psychological trauma, it appears that an imbalance may occur in the nervous system, caused perhaps by changes in neurotransmitters, adrenaline, and so forth. Due to this imbalance, the information-processing system is unable to function optimally and the information acquired at the time of the event, including images, sounds, affect and physical sensations, is maintained neurologically in its disturbed state.” (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing; Basic Principles, Protocols and Procedures. Francine Shapiro, 2001). Symptoms arise when traumatic events are inadequately processed and can be altered when the memory is fully processed. Practitioners later began to adapt the effectiveness of this model with athletes.

For example, a tennis player may retain a memory of having a big lead against a highly seeded player and then, through a series of events, chokes and loses the match. In later matches she finds herself having a lead, begins to doubt her ability to close out the match and again chokes. Over time she may develop performance anxiety and begin to believe it’s her fate to get close and then choke. A clinician, through a mix of bilateral stimulation of the brain, such as bilateral eye movement, bilateral sound, or bilateral tactile stimulation, along with cognitive behavioral therapy would have the player recall the distressing memories of the match she originally choked. The reprocessing of the memory and the bilateral stimulation is continued until the memory becomes desensitized. The process then shifts to anchoring positive thoughts, images and feelings that more realistically represent the player’s current skills and abilities. When the player recalls the original incident of choking she recalls the incident with new perspective, insight and resolution of the cognitive distortions and relief of the maladaptive physiological reactions.

11) 10 NIS 4 ALL: As you work with youth athletes do you require that the family is involved in the process in full or just partially? What are you finding are the challenges with youth athletes?

Competitive tennis and the opportunity to engage in all the processes of becoming an accomplished player offer youth a structured multi-layered environment which promotes the development of useful life skills. Competitive tennis is widely recognized as an arena for youth to develop independent thinking, develop creative problem solving skills, self-discipline, energy management, deal with adversity and many other useful qualities. The development is the key when discussing junior players. The process of developing mental, physical, technical and strategic skills takes time. Parents make large time, energy and financial commitments as they give their children an opportunity to participate. The long term costs of lessons, clinics, tournament fees, travel time, purchasing equipment requires a financial commitment. There are often other children in the household who have different sport or other interests. Each family has its own issues around a child’s sport involvement. Depending on the age, presenting issues and goals of the client it is often appropriate to invite the family at least partially into the counseling process.

12) 10 NIS 4 ALL: As you look at tennis in the past several years and not naming names are there any professionals on the ATP and/or WTA circuit that you feel should be coming to you for your services? What type of services should they be coming to you for?

During a recent interview with Bill Simon for Inside Tennis, broadcaster Mary Carillo made the comment that, “Steffi (Graf), Monica (Seles), Chris (Evert) – the most devastating part of their arsenal really was their mental fitness. They were fundamentally tough from a very young age, and they stayed that way for a long time. That’s what’s missing in women’s tennis – mental toughness. It used to be what separated the women. Now what separates them is whether they can serve. Whichever woman serves best is going to win. It’s the dominate stroke. If you’re a guy who wants to be at the top, don’t even think about not being fit, mentally tough; not being fast; not winning tie breaks.”

I agree with Mary’s comments and will add that the women’s game has untapped potential for growth. I do think other recent women players that deserve mention for their mental toughness are Lindsey Davenport, Serena Williams, Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters.

A distinction between the men's and women’s tennis is that the men, beginning in the juniors, face a much deeper pool of competition. On the men’s side mental toughness is an essential part of survival. To make it to the next level of the game the men have to have all the mental, physical, strategic, and technical tools working. Women’s tennis doesn’t yet have the benefits of competitive depth. If barriers to entry were steeper, due to tougher competition beginning in junior tennis, upcoming players would be naturally forced to develop more tools. Mental toughness would happen as a process of the exposure to being in a very competitive environment.

Overall, I believe the future of women’s tennis is bright and will become more exciting as the competitive barrier to entry becomes more challenging.

13) 10 NIS 4 ALL: Your field is a very integrate part of an athlete’s professional career. I feel most athletes don’t think about sport psychology until the need comes up which in some cases, at the last moment. Can you give a closing statement on when an athlete should be thinking about sport psychology or what signs they should be noticing if they are deep into their career already?

Peak Performance is an integral part of an athlete’s training program. It’s not a magic bullet. Practice matches, clinics and individual lessons create a very different environment than competing for national titles or prize money. During the course of a competitive match all sorts of unpredictable situations arise that have the potential to trigger thoughts and emotions that can easily distract a player and invite frustration, worry, anger, if the player doesn’t have the tools to manage their emotional energy.

I often hear the statement that success in tennis 80 percent mental if not more. In my experience the mental skills are 25 percent of a complete training program. When a player has ignored this feature of training and finds themselves lacking confidence, having difficulty focusing and begin to doubt their abilities to ever win big matches again, now the mental game has spiked in importance to 80 percent.

At the introductory levels of sport, coaches and parents have an opportunity to lay the ground work of teaching useful mental skills techniques. Examples of basic skills include providing simple focusing techniques, teaching basic breath and relaxation skills to set the stage for future energy management, showing kids techniques to let go of distractions and errors, and giving kids confidence to put 100 percent of themselves into matches regardless of the outcome.

Several years ago I was working with a young child who is highly ranked and very talented yet had become prone to melt downs on the court when she made easy errors. The emotional frustration she experienced after making an error was creating an ongoing downward performance spiral. I was asked to meet with one of the parents and the child. During our meeting I asked if any mental training had been introduced to her by the coach. The parent said, the coach is an excellent technician but doesn’t have the skills, knowledge or time to work with their child on the mental skills. The program I set up for her was simple yet effective. Over the course of a month, with a few tweaks and adjustments, she began to efficiently apply the skill sets she had learned and over time. Eventually, she didn’t need to consciously think about the skills, they had become a seamless part of her performance.

Players perform more consistently at their skill level when they are confident, in control of their emotions, having fun and taking reasonable risks on the court. Learning mental skill doesn’t come with a guarantee of winning. But there is a lot of scientific evidence suggesting that peak performance techniques do enhance sport performance. Learning mental performance skills is one of the many pieces of the game.

The Life of an Overseas Basketball Player, Part 2

2010-07-05T07:14:00.000-07:00

The first installment of this series took a glimpse into the life of John Gilchrist and his fiancée (now wife) Mikaela Samuel. Part II features the lifestyle of Nicole and Daryl Greene, who for the past 6 years have been navigating the unique challenges that arise for couples and families when a spouse makes an income playing abroad. They also have the challenges of raising their 4-month old daughter while Daryl continues to play overseas.

Daryl played his college ball at Niagra University from 1998-2002 and received All-MAAC 1st Team honors in his senior season. Following a successful college career, Daryl made the jump overseas and has been playing there ever since. In his 9-year professional career, the 6 foot 1, 192-pound left handed combo guard has played for teams in Holland, Finland, and Poland. Last season, Daryl played only 9 games for ISS Sportino Inowroclawl in Poland due to coaching and front office changes that cut his season short. He has been home in Largo, Maryland working hard on his game and is ready to play again next season at a high level.

sz: Where and when did you meet Daryl?

Nicole: I met Daryl in May 2005 at my house. Mike Tyson was fighting on cable television and I ordered the fight and invited a bunch of people over. He came with his best friend whom I knew.

sz: How long have you been married?

Nicole: We’ve been married now for almost three years.

sz: What stage of his playing career was he in when you met?

Nicole: When we met, Daryl had just returned from Finland, where he had been playing. He was home for the summer. It was a GREAT summer!

sz: Do you live overseas all year or return during the off-season?

Nicole: Daryl and I actually “separate” during the season. He goes away to the team and I stay in the states. When we can, we visit. He returns to the U.S. during the off-season.

sz: How many years has Daryl been playing overseas? Do you travel overseas with him or do you stay in the U.S.?

Nicole: He’s been playing overseas for 9 years—since he graduated from college in 2002. I have traveled to visit, but never to stay.

sz: Even though you and Daryl have adjusted to your individual lifestyles, do you have the opportunity to get to know Daryl’s teammates/business partners abroad during the season?

Nicole: Daryl tells me all about his teammates! It’s very exciting to me because then I feel like I know everyone when I’ve never met them! So when I visit, I get introductions from Daryl like, “This is the guy who…” Daryl’s season with the Polish team, JKK Gornik Walbrzych, was the first time I was able to meet the entire team. The day I arrived in town, there was a bowling party. At the game, I met and made friends with his teammates’ girlfriends and wives. And now, we stay connected through Facebook.

sz: Do you have children? How old are they? In what ways have they needed to adapt to the lifestyle, friends, school, etc. that Daryl’s professional schedule creates for the family?

Nicole: We have one daughter who is now 4 months. She hasn’t had to do much adapting, but she was 20 days old when she first met daddy. He was away in Poland during the season when she was born and it was VERY hard for him. It was hard for me too, but I was surrounded by family and close friends, so they helped me a lot. I sent him pictures and videos daily.

sz: Do you work? Can you and/or do you participate in this job while you are overseas?

Nicole: I work full-time as a Media Director at the church we attend. The church has a television broadcast on four television stations and I am responsible for the production and post production of the shows. It is a very demanding position and it cannot be completed overseas. This is the main reason why I stay in the states when it’s time for his season. I really enjoy my job.

sz: What are some challenging issues you face with Daryl’s professional career taking him overseas to play?

Nicole: The biggest challenge is that many times we don’t know when he will have to leave. For example, the last two times he has left to go overseas, he was called one day and gone the next. It just happens so fast. But it’s not so hard because he was doing this when I met him, so I knew what I was getting into! So, I just cry my little tears when he leaves and then submerse myself in work since I don’t have him to hang out with after work!

sz: Have you noticed any beneficial changes that make life easier for families of overseas players when one spouse is working abroad and the other is at home?

Nicole: Two things I love about Daryl’s contracts is that a) they don’t require that he use any of the money he is making for living expenses and b) the teams always work out something to either allow him to come home mid-season, or to allow me to come and visit him. That is the most helpful because if we had to pay for two homes and cars in both locations, AND to buy plane tickets back and forth, playing overseas would not be very worthwhile.

sz: Did you play a sport growing up? If so, which sport and to what level of competition did you play and how has your athletic experience helped you understand Daryl’s career better?

Nicole: I played high school volleyball growing up and I coached high school volleyball while I was in college, so I understand his passion and his drive for basketball. Basketball was never a favorite sport for me. However, I can’t say that I had the same drive for volleyball. I’ve seen Daryl push himself to do things that almost seem humanly impossible. He’ll push himself through pain and fatigue. And I look at him and realize that the reason I couldn’t play volleyball in college was because I listened to my pain and fatigue and would quit. I admire him for that.

sz: What advice do you have for couples who are just beginning this professional journey lifestyle? Any advice regarding issues you feel are important for families to be aware of when making the transition?

Nicole: This journey is for a small group of families. Not everyone is capable of handling this type of situation. Being apart from one another so long can really create separation in a relationship and either person could feel like they have two different lives. You have to both be people who know that you’re married and confident that the other will not step outside of that marriage while you are apart from one another. We do everything within our power to make the other person feel secure. So, even though we’re in another country, we always know where the other person is. We are in constant contact by Skype, instant messenger, text messages, or cell phone. So, although we cannot see one another, we are never really apart. And when the time zones don’t permit us to be in contact, we focus on our work. And we do not entertain friendships with the opposite sex!

sz: What are the advantages, benefits, and rewards for you and your family that come with Daryl’s job as a professional athlete?

Nicole: Overall, playing basketball is Daryl’s dream, passion, and career. I would never ask him to give that up because I know how much he desires to do it. So, I have the extreme benefit of seeing (or hearing) him fulfilled when he’s playing. And that is worth all the time away!

sz: Nicole thank you for taking time out of your busy life to participant in this interview. This article may also be viewed at www.accessathletes.com

*Featured guests are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro

Motivating Junior Tennis Players

2010-06-17T17:41:00.000-07:00

There are a tremendous amount of good ideas, technologies, coaching, and sport science knowledge available on-line and through tennis programs to help junior players achieve competency in the sport of tennis. In Northern California where I work and teach tennis to juniors the quality of coaching is deep. Interest in tennis is high. What is missing for families and young players are user friendly environments for their children to develop their competitive experience and skills.

Tennis should look more closely at the youth soccer, basketball even baseball system of immersion. A family whose child plays on a soccer team frequently will play 2-3 games in one day during a weekend. A tennis family drives 30-40 miles to a tournament which maybe provides a first round or feed-in consolation. The fee for the tournament is up to $45.00 at some tournaments. The child may receive a t-shirt and play two matches. How do you think a parent feels spending hundreds of dollars on coaching, clinics, tennis equipment, entry fees to watch their child play one or two matches and lose? Realistically most families can't keep up with the financial stress. Versus a family can for $300.00 or less join a soccer team, and be guaranteed at least one to two practices a week, the coaching can be hit or miss but they are out on the field competing and are guaranteed least 12 or more competitive games.

If tournaments at the Novice and Challenger level converted to round-robin the 30 or 40 minute drive to the tournament - cost of family time and gas - would begin to be worth it. Value to the junior player is knowing that regardless of the outcome he/she will play 4-5 matches when entered in a tournament. The longer term pay off is the young player gets to test his/her skills against all the players in the tournament vs. the luck of the draw or seeding. It provides a truer value to the family investment, and a more worthwhile value to the player's mental, emotional, physical growth.

Why do kids quit tennis? Unless they are top dog and winning it's tough getting squashed in the early rounds week after week. Think back to when you were 9 or 10 and how lousy it felt to be "the loser." It's even more uncomfortable to be in that spot today with the pressures of junior tennis. But if the player knows that he/she has the opportunity to play all the players not only does the player have hope that it's possible to beat at least one player in the mix, they also receive valuable competitive play time. Overtime playing that many matches the player will improve or find another sport. Over and over again the discussion moves to what is the purpose of junior sports? Development. Mental, physical, strategic/technical/ emotional development.

