Dr. Erik Peper is an internationally known expert on biofeedback (applied psychophysiology), holistic health and stress management. Since 1976 he has taught at San Francisco State University where he was instrumental in establishing the Institute for Holistic Health Studies, the first holistic health program at a public university in the United States. Dr. Peper is President of the Biofeedback Foundation of Europe and past President of the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (AAPB). He holds Senior Fellow (Biofeedback) certification from the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA) and was the behavioral scientist (sport psychologist) for the United States Rhythmic Gymnastic team in the early 1980's. Dr. Peper lectures and teaches frequently through-out the world and has a biofeedback practice at BiofeedbackHealth in Berkeley, CA.
This is part 3 of a 3 part interview with Dr. Peper discussing how the tools of bio and neurofeedback are utilized to enhance sport performance, age appropriateness, technological advancements and simple products available for consumers.
SZ: What are some simple products an athlete can purchase to practice self-regulation techniques at home?
EP: Before I list the products let me say that biofeedback is helpful for concentration training, muscle training to minimize misdirected efforts and users can also benefit from this for injury recovery. Inexpensive devices I recommend are portable devices, and those that can be used with a laptop or desk top computer. These devices show heart rate variability. When attached to a finger or ear sensor the athlete can see their heart rate going up or down. They can learn to breathe at about six breaths a minute which helps them with sympathetic/parasympathetic balance. In addition, the equipment helps the athlete learn mindfulness training, staying present without trying. Devices include, Stress Eraser, HeartMath/EmWave for Desktop, Thought Technology/GSR2, MyCalmBeat (app for I-pads/pods, droids).
SZ: You mentioned the uses for these products are helpful for centering oneself, concentration, muscle training to minimize misdirected efforts and injury recovery.
EP: Heart rate variability is useful for recovery, quickly letting go, and being centered while temperature feedback devices show that control is possible. The athlete holds an inexpensive temperature device and quickly learns that her or she can increase finger temperature by passively or actively visualizing. If the athlete breathes slowly or can imagine his hands are heavy and warm, very often the temperature will rise. If the athlete breathes quickly and hyperventilates usually the temperature will drop. Women tend to have cooler hand temperatures then men and it’s often said they have poor circulation. In fact the cooler temperature occurs because they are more thoracic breathers. When women tend to breathe diaphragmatically their hands warm up. The concept of warming is used to treat injury. Warming can also be used by athletes or musicians who need tactile dexterity in their performance. When the fingers are warm the performer has better control. Although it takes awhile to learn, with extensive practice, performers learn this as a routine. First it’s learned in a safe environment, once it’s over learned they practice in environments that resemble playing conditions, then progressively apply it in more challenging playing conditions.
SZ: You co-author a chapter in the recently published book, “Biofeedback and Neurofeedback Applications in Sport Psychology.” There is a sentence that says, “Each sport may require a different set of physiological and psychological states to be triggered in order for the individual to perform in that sport.” Can you give an example?
EP: There is a significant difference between a 100 meter race and a marathon. In the 100 meter competition the runners must have great explosiveness at the beginning of the race - how quickly they can explode out of the blocks the more successful they will be. In a marathon it makes no difference how the runners begin since there is a significant amount of time within the race to catch up. It’s a different type of race. In a marathon the runner has to focus on resource management. The runner must hold their focus for a great length of time.
There is a big difference between individual sports versus team sports. In skiing or skating although snow conditions may vary more than the ice conditions the athletes are performing independently of others and this is also true for running. Compare running, skiing, skating, golf to team sports such as baseball, soccer, football, hockey, basketball where it’s an interactive dynamic between team-mates and opponents. Some sports require continued output while some sports like golf are performed for a moment then there is a long recovery period while in soccer there is a short window of time to recover between movements.
SZ: How will 3d virtual reality simulation coupled with bio or neurofeedback impact sports training in the near future?
EP: It will be superb. Let’s use the example of baseball, 3d will allow the player to simulate seeing a type of pitch coming and practice hitting or catching the ball. It can especially be useful to increase the environmental factors so that there is no novelty. 3d can make the training situation experience quicker and more real.
SZ: And introduce more variables?
EP: Yes. Years ago Pavlov said, “novelty interferes with performance.” You will be able to train the athlete to hold their attention. If the athlete is celebrating he’s not attentive. If he’s depressed or anxious he’s not attentive. If he’s distracted by something in the playing environment he’s not attentive. The challenge for the athlete is to stay on task. 3-d can simulate all those situations which could distract the athlete.
SZ: You’ve worked in this field for a long time. Do you have any favorite quotes, stories or tips that have guided you on your professional path of expertise?
EP: I am totally persuaded that we have more potential than we often know. The limits of our mental abilities are limits of our experience. I have become more impressed with with the power of our own language. Our own language is the unconscious self-suggestions and forms the template of future performance.
SZ: Dr. Peper thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to share you knowledge and experience.
*Featured guests are not current nor former clients of Susan Zaro
This article can also be read at www.examiner.com
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
Dr. Erik Peper discusses Bio & Neurofeedback: Part 2
Dr. Erik Peper is an internationally known expert on biofeedback (applied psychophysiology),holistic health and stress management. Since 1976 he has taught at San Francisco State University where he was instrumental in establishing the Institute for Holistic Health Studies, the first holistic health program at a public university in the United States. Dr. Peper is President of the Biofeedback Foundation of Europe and past President of the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (AAPB). He holds Senior Fellow (Biofeedback) certification from the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA) and was the behavioral scientist (sport psychologist) for the United States Rhythmic Gymnastic team in the early 1980's. Dr. Peper lectures and teaches frequently through-out the world and has a biofeedback practice at
BiofeedbackHealth in Berkeley, CA.
This is part 2 of a 3 part interview with Dr. Peper discussing how the tools of bio and neurofeedback are utilized to enhance sport performance, age appropriateness, technological advancements and simple products available for consumers.
SZ: What age is bio or neurofeedback effective for young athletes to begin using as a training tool?
