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
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Alcemy of Excellence
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
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
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Ron Artest Credits Sport Psychology
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
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
Thursday, September 30, 2010
To Choke or Not to Choke
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/
Check out http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/09/the-tight-collar-the new-science-of-choking/
Monday, August 30, 2010
10 NIS 4 ALL Interview
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.
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.
Monday, July 5, 2010
The Life of an Overseas Basketball Player, Part 2
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
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
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Motivating Junior Tennis Players
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.
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.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Brittany Gilman - Sports Marketer
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
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
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Sport Health in Action
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.....
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.....
Saturday, February 13, 2010
The Family Life of an Overseas Professional Basketball Player, Part 1
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
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
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