There are many ways to make tournaments not only user friendly but welcome the families and players who are participating. Motivation is having a sense of purpose and opportunity for the outcome to be favorable. Someone may not be able to beat the strongest player's in the field but at the junior level it's important to have a shot at least practicing against a stronger player in a tournament. A less skilled player may find that he/she can't beat the best players but at least use the weekend to practice competing.

For example; A tournament entry in an age group draws 16 players. Players who lose in the the first round can be put in one round robin group and the other 8 players can be put into another grouping. Over four days of competition a player will play 7 matches. Competition allows players the opportunity to see different styles of play and figure out what strategies work in what situations.

There are excellent tools to draw upon to help a player learn to hit a tennis ball. Now there needs to be more user friendly modifications in the early stages in the competitive arena so the young players have the time and space to gain their footing and confidence. There is no shortage of talented athletic youths.

Tennis is an individual sport at the professional level. Offer players a user friendly environment to find their way.

Brittany Gilman - Sports Marketer

2010-05-26T06:33:00.000-07:00

Brittany Gilman is the Founder and President of Athlete Relations of Los Angeles-based BG Sports, a sports marketing, PR, and management agency. BG Sports also offers their clients concierge, event planning, business assistance, travel, and personal assistant services. With over 9 years of experience in the professional sports world and over 20 years of personal athletic experience, Brittany combines her wealth of sports industry experience and unique knowledge as a professional athlete, trainer, fitness model, and Marketing Director to assist her athlete clients. BG Sports was established in the spring of 2008 and its focus is representing NFL players.

sz: Brittany what events and/or experiences in your professional career led to the inspiration to start BG Sports?

Brittany Gilman: My entire life I have been involved in sports in one form or another. I was put on skis at the age of 2, played soccer my whole life, ran track, and was a professional snowboarder during college. During my snowboard career I acted as my own agent, negotiating all my contracts and managing my career. After my snowboard career, for a while my goal was to be the first female strength coach in the NFL, and so I began pursuing that path. I worked at USC as a Graduate Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach for the football team and this was somewhat of an initiation into the football industry. Following my time at USC, I went to Auburn where I was also a strength coach and earned my Masters in Biomechanics. It was at this time when I realized I wanted to work in the business side of sports and with football.

I moved back to LA and did an internship at a sports agency for a few months and then decided to start my own firm.

sz: Who are your typical clients? Professional athletes, college athletes, coaches?

Brittany Gilman: The majority of BG Sports clients are NFL athletes; however, we cater to all sports, including track and field, snowboarding, basketball, baseball, soccer, as well as offer consulting to companies.

sz: In what ways can your services boost an athlete’s image and marketability?

Brittany Gilman: In order to boost an athlete’s image and marketability, we focus on increasing their Q-value. This is achieved through performance on the field, as well as off the field through event attendance, interviews, social media, endorsements, community involvement, and more.

sz: Give us some examples of how the services your company provides are separate from those of a sports agent.

Brittany Gilman: An agent’s main goal is to negotiate team contracts. We focus on an athlete’s career off the field. Many agents offer marketing and PR services, but it is often difficult to provide the individualized attention that is required to fully take advantage of opportunities available to an athlete.

sz: Describe the roll you play when a company hires you. Is your job to match the right athlete to fit the marketing/product image the company is seeking? Can you give an example of how this works?

Brittany Gilman: Each athlete and company we work with is unique. We focus on individualized marketing plans to fit every client. At times, companies will cater to a particular market, and thus be looking for a particular look or personality. In that case we do our best to match our clients to the company to fulfill this desired role.

sz: Is there any typical advice you give to athletes looking to advance their commercial marketability?

Brittany Gilman: Hiring a publicist and marketing agent is the first step. It is also crucial to get involved in the community, attend events, maintain a positive image, and ultimately perform on and off the field.

sz: What are strong athletic and personality criteria companies look for when they seek out an athlete to market a product?

Brittany Gilman: Each company is unique in terms of the criteria they seek in an athlete. Additionally, it depends on the target market. In general, leadership, humor, charisma, and confidence are all common characteristics companies look for in a potential athlete.

sz: In what ways does your background as an athlete and strength and conditioning business influence your understanding of the needs of your clients?

Brittany Gilman: My background as an athlete has created who I am today and I maintain the mindset of an athlete. I understand where they are coming from, the pressures, and the lifestyle. My background as a strength coach has given me an inside perspective on the other side of athletics and enabled me to be a motivator and an influencer. This combination has given me an incredible ability to relate to and communicate with my clients.

sz: As a female in this business, what advantage do you have working within the world of professional men’s sports?

Brittany Gilman: Women think differently than men, and thus bring unique perspectives and communication. By nature, women are nurturing and caretakers. I believe this can be refreshing in an industry dominated by men.

sz: What are the most interesting elements of your day-to-day job?

Brittany Gilman: Every day brings its own events and excitement, so you never know what your day will behold.

sz: Do you have any favorite inspirational stories, tips or quotes that have guided you on your professional path?

Brittany Gilman: I always remind myself that I created my business from scratch, and that the only person that can hold me back is myself.

This interview may also be viewed on www.AccessAthletes.com

*Featured guest are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro

Sport Health in Action

2010-05-18T18:56:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to Terry Holladay & Ros Fairbanks-Nideffer for lending their expertise in the tennis drills and sharing a few insights from their personal experiences of mental training from years of playing tour tennis during the Women's Peak Performance Training Clinics at Fairbanks Ranch Country Club and Lomas Santa Fe Country Club in San Diego. After the classroom training participants experimented with mental concepts in various playing scenarios. The challenge for many adult league players is finding time to make the transition in their day from work, kids, errands and little time to mentally prep for matches. The concepts are presented so each player can customize a quick shift to player mode prior to match play and include techniques and reminders to bring their focus back when it drifts off in matches. The players brought their enthusiasm to become a stronger team and benefit individually as they learned how the mind-body feedback systems work and influence their ability to perform up to their capabilities during match play.

Nancy: "I attended Susan Zaro's Sport Psychology/Peak Performance combo workshop. We learned about how our mind-body feedback systems work during competition and how to regulate with breathing and mental exercises. It is all very cutting edge and her techniques extend to everything you do in life. I thought Susan and the program were
fantastic!"

Thanks Nancy, keep improving in all areas of your game :-)..thank you ladies for your great participation...Play on.....

The Family Life of an Overseas Professional Basketball Player, Part 1

2010-02-13T18:13:00.000-08:00

John Gilchrist’s overseas basketball career began in 2006, when he left the University of Maryland on the chance he would be selected in the NBA draft. When he wasn’t selected, he was offered the opportunity to play professional ball overseas. Since 2006, Gilchrist has played for several successful overseas teams. We detailed John's journey previously on this site in a three-part series. Mikaela Samuel is John Gilchrist’s partner and fiancée. She has graciously taken time to share a glimpse of the challenges, experiences, and unique dynamics that couples and/or families face when a spouse makes an income playing abroad. Her interview is the first part of a three-part interview series that will also include interviews with two spouses of pro ball players who play abroad.

sz: Mikaela, where and when did you and John meet?

ms: John and I met in high school. We met my freshman year, his sophomore year. I was a cheerleader and he played on the basketball team. We ran in the same circle of people. We started dating my sophomore year.

sz: When John left for college at the University of Maryland where were you in school?

ms: When John went away to school, he was a year older than me. I was still in Virginia Beach—where I am now, and then the next year I attended Virginia Tech. So we kind of broke up then and we were doing two different things with our lives being in different places.

sz: Did you stay in touch?

ms: We stayed in touch. We were always very good friends, but it was a bit distant. John was very busy with basketball. He takes it very seriously, which I have always admired. He has such a great work ethic. I never wanted to be a distraction for him. It was a good time for us to focus on ourselves.

sz: The time to grow as individuals?

ms: Grow — exactly.

sz: When did you get back together?

ms: He turned professional my junior year of college and we kept in touch when he was at Maryland. When he played for Maryland, they played Virginia Tech a few times. We would always see each other at the games if we didn’t cross paths at home. The next year he left school and turned pro. It was just basketball for him and no longer school and basketball. It gave him time to reflect. We kept in touch a lot more through e-mail while he was away in Israel. In the summer he was getting ready to leave to return to Israel, I was at college. I was very involved in college and pretty much stayed at school throughout the year. I didn’t return home that much, but John asked me to come home because he wanted to talk [and] catch up because it had been a while. I decided to make the 5-hour drive home to Virginia Beach for the day. We spent time catching up and went out on a date and from there we kept in touch constantly. We got back together in the summer before my senior year of college.

sz: Was it just one of those things where you’re always in touch but nothing happens until there’s a certain maturity and readiness?

ms: Definitely, it kind of happened that way which was the beauty of it all, because sometimes you think when something ends, you think that’s it. But we always kept in touch and with maturity on both ends, it just fell into place.

sz: That’s a neat story. What is your profession?

ms: I am a special education high school teacher. I teach algebra and geometry. It’s very interesting, never a dull moment.

sz: How long have you been a teacher?

ms: This is my first year as a full time teacher.

sz: You returned to graduate school for a teaching degree?

ms: Yes, I’m still working on my Master’s Degree. I graduated from Virginia Tech in 2007 and the following year I went and lived with John in Israel for half of 2008. When I went over there, I began my master’s program online.

sz: The convenience of technology…

ms: It definitely made it a lot more convenient. I was able to do something for myself while I was living in Israel, especially with not having any friends or family—my class work made it a lot easier to adjust to living abroad.

sz: Do the overseas leagues provide partners of players with support groups or involve family members in charity work through the team?

ms: No, not that I am aware of.

sz: Were you introduced to the other players spouses/significant others?

ms: Most of the players and their partners are from Israel. Although one couple was from Serbia. The player’s wife and I were the only two foreigners, so we hung out together which helped. We would attend the games together, or while the guys were involved in basketball practice, we would go and work out at the gym. It made it easier to just have someone to talk to, even though there was a language barrier. But it worked out because she was able to improve her English by talking to me everyday. With time, it was easier to communicate with each other. But there weren’t any groups or activities through the organization for the wives and girlfriends. I think the experience would be a lot easier if there were things set in place by the organization. Both the players and their families don’t know what to expect when they go to a foreign country, unless you are fortunate enough to cross paths with someone who happened to go to that country and team before. John’s perspective as a player is a lot different from my perspective because he’s there playing and he automatically has a connection through his job with the team.

sz: NBA teams have associations with charities and organizations which connect players and their family to the community. Are there any programs in place through the teams overseas?

ms: I know that the overseas teams do have connections with local charities and the players do put on basketball clinics and make presentations on behalf of the teams. But there wasn’t anything that I was aware of for the family members to take part in.

sz: Do the organizations offer any activities or services for the wives and girlfriends?

ms: Not particularly. From my experience, they are very, very nice. I know that’s not how it is everywhere, but the organizations do ask players about their family status. They did help here and there by letting me use the gym or recreation facilities. Once I had even gotten sick, and the team was able to let me see the team doctor.

sz: Now that you are back in the United States and working, how does your profession as a teacher coordinate with John’s off-season schedule?

ms: Our vacations synchronize. John usually returns to the United States around late May, early June, depending on how successful his team is in the playoffs. The school year for me ends in June. It works out really well because we usually spend most of the summer together, except when John goes to play in tournaments or plays in a summer league.

sz: How often do you visit John when he’s abroad now that you are working in the United States?

ms: During the season, I usually see him around Christmas. Sometimes, he can come home or if he can’t return home I will go and visit him. When I was in college, I would go around Thanksgiving because I had more time off.

sz: Do you have two weeks vacation at Christmas?

ms: We do have about two weeks. I end up taking a few personal days when I visit him. When he is in a country as far away as Australia, it takes a whole day of travel. To go for one week would be just arriving and then turning back around.

sz: Pretty exhausting. In a way though, the arrangement appears to be working for you because it gives you time to focus on getting through the school year and gives him time to focus on basketball.

ms: Yes, we know we are working hard to secure our futures, and build our lives together. We are getting married this summer, June 2010. This year is a big year for us to get our careers together and on track.

sz: Do you think things will change after you are married?

ms: I think they may change a little bit. I don’t think it will change right away. To everyone on the outside, it seems a little crazy. It’s hard for people to understand [that] we don’t spend the whole year together. There are two types of reactions from colleagues and friends. Those who say, “I don’t know how you do it. I couldn’t be alone.” But I don’t feel alone. We are in contact all the time. Other people say, “that’s so cool and glamorous.”

sz: How do you stay in contact?

ms: It is really convenient with all the technology today. We talk on Skype, text, instant message, you name it… I talk with him at least three or four times a day.

sz: A few years ago you couldn’t do that. Calling costs were prohibitive.

ms: It’s really cool. With Skype, I can call him computer to computer. We can web and video chat and everything is free!

sz: When I was preparing for this interview, I was thinking your relationship has some similarities of a military relationship, except he’s not being shot at and you know where he is on a daily basis and what he’s doing. But he’s away for extended periods of time and you pretty much only see him on vacations. How would you describe it?

ms: You know we often say that it is similar to a military lifestyle. It’s funny because I identify a lot with that idea. I have a lot of co-workers who have military spouses or boyfriends and we identify with the same things. We get up at odd hours to talk on the computer because of the time difference. Or we count down the days when we will see them again. Where I live in Virginia Beach it’s a huge military area. The majority of our area is run by the military. There are three major bases here. Being separated for lengthy periods of time is actually pretty normal around here.

sz: Even NBA players or minor leaguers in the U.S. are away for weeks at a time because of a teams travel schedule. Although, they are never all that far from home...

ms: John always says that too. Even if he were playing in the states, he’s wouldn’t be here. When he was participating in his first season in the “D-League” (National Basketball Development League), I went to Los Angeles with him and he was there playing for The Defenders, but he wasn’t around a lot because he was working. It doesn’t seem odd for us to be separated during the year.

sz: I would imagine the biggest issue that would detract from this lifestyle arrangement would be if you had children. Am I right?

ms: Exactly. We joke about it all the time. But we create our own holidays and birthdays because we usually miss those dates. For his birthday one year, he was in Italy playing for a Euroleague team and I ended up having a birthday cake put in his room. He had been in the states a few days before, but he was away for his actual birthday. These are the ways we roll with the punches.