EP: I don’t think there is any systemized data on this. I can only speculate. Some people can work with young children and some cannot. I would say by 5 or 6 years old biofeedback techniques can be used fairly easily. You have to make it fun. I’ve worked with children 8 years old and younger. You can teach them to warm their hands by using visualization and teach them to shift their breathing. The critical part is that biofeedback equipment shows the child that they have control. That the shifts that they are making in their bodies with breathe and visualization is something that can be quantified. It is in the seeing the change that they believe and know control is possible and there is an effect.
SZ: When a child is anxious because he is distracted by worrying about outcomes engaging the child in a visualization or having them focus on their breathing interrupts their worry thought processes by redirecting their attention to an internal awareness.
SZ: An individuals brain continues to grow well into their 20’s. Does the developmental growth stage of brain development affect the usefulness of utilizing bio or neurofeedback?
EP: In youth neuroplascity is more possible. On the pragmatic side the brain is growing and changing into our mid 20’s. It means I can give biofeedback feedback of electrical patterns produced by the brain (electroencephaphy feedback/neurofeedback) which are equally behavioral patterns, thinking patterns or blood flow patterns in the brain. The learning process seems quicker when the person is young although it may relate more to just doing the practices without judgement with a playful attitude.
SZ: You are saying at a younger age it’s more effective.
EP: It’s much easier to teach a new habit than to inhibit an old one. When you think of sports athletes have done the same movement thousands and thousands of times. When you are attempting to alter the move you have to first undo it. It’s totally possible and that’s the exciting part. However, it is easier to learn a new movement than correct an over learned response. What makes athletes really easy to work with is there is less of a question of “Should I do it?” Instead, if they experience and know it is useful, they are more likely to ask, “How many times should I do it?”
SZ: To implement the change?
EP: The athlete is more willing. They understand the concept and the type of attention it takes. The underlying theme for some beginning athletes and I’ve worked with many of them, is that the one’s who struggle often are trying too hard. Part of doing well in a sport is having a certain type of trust in your skills.
Years ago I worked with a woman who had to pass a physical for her job that required a running test. She would quickly run out of breath and it affected her ability to pass this part of her test. As I observed her I could see that she was breathing very rapidly and high in her chest and people who breathe like this often hyperventilate. They may run a couple of blocks then are too out of breathe to continue. First in the lab I taught her how to breathe lower, she could do it walking but not running. After teaching her to breathe lower and slower while walking and running in place, we would go to a track and I would run behind her and remind her to breathe lower. I essentially became her biofeedback machine. After a few practices on the track she was able to transfer her awareness and breathing mastery to do it for herself. She mastered breathing more diaphragmatically without effort by attending to her breathing while running. She passed her physical.
SZ: What technological advancements in the equipment utilized in bio and neurofeedback have made instruments easier for qualified professional administrators to use with clients?
EP: The computerized systems have become very small. I can take a laptop with me to the location of the athlete. I can use a system of telemetry and see how the person behaves in real time while engaged in their sport. The systems can keep track of multiple signals at the same time and easily quantify the data. What athletes like is feedback, it quantifies what is going on and it demonstrates mastery. They want to know that they are doing better and the equipment can measure how they are doing. More recently there has been a trend to track heart rate variability. We used to think that a heart rate of 60 beats per minute was a good sign. It’s now known that a healthy heart rate should have variability. When the heart beat can go up and down by itself that is a sign of health.
SZ: Why is this a good sign?
EP: The heart should be responsive to the demands of the body. If it no longer can quickly speed up or slow down then damage may occur. Health is flexibility with the ability to respond to the demands of the body and environment as well as rapidly allowing recovery. The heart rate changes, commonly called heart rate variability, is easily demonstrated by taking a fairly large breath the heart rate would tend to speed up its natural rhythm. That is sympathetic activation. Then during the exhalation the heart rate slows down again it’s shutting down the sympathetic activation, which is called parasympathetic activation. What you want to see is a heart rate variability balance of sympathetic and parasympathetic. Heart rate variability is used to track an athletes ability to center themselves and recover/regenerate after exerting themselves within a physical performance such as scoring points, between races, etc. The key is to learn to monitor and modulate the appropriate energy level needed for a performance. For example gymnasts have to learn to modulate their energy level. They have to check in and notice if they are too tight, too anxious or too relaxed and if so bring that level down to or up to where it’s most effective to perform well. They can’t worry about falling. If they worry about a performance they are not present and usually perform worse. This type of destructive worrying can be identified during mental rehearsal of the performance when the athletes brain waves are monitored, as has been discovered by Vietta S. Wilson Ph.D. in her work with athletes. When a gymnast is connected to an EEG (electroencephalograph) during the relaxation and mental rehearsal and if there is a 18hz pattern in the recording the biofeedback/neurofeedback practitioner can interpret this as a worry spike. Other biofeedback can also be used to identify unaware muscle tension patterns.
Muscle tension is monitored and also given feedback with an EMG (electromyography). EMG’s are useful in practicing mental rehearsal as it can indicate the subtle body responses associated with imagery of a performance. For example in baseball a player can imagine taking a perfect swing at a fastball. The player will see it, and feel it yet the observer may not see any muscles twitch a tiny bit as the athlete is visualizing the movement. The EMG can record the very low level muscle tension which is invisible to just looking at the athlete. If the EMG registers movement from the players muscles then it's likely that the visualization is effective. If no EMG activity is observed in the appropriate muscles that should have been activated by the specific motor skill movement of the performance, then you would then go back and work to train the athlete to visualize more effectively.
Next: Dr. Peper shares ideas for simple biofeedback products and the impact of 3D virtual reality combined with biofeedback.
*Featured guests are not current nor former clients of Susan Zaro
This post can also be read at www.examiner.com
BiofeedbackHealth in Berkeley, CA.
This is part 2 of a 3 part interview with Dr. Peper discussing how the tools of bio and neurofeedback are utilized to enhance sport performance, age appropriateness, technological advancements and simple products available for consumers.
SZ: What age is bio or neurofeedback effective for young athletes to begin using as a training tool?