sz: The soft touches really create an impression and keep you connected.

ms: Those are things we try to do for each other. Spending time apart makes us stronger as a couple because when we are together we appreciate each other and our time together. We don’t live by the norms of many people, but we create our own memories, through the soft touches. We always say in twenty years, we will look back on this time and will have so many shared memories.

sz: Do the overseas league organizations provide a travel allowance for families to come and visit?

ms: It depends. Some organizations include that stipulation in the contract; other organizations don’t. The player may need to have this negotiated as part of the contract. Some players take their whole family with them every year.

sz: When a player’s child is school age, parents then need to decide whether to place their child in a private or public school. How are those details worked out?

ms: I think it depends on what area a player is living in. Usually if a player is living in a major city, there is an American school around where classes are taught in English. Sometimes parents will send their child to a public school and the child learns to speak the language. Usually kids have an easier time adapting to the move because they are so young. I don’t know if any of John’s teammates have children of high school age.

sz: Do the league organizations help players find housing while they are living in the country? Do they provide housing for the players and their families as part of the contract?

ms: They definitely help with that. The cost of rent may come out of a player’s salary. It depends on the agreement within the contract. But the organizations do help find housing for the players. When a player brings their family and has two or three children, they may need to rent a house. The team provides standard accommodations for the players. The same applies to transportation.

sz: Does John live in an apartment?

ms: Yes, he lives in an apartment. He lives alone, no roommates. Although, some players prefer roommates and they try to live closer to other Americans, so they have a support system nearby.

sz: I imagine it can become lonely every once in awhile and there would be a desire to spend time with someone who understands what you are missing culturally.

ms: Definitely. We are from Virginia and we’ll meet players from Texas, Georgia, California, or Missouri, and its funny how much these guys have in common because they are out of the country. There are only two or three Americans per team.

sz: What are some challenging issues with John playing overseas, beyond the obvious, distance?

ms: Besides distance—which is working out okay for us—there are still days where I wish I could be at his games. If he’s had a bad day or just to be there to support him. We bounce ideas off of each other and there are days it’s hard not being able to be there for him.

sz: Being there in person having that one-on-one?

ms: Exactly, and sometimes, I become sad thinking he goes to play his games and no one is there for him in the stands. Sometimes that bothers me.

sz: I imagine planning your June 2010 wedding is a challenge. How are you working that out?

MS: It’s difficult sometimes because he’s not here. We decided to keep it small because we don’t know what his playing schedule is going to be. I guess that would be another challenge, scheduling. We have to keep an open schedule because if some great opportunity arises, I want him to be able to take it. I support him 100% because his dream is my dream. I want him to do well and succeed. When he is home, he could be called to tryout for a team or play in a tournament or league.

sz: Is the notice that quick? Do those opportunities and choices arise that quickly, out of the blue?

ms: They can. Sometimes he may get a bit of pre-warning. But like this year, his agent contacted him about the Australian team, he tried out, and it was a matter of a few days before he left and he’s been away since then…

sz: So it seems, another challenge is the possibility of sudden change?

ms: Right, we just rearrange things. Last year with his grandmother being ill, he chose to remain at home. It was different for us because he was home for most of the year. Then, the opportunity to go to Australia and play popped up and it happened quickly. I was happy for him, but we had to rearrange our lives a bit.

sz: What are the advantages and rewards for you being the future wife of a professional athlete who primarily works overseas?

ms: I would say just based on his job he’s able to travel and see and experience different things. Whether or not I am there to experience them with him, he comes back and shares it with me. We both have a global view, which is important. Not everyone has the opportunity, not even my friends of military spouses. They don’t often get to visit the places and share the experiences. Because of military confidentiality and security, my friends may not even know what their spouse is doing. Seeing John happy and doing what he loves makes me happy!

sz: Did you grow up playing a sport? It sounds like you participated as a cheerleader which incorporates gymnastics and dance. I think cheerleading is a potentially dangerous sport.

ms: Yes, it is pretty dangerous. I’ve participated in cheering and dance. I danced from when I was two years old until I completed high school. I began cheering in elementary school and throughout high school. Cheering is pretty dangerous—I got a concussion from cheering in the ninth grade.

sz: That doesn’t surprise me… But I’m surprised we don’t hear about that happening more often.

ms: Cheering is one of those sports that you have to be committed to. No one is going to volunteer to do that if they aren’t committed to it. It’s a team sport. Everyone depends on the next person. There’s no individuality in it whatsoever. If one person falls or one person doesn’t stick it, everything fails.

sz: It’s balance and timing. If one member throws off the synchronicity, you need a back up plan.

ms: Exactly. You learn lots of life lessons from cheering. You have to know who’s on your team and what differences you may have. You have to come together. By the end of every season, all team members are inseparable because you need to be that way.

sz: Do you feel your athletic experience helps you understand John’s career better?

ms: I understand the dedication it takes in being an athlete. Those days when he is home and working out, which is almost everyday, he’ll go and spend five or six hours at the gym shooting and lifting as part of his training. I go with him to work out, or sometimes in the backyard, gym or recreation center, I’ll pass him the ball maybe 200 times while he practices. I do it because I understand the dedication it takes. At times, I am able to say, “Hey when you made those five in a row, you kind of did this with your wrist.” I may not know the technical term, but being a former athlete, I enjoy doing those things because we can do them together. It’s the little things we do together while he is here. I understand why he’s doing it.

sz: Will you continue to work after your marriage in June?

MS: I want to continue to work after we are married. Once we decide to live in the same place and he’s still playing, I would still like to work. As we were discussing earlier, there aren’t any support systems that are set up right now for me to find a job, or other services while in a foreign country.

sz: What are some of the support services you think would be helpful for families who have family members playing abroad?

ms: Educating families as to what to expect of the lifestyle comes to mind. Most people probably don’t know that the playing jobs change every year or couple of years. Families pick up and move every couple of years to another country. Then they start all over again. Having access to resources or a point of contact, so we can share information would be helpful. Although I do stay in touch with women I’ve met over the past few years through Facebook. When the players play in different countries, they may get a point of contact—maybe a veteran on the team who knows his way around town and can tell John (or other players) things about the city. What to expect in the weather, what parts of town to avoid, where to shop, etc. It would be helpful if the families had this type of resource. Other useful information would include suggestions such as recommended schools, best places to shop, etc.

sz: What issues do you feel would be helpful for families that spend time apart to be aware of?

ms: A lot of families and friends do not understand how the overseas system works. The change and potential instability of professional sports as a whole is very odd. There are many trials and tribulations. Sometimes a player receives a one or two-year contract and situations can change. The team may go in a different direction and release a player or the player may go to another team. A player may be playing in a different country each year. For a lot of families it’s overwhelming, if you don’t really understand how it all works. Some people look at the life and think it’s really cool, and awesome, other people need more stability.

sz: Does it create a need to be more financially conservative? Does the team provide disability insurance?

ms: A lot of things overseas are not covered the way they are here. It’s different within each country. A player has medical/dental coverage through the team or they see the team physician, but it does tend to make you more financially conservative because you don’t know year to year how things will work out.

sz: So no pension fund?

ms: Players arrange that on their own or their agent helps set this up, but the team or organization doesn’t provide it. Another challenge is the lack of stability. If something happens and a player is out of a job, you can weather the storm if you’ve been financially conservative. But it’s different from living and working in the United States. If a player is fired from a team for some reason that doesn’t seem fair, in the United States there are more resources to draw from. Every country has different rules.

sz: Is there anything else you’d like to add? You’ve been incredibly helpful and generous with your time and insights. What’s your last piece of advice you would like to give to families of players who play overseas?

ms: What works for John and I is that we share a really strong support system. We also have time apart which makes our relationship stronger. There are ups and downs, as in every relationship. There are moments when things cave in and we pick each other up and deal with it. It’s not the end of the world and something will come along that will be better. You can’t be scared. It’s what we are doing now as we work towards our future. We have goals for ourselves and our relationship—it’s just all part of the journey!

sz: Mikaela, thank you for your time. It’s seems you and John have created a great relationship, and we hope others can draw from your experiences to help better their own relationships and situations.

This is article is part 1 of a 3 part series. This article can also be seen on www.accessathletes.com

*Featured guests are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro

Whitney Engen - Recipient of the 2009- 2010 Honda Sports Award

2010-01-07T21:16:00.000-08:00

Whitney Engen, a senior at the University of North Carolina completed her brilliant college soccer career last month when the Tar Heels defeated the Stanford Cardinals to win their 3rd National Championship in the last four years. Engen a resident of Rolling Hills Estates, CA. played center back for the team. She made the transition to defense after starting at forward her first two years at North Carolina, finishing those two seasons as North Carolina’s third-leading scorer. Engen was named this years NCAA Women’s College Cup MVP on defense. She was named Atlantic Coast conference Defensive Player of the Year. She is a 2009 first – team NSCAA and Soccer America All-America and has won the 2009/2010 Honda Sports Award in soccer, designating her as the nations top collegiate female athlete in the sport. The Honda Sports Award is based on the results of national balloting among 1,000 NCAA member schools as part of the Collegiate Women Sports Award program. The 2010 Women’s Professional Soccer draft will be held on Jan. 15th and Engen is slated at the almost unanimous choice as top defender.

I spoke with Engen this week and asked her to reflect on her path to stardom as a Tar Heel and her thoughts about her future as a professional player.

sz: Whitney congratulations on your stellar play and participation to help the University of North Carolina – Tar Heels bring home another NCAA Soccer Championship. What are some of the perks/opportunities that receiving the 2009 Honda Sports Award in soccer has or can bring to your life?

Thank you. It is a great honor for me to have received the Honda Sports Award. I did not imagine myself winning it, especially being in contention with the players that I was. I think the perks for me of winning it are that I am able to bring a little more notoriety to my name as I try to push forward into a professional career. I know that this award is not going to follow me far into a professional career but it may help me to get a little higher or farther as I first start. This boost may come in the form of an earlier draft choice or maybe an endorsement contract, but I cannot know for sure.

sz: What are some major developments you’ve made as a player mentally and physically during the 4 years you’ve played in this program which have helped you achieve your level of consistency and success on the playing field?

Playing for Anson (Anson Dorrance is the head coach of the women's soccer program at the University of North Carolina. He has one of the most successful coaching records in the history of athletics), was the best decision I ever made for both my soccer career and the development of myself personally. He encouraged us to mature in all areas of our lives both on and off the field.

Physically, Anson is always promoting a “never ending ascension” in which he believes that we only get fitter as we age. All of our scores in terms of fitness, speed, agility, vertical jump, and weight lifting are scored three times through out a school year. Players are always encouraged to try to top their past score and matching it is not enough. I think that his unwillingness to accept mediocrity is what makes the program so successful. I feel that I developed physically and mentally in ways that I had never deemed possible. I did not think it was possible to “get faster” but somehow I could always manage to make my speed score higher. The same applies for my development mentally. Coming in to college I was a very insecure player but I think after gaining Anson’s acceptance for four years I am now able to believe in myself in ways I had not done before. I think this is because he holds us to such a high standard that when a player gets approval from him their confidence can only go up.

sz: In the Tar Heels athletic profile you mention your parents twice, once as “the people with the greatest influence on my athletic career” and again under “I can’t live without.” Over the years in what ways have your parents supported and been an important link in the chain of your success?

My parents are awesome and I know I would not be where I am today without them. My parents have done so much for me both with my career and just being the most stable support system a kid could ask for. My mom and dad were always very understanding that soccer was MY hobby and even when I was having great success at it, they only encouraged me to keep going if I was enjoying it. They never pushed me to do things I was not interested in doing and they pretty much left the decisions I made up to me. Now that is not to say that they did not give me guidance, because they definitely did a lot of that. But overall they were and still are so supportive of my career choices and only offer advice with out stipulations.

sz: There are many “pushy, crazy parents” in the youth sports scene that at times have unfortunately driven their kids out of sports. In what ways did your parents encourage your talent yet keep their boundaries to nurture your development as a player?

I think that the way that they kept me interested is that they always gave me the opportunity to quit. This is the mentality that they kept with me since I was a very young child, which I really appreciate. This goes as far back to when I was deciding to play soccer or not at the age of 7. I remember my dad signing me up for AYSO and telling me I was going to play soccer. Well at the age of 5 I had decided that I wanted to be the best gymnast in the world and soccer was going to interfere with this life goal. I protested every practice and every game. When the time came to sign up for soccer again, my dad did so and I was outraged. Interestingly enough during my second year of AYSO, the gymnastics gym that I went to informed me that a 5 foot 6 year old did not have that much potential as a world renown gymnast. So when it came time to sign up for AYSO a third time my dad came to me and asked, “Do you want to play soccer? After protesting so vehemently for the past two years I remember feeling stupid with my answer of yes but the moral of the story is that they gave me the opportunity to stop. This continued all throughout my soccer career as I cannot remember the number of times I complained to my mom or dad about soccer and they informed me that I was not chained to the field and that once my commitments were fulfilled I could stop.

sz: All the articles and interviews I’ve read leave a feeling that there is a tremendous amount of respect amongst players on the teams you’ve played on at UNC. Is this quality of respect taught as part of the program development of players or are the players recruited because of this ability to understand how this quality bonds a team?

I think that the respect is mostly gained and developed once players enter UNC. Almost every player from UNC is the best player wherever they come from. What makes UNC special is that we all go out to the field each and every day and try to push each other to be better. I believe that when you compete as hard as we do day in and day out it is difficult to not gain respect for your fellow teammates.

sz: Three national soccer championships in the past 4 years – what are some of the rewarding elements of playing in such a high caliber program?

People look at me like I am an idiot when I tell them this but this is the honest truth: After my four years at Carolina the things that I am going to remember the most are the players and not the Championships. For me making it to the National Championship means that I get to play one more game with my teammates. Playing at UNC has been the best experience of my life so far and I think that getting the opportunity to play as many games as possible in a season is extremely rewarding. My teammates, and especially my class, are like my sisters and playing soccer with them has been a real joy for me.

sz: After winning the national championship several times, did you encounter any reduction in motivation, and if so how did you renew your desire to stay hungry to win? Does the coach address this issue to the team?

I do not think that I ever encountered a reduction in motivation because each one of us is constantly trying to be the best, which pushes our team to achieve great things. I think that one of the coolest but hardest things about playing for Carolina is that we have a history that is filled with championships. Our team begins every season with the goal of winning a National Championship and anything less is failure. This is the case for the off-season as well. After every National Championship that we have won we have had a meeting with Anson no more than two days after, outlining what we need to start doing to prepare for next year. Plus, if we are not doing well we hear about it from the Alumni which is never fun.

sz: In each of the past six semesters you’ve made the dean’s list and maintained a 3.6 grade point average. Many players find juggling playing D-1 at a top ranked school and academics a challenging task. Was it a challenge for you and how did you learn to manage your time so well?

I would be lying if I said it was easy but most things in life aren’t. I think that balancing soccer and school really comes down to time management but it not something that every person can do. I often draw parallels for people to show that there are many other students in college that are balancing as much, if not more than me. I look at the amount of work that girls in sororities put in and I am thankful that when I leave the field my work is done. I think that in today’s world a lot of students are balancing a lot of things and that time management is the key to figuring it all out.

sz: You are preparing to enter the Women’s Professional Soccer League Draft, transitioning from collegiate to professional competition is typically a big shift. What do you anticipate as the major challenges for you at this next level, mentally, physically, and socially through team dynamics?

I know that I am going to be matched up with players of a higher caliber on a more consistent basis and that teams are going to be harder but overall I think that playing at Carolina has prepared me for any type of environment. I think major challenges may entail the fact that it is a much longer season (6 months compared to 4) and that it is now my job and not my hobby.

sz: Is the potential income from playing professional women’s soccer at this time high enough to afford you a full-time career at the next level? Will you have to supplement your income from other types of work? Can players negotiate independent endorsements from companies? I know you spoke about attending law school is this something you could do between seasons?

I am not really sure how to answer this question, as I will not know what my salary looks like until my contract is negotiated. No I am waiting to go to law school when I am completely done with soccer so that I can divert all of my attention to graduating high in my class.

sz: What will you miss most about your athletic career as a Tar Heel?

I will miss the bonds and camaraderie that exists at UNC. There is a huge amount of respect among all student athletes and it is always so much fun to go to all of the different games and cheer them on. I will also miss seeing my teammates every day. When I tell you they are like my sisters I am not lying. I would honestly miss some of them on our days off and the best part of my day would be knowing that I would get to see them all at 3:00.

sz: What will you miss most about your time at UNC as a student?

Actually, since I am taking the spring semester off to play, I am going to finish up next fall so I am not quite done with school yet…

sz: What advice can you offer to aspiring D-1 soccer players who seek to replicate your success?

I think the biggest piece of advice that I can offer is that you can take your soccer career as far as you want to take it. If someone else is telling you to go practice and you do not want to do it, then maybe playing at the highest level is not for you. That is ok too though because there are several people who play soccer for the pure enjoyment of the sport. If you find yourself addicted to the game, cannot get enough of it, and want to reach the highest level, I would recommend applying yourself whole heartedly to everything that you do. Do not ever feel like you have completely learned the game as soccer is always evolving and getting better. If you push yourself and accept nothing less than your best, I think you will go far.

sz: Do you have any favorite inspirational stories, tips or quotes that have guided you?

I was having a really difficult time between my sophomore and junior year and was struggling with injury. I had remembered a poem that my dad had written me before I left for college and managed to find it in my room. Growing up my dad had always told me that I had “Earned the Right” to step onto any field. By this he meant that I had put in enough hours outside of games towards soccer, that I had earned the right to play on the field. This saying was aimed at helping me with self-confidence as I struggled with it for most of my youth career. After I found the poem I remember reading it and letting it become my mantra. It helped to get back to my roots and remember the little things that were necessary in order for me to be at my best.

Whitney thanks so much for spending the time with this interview. The Women's Professional Soccer league draft takes place Jan. 15th, I look forward to following your professional soccer career and would enjoy checking back with you to hear your thoughts as you adjust to this new level of play and lifestyle.

Michael Beasley: Man-Up and Play Ball

2009-09-24T17:56:00.000-07:00

Twenty year old Michael Beasley was the second overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft. In August, Beasley, who plays for the Miami Heat and finished his rookie season as Miami's second-leading scorer behind Dwayne Wade, checked himself into a Houston rehabilitation facility to seek help for psychological issues and apparent drug use.

While it is hard to imagine someone throwing away this amazing opportunity, it has become a much too familiar scenario for younger athletes who are placed in positions with money, power and fame. The whirlwind learning experience of professional athletics can either provide a trajectory for maturity and success or can be a quick decent into personal and professional ruin.

In the case of Michael Beasley, was it possible to predict he would have a hard time handling the pressures that suddenly appeared when he hit the jackpot by being such a hot commodity in the draft? In 2009 Beasley was fined multiple times for violations of team policy and right before rehab he posted disturbing comments and a photo that indicated possible drug use. Just a few years earlier he was an amazing high school star, but he attended six high schools in four different states. As a psychotherapist, I wonder if some of these events could have contributed to feelings of instability. If Michael came to see me as a psychotherapy client, I would keep this history in mind.

As someone who counsels young athletes in a variety of sports, my concern peaked as I read Michael's story. The following is an open letter to Michael Beasley and any other young athlete who chooses to make the transition to professional athletics.

Dear Michael:

I don't believe that you want to throw away this opportunity. I think you love basketball and want all the benefits that come with success. Your tattoo of a large basketball on your left shoulder surrounded by the text, "married to the game" is an example of your close identity with the sport.

With this in mind, I offer you the following ten steps. These steps are not only essential for your success and longevity as a pro basketball player, but will aide your development into the man you can become beyond the sport.

Ten Steps For Professional Success:

1) Recognize The Opportunity You Have Been Given

You've completed the athletic pre-requisites to play professional basketball, racking up impressive awards and setting records both in high school and in your year at Kansas State. You're now in the enviable position to challenge yourself and hone your skills as you compete against the greatest players in the game.

You've come this far, now honor your hard work, dreams, and talent and do what it takes to put drugs/alcohol to rest so you can get on with the gift you offer to the game. You need to act quickly, though, because time won't wait for you and there are lots of young talented players and veterans looking for a window to get their shot on a team.

This window of opportunity won't remain open for long. Miami Heat President, Pat Riley recently said, "I'm not going to forgive anybody's transgressions just merely because they are 20 years old." Can you blame him? Miami Heat is paying you 4ml. plus a year. Remind me again where else you can collect this type of coin as a college drop-out? The good news is basketball is what you love and are emotionally connected to--take your shot Michael.

2) Have The Courage To Confront Your Fears

Psychotherapy is a great and confidential place to sort out and face the emotional demons you carry from the past that may be presenting stumbling blocks to your success in the present. The franchise, management, your teammates and fans are not your enemies. Identify and explore the stumbling blocks you create or have brought from your past into your present. Drugs and alcohol are great distractions which numb you from your fears. Numbing is also the fastest way to extinguish your potential for beneficial growth.

Check out ex NFL super star quarterback, Warren Moon's new book, "Never Give Up On Your Dreams." Moon is the only player ever inducted into both the Pro Football and Canadian Football hall of fame. As a seven year old he lost his father to alcoholism and became man of the house caring for his mother and six sisters throughout his life. In his football journey he fought coaches who tried to dissuade him from becoming a quarterback because, at the time, it was believed a black man didn't have what it took to lead an offense. Moon became a well respected and winning quarterback in spite of death threats, racist taunts and the prejudice that he endured throughout his career.

Moon didn't let his fears, resentments or burdens prevent him from reaching his professional dreams. In his book he credits his decision to go into psychotherapy with bringing clarity to his life. You might want to try this.

3) Create A Real Support Team - Versus A Coat Tail Posse

You have one foot on the big stage and people are eager to go along for a ride on your coat tails. Hanging out with people who encourage you to take risks that can damage your public/professional image isn't the support that will help build your future. Your athletic talent and competitive success has given you this opportunity. Surround yourself with mentors and friends who also have earned their way to success.People that have earned their success can give you advice and support to help you cultivate your career. If you happen to be an anti-establishment kind of guy you will wield more influence in making changes in your industry by first bringing positive attention to yourself.

4) Be A Team Player

In high school and college you can be the big fish in a smaller pool of talent. Currently, you are a newbie in the biggest, strongest, most competitive environment of your sport. You need to build up your competency in this new arena. Develop relationships and credibility with your teammates and prove to yourself that you are worthy of transitioning into this new role. Be a team player. Your sphere of influence is representative of the franchise, the management and the sport of basketball. Teammates depend on your committed preparation and involvement to succeed on the court.

If you don't fit into the team culture of this franchise, make yourself attractive to other teams. Management takes note of the assets players bring on board. Examples of doing your job include: scoring points, making assists, good defense, works hard in season and off season, adds positive image and energy to the franchise, gets along with co-workers (teammates).

5) Develop A Professional Game Plan On And Off The Court

It's useful to realize no one owes you anything and you are not a finished product. You are at the beginning of your career. Players aren't drafted as high as you unless scouts and coaches recognize ability and potential. That's your value card.You have abundant access to resources through your agent and through the franchise.Use these valuable resources to develop a professional plan for yourself on and off the court.

Accept where you are in this moment. Know what obstacles you are creating and what obstacles are coming from outside of yourself both on and off the court. Find the best physical trainer, nutritionist and sport psychology consultant to work with. Make sure the people you hire to be a part of your personal team are people who can advise you and who are willing to confront you when they feel you are slipping off the track of your goals. Sit down with each of them and map out your professional needs. It is best to have a pre-season, in-season, and post-season plan. All these can be modified to adjust for unforseen needs that arise.

Even with a wildly successful sports career, you will retire from basketball a young man. In your off seasons begin lining up opportunities to talk with players in a variety of sports who have transitioned into business after their playing days. Being 20 years old it's hard to think this far ahead, but if you begin your research now you will have a better understanding of the value of your position as a player.

6) Don't Feed The Media

You have already made a few slip-ups with some things you have said to the media: "I'm 20 you can't expect me to be 30. I am going to make mistakes, do dumb stuff and learn. How mature you want me to be?" Mature or not, do not create the opportunity for negative press. When speaking to the media, remember that what you say will follow you. Even in the heat of the moment, you always need to be thinking about the image that you want to present about yourself and your team. If you whine about the team and your teammates the media will be more than happy to take this and spin it to entertain their audience.

You will do well to not take the things that the media writes about you personally. The media's job is to sell information and stories. Save your story for the auto-biography you are entitled to write at the conclusion of your career. At the completion of your career you will be in a position to articulate your message to fans and upcoming players who can learn from your professional journey.

7) Take Risks That Benefit Not Derail You

This section may seem a bit harsh, but at 20 years old your brain is not yet fully developed. The last part of the brain to develop are the frontal lobes, which govern the area of risk taking and awareness of consequences. This works for you and against you. Smart risk taking on the court is exciting and can pay off. Poor risk taking on and off the court can leave you by the side of the road without a job. Avoid becoming an asterisk in professional sports. What do you envision on your epitaph as a player? "He had great potential but due to immaturity succumbed to the pull of temptation and threw it all away." Or "He had a messy beginning but developed into a player who impacted the game, the fans, and realized his potential as a player."

8) Charity: Do Things For Other People

This may feel like a stretch for you right now, but think about the ways your position as a player enables you to inspire and offer hope to others through your acts. The NBA has multiple opportunities for you to associate your name with charities and causes that give purpose to your life. Talk to other players or participate in activities with them and find out how being involved in this way has helped enrich their lives. At some point it will dawn on you that the game of basketball and what is represents is much bigger than you.

9) Watch Out For Relapse

Once you complete your rehab program stay on track and take care of yourself. This includes not beating yourself up emotionally or lashing out at others when things don't go the way you plan. It also includes ongoing help and support through things like psychotherapy, 12 step meetings and talking with others who have been through what you've been through. It sounds like you've gotten a good start during your rehab program. Stay alert to the signs and symptoms of relapse. Increases in your frustration level, belief that everyone is against you, resentment, misdirected aggressiveness, impatience, cockiness, self-pity, focusing more on what is wrong in your environment instead of what you can do to change or succeed within it are all warning signs of relapse and should be heeded.

10) Develop A Vision Of Where You Want To Be In The Next 3-5 Years

This needn't be set in stone, but create a vision as to your goals as a player and beyond. Then make sure that every decision you make fits with that vision. If the decision doesn't advance the steps towards your short and long term vision/goals, reconsider acting on that decision. Develop an array of safety values that give you time to think before acting.

These Ten Steps are suggestions for you to move forward in your career. Change will not come easily, although I believe making the effort to change will bring you more reward than you can imagine. It is essential that you make a total commitment and do the work you need both personally and professionally. If you skip out on the work and don't give yourself every opportunity to succeed - there's a good chance you will fail. It took time to build your playing skills it will take time to build your professional life. You've arrived this far and I hope you make the choices that provide the best avenues for you to discover how good a player you can become.

As of this writing, Beasley after a month long stay in a Houston rehab center has rejoined the Miami Heat and is taking part in the voluntary off season work-outs.

*This article and additional information can be found on www.accessathletes.com

John Gilchrist - Professional Ascent

2009-08-13T07:20:00.000-07:00

Part 2 and 3 of John Gilchrist's growth and reinvention of himself as a contender for
a player's position in the N.B.A. is now available to read on Access Athletes
www.accessathletes.com

John is currently playing for the Adelaide 36er's in the National Basketball
League (N.B.L.) in Australia. The 36er's are one of the most winning teams in the history of the league.

Passion for Professional Success

2009-07-19T20:08:00.000-07:00

In 2004, John Gilchrist was on a roll. He helped lead the Maryland Terrapins to win the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, the school's first ACC Championship in 20 years.In the tournament final against Duke, Gilchrist proved he thrives under the pressure of big moments, as he lead the Terps back from a 12-point deficit with less than five minutes left in the game. At the end of the game, Gilchrist was unanimously named the ACC Tournament MVP. NBA scouts were clamoring about his ability and his draft stock was very high.