EP: I don’t think there is any systemized data on this. I can only speculate. Some people can work with young children and some cannot. I would say by 5 or 6 years old biofeedback techniques can be used fairly easily. You have to make it fun. I’ve worked with children 8 years old and younger. You can teach them to warm their hands by using visualization and teach them to shift their breathing. The critical part is that biofeedback equipment shows the child that they have control. That the shifts that they are making in their bodies with breathe and visualization is something that can be quantified. It is in the seeing the change that they believe and know control is possible and there is an effect.
SZ: When a child is anxious because he is distracted by worrying about outcomes engaging the child in a visualization or having them focus on their breathing interrupts their worry thought processes by redirecting their attention to an internal awareness.
SZ: An individuals brain continues to grow well into their 20’s. Does the developmental growth stage of brain development affect the usefulness of utilizing bio or neurofeedback?
EP: In youth neuroplascity is more possible. On the pragmatic side the brain is growing and changing into our mid 20’s. It means I can give biofeedback feedback of electrical patterns produced by the brain (electroencephaphy feedback/neurofeedback) which are equally behavioral patterns, thinking patterns or blood flow patterns in the brain. The learning process seems quicker when the person is young although it may relate more to just doing the practices without judgement with a playful attitude.
SZ: You are saying at a younger age it’s more effective.
EP: It’s much easier to teach a new habit than to inhibit an old one. When you think of sports athletes have done the same movement thousands and thousands of times. When you are attempting to alter the move you have to first undo it. It’s totally possible and that’s the exciting part. However, it is easier to learn a new movement than correct an over learned response. What makes athletes really easy to work with is there is less of a question of “Should I do it?” Instead, if they experience and know it is useful, they are more likely to ask, “How many times should I do it?”
SZ: To implement the change?
EP: The athlete is more willing. They understand the concept and the type of attention it takes. The underlying theme for some beginning athletes and I’ve worked with many of them, is that the one’s who struggle often are trying too hard. Part of doing well in a sport is having a certain type of trust in your skills.
Years ago I worked with a woman who had to pass a physical for her job that required a running test. She would quickly run out of breath and it affected her ability to pass this part of her test. As I observed her I could see that she was breathing very rapidly and high in her chest and people who breathe like this often hyperventilate. They may run a couple of blocks then are too out of breathe to continue. First in the lab I taught her how to breathe lower, she could do it walking but not running. After teaching her to breathe lower and slower while walking and running in place, we would go to a track and I would run behind her and remind her to breathe lower. I essentially became her biofeedback machine. After a few practices on the track she was able to transfer her awareness and breathing mastery to do it for herself. She mastered breathing more diaphragmatically without effort by attending to her breathing while running. She passed her physical.
SZ: What technological advancements in the equipment utilized in bio and neurofeedback have made instruments easier for qualified professional administrators to use with clients?
EP: The computerized systems have become very small. I can take a laptop with me to the location of the athlete. I can use a system of telemetry and see how the person behaves in real time while engaged in their sport. The systems can keep track of multiple signals at the same time and easily quantify the data. What athletes like is feedback, it quantifies what is going on and it demonstrates mastery. They want to know that they are doing better and the equipment can measure how they are doing. More recently there has been a trend to track heart rate variability. We used to think that a heart rate of 60 beats per minute was a good sign. It’s now known that a healthy heart rate should have variability. When the heart beat can go up and down by itself that is a sign of health.
SZ: Why is this a good sign?
EP: The heart should be responsive to the demands of the body. If it no longer can quickly speed up or slow down then damage may occur. Health is flexibility with the ability to respond to the demands of the body and environment as well as rapidly allowing recovery. The heart rate changes, commonly called heart rate variability, is easily demonstrated by taking a fairly large breath the heart rate would tend to speed up its natural rhythm. That is sympathetic activation. Then during the exhalation the heart rate slows down again it’s shutting down the sympathetic activation, which is called parasympathetic activation. What you want to see is a heart rate variability balance of sympathetic and parasympathetic. Heart rate variability is used to track an athletes ability to center themselves and recover/regenerate after exerting themselves within a physical performance such as scoring points, between races, etc. The key is to learn to monitor and modulate the appropriate energy level needed for a performance. For example gymnasts have to learn to modulate their energy level. They have to check in and notice if they are too tight, too anxious or too relaxed and if so bring that level down to or up to where it’s most effective to perform well. They can’t worry about falling. If they worry about a performance they are not present and usually perform worse. This type of destructive worrying can be identified during mental rehearsal of the performance when the athletes brain waves are monitored, as has been discovered by Vietta S. Wilson Ph.D. in her work with athletes. When a gymnast is connected to an EEG (electroencephalograph) during the relaxation and mental rehearsal and if there is a 18hz pattern in the recording the biofeedback/neurofeedback practitioner can interpret this as a worry spike. Other biofeedback can also be used to identify unaware muscle tension patterns.
Muscle tension is monitored and also given feedback with an EMG (electromyography). EMG’s are useful in practicing mental rehearsal as it can indicate the subtle body responses associated with imagery of a performance. For example in baseball a player can imagine taking a perfect swing at a fastball. The player will see it, and feel it yet the observer may not see any muscles twitch a tiny bit as the athlete is visualizing the movement. The EMG can record the very low level muscle tension which is invisible to just looking at the athlete. If the EMG registers movement from the players muscles then it's likely that the visualization is effective. If no EMG activity is observed in the appropriate muscles that should have been activated by the specific motor skill movement of the performance, then you would then go back and work to train the athlete to visualize more effectively.
Next: Dr. Peper shares ideas for simple biofeedback products and the impact of 3D virtual reality combined with biofeedback.
*Featured guests are not current nor former clients of Susan Zaro
This post can also be read at www.examiner.com
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Dr. Erik Peper discusses Bio & Neurofeedback
Dr. Erik Peper is an internationally known expert on biofeedback (applied psychophysiology), holistic health and stress management. Since 1976 he has taught at San Francisco State University where he was instrumental in establishing the Institute for Holistic Health Studies, the first holistic health program at a public university in the United States. Dr. Peper is President of the Biofeedback Foundation of Europe and past President of the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (AAPB). He holds Senior Fellow (Biofeedback) certification from the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA) and was the behavioral scientist (sport psychologist) for the United States Rhythmic Gymnastic team in the early 1980's. Dr. Peper lectures and teaches frequently through-out the world and has a biofeedback practice at BiofeedbackHealth in Berkeley, CA.
This is part 1 of a 3 part interview with Dr. Peper that discusses what is bio and neurofeedback? How these tools are utilized to enhance sport performance, age appropriateness, technological advancements and simple products available for consumers.
SZ: You are an expert in the field of biofeedback and also work with neurofeedback. What events captured your interest to bring you into this field of study?
EP: There are a number of events that captured my interest. One there was an opportunity to study with some remarkable people who weren’t athletes but studied pain control. In 1971 I studied an interesting person who voluntarily put a skewer through his cheeks and through the sides of his body and reported zero pain.
SZ: You studied this?
EP: Yes, here was a person that took a skewer and we made the skewers by taking bicycle spokes, sharpened and sterilized them. The first thing he did at the lab, this was at NYU, he dropped the sterilized spokes onto the floor took his dirty shoes, which he had been walking around with outside and he sterilized the spokes in his own terms by taking his dirty shoes and rolling over these at that time sterilized spokes. Once the spokes were really messed up with all these outside germs then he began his skill demonstration.
SZ: This person took a skewer and poked it through his cheek?
EP: Through one cheek and out the other and also another one through one side of his body through the flesh and out the other side.
SZ: This person did this exhibit for the sake of doing it?
EP: He did it more for the concept you can have voluntary control. I had heard about this skill initially through the New York Academy of Sciences where the discussion was can you have voluntary control? This was the era where people did not even believe you could warm your hands with voluntary control, through the use of imagery. This idea was very much in
dispute at the time. Through the years I’ve known other people who could do this discipline. Recently, at San Francisco State, a 62 year old Japanese yogi, Mr. Kawakami with thirty seven years of experience practicing various forms of yoga demonstrated this discipline. Mr. Kawakami, pushed unsterilized skewers through his tongue. Sitting calmly with skewers in his tongue and throat, he showed no signs of discomfort; rather he radiated peace. Removal of the skewers left neither open wound nor bleeding.
SZ: Why did he choose to demonstrate this discipline?
EP: A major reason people with this type of mind control do this is often for themselves to point out they’ve learned these meditation techniques, and feel they need to prove it to themselves. and second reason yogi Kawakami wanted to do this was to demonstrate to his students that the limits of their beliefs are the limits of their experience. If you have other beliefs you may have other outcomes. (Yogi Kawakami is founder and chief executive director of own school of yoga and the Institute for Research of Subconscious Psychology in Fukuoka and Tokyo, Japan).
SZ: These people have conditioned themselves for this particular exercise.
EP: They have learned how to control their attention. Any good sports performance is where you are able in most cases to control your attention and not have negative thoughts or distracting thoughts. Historically athletes went to a sport psychologist when they were performing poorly. That is still often the case, but the field has shifted to how can you use these concepts of Sport Psychology to optimize performance? A slightly different way of thinking. When you look at the word “motor rehearsal” that’s the use of imagery and if you talk with top athletes as a rule they generically say, “when I am in competition, it’s 95% mental control.” If athletes are standing in a line with their competitors in most cases at the top level of sport all the athletes can win. In most competitive sports there isn’t that much unique difference and so the key is how is the athlete thinking? If you think of psyching out in sports where the athlete could basically win but somehow gives up. We came up with a series of strategies to try and shift that.
When I think of peak performance one skill for athletes is mental rehearsal, how can you show athletes how to use their brains in a sense to improve their performance, and how can you teach them to recover quickly during and after performances? I learned this in a sense not from sports initially but around 1971 I worked with a well known Opera singer who was singing at the Met. After a performance the performer would be excited which is normal. The performer would go out for a late dinner around 11pm and having another performance the next day there wasn’t enough recovery time. The question became how do you recover more quickly? This is a theme in sports regardless of where you are, what happens, whether you win or lose, you need to be able to shift back.
One of the uses of bio and neurofeedback are for recovery and regeneration both on the cognitive side, letting go of whatever happened and the physical side getting your body to recover. It involves learning to let go of muscle tension and breathing slower.
SZ: The terms biofeedback and neurofeedback can seem a bit mysterious for some people. Please define the terms in simple form.
EP: Let me start by saying feedback is just immediate information usually about what is going on. When someone plays basketball and they take the ball and are trying to shoot it through the hoop. They receive immediate visual feedback. If they miss the target they keep adjusting, by throwing higher, lower, sideways etc. They may get coached by people who have other hints and eventually they get it right and make it in the hoop. They keep doing this until they become better at the skill. That is what feedback is.
Biofeedback is monitoring what happens in the body and displays it back on a device. The person then can either use that information or not. A classic example of biofeedback is if a person goes to a doctor and they take his blood pressure and the machine reads back that the person has high blood pressure. If the doctor just writes down “high blood pressure” then it’s just information for the doctor. If the doctor on the other hand tells the person to sit quietly and take a couple breaths. Now the blood pressure is taken again and the persons blood pressure drops. The person can see that they did something that affects the blood pressure. Biofeedback is really ongoing measurements of some process in the body where the person can see changes, or that there aren’t changes. Hopefully as in this example with information the person can try new things to affect their blood pressure. Different biofeedback systems can monitor, heart rate, muscle tension, brain wave activity.
Example: In class I have my students perform an exercise where they are instructed to relax, let their arms hang and bend forward to touch their toes. I ask them if they are relaxed and most students say “yes.” But if you are observing them from the side you will notice many students are slightly lifting their heads. They don’t notice they are doing this. We then place electrodes on their necks while they are standing. There will be a little bit of tension on their neck because the neck muscles have to hold their head’s up. I have them hang forward and touch their toes again, the muscle tension in their neck should be close to zero, little muscle activity, however ten out of eleven health students will register significant muscle tension in their neck when they are saying they are relaxed. All we do now is add an auditory sound which is the biofeedback and I tell the students when they are doing the exercise that if they are relaxed there will be no auditory sound when they are bending forward. What typically occurs is that the student will life their head many times and each time they will trigger the auditory tone which gives them information that they are tensing their neck muscles. But the average student can learn to shift and do this correctly with about five minute of practice, even without prior training.