Gilchrist decided not to cash in on his famous ACC performance and put his NBA dreams on hold. In 2005, when Gilchrist returned to College Park, the Terps were ranked top 15 in the nation, but they closed out their regular season, 7-9 in the conference. Although the team made it to the ACC Tournament, they lost in the first round. After the team's poor showing, John Gilchrist's opportunity to be drafted for the NBA began to dim. Gilchrist chose to leave Maryland at the end of his junior year and gamble on being drafted into the NBA. Despite having the physical tools of a solid NBA point guard with matching skills and athleticism, Gilchrist was not drafted.

John Gilchrist demonstrated that he had NBA talent in his college play. He discovered, though that talent brings the athlete into the game and gives him a forum to play, but to take it to the next level-the professional level-requires more than physical skills and the desire to win.

Recently, I had the opportunity to talk with John Gilchrist. This interview is a look at where he is today in his professional basketball career and why he continues to be motivated and passionate about reaching his goal of playing in the NBA.

This is the first installment of a three part interview with Gilchrist.

Part 1: The Journey

SZ: At what age did you realize your passion to play/compete in basketball?

JG: I started playing in the little leagues. My father put me in the game when I was about five. My dad was my coach the first five years and made it serious from an early age. When I was nine or ten, my dad passed the coaching role onto other people. He wanted me to get used to being coached by other people. He stayed involved in my career by overseeing what the coaches were doing. My dad picked out all the places for me to play and provided guidance until I got to college.

SZ: As a kid, who were the athletic role models you looked up to? What qualities, work ethic, style of play, skills or emotions on the court did they have that attracted you to them as role models?

JG: Basically just the guys that were from my area in Virginia. In my area, we don't have a professional basketball team. When you look at the sports page, the best high school teams are the ones that the kids tend to follow and go to the games. Some of the best players that came out of my area are like, Alonzo Mourning; he graduated from a high school about 10 minutes from my high school. He was a local hero. He worked hard and played hard. Allen Iverson's high school was about 25 minutes away and we'd travel to watch his games.

On a professional level, I didn't have a specific role model, but I watched Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan...the typical players. I never saw these guys play in person, but when I got a little older, I got the opportunity to meet Michael Jordan working at one of his basketball camps when I was in college. It was awesome. At the time, I didn't notice all the attributes as far as how good a team they were [Chicago Bulls], until I got older and began to understand the game in a different light. When I was younger, I just liked the highlights and the shots they made.

Michael Jordan is still the best guard and the best basketball player that ever played. He was a great role model, but I grew up watching and idolizing the players that laid the path that were from this area. At the time, meeting the local stars was a big as meeting Michael Jordan. Meeting Michael Jordan was definitely an experience because I knew that the average person wouldn't get that opportunity. It was great. He's definitely an icon for what he's done for the game period.

SZ: When did you or a coach/parent recognize that you had enough talent to take your game to the next level and compete in the NBA? Was there a particular moment that you or someone else recognized this? Or did you come to this conclusion through a series of events?

JG: Basically I have been pushed in that direction, as funny as this sounds, for a long time. it's been kind of hard and it's still a little difficult at times-things not flowing as smoothly as people had expected. Like a lot of people, including my family and people around me had always expected it. I was good in junior high school and in high school and had the skills then. Everyone asks me when I'm home where have I been playing? People ask why haven't we seen you in the NBA? I tell them I've been playing in Europe and here and there in the minor leagues. I kind of down play it. It's still a goal [to play in the NBA] that is burning inside of me.

SZ: John when was the shift for you away from people saying, you have talent, to actually owning your talent and committing to the work that has to be done to become a professional basketball player?

JG: I had a lot of pressure on me even in high school. That's when it began and it basically has forced me to grow up quicker. People hold me at a different level. I make a mistake and you know what I mean it's so magnified. It's been like that for awhile. As time goes along, I have learned to better manage it. It really helps me out with my job because it helps me to realize that I never looked at myself as anything special compared to anyone else. So it's like in order to be successful, you can't do what everyone else does when people are watching you. That was the hardest thing for me to accept.

I'll be 25 this month. This year has definitely been like a process that's helped me mature because I took some time away from playing overseas. I came back home and was able to be a part of my community. I volunteered for a lot of different programs around here. I volunteered at my church and I assistant coached a high school team. Anytime anyone calls me and asks me to come over and talk to kids I do, because I've been home. But it really affected me in a sense because before it was all about me. I wanted to be as good as I could be and that was that. I never fully understood the magnitude of the effect that I had on other people. This year through volunteering it dawned on me that people look up to me as I looked up to the local stars as a kid.

Before I used to hear people say, "John do this or John do that," but I didn't realize how when you're put in a certain position you can't do the things that everyone else is doing. It used to be confusing to me when I was in college. I put on glasses for a lot of things. I didn't really understand. An example is if the whole campus is at a party and I go to the party the next day all these people are like, "he was at a party."

SZ: So if you went to a party with five friends and were messing around and something happens, the focus is on you for messing around and being at the party, not the others.

JG: Right. I didn't understand it. But you learn from those mistakes. Sometimes it doesn't dawn on people until it hits home, you know.

SZ: Did you feel you had distractions that you weren't prepared for mentally and socially in 2004 when you were projected to be an NBA lottery pick if you entered the draft?

JG: Definitely, because there was a lot circulating. On a personal note, everyone was trying to position themselves to get closer and get something from me. I was hearing stuff that was going on around. People were telling me about what people were doing back home.

SZ: People were setting up to freeload off you and your success.

JG: Definitely. The thing about it was it was kind of inevitable. I kind of invited it. Like I said before, like all those athletes that I was used to seeing did it like that. All the guys from here that used to say what they were going to do with their money. When I interviewed with the NBA teams and said that, they thought I was crazy. I just thought this is what you do-take care of your family, take care of your friends, and that was that.

You know it was like I kind of felt that a lot of people weren't doing what they were supposed to be doing on their own because they were waiting around to see what I was going to do. They thought they were going to work for my business.

SZ: People around you weren't focusing on your growth as an athlete. They were focusing on your growth from what they could get from you in terms of the monetary rewards that come with participating at that level?

JG: Right, exactly. For them it kind of worked hand in hand. The better that you do with growth as an athlete, you will be able to be more successful and make more money. But the thing about it is that I felt my maturity was the main thing because no one will really tell me the truth. It's always been like that. If I had a good game but got in trouble at school it didn't make a difference as long as I played sports.

SZ: Did the teachers let you slip by in school because of your basketball success?

JG: Right, it's always been like that. I feel like a lot of athletes come up that way. You get used to the treatment.

Part 2: The Lessons and Part 3: Alerted and Prepared follows John's journey and growth as a professional basketball player. Part 2 & 3 will be published on Access Athletes www.accessathletes.com in the following weeks.

I would like to thank John Gilchrist for taking the time out of his busy schedule to do this lengthy, up close and personal interview. Many thanks to Matthew Allinson, Founder & C.E.O. for creating this opportunity.

Access Athletes

2009-05-20T08:52:00.000-07:00

Access Athletes is a social and professional platform for athletes and the sports community. Access Athletes offers its members - athletes, (high school, college, and professional) sports professionals, the media, business, and sports fans - valuable tools, information and networking opportunities. Most notably, Access Athletes features "The Real Athlete Blog," which is an exclusive informational source dedicated to athletes. "The Real Athlete Blog" provides articles from qualified sports industry professionals about an athlete's performance, everyday life, and post-athletic career.

Interview with Matthew Allinson-Founder and C.E.O.
www.accessathletes.com
www.accessathletes.com/blog

SZ: Matthew your academic history includes, Penn State U. with a double major in Labor Studies and Industrial Relations and Psychology; a Fulbright Scholarship in Jamaica; and Ohio State U., Moritz College of Law where you obtained your J.D. with a concentration in Labor, Intellectual Property and Sports Entertainment Law. Where along the line were you inspired to create Access Athletes and what was your inspiration?

Matt: Since middle school, I had aspired to become a sports agent. When I was growing up, my Dad and I would discuss all the latest news from the sports section of The Baltimore Sun. Often the conversation would center on the legal woes and poor decisions made by many athletes. I could never understand how someone who had everything going for them could throw it all away in a heartbeat. As a competitive athlete, I not only wanted to start helping athletes, but also felt that I had a duty to do so. So, I came up with a plan to attend law school and eventually become a sports agent. This way, I would have the necessary background to counsel athletes on how to avoid certain pitfalls and assist them in developing successful careers.

Along the way, I worked for the NFL Players Association and a few well-known sports agents. It seems as though I was on the fast-track to becoming an agent until my last year of law school. In the spring of 2007, I was at the gym working out with a buddy and the idea to create a website for athletes came to me. After collaborating with my business partner at the time, we decided to file for an LLC and then launch a website, AccessAthletes.com. The website was developed while I was studying for the bar exam that summer. I would not recommend that anyone undertake such an ambitious endeavor (especially since my girlfriend almost broke up with me). Looking back, it was definitely not a well-planned decision on my part, but I have no regrets and I'm thankful for my naivety at the time and the ability to bear down to get the job done.

In the fall of 2007, Access Athletes was officially launched. I ended up putting my goal of becoming an agent on hold to pursue my new venture, as well as gain invaluable experience working as a full-time labor attorney with a major entertainment union in Washington, D.C.

Access Athletes has afforded me the opportunity to establish my own niche in the sports industry as a trusted athlete educator. Every day, I am able to live out my dream of assisting athletes with their athletic careers, whether it involves the college recruiting process, referring them to sports professionals and specialists, or simply helping them navigate through personal matters. It is a very fulfilling experience, especially since I am doing what I love to do. This is my passion and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

SZ: In what unique ways is your audience able to utilize and benefit from the social/professional platform that is provided on this website?

Matt: As it stands right now, Access Athletes is unique in that it caters to athletes of all levels-high school, college, and professional-and provides them with access to top-notch educational resources and all the major players in the sports industry that they need to interact with to forge a balanced career.

The existing networking framework allows our members to create a profile that displays their vital information and establish relationships with various individuals in the sports industry to advance their careers. Our featured members must go through a verification process to validate their identities before they are given access to the community. This way, our members can be assured that they will have a legitimate networking experience with credible individuals. The networking platform was also designed to be NCAA-compliant and afford all the high school and collegiate athlete members who use our service a safe networking experience.

As a complement to the social and professional networking platform, "The Real Athlete Blog" (Real Content for Real Athletes), serves as the website's exclusive educational resource. The blog was created to assist athletes by providing them guidance, information, and access to services to improve their athletic performances and lives. One way we accomplish this is by doing the "Athlete Chat" series," in which we conduct interviews with a wide-range of athletes and ask them questions that shed light on an athlete's career. We utilize the insight of athletes and their experiences to educate other athletes on topics that are relevant to having a successful career, anything from being recruited to moving overseas to play professional ball. We have several other popular columns that cater to athletes, including, The Athlete Weekly Rundown, Sports Business Review, and Trusted Athlete Educator. We also cover sports professionals in our Interview with a Sports Professional series. At the end of the day, we live up to our mantra of "Access is Key" and offer exclusive content from top athletes and qualified sports professionals that you can't find anywhere else on the web.

* Note: Access Athletes provided an exclusive interview with Calvin Borel, the Kentucky Derby winning jockey, days after his victory ride on Mine That Bird.

SZ: Are athletes, coaches etc. able to request specific topical information? If so, are you finding surprises as to the topics that are being requested? What are some of the unique topics asked about? Not "x" but pg." :-)

Matt: It's funny that you asked this question. I usually receive questions from athletes and sports professionals via e-mail on a whole host of topics. We just recently launched two new features on "The Real Athlete Blog" that allow people to request information in a more organized fashion. The first one-"Ask Access Athletes" - allows a blog visitor to pose any question that they would like answered about the sports industry. When we receive an inquiry, we will research it and get back to you as soon as we can.

The second feature is called, "Ask the Expert." I'm very excited about this new program. It will feature qualified experts from the sports industry who will answer questions from our readers. All the reader needs to do is to submit a question in the form provided on the "Ask the Expert" section whenever an expert is on the "hot seat" fielding questions. At the end of the week, we will post the questions and answers in the "Ask the Expert" column. This feature will further solidify the educational focus of the site and offer athletes and other readers a chance to pick the brains of the experts.

To answer your question though, I wouldn't say I'm ever surprised about the topics that are requested. They really run the gamut from information about camps, to NCAA eligibility and compliance, to assistance with the agent selection process. There is no rhyme or reason. I have received a myriad of questions from athletes at all different levels pertaining to both on and off-the-field topics.

Recently, one former professional athlete asked me questions pertaining to producing a documentary, generating buzz, and securing a distribution deal. I also had a top prep athlete ask me to help him with his search to transfer to another prep school. Admittedly, this request has taken a great deal of research and our main interest is assisting the athlete in finding a school where he can thrive both academically and athletically.

SZ: How do you envision Access Athletes expanding its offerings in the future?

Matt: In the near future, we will be launching a community application that will take the social networking platform to the next level. This application will be the crux of our business model and will lay the foundation for the website to eventually become a full-service platform. We will also be opening an educational arm of the website that will offer athletes abundant resources, seminars, and other career-enriching opportunities. This will further reinforce our role as the trusted athlete educator, building upon the tremendous success we have experienced with "The Real Athlete Blog" as an educational tool. Without giving away too much more, we will also launch a consulting wing that will specialize in assisting athletes and other members of the sports industry with their business ventures. Stay tuned for some hot new features and applications just around the corner!

SZ: What are the fun, frivolous elements for your audience interacting through Access Athletes?

Matt: Networking with individuals who share similar interests is naturally a fun activity, especially when they can help contribute to advancing your career. In terms of specific features, the frivolous elements include messaging other members, creating discussions by commenting on the blogs, or just showcasing your accomplishments for more exposure with the major players in the sports industry, whether it is other athletes or sports professionals.