Often people are unaware of tension patterns in their body and that makes sense because they are interacting in the world. They are not focusing on what is happening within their bodies.
SZ: They have an external focus.
EP: Correct. What biofeedback does is make the unaware aware. The undocumented documented. One of the early pieces we observed in biofeedback is that people are highly unaware of what they are doing. They aren’t aware they are shifting position or shaking. They don’t observe their internal language where they may be using lots of buts, and negatives.
SZ: How is neurofeedback different?
EP: Neurofeedback is a subset or specialization in the field of feedback where you only record from different areas of the skull. Historically there wasn’t a separation between the two practices. A practitioner would do muscle feedback, heart rate feedback, temperature feedback and brain feedback. In 1995 the field separated. The neurofeedback scientists record with different electrodes on the head and look at these patterns. From my perspective the two, bio and neurofeedback are not really apart. Neurofeedback is a specialization. However the brain and body are one. Changes in the body affect your brain. Changes in your brain affect your body.
*Featured guests are not current nor former clients of Susan Zaro
This article can also be read on www.examiner.com
This is part 1 of a 3 part interview with Dr. Peper that discusses what is bio and neurofeedback? How these tools are utilized to enhance sport performance, age appropriateness, technological advancements and simple products available for consumers.
SZ: You are an expert in the field of biofeedback and also work with neurofeedback. What events captured your interest to bring you into this field of study?
EP: There are a number of events that captured my interest. One there was an opportunity to study with some remarkable people who weren’t athletes but studied pain control. In 1971 I studied an interesting person who voluntarily put a skewer through his cheeks and through the sides of his body and reported zero pain.
SZ: You studied this?
EP: Yes, here was a person that took a skewer and we made the skewers by taking bicycle spokes, sharpened and sterilized them. The first thing he did at the lab, this was at NYU, he dropped the sterilized spokes onto the floor took his dirty shoes, which he had been walking around with outside and he sterilized the spokes in his own terms by taking his dirty shoes and rolling over these at that time sterilized spokes. Once the spokes were really messed up with all these outside germs then he began his skill demonstration.
SZ: This person took a skewer and poked it through his cheek?
EP: Through one cheek and out the other and also another one through one side of his body through the flesh and out the other side.
SZ: This person did this exhibit for the sake of doing it?
EP: He did it more for the concept you can have voluntary control. I had heard about this skill initially through the New York Academy of Sciences where the discussion was can you have voluntary control? This was the era where people did not even believe you could warm your hands with voluntary control, through the use of imagery. This idea was very much in
dispute at the time. Through the years I’ve known other people who could do this discipline. Recently, at San Francisco State, a 62 year old Japanese yogi, Mr. Kawakami with thirty seven years of experience practicing various forms of yoga demonstrated this discipline. Mr. Kawakami, pushed unsterilized skewers through his tongue. Sitting calmly with skewers in his tongue and throat, he showed no signs of discomfort; rather he radiated peace. Removal of the skewers left neither open wound nor bleeding.
SZ: Why did he choose to demonstrate this discipline?
EP: A major reason people with this type of mind control do this is often for themselves to point out they’ve learned these meditation techniques, and feel they need to prove it to themselves. and second reason yogi Kawakami wanted to do this was to demonstrate to his students that the limits of their beliefs are the limits of their experience. If you have other beliefs you may have other outcomes. (Yogi Kawakami is founder and chief executive director of own school of yoga and the Institute for Research of Subconscious Psychology in Fukuoka and Tokyo, Japan).
SZ: These people have conditioned themselves for this particular exercise.
EP: They have learned how to control their attention. Any good sports performance is where you are able in most cases to control your attention and not have negative thoughts or distracting thoughts. Historically athletes went to a sport psychologist when they were performing poorly. That is still often the case, but the field has shifted to how can you use these concepts of Sport Psychology to optimize performance? A slightly different way of thinking. When you look at the word “motor rehearsal” that’s the use of imagery and if you talk with top athletes as a rule they generically say, “when I am in competition, it’s 95% mental control.” If athletes are standing in a line with their competitors in most cases at the top level of sport all the athletes can win. In most competitive sports there isn’t that much unique difference and so the key is how is the athlete thinking? If you think of psyching out in sports where the athlete could basically win but somehow gives up. We came up with a series of strategies to try and shift that.
When I think of peak performance one skill for athletes is mental rehearsal, how can you show athletes how to use their brains in a sense to improve their performance, and how can you teach them to recover quickly during and after performances? I learned this in a sense not from sports initially but around 1971 I worked with a well known Opera singer who was singing at the Met. After a performance the performer would be excited which is normal. The performer would go out for a late dinner around 11pm and having another performance the next day there wasn’t enough recovery time. The question became how do you recover more quickly? This is a theme in sports regardless of where you are, what happens, whether you win or lose, you need to be able to shift back.
One of the uses of bio and neurofeedback are for recovery and regeneration both on the cognitive side, letting go of whatever happened and the physical side getting your body to recover. It involves learning to let go of muscle tension and breathing slower.
SZ: The terms biofeedback and neurofeedback can seem a bit mysterious for some people. Please define the terms in simple form.
EP: Let me start by saying feedback is just immediate information usually about what is going on. When someone plays basketball and they take the ball and are trying to shoot it through the hoop. They receive immediate visual feedback. If they miss the target they keep adjusting, by throwing higher, lower, sideways etc. They may get coached by people who have other hints and eventually they get it right and make it in the hoop. They keep doing this until they become better at the skill. That is what feedback is.
Biofeedback is monitoring what happens in the body and displays it back on a device. The person then can either use that information or not. A classic example of biofeedback is if a person goes to a doctor and they take his blood pressure and the machine reads back that the person has high blood pressure. If the doctor just writes down “high blood pressure” then it’s just information for the doctor. If the doctor on the other hand tells the person to sit quietly and take a couple breaths. Now the blood pressure is taken again and the persons blood pressure drops. The person can see that they did something that affects the blood pressure. Biofeedback is really ongoing measurements of some process in the body where the person can see changes, or that there aren’t changes. Hopefully as in this example with information the person can try new things to affect their blood pressure. Different biofeedback systems can monitor, heart rate, muscle tension, brain wave activity.
Example: In class I have my students perform an exercise where they are instructed to relax, let their arms hang and bend forward to touch their toes. I ask them if they are relaxed and most students say “yes.” But if you are observing them from the side you will notice many students are slightly lifting their heads. They don’t notice they are doing this. We then place electrodes on their necks while they are standing. There will be a little bit of tension on their neck because the neck muscles have to hold their head’s up. I have them hang forward and touch their toes again, the muscle tension in their neck should be close to zero, little muscle activity, however ten out of eleven health students will register significant muscle tension in their neck when they are saying they are relaxed. All we do now is add an auditory sound which is the biofeedback and I tell the students when they are doing the exercise that if they are relaxed there will be no auditory sound when they are bending forward. What typically occurs is that the student will life their head many times and each time they will trigger the auditory tone which gives them information that they are tensing their neck muscles. But the average student can learn to shift and do this correctly with about five minute of practice, even without prior training.
Often people are unaware of tension patterns in their body and that makes sense because they are interacting in the world. They are not focusing on what is happening within their bodies.
SZ: They have an external focus.
EP: Correct. What biofeedback does is make the unaware aware. The undocumented documented. One of the early pieces we observed in biofeedback is that people are highly unaware of what they are doing. They aren’t aware they are shifting position or shaking. They don’t observe their internal language where they may be using lots of buts, and negatives.
SZ: How is neurofeedback different?
EP: Neurofeedback is a subset or specialization in the field of feedback where you only record from different areas of the skull. Historically there wasn’t a separation between the two practices. A practitioner would do muscle feedback, heart rate feedback, temperature feedback and brain feedback. In 1995 the field separated. The neurofeedback scientists record with different electrodes on the head and look at these patterns. From my perspective the two, bio and neurofeedback are not really apart. Neurofeedback is a specialization. However the brain and body are one. Changes in the body affect your brain. Changes in your brain affect your body.
*Featured guests are not current nor former clients of Susan Zaro
This article can also be read on www.examiner.com
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Kimberly Jones - Athletic Training Programs
Kimberly’s experience with sports performance training include Division I Universities, (UCLA, Cal State Northridge), high school varsity sports, and the U.S. Tennis Association. She designs fitness programs for weekend warriors, artists in the entertainment industry, Functional Adult Training Camps, (F.A.T.), onsite team sports performance training, and partners with Bright Horizons providing fundamental skills programs to kindergarten classes at child development centers in Los Angeles.
SZ: What sports did you play/compete in while growing up? Describe the fitness programs attached to your youth participation when you were actively competing. What made training in your junior days fun?
KJ: I played basketball, ran track, and was on a competing dance team. Outside of conditioning, rarely was any kind of fitness/strength program implemented. My track coach implemented strength training during our workouts. Because we practiced on a college track, and there was a weight room on campus. Based on what I know now, it was not periodized through training cycles, and it was mainly open chain, machine based exercises. Fortunately,I grew up with three older brothers, and we had a leg extension and weight bench in our garage. Since I had some prior experience with weights I definitely enjoyed lifting for track. Overall it was a fun experience and I respected the fact that our coach was trying to get the team stronger.
SZ: What are some influences that helped you decide to become a strength and conditioning specialist? Were there certain events that pulled you in the direction of becoming a strength and conditioning coach?
KJ: Ultimately, it was my attendance at Cal Berkeley’s Basketball Coaching Clinic in 2004 that sealed the deal. At the time I was a Health/PE teacher and Head Varsity Basketball Coach at my alma mater, Notre Dame Academy. While at the coaches clinic I saw the strength and conditioning coach taking the women’s basketball team through some agility and plyometric drills. To be honest, at that time I had no idea it was even a profession. I knew there were personal trainers, and I was certified as one at the time. However, I was not aware of strength and conditioning as a professional field. After the clinic I did realize it greatly enhanced performance in athletes. Within the next year I became certified as a CSCS and began implementing pre-season training with my basketball team. I also trained varsity women’s volleyball as well.
SZ: Have there been trainer/mentors in your professional field that have influenced your training methods? How have you broadened these influences to form your unique program offerings.
KJ: I have had the opportunity to work and train under remarkably talented strength coaches. While I interned with UCLA Football in their Athletic Performance program I learned a great deal from their talented staff. Jill Robinson taught me how to perform Olympic Lifts. John Farr, who trained women’s tennis, helped them achieve their first NCAA Championship in the school’s history. He imparted a great deal of knowledge about periodization, and the types of exercises and metabolic conditioning methods he preferred to use with men’s and women’s tennis. Daniel Kohn was the head strength coach at California State University, Northridge. We were the only members of the strength staff, so I was able to pick his brain about exercise selection, periodization, and relative intensity. I cannot say that I had one single mentor. There have been a number of people who have influenced me throughout the years. I am a lifelong learner, so I take in helpful information whenever possible.
SZ: Prior to beginning your company Jones Strength, you were a strength and fitness specialist at the U.S.T.A. Training Center - West located at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA. What was the age range of junior players you trained? How many times a week are elite level junior tennis players physically training off-court to improve their power, speed, strength, and endurance levels?
KJ: The age range of Junior players was 9 – 17. The USTA juniors trained four days a week. Twice a week they did on court agility followed by conditioning, which targeted the phosphagen and fast glycolysis energy systems. The other two days they did strength training in the weight room followed by speed endurance or aerobic based conditioning. Sessions usually began with pre-hab exercises to target shoulder and hip mobility. Shoulder pre-hab entailed scapular activation, some variation of resisted external and internal exercises, and/or high volume upper body pulls with resistance bands. Hip mobility either entailed closed chain exercises such as hurdle step overs and mini-band lateral and linear walks, or open chain exercises like glute bridges, clam shells, scorpions or fire hydrants.