SZ: Do you have any favorite motivational stories, tips or quotes that guide you?

Matt: I have always read a ton of motivational books and compiled new inspirational quotes to keep me heading in a positive direction as I make my ascent to the top of the sports industry.

There is one particular story that stands out as my most motivational moment to date. During my freshman year at Penn State, I had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear the legendary Joe Paterno speak and meet him afterward. I was so inspired by his speech that I wrote down a list of quotes from the speech when I got home, making sure that I reproduced them verbatim. Since JoePa's speech, I have always kept this list of memorable quotes up on my wall and it has served as extra motivation to keep pushing myself to new levels. I will leave you with my favorite quote uttered by JoePa that night. It embodies the spirit of Access Athletes and everything I have accomplished up until this point and plan to accomplish in the near future. "If you never have the courage to try, you won't succeed. You have to have confidence. 'I will do this.'

Matt- thank you for taking the time for this interview. You are well on your way to creating a significant niche in the sports world!

Player/Coach/Team-Mates

2009-04-07T14:48:00.000-07:00

How does an athlete go about building a solid relationship with his/her coach and team-mates?

The relationship between a player, coach and team members is give and take. There are a host of qualities that you, as a player, can bring to the table for a solid relationship in a team setting.

Fill out the "unofficial" self-reflective questionnaire provided below. No one is peering over your shoulder or checking out your replies so be honest with yourself. This way, you will see the ways in which you are on the road to building a solid team relationship and in ways you can improve.

Qualities For Building A Solid Relationship With Your Coach and Team-Mates Awareness
Questionnaire.

(circle the number at the end of the response that most closely resembles your behavior and reactions).

Personal Responsibility: To engage and strive for a high level of success is a decision you make each day. The knowledge an athlete achieves regarding focus, commitment to a program, and participation with a positive attitude are frequently learned qualities. In good situations, these qualities can also be groomed with guidance from coaches.

1. How do you show up mentally and physicall for practices?

a) As I change into my workout clothes or uniform I begin to focus on the mental/physical
routines which help me become mentally and physically ready to engage in a worthwhile
practice. (3)

b) When we meet as a team and the coach discusses goals for the practice, it takes me awhile
to tune in and become fully present. I am slow to warm-up and get with the program,
both mentally and physically. (2)

c) I frequently meander into practices late. I often need a teammate or coach to fill me in
on what the schedule is for the practice. I don't like knowing the details ahead of time. I
stay interested by not knowing what is next. (1)

Managing Emotions: In Control of Self: During the course of the season, many events happen
on and off the field that have the potential to be disruptive.

2) How do you manage your emotions when life distractions occur?

a) I've developed skills to let go of negative thoughts and redirect my energies towards the
positive aspects of challenging situations. I know that even when there are many
potential negative pitfalls to focus on in certain situations there are also pieces I can
manage by maintaining a positive perspective. (3)

b) When I experience low energy days because because of distractions (school,
relationship conflicts, etc.), I can become irritable with myself and others, which
affects the quality of my games, practices and overall performance. (2)

c) Small incidences and inconveniences often set me off emotionally and ruin practices.
Sometimes my funk lasts for days. Once I get off track emotionally, I don't have the
tools or patience to shift the negative roller coaster, until things go my way again. (1)

Dependability: I make a commitment to myself and the success of the team by setting and achieving goals that improve my athletic skills.

3) How dependable are you as a team player?

a) I've earned a reputation for quality performances (not perfect, but consistent). I know
my consistancy is due to the extra time I put into my preparation. My coaches and
team-mates are confident that I will be ready to perform in a clutch situation. I don't
always succeed, but I am known to give full effort and show up confident. (3)

b) My dependability as a player comes and goes. I attend all the practices, buy don't
put in any extra time or effort unless it's a big game. (2)

c) When I don't feel inspired to go to the gym, or practices aren't required, I allow
myself to slide. Relying on my natural talent has always been my good fortune. (1)

Communication: Team dynamics are often complex. It is not unusual for a coach and player
to have misunderstandings and miscommunication during the course of a season.

4) When conflicts arise between the coach and myself or another player.....

a) I am able to step back and think out my part of the conflict. Sometimes I seek out
counsel from a trusted team-mate to gain perspective. After I think about the issue
and my part in it, I decide the next action step. Frequently, I can let the issue go, or
I make time to meet with the coach or player to discuss how we can resolve the
the issue amicably. (3)

b) I ignore problems and usually wait them out until they disappear. Often I sit on
on my feelings and it makes me moody for days. (2)

c) I whine to the coach about the other player and make it the coaches problem to
resolve the issue. Or if I have a conflict with the coach, I whine to my team-mates
until they are tired of listening to me. (1)

Value: Value and character are meaningful qualities you contribute to the team experience.

5) In what ways do you bring value to the team environment?

a) I am a role player. I understand the importance of everyone's contribution within
the team dynamic. Even though I prefer the status of "star" (get in line who
doesn't), I have no problem getting the ball into the hands of a team-mate who
is in a position to score. (3)

b) I know my assigned role on the team and the expectations of my position as a
player, but I'm often not happy with the role. Sometimes I don't put out as much
effort as I can because I don't feel my value is recognized. (2)

c) I'm not really clear about my role on the team and in what ways my emotional
energy has an influence. I just enjoy playing. (1)

Respect: Respect includes respect for the team, the players, the coach and your
opponents.

6) How does respect fit into your playing experience?

a) I understand the big picture of sports and my responsibility as an athlete to be
prepared for all the challenges of playing on a team. Sometimes the coach will
make choices I don't agree with, or a team-mate will do something I am not happy
with, but it is a part of the team culture and I respect it. Even the flaws. (3)

b) I respect most of the coaches and most of the players, but I can't/don't like and get
along with everyone all the time. (2)

c) I respect my coach and team-mates, but refuse to buy into respecting my
opponents. Although I know some of my opponents are well-established players
with proven athletic competence, an attitude of disrespect for my opponent serves
as motivation for me. (1)

Score: Tally up the numbers from your selected replies.

Score: (18-13) Your relationship with your coach and team-mates is probably working
well for you. You show up ready to compete and know that there will always be
issues, challenges and situations that need to be worked out. Sometimes things
don't fall in your favor and you don't have a melt down. When opportunities arise
you are prepared and ready to respond. The coach and your team-mates will
notice these qualities in you. He/she will recognize your maturity, dependability
and value as a player and team leader.

Score: (12-7) Take a look at the 2's and 1's you checked off the list. Do you have ideas as
to how you can work to improve in these areas? Sometimes coaches and/or team-
mates would benefit by improving certain areas as well, but this is about you and
what you can do to move your athletic involvement forward on a good note to
reach a higher level.

Score: (6 or less) OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!! Get some support and ideas so you can improve your
situation. If everyone is wrong but you, you have a tough road ahead. If you are
in a high school setting, see if you can find some sport psychology books about
team participation and mental skills. There are many, many great books for
this topic available online. If you are in a college setting, you can go the book
route and/or check in with a sports counselor through the athletic department
or counseling department. Make sure the counselor has sport psychology
training and knowledge.

Hope you had some fun thinking about the questions. No-ones perfect - nor is there a need to be
but there is always room for improvement!

Mulligans

2009-03-30T21:16:00.000-07:00

Some say you can go home again. Others say you can't. Either way it will always be different due to time passing. Life moves forward. This past weekend U.C.L.A. threw a Women's Tennis Reunion
and I choose to go home again to visit my Bruin past and see what's new in the present.

It's refreshing how many things have changed for the better. Attending a d-1 school is a journey of
balancing academics, sport, work-outs, training, travel and engaging in the college life...it's a 24/7
task. U.C.L.A. has the most amazing facilities, services, and athlete support. This school is
"getting it right" for their athletes!

It was incredibly refreshing to see the changes and fun playing again with players of the past and present. Congratulations Stella! It was a wonderful weekend.
Goooooooooooooo Bruins!

Desert Fun

2009-03-16T21:14:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to the W.T.A. for producing hospitality for a wonderful reunion at Indian Wells for past tour players. The venue was a perfect setting for past player's to reconnect, network, watch amazing tennis from a luxury suite and enjoy the magical desert surroundings. Such a pleasure to attend and chat with player's who forged the way for the incredible generation of fresh athletic players we watch today. The game keeps moving forward.
Peachy, Terry many thanks for all the FUN!

Little Yim - Marketing Athletic Talent

2009-02-12T22:30:00.000-08:00

Little Yim is a financial investment company and offers the world's first stock market of "professional athlete's." Public investors buy stock in professional athletes listed on the Little Yim stock market. The athletes receive the investment proceeds to improve the quality of their
training and to cover the costs of travel, entry fees and other expenses.

Interview with Cindy Yim - Founder and CEO of Little Yim
http://www.littleyim.com/

sz: Cindy the Little Yim business concept is easy to understand and a cool idea. You're giving investors an opportunity to purchase shares in young "undiscovered" professionals. What is the screening process an athlete goes through prior to becoming listed for sponsorship through Little Yim?

cy: Thanks Susan, I really appreciate the chance to chat with you.

There is a lot of young talent out there. Athletes have worked hard just to get to the point of competing at the pro level. You see these athletes sweating hard training on the court and competing their hearts out in matches. It is too bad if these athletes can't pay for travel expenses or hire coaches and fitness trainers. Money problems cause a significant amount of stress on top of the enormous pressure that athletes already feel.

So I say we take away the money problem! :-)

We focus on supporting a group of high performance athletes who are already professional and will be playing in tournaments. Our selection process is based on an athlete's strong past performance at the junior, collegiate or professional level. Many of these athletes have obtained a high junior ranking, and have competed in high-level national and collegiate tournaments.

A lot of people want to be professional athletes and we want to help athletes realize their dreams. We wish that we could help everyone. But we have to limit our program to a select
group of athletes in order to provide investors with a small return on their investment.

sz: How do athletes learn about your company? Do you scout different sports and initiate contact with the athletes? Or do the athletes find you?

cy: We love it when athletes find us. Athletes often come to our site when they do online searches for athletic sponsorships and funding. Having our website pop up when you Google
"athletic sponsorships" helps us. The other way we get in touch with athletes is through athlete management firms and sports academies. Corporate sponsorships at professional tournaments
introduce our company to athletes there. We were a corporate sponsor at the SAP Open, Bank of the West Classic and East West Bank Classic presented by Herbalife.

We want to bring on athletes from different sports and expect to increase our efforts in initiating contact with athletes. Initially, we focused on tennis but have now branched out to many other sports.

sz: Do investors receive a prospectus? If so what content is included such as background information of past and present athletic results, current training programs, coaching staff, and upcoming event schedules?

cy: Investors are able to review the details of the sponsorship contract in terms of the tournaments included in the sponsorship contract, and information about the tournaments such as the prize money offered to athletes. We want to provide investors with as much information about the athlete as possible. From the athlete's past performance, to their coaches and training programs, it will all be there for investors. It is important for us to make sure that investors get all the information they need to make an informed decision knowing the athlete's ability, tournament plans and goals.

Since this is sports, we also want to make it fun for investors and give athletes the opportunity
to showcase their personality. In their profile, athletes talk about cool stuff like their favorite music and interests. Russ Marchewka, a beach volleyball player, indicated that beer is one among his many interests like ping pong and real estate investments. I think that's funny and interesting information that you aren't always going to see.

sz: What are the most interesting aspects of running your business?

cy: There are so many interesting aspects to running my business. I would have to say that the concept itself is the most interesting part. Getting to implement something new and work on the market design is really fun. it is just that a stock market of people is a very different idea. I feel like it's a chance to create something that can make a lasting contribution.

What's interesting about running my business is that I am utilizing the fun and excitement that sports fans have always experienced to provide athletes with funds. Fans like seeing how athletes do at tournaments. Not knowing whether an athlete will win the match or finish in the top sport in competitions makes it exciting for viewers. Now, all that excitement that fans feel from watching athletes can be used to encourage them to invest in athletes. They can make a difference in the athletes that they follow and in the sport itself.

The other interesting aspect is that my business blends sports and economics, which seem like totally unrelated fields. There have been economic studies on sports and athlete performances, but not so much the creation of new markets to provide services directly to athletes. I really like economics so it is fantastic that I can use economics to work with athletes and support them in their training and development.

sz: Cindy, you are an athlete and played in college on the Princeton junior varsity tennis team.
What athletic experience at Princeton or other athletic experiences in your life influenced the development of this business idea?

cy: As an athlete, I have encountered some disheartening moments whether it is not playing well in a match or losing in the early round of a tournament. There is so much focus on performance on-court and it is not easy to bounce back after a bad match to play your best in the following tournament.

Professional athletes probably experience this on a magnified scale. Their performance at competitons determines their career and how many ranking points and prize money they will earn. Their expenses are much higher than mine with the need to travel consistently on a global basis. Knowing that athletes have a lot to worry about in trying to play their best, I thought that it could be helpful for them if they did not have to worry about funding.

I have found that playing tennis is a great way to meet other people. when you all like the same thing, there is an endless amount to talk about. Princeton's junior varsity tennis team had a bunch of people involved in different activities and studying different majors, many of them whom I ended up never taking the same course with. I most likely would not have met these people if it weren't for the fact that we played tennis together. The opportunity for fans to invest in athletes is also a way for fans to get to know professional athletes. The funding that fans provide is most helpful to athletes. But what about having all kinds of people from all over the world visit an athlete's website and read an athlete's blog to get the latest update? So far, the media has been the only way for athletes and fans to connect. That's why I put links to an athlete's website and blog so that fans can see how their athletes are doing.

sz: Do you have any favorite motivational stories, tips or quotes that guide you?

cy: The Olympics provide me with some of the most motivational stories. Athletes competing in the Olympic Games have come very far in order to qualify to represent their country in one of the world's great sporting events. These athletes made a lot of sacrifices along the way and fully committed themselves toward attaining their dream. It is not possible to be lazy and get to that level. Their training is intense and the adversity they face is challenging.