SZ: What are some of the main physical stress differences between junior boys and girls that trainers need to be cautious of to avoid training injuries with this age group?
KJ: Different muscles become more prominent in boys and girls after they hit puberty. Girls tend to become more quad dominant, and guys develop stronger upper bodies and more hamstring and glute strength. Common feedback is knee pain in girls, and shoulder pain for both guys and girls. Boys are developing stronger upper bodies, so they tend to muscle the ball to generate force instead of loading the hips properly. Girls do this as well as they mature. Girls are also lacking strength in the muscles in the posterior chain that stabilize the knee. Their quad dominance does not allow them to generate power by loading the glutes and hamstrings efficiently.
When trainers program double and single leg lower body pushes (squats, lunges, step ups, Bulgarian squats etc.), it is vital that they watch for a lack of knee stabilization, in both pre and post pubescent athletes. Valgus, or the collapsing of the knee towards the body’s mid line, is an obvious sign. If knee stabilization is lacking, trainers should focus on programming more pre-hab exercises that will strengthen the athletes’ glutes, hamstring, and core muscles surrounding the trunk (transverse abdominals, erector spinae, obliques etc.) Trainers must also teach both guys and girls how to generate force through their legs. That power will transfer into the ball, which hopefully will limit overuse injuries in the muscles and tendons in the shoulders, elbow, and/or forearms.
In general, tennis players tend to have strong lats, but significant weakness in the scapular region. Strengthening muscles in the mid-traps and rhomboids should be imperative in every trainer’s program. Improvements in scapular stabilization will definitely benefit any tennis player, as it will correct the forward rounding of the shoulders and slight kyphosis in the upper back. Trainers must also ensure that they program an equal ratio of upper body push and pulling movements. Otherwise, they run the risk of neglecting areas in their trainings that can help keep tennis players shoulders healthy.
SZ: How are exercises/work-outs conducted to avoid soft-tissue and bone/joint development injuries?
KJ: Overuse injuries are common in sports. Athletes must listen to their bodies. Fatigue and pain should be warning signs signaling athletes to rest their bodies. With that being said, there is a high incidence of injury during the deceleration phase of movement. Muscle imbalances and muscle weaknesses can negatively impact athletes as they change directions, land from explosive types of movements, or follow through with their rackets on forehand shots and serves. Therefore, acute injuries must be addressed properly. Athletes need proper recovery time so any inflammation, strains or sprains have time to heal efficiently. Returning to sports prematurely can possibly worsen the condition. Once the injury has been diagnosed by an Athletic Trainer or Sports Physician, athletes must be diligent about performing rehabilitative exercises. If the athletic trainer or sports physician has given me the green light, I usually have athletes continue strength training with all of the healthy limbs. This way they do not lose a significant amount of strength during this recovery period.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS6NpjMWhsU
Implementing a proper warm up is important as well. Athletes should perform an active dynamic warm up prior to practice sessions or matches. This will increase the core temperature of the body, and raise the heart rate, which increases blood flow and oxygen to the muscles. Dynamic warm ups also increase flexibility in the muscles and allow the joints to move through ranges of motion that are similar to movements on the court.
Trainers must also be aware of joint pain during growth spurts, and Osgood Schlatters. I train a freshman male tennis player with this condition, and we never squat during our strength training sessions. Instead, we deadlift and occasionally I will program lunging type movements if his pain is not substantial that week. This also means I cannot program many lower body plyometric exercises, since jumping and flexing the knee prove to be too painful. Instead we perform variations of an Olympic Lift called Clean Pulls. The goal is to recruit as many muscles as possible in the least amount of time. We get the same force production through this exercise as we would with plyos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9HYJHolObk
SZ: What are some exercises you find to be useful and fun for the juniors in off court training to increase, reaction time, speed, agility, flexibility, balance, without using weights?
http://youtu.be/XgZXQB4pDBU
KJ: I have found that fun on court agility exercises such as ball drops, competitive relays, and reactive type drills keep kids excited and engaged. Closed drills require an athlete to perform a specific pattern of agility. Open drills are less predictable and they force athletes to think, react, and execute specific movements as fast as possible. At the USTA I would form teams and have players compete for points. I also have the kids help me judge the execution of certain drills so that they can see what it looks like to do drills the right way and the wrong way. They enjoy this because it teaches them to be efficient with their movements.
For instance there is an agility drill called Side Shuffle. One athlete is straddling the center service line on each side of the court facing each other. When I yell go, the athlete side shuffles to the doubles line, crosses over and shuffles back to the other doubles line, and finishes with a crossover and side shuffle back to the center service line. Sometimes athletes side run during this drill. This means their bodies are not square to the net, so the toes are turning out, and the hips are turned diagonally in the direction they are moving. The minute an athlete sees the opposing team side running they alert me and, they can no longer win a point for that rep.
SZ: Competitive junior tennis players spend a lot of time on the tennis court drilling, playing, and practicing. The routine of court to gym can become quite tedious physically and mentally. What are your methods for creating a fun, entertaining, stimulating environment for juniors so they will continue to participate?
http://youtu.be/DZpP12VSx6E
KJ: Using a variety of drills keeps athletes engaged. Monotony will definitely bore the players. I change drills about every two weeks. I program similar drills for the first two weeks of the month, so players can familiarize themselves and work on improvements. Then I switch the exercises for the next two weeks. I also allow players to give input for drills, particularly for agility sessions. Sometimes I will incorporate a different element to a drill of which they are already familiar. For instance, for ball drops, one of my players said he had been working on “touch” with his coach. He asked if he could incorporate hitting the ball with his racket, instead of sprinting to catch the ball before it bounced twice. I enjoyed the new element and welcome that find of feedback. Though not all parts of training are democratic, I think it is great for players to communicate with me about enhancing the specificity of agility drills. Players really enjoy the Mirror Drill as well. They have to react to the person across from them and sprint/shuffle/back pedal to the same cone their competitor sprints to. Usually players go head to head with this drill, but players can also react to a coach as well.
SZ: What psychological role does periodization play in the athletic training experience?