From the recent 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, I had read about a track and field athlete who developed painful blisters in her mouth and around parts of her face in early 2008. Doctors had rcommended that she not train and compete for several months. She knew that she would not be able to perform her best in Bejing if she did this. Despite what she described as feeling great pain, she still trained just as hard to make sure that she gave her fastest race when the moment came. In training, she would bite on a paper cup that she put in her mouth to order to ease the pain she was experiencing. This is true determination and shows tremendous perseverance through times when unfortunate events occur.

My hope is that my company can help the little guys with big dreams.

sz: The Little Yim website is so well designed and easy to use and understand. I look forward to checking back with you in a year to see how the business has grown as you continue to offer young professionals a chance to make it into the spotlight of their sports!

Girls4Sport

2008-12-04T16:51:00.000-08:00

Girls4Sport (www.girls4sport.com), based in Santa Cruz,CA., designs and manufactures high quality performance clothing for active girls for all ages. Girls4Sport promote camps and clinics that provide learning opportunities and inspiration for girls of all ages to lead active lives. Leanne Salandro and Kim Ruby are co-owners of Girls4Sport. I recently had the opportunity to chat with Leanne & Kim about the company, and their peak performance perspective of business.

Interview with Leanne & Kim:

Z: Girls4Sport has grown quite a bit in the last 5 years.What are 3 essential ingredients for success that future female entrepreneurs should know before starting a business?

LS: Know that with every big step forward, there are side steps, backwards steps and quite a few stumble steps on the way, is #1. Be ready for anything and keep that sense of humor handy.
#2, all those steps, they just make you smarter (a bonus!). #3, follow what you know is right. We've had to make decisions based on money, time, resources, etc. but the biggest guiding force should always be what you know is best for your business and customers. That simply gets tempered by money, time, resources and all the rest.

Z: How does the statement, "Without Risk There Is No Success" apply to your success as a company?

LS: Without risking time, money and face, we wouldn't have anything but an idea, some sketches and some words on paper. We risked heading out into an industry we knew little about. We've tried and continue to try minimizing risks by asking questions of people who have a lot of experience doing the types of things we want to do. It's been a lifesaver for us and we're grateful for the wisdom that has helped minimize our risk when making big decisions. Finding smart people to answer questions has moved us forward safely more than anything else. It's been key to our success (and fewer backward steps).

Z: Can you name anything about running a business you know now but wish you had known when you were starting out?

LS: More often than not, it will often take longer than you think. We seem to have raging optimism and lofty ambitions that we daily need to reign in. From day one, our heads and hearts were light years ahead of where we are even today. A mixed blessing! We get impatient to meet goals but gain so much in getting there even if it does take a little longer than we thought.

Z: Are there any athletes' (role models) or business models that keep you focused on your company goals/vision for the future?

LS: We have such a wide range of inspiration to choose from and the pool of greatness grows continually. We both have friends who are amazing athletes who also have great careers. That is always a wonder. People like Arien O'Connell who surprised everyone at this year's Nike Women's Marathon in S.F. define inspiration. Arien is someone who quietly surprises us in the spotlight. She got there simply based on the love of what she does, who she is as a runner. That is both beautiful and uniquely powerful. From the business world, we've always had a fondness for Ben and Jerry's. Who ever thought you would get ethics, ice cream and a great plan for collective success? Admirable and delicious! We strive to be that kind of company. (Check out girls4sport website to see how they embrace the B&J model of philanthropy).

Z: Girls4Sport Foundation supports organizations and programs that provide girls of all ages with the skills, support and opportunity to lead active lives with confidence. In what ways does this branch of the organization inspire you?

LS: We get so many e-mails from people out there doing amazing things. E-mails that often bring tears to our eyes. For me personally, it reminds me that "female" and "athlete" are two words that didn't appear together until recent history. Pretty much within my lifetime. That continues to shock and amaze me. There were no great marathoners or triathaletes when my mom was a little girl. Who was her role model? It reminds me that we've got big ground to cover, time to make up, athletes of greatness yet to come. That fuels hope for me. As corny as it may sound, I'm deeply touched that the little girls of today have concrete proof, not just dreams and wondering, of accomplishing great things in both athletics, business, competition anything!

Z: You and Kim are both athletes and stay active surfing, mountain biking, running, hiking, swimming etc. Do you have any sport psychology tips that motivate you?

LS: For me, I always set a goal. Always a race or an event to strive for and frequently I'll focus on some type of goal for individual sessions if I'm lacking inspiration that day. There are some sports I do casually, like hiking, but without specific long term goals, I tend to sleep in a little longer, enjoy a few more treats, swim fewer laps, not do as many runs, I get a little lazy! Not only do goals keep me motivated but they keep me trying new things, new sports, new ways of doing things. I turn 40 this weekend and I hope I'm still dreaming up new goals when I'm 80!

Kim later add:

KR: Every phase of my life has had different levels of sports participation. Running a business and raising a little girl (both are 5 years old now!) keeps me busy and getting out and doing something for me refreshes my mind to take on new challenges not so much in sport but in life. What motivates me is simply staying fit, feeling good and clearing my mind so I can enjoy a healthy long life with my family.

Z: Happy Birthday Leanne...the "lazy"side of you is not a glaring part of your personality! Kim and Leanne, I look forward to Girls4Sport.com continuing it's upward journey of growth, success and ongoing health!

Readers: *What motivating forces energize your sport/business goals? What are the motivating long and short term goals you are pursuing for sport and business success in 2009?

Tennis Legend Billie Jean King Donates Racket for Hula on the Bay

2008-10-27T05:56:00.001-07:00

Tennis legend Billie Jean King has graciously stepped up and provided the Aunties of the U'ilani Fund an autographed racket for the upcoming fundraiser on Sunday, Nov. 9th.

Sports visionary Billie Jean King, also known as "Mother of Modern Sports" over her entire career has lent her name and been a champion as a player and for causes all her life. Billie's accomplishments are profound:

* Won 39 Grand Slam singles, doubles and mixed doubles tennis titles, including a record 20 at Wimbledon.

* Was one of the players who broke away from the tennis establishment and accpeted $1 contracts from tennis promoter Glady's Heldman in Houston. The revolt led to the birth of the women's professional tennis and the formation of the Virginia Slims Tour and Women's Tennis Association.

* Empowered women and educated men when she defeated Bobby Riggs in one of the greatest moments in sports history -the Battle of the Sexes in 1973. (Although Billie recalls the match not being that great competitively :-). The match between the two is remembered for its effect on society and its contribution to the women's movement.

* Founded the Women's Tennis Association (1973), The Women's Sports Foundation (1974), and Women's Sports Magazine (1974).

* Co-founded World TeamTennis (1974), the groundbreaking co-ed professional tennis league (which remains active today). She founded the World TeamTennis Recreational League, one of the most popular recreational tennis formates in the U.S.

* Billie was honored on August 28th, 2006 when the national Tennis Center, home of the U.S. Open was renamed the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in honor of King's contributions to tennis, sports and society both on and off the court.

Here is a fabulous opportunity to bid on an auction item donated by the legendary Billie Jean King and support the generous cause of, The U'ilani Fund. The U'ilani Fund http://www.uilanifund.org/ was created in December of 2000. Since it began, the fund has given away over $100,000 to women seeking complementary care for breast cancer. The fund was developed by a group of friends who had a connection with Dr. Marina Lee U'ilani Bermudez who did not survive her battle with cancer. During U'i's illness she managed her pain and took part in activities she loved by utilizing available complementary care, acupunture, Chinese herbs, massage, Qu Gong and other alternative approaches to managing pain and stress.

To learn more about the upcoming "Hula on the Bay" which will also feature, The Kapalakiko Hawaiian Band and Dancers, local wines, tropical drinks, Cal-Hawaiian Cuisine, all on the historical Sherman Restaurant in Burlingame, http://www.theshermanrestaurant.com/ please go to http://www.uilanifund.org/ or purchase tickets on-line at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/. Select event title: Hulu on the Bay.
The aunties look forward to seeing you there!
Aloha

Bright Young Female Athletes of Today

2008-09-25T17:19:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of participating as a speaker and participant at the StoneFit Professional Women Athletes Career Conference, in S.F. last weekend and was impressed by the young and talented female athletes that attended. The choices of sport careers for young women of today has expanded tremendously. Although most sports outside of tennis, or golf don't provide enough substantial prize money to actually live on the winnings. The quest for sponsorship from companies to keep the professional dream alive is a true challenge for these women. For many others they must keep under the umbrella of an Olympic team to further their athletic adventures.

The goal of the two day conference was to help professional women athletes by including new information on training, conditioning and injury prevention. As part of the weekend, CrossFit trainer, Kelly Starrett and Eva Twardokens gave attendees an opportunity to participate in morning work-outs. It was impressive how quickly, Olympians and athletes who work-out on a regular basis can be exhausted! Applause goes out to Amy Seiwert, the dancer in our group work-out, who danced for the Smuin Ballet for nine years and now is a choreographer....she showed up and pushed, pulled, jumped and ran along with all of us!

I hope my presentation in the career development sector of the conference, "Maximizing the Athletic Transition" connected with some of the audience. Successful or not the paid athletic career is a quick window of opportunity. Many of the sporting dangers of the skiers left me with the impression that their time can be particularly short. Transition out of sport happens for a variety of reasons. Transition motivators include,
Age, De-selection, Injury or Chronic Illness, Goal Fulfillment.

Why do athletes put off exploring the next phase of their professional careers?

Common Myths:
a) Planning for life after sport interferes with focusing on current achievements.
b) Being an athlete, "I don't know how to do anything else." (concept makes some sense since being an athlete you have been competing, training and traveling, vs. looking at other aspects of your career goals.
c) No other profession could ever be as satisifying.

Myth Busters:
a) Research studies suggest that post athletic career planning actually lessens anxiety about the transition process.
b)Athletes develop transferable skill strengths through-out their athletic training and competitive experiences. (Ask me what they are and I will give you a list).
c) Post athletic careers take a different form and can be more broadly life fulfilling. ( I offered plenty of examples during my talk).

Process of Transitioning:
Keep in mind that as an athlete when you retire from competitive sport you still have many productive career years left.
Similar to visualizing your development in sport you begin to visualize your post career professional life. For most people career development is a gradual process. Each experience builds into the next.

Some women athletes that attended the conference, will make it onto the podium and hold up the big prize and hopefully convert the victory into dollars and endorsements. Others will continue to try. Both athletes will bring a tremendous amount of enterprise and energy to the table in their next careers.....thank you for sharing your stories with me.
Thanks to, Dr. Kevin and Susan Stone of the Stone Clinic
Brett Ortiz
Trish Fong and the rest of the Stone Clinic Staff for their time and putting on a fun event.
Congratulations to SheJumps
Thanks,
Bee K.
Career path is not typically a linear process, where are you now in your professional career?

Raising the Ceiling of Possibilities

2008-08-20T10:43:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to all the Beijing Olympians and the many amazing performances they have produced so far during these Games. Congratulations to the steadfast support people that have and currently participate in the athletes journey of success. The parents who created the opportunity for an athlete to participate in sport, knowledgeable coaches, nutritionists, sport psychology counselors and consultants, sport medicine docs who continue to develop treatments for faster injury recovery, physical therapists, resistant stretching coaches etc....The athlete becomes the super star on stage for all to watch - the spotlight performance. After years and years, hours and hours of training, competing, developing their physical and mental skills they've won their spot in the "big show." (Opening ceremonies was a decadent beginning).

Noteworthy during the very visible successes of athletes such as Michael Phelps and Dara Torres is that in their success they raise the bar of possiblities for every young or aging athlete who will follow in the years to come. Achieving such success at their level, because of fantastic talent coupled with refinement of expanding knowledge in sport science creates opportunity. At the junior, collegiate, senior and social recreational level, coaches and athletes listen closely to pick up more information about the Olympians process and what they can add to their work-outs to become better performers. The Olympics is the vehicle to display the athletic goods, but the overall athletic process is the ingredient worth taking time to study. Success from the super stars bump up the the level of sport in every bracket of participation, because it expands peoples belief in possibilities for their own athletic accomplishments. As the innovations of sport science expand, the information continues to improve and trickle down into the general sport populace and as a results broadens choices of physical and mental training.
So much gratitude to all the Olympians who continue to raise the bar of athletic development and offer the rest of the world the gift of these amazing performances!

On the other hand are there are problems and issues to address as sport participation advances.
Kids "chosen" for athletic greatness, leaving for academies while still in childhood. (Although most countries do have a system or methodology to gage the probability of a child having the genetic potential to become a great athlete). In some situations sport is the great hope for a family to made ends meet. When the athlete reaches stardom the lives and future of the family change forever. The now have life choices they never would have been offered before.

This occurs in the U.S.A. and in other countries. There are athletes who benefit but others who don't make it through the academy systems. This is a long study in and of itself. Athletes who don't recover from early injuries due to over use, a fall, or other injuries. The taboo of discussing homosexuality in sport continues to scare people. Which is interesting because most athletes know who is and is not homosexual. The subject matter appears to be a bigger issue for administrations than the athletes. Gender and the particular sport makes a difference as to the level of queasiness this topic of discussion produces. The use of steroids and designer drugs will continue to be a hot topic in the years to come. But again the drive for excellence alters athletes and spectators. Sport continues to evolve and with it the athletes who participate, their support systems, and the audience that are drawn to watch.

Keep raising the bar of excellence.

Sport Psychology Consultants

2008-04-10T08:40:00.000-07:00

The term "Peak Performance" has come a long way in the last 10 years. It has developed into a commonly used buzz word in business, athletics and day to day living. More than ever there is a link between the word peak performance and sport psychology consultant.

In the book, "Applied Sport Psychology,"(1993), Ken Ravizza, Ph.D. (kinesiology) a sport psychology consultant interviewed 20 male and female athletes from a range of competitive skill levels in twelve different sports his research findings report that the act of being in a state of "peak performance" to these athletes included: loss of fear-no fear of failure, no thinking of performance, total immersion in the activity, effortless performance, feeling of being in complete control.