KJ: As players go through different cycles of a periodized program they begin to feel the effects of the training. As their strength grows they experience physical and psychological rewards both on and off the court. Athletes get excited when they move up in weight on exercises because it is a testament to their strength gains. They also notice enhancements in their performance on the court as well. They can hit heavier balls, change directions faster and react to shots quicker than they did before. These are all added incentive to stay consistent in the weight room. Players also become more confident in their ability to compete against strong competitors. As they get stronger and begin to move better on the court they feel they have a better shot at beating opponents who are bigger and stronger. This is why it is important that the strength coach is knowledgeable about the different training cycles (max strength, hypertrophy, power, maintenance), so that it doesn’t negatively effect a players game. There have to be unloaded weeks, so athletes don’t over train and the volume has to be appropriate for the training intensities. If players feel for a second that weight training is making them slower, less flexible, or too tired for their matches, they question the program. Therefore, having athletes buy in is heavily dependent on how well the training is transferring onto the court.
SZ: Do you have any favorite quotes, stories, or tips that have guided you on your path as a professional trainer?
KJ: The biggest lesson I have learned is that you have to be very observant during training. No matter what is programmed for that day, if an athlete is becoming sick, is tired, or burned out, it is up to the strength and conditioning coach to adjust the workout accordingly. Some of the ways to do this include: lowering the volume, decreasing the load/weight, utilizing dumbbells instead of a barbell, decreasing the number of exercises, or even having a recovery day, with foam rolling and/or ice baths instead of a regular workout. Sometimes athletes also have tough practices with their coaches, or days with very long match play. Sometimes they have been studying for tests, or have had a lot of homework and have not been getting much sleep. If trainers are observant of players body language, they can modify workouts, and spare players from placing any extra stress on their bodies.
Kimberly thank you for taking time to share your insights regarding athletic training. This post can also be viewed as published on www.Examiner.com
*Featured guests are not current nor former clients of Susan Zaro
SZ: What sports did you play/compete in while growing up? Describe the fitness programs attached to your youth participation when you were actively competing. What made training in your junior days fun?
KJ: I played basketball, ran track, and was on a competing dance team. Outside of conditioning, rarely was any kind of fitness/strength program implemented. My track coach implemented strength training during our workouts. Because we practiced on a college track, and there was a weight room on campus. Based on what I know now, it was not periodized through training cycles, and it was mainly open chain, machine based exercises. Fortunately,I grew up with three older brothers, and we had a leg extension and weight bench in our garage. Since I had some prior experience with weights I definitely enjoyed lifting for track. Overall it was a fun experience and I respected the fact that our coach was trying to get the team stronger.
SZ: What are some influences that helped you decide to become a strength and conditioning specialist? Were there certain events that pulled you in the direction of becoming a strength and conditioning coach?
KJ: Ultimately, it was my attendance at Cal Berkeley’s Basketball Coaching Clinic in 2004 that sealed the deal. At the time I was a Health/PE teacher and Head Varsity Basketball Coach at my alma mater, Notre Dame Academy. While at the coaches clinic I saw the strength and conditioning coach taking the women’s basketball team through some agility and plyometric drills. To be honest, at that time I had no idea it was even a profession. I knew there were personal trainers, and I was certified as one at the time. However, I was not aware of strength and conditioning as a professional field. After the clinic I did realize it greatly enhanced performance in athletes. Within the next year I became certified as a CSCS and began implementing pre-season training with my basketball team. I also trained varsity women’s volleyball as well.
SZ: Have there been trainer/mentors in your professional field that have influenced your training methods? How have you broadened these influences to form your unique program offerings.
KJ: I have had the opportunity to work and train under remarkably talented strength coaches. While I interned with UCLA Football in their Athletic Performance program I learned a great deal from their talented staff. Jill Robinson taught me how to perform Olympic Lifts. John Farr, who trained women’s tennis, helped them achieve their first NCAA Championship in the school’s history. He imparted a great deal of knowledge about periodization, and the types of exercises and metabolic conditioning methods he preferred to use with men’s and women’s tennis. Daniel Kohn was the head strength coach at California State University, Northridge. We were the only members of the strength staff, so I was able to pick his brain about exercise selection, periodization, and relative intensity. I cannot say that I had one single mentor. There have been a number of people who have influenced me throughout the years. I am a lifelong learner, so I take in helpful information whenever possible.
SZ: Prior to beginning your company Jones Strength, you were a strength and fitness specialist at the U.S.T.A. Training Center - West located at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA. What was the age range of junior players you trained? How many times a week are elite level junior tennis players physically training off-court to improve their power, speed, strength, and endurance levels?
KJ: The age range of Junior players was 9 – 17. The USTA juniors trained four days a week. Twice a week they did on court agility followed by conditioning, which targeted the phosphagen and fast glycolysis energy systems. The other two days they did strength training in the weight room followed by speed endurance or aerobic based conditioning. Sessions usually began with pre-hab exercises to target shoulder and hip mobility. Shoulder pre-hab entailed scapular activation, some variation of resisted external and internal exercises, and/or high volume upper body pulls with resistance bands. Hip mobility either entailed closed chain exercises such as hurdle step overs and mini-band lateral and linear walks, or open chain exercises like glute bridges, clam shells, scorpions or fire hydrants.
SZ: What are some of the main physical stress differences between junior boys and girls that trainers need to be cautious of to avoid training injuries with this age group?
KJ: Different muscles become more prominent in boys and girls after they hit puberty. Girls tend to become more quad dominant, and guys develop stronger upper bodies and more hamstring and glute strength. Common feedback is knee pain in girls, and shoulder pain for both guys and girls. Boys are developing stronger upper bodies, so they tend to muscle the ball to generate force instead of loading the hips properly. Girls do this as well as they mature. Girls are also lacking strength in the muscles in the posterior chain that stabilize the knee. Their quad dominance does not allow them to generate power by loading the glutes and hamstrings efficiently.
When trainers program double and single leg lower body pushes (squats, lunges, step ups, Bulgarian squats etc.), it is vital that they watch for a lack of knee stabilization, in both pre and post pubescent athletes. Valgus, or the collapsing of