Jim Loehr, Ph.D.(education) in the same chapter concluded through his hundreds of interviews with athletes that athletic performance could be increased through a combination of feelings which include:
high energy(challenge, inspiration, determination, intensity), fun and enjoyment, no pressure, optimism and positiveness, mental calmness, confidence etc....

For a moment let's accept that two Ph.D's with different academic backgrounds can help establish an orientation of the word "peak peformance." But what is the definition of a sport psychology consultant? Are training people in peak performance skills the only service they provide?

The Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) puts out a helpful guideline for choosing sport psychology consultants and guidelines for what the differences between consultants and services may offer. In the AASP guidelines for choosing a sport psychology consultant they suggest, "Professionals who provide sport psychology services generally take one of two academic routes to obtain their credentials: the sport science route (through physical education or kinesiology programs) or the psychology route (through clinical
or counseling psychology programs).

Guidelines: Sport psychology consultants may provide a variety of services. Some providers have combined their training to include sport science and counseling psychlogy services. So when you are thinking about hiring a sport psychology consultant ask yourself the following:

-What types of services am I looking for? Ex: a sport psychology consultant who develops performance enhancement programs for an individual or a team? A sport psychology consultant who is skilled in teaching specific mental, behavioral, psychosocial and emotional control skills for sport. A sport psychology consultant who can help with parental or coach pressure and/or team dynamics. A sport psychology practitioner that can work with injured athletes on the mental aspects of injury and preparing to re-enter the sport competitively.

- Ask, what specific licensing, certifications, credentials, academic training and experience does this professional have that will assist in providing those services?

Sport psychology is a growing aspect of sport culture at every level of participation. Whether the players are professional, collegiate, high school, youth or seniors, the field offers athletes, coaches, families, teams, a variety of useful services. Spend some time thinking about what services you want and do a little research to figure out who is qualified to provide them.
For further information check out: http://www.aaasponline.com/

Finding Articles

2008-03-06T14:08:00.000-08:00

Requests for clarity regarding the magazine links to the article from my web site:
Six Smart Tips for Coaching the Adolescent Brain. The articles from the links provided on the bottom of the page may be accessed by going to http://abc7chicago.com/ clicking onto the
"health" section on the left side of the page and inputting, The Teenage Brain April 14th, 2004
by Judy Hsu.

Also, http://www.usaweekend.com/ in the "find articles" space provided put in, The Teen Brain
Tim Wendel May 18th, 2003.
That should do it! The other articles can be found on line by Googling "teenage brain articles."

Enjoy the education.

The Eye "I" Exam

2008-01-04T12:30:00.001-08:00

The previous entry explored the idea an athletes performance benefits when they are able to recognize and switch out of negative feedback loops. "Athlete" in this blog entry will refer to any player age 12 and older participating in competitive sports at any skill level.

Some clues that an athlete is caught in a reoccurring negative loop can be observed in attitude, body language, emotional state and internal mental dialogue to name a few.
When positive emotion and behavior are left on the sidelines it often affects a players ability to perform at an optimal level. All athletes encounter times of doubt, worry, anxiety, nervousness, disappointment, anger etc. Successful athletes are those that have an awareness and the tools to flip their attention and mental focus when they discover themselves falling into the negativity loop. Negative symptoms and pitfalls can occur during practices, and/or competition.

The following "I" Exam is a nonclinical, playful self-guide to assess whether a player has and utilizes the tools to effectively problem solve and adapt to challenging situations by shifting negative mental energy and actions to positive thoughts, feelings and stategies. The examples in this guide have been gathered over the years as common complaints and situations of tennis players. But it can be generalized to other sports.

All performers encounter situations where nothing is going as planned. The following are two sample catagories. The first catagory frequently ends up becoming an emotional "drop-off" where the player reports an inability to bring their "A" game into play. Lingering focus on these negative distractions often become an obstacle to ongoing learning, and block effective problem solving energies that are necessary to meet unexpected challenges that are part of engaging in competition at any level. The first catagory is "Energy Drain."

The second catagory "Energy Builder" relates to the player who recognizes challenges and makes a shift to a positive response(flipping the switch). Think back to the last high pressure competitive situation you faced and your responses.

(Catagory-1) CHEATERS AND OTHER DISTRACTIONS

a)_______Competing against an opponent known for dishonest and close line calls. Your mental dialogue fails you. "I can't compete against cheaters. Everytime I hit near a line he/she calls the ball out. I feel tense and afraid to hit my shots. I can't win against cheaters.

b)______ I hate playing moonballers, soft hitters etc. I am a big hitter and I play my best when I play big hitters like myself. I don't care if I hit the fence with my shots I refuse to be a pusher.
Ok, so what I lost in 45 minutes but I played my game.

c)______ If it hadn't been so windy I would have won the match. Playing in the wind is tortuous. The wind is my nemesis. The next time it is windy I may decide to default and not bother playing the match.

d)______My opponent grunts, stalls, etc. I can't get into my playing rhythm because of my opponents annoying gamesmanship. I may even start grunting just to let my opponent know how annoying he/she sounds.

e)______I am angry at my coach. I am angry at the team captain etc. I've been put into the top spot against the opposing team and I'm being sacrificed. I don't care if I win or not I'm just showing up.

f)______Anger works for me. When I become angry in a match I feel more tuned in as my energy level rises. I've broken rackets but at least it shows I am passionate about winning. When I play doubles my anger seems to make my partner uncomfortable but too bad.

(catagory-2) PROBLEM-SOLVING AND OTHER IDEAS

a)______ This opponent is cheating. I've questioned the calls I think are incorrect. I took time out to see if I could locate a referee to monitor this match. I've checked in with my emotional state. I know I am becoming really impatient with this behavior. I shift my thoughts and feelings from "victim" to taking responsibility for the things I can control right now on my side of the court.

b)______This opponent has a style of play that is difficult for me to play against. I knew I was going to play this opponent and created a plan of patience for the match. I noticed my compulsion to force the points early on in the match. My aggressiveness was creating too many unforced errors. As much as I don't care for this style of play I respect how its made me a better player as I learn patience and create the opportunities to effectively counter-attack.

c)______Weather conditions often affect my mood and energy level. It is easy for me to be distracted and bogged down with frustrating thoughts and feelings when I play in windy conditions. I balance this awareness and use the time in between points and change-overs to
reinforce my game plan and stay with positive actions and thoughts. My body posture sends a message of strength and positive, engaged energy. I know my opponent doesn't care for these weather conditions either. I am not willing to spend time and energy on the negatives of playing in the wind. I direct my thoughts and performance to useful energy and problem solving.

d)_______The distractions that my opponent generates doesn't affect my energy or mental focus. I don't give away my energy by spending time worrying about what my opponent is doing on his/her side of the net. If my opponent is drifting outside the allotted rules of play I will seek out available resources to remedy the situation. If there are no resources available I accept this
annoyance as an amusing challenge versus a threat to my ability to perform.

e)______There are situations where our captain thinks it useful to alter the line-up and move our stronger players into slots that they will likely play against a weaker team for a "sure win."
The opposing team may play their line-up "straight-up" and since I am the "sacrifice" player potentially I can face a really strong opponent. The opposing team may also alter their line-up and I could end up playing the person I would have played in my original spot. Either way I am excited for the opportunity to compete. If I win against a stronger opponent it benefits my ranking points. If I lose it is a fantastic opportunity to experience competing against a strong opponent. If I lose to an opponent of my equal ability......well.......I guess I need to work on my game!

f)_______James Loehr, Ed.D writes in his book Toughness Training for Life, "the perception of
threat (losing) leads to a condition of negative arousal....linking negative arousal with the stress hormone cortisol has been associated with feelings of anxiety, tension, helplessness and loss of control." "The physiobiological mobilization process associated with perception of challenge (versus fear) is called positive arousal." Emotional competitiveness is characterized by emotional flexibility, responsiveness, clarity and the capacity to make useful adaptations in a losing situation. When I am in pressure situations I know how to keep track of my energy. I am able to stay positive, and never give up. When the match is over and if I lost I can learn from it and let it go.

Conclusion:

Add up your check marks. The number of check marks is self-explanatory. Are you draining more energy than building in stressful athletic situations? If there are an equal amount of check marks in each catagory the good news is you can improve your positive energy skills. When an athlete carries some level of negativity, doubt etc...onto the playing arena it doesn't guarantee losing. When the opponent isn't as skilled or experienced, negative energy may affect the experience of the players but it won't necessarily determine the outcome. When skills levels and abilities are equal, attitude, positive body language, emotional resiliancy etc. become factors.

Is developing positive performance energy as simplistic as "flipping the lense" of your thinking and behavior? Not really. An individuals personality, environment, sport-culture and training in this area of performance usually take time to develop. Overtime with persistence and chosing to select effective positive responses to stress and challenge a player is capable of building their resiliancy. This response becomes more automatic over time.

Get tough......and have fun.

Lens of Attention

2007-11-02T12:16:00.000-07:00

When a client visits an optometrist to have their vision tested they most likely sit in a chair and the doc at some point during the appointment asks the client to look through several different lenses to find the right corrective adjustment to fit their visual distortions. The doc presents several lens choices and the tester typically is asked to respond to the various lenses presented. As the doc flips the lense file the client is asked, "does this make reading the letters of the eye chart"
-Easier
-The same
-Or worse

The client focuses on the selections and gives simple feedback responses to the selections and whether their vision, improves, stays the same or worsens during the choices. Using this template for emotions an athlete can ask him/herself is my behavior in this situation making my present situation, better? Keeping it the same? Or worsening?

Athletes who become stuck in their emotions have a tendency to respond with old patterns
(the same vision of what has happened and is going to happen) of behavior that frequently activate the same cycle of reactions that often create a losing situation. Even when that reaction time and time again hasn't proven to be smart, productive nor helpful in creating the options and responses the athlete is striving for.

So next time you are near to experiencing a melt down, try flipping the lens of your thought process, behavior, perceptions so your emotions have an opportunity to adjust and offer you a clearer vision of what is needed to succeed. If you haven't established tools to be able to stop, check in, and adapt to the need to do something different, or have the tools to choose something different, you will most likely continue with the same murky vision. When was your last check up!
Next time: The Eye "I" Exam.

Doing Battle

2007-09-20T09:53:00.000-07:00

What is the value of youth and adult sports? The opportunity to learn to do battle in a contained environment with the enhanced value of striving for success and deepening our humanism. Sport participation has the potential to allow participants to learn to train (discipline actions, take on responsibility to self and others), be competitive ( yet civil, polite, courteous) and engage in sportsmanship, (sportsmanship respect for opponents, officials, teammates, coaches and for the game itself).

Seems simple and yet the recreational sport culture at times seems to have moved so far away from these values it is incredibly odd to observe. Example:

1) Four players playing a weekend tennis tournament. One player yells out a running stream of instructions to his partner as the ball is in play...."watch out.....he's gonna hit a lob." "Run back I'll cover the net"....."hit to his backhand." I personally find this a funny story but for the irritated team on the other side who is trying to play and is listening to this running dialogue obviously does not find this to be humorous.......You decide was the team who was doing all the talking during the point being.....

a) competitive
b) sportsman like
c) other

For those of you who chose (a)....borrowing from sport sociologist Jay Coakley's definition of
competition. "A social process that ocurrs when rewards are given to people on the basis of how their performances compare with the performances of others doing the the same task or partcipating in the same evenent."

The conflict in choosing (a) would be the assumption that talking loudly to your partner in the middle of the point is the same as the technical skill of observing and reacting physically to the situation during the course of the point. Yelling out instructions was pretty much considered a distraction to the process of the other team.

Did you choose (b) Sportsmanship behavior? Probably not many folk chose (b). Unfortunately lots of people have forgotten about the point of sportsmanship like behavior. D. Shields and B. Bredemeier, in their book, "Character Develpment and Physical Activity" (1995) define sportspersonship as, "involves an intense striving to succeed, tempered by commitment to the play spirit such that ethical standards will take precedence over strategic gain when the two conflict."

This brings the choice to "other." The irritated team confronted the talking team which resulted in a verbal dispute about player rights on the court. The irritated team that was listening to their opponents yelling instructions to each other during the point didn't go to find an umpire which is a choice they could have made but again this is social recreational PLAY.....
To win brings a team ranking points but no prize money, no endorsements, no free trips, gifts or giveaways......Where do players learn these traits? Is it learned, modeled or spontaneous form of attempting to meet another teams challenge during the heat of battle? The talking team now has a negative reputation and they ended up losing the match....

Case Study Results

2007-08-03T06:37:00.001-07:00

Results from the EmWave case study of nine U.S.T.A. League players is now available to read.
www.sportshealthcounseling.com click on Projects and Results from the front page.

Till next time!
Think good thoughts.

EmWave Case Study

2007-06-19T17:58:00.000-07:00

"The heart is a primary generator of rhythmic patterns in the human body and possesses a more extensive communication system with the brain than do other major organs. In addition the heart plays a particularly important role in the generation of emotion. ...The research team at the Institute of HeartMath has shown that techniques which combine intentional heart focus with the generation of sustained positive feelings lead to a beneficial mode of physiological function they have termed psycho-physiological coherence." Quantumintech

Positive feelings and smooth, even heart rhythms facilitate or improve the brains ability to process information; this is called cortical facilitation. When the brain and heart work harmoniously an athletes physical reflexes are faster and he/she will be able to focus, think and make clear decisions and enable muscular coordination. Players still need to have the skills, abilities and talent to perform the task. If your technique is inefficient you will still need to develop this area to improve performance. (Sorry no miracles :-).....

EmWave Case Study: Nine U.S.T.A. League tennis players. Nine EmWaves ( a portable biofeedback devise)....instructions on how to use the EmWave and one month documenting their use (time and frequency) to explore if using the EmWave at least five times a week, for at least five minutes per time would aid in reducing cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety, improve players self-confidence and enjoyment of competition. Levels of anxiety and self-confidence were measured by having the players complete the "Competitive State Anxiety Inventory" (slightly modified) as a pre-test. The group took the same test again after a month of using the device.....

The case study findings were significant....for a detailed description of this case study check http://www.sportshealthcounseling.com/
under "Projects and Results." Complete details of the study will be posted by the end of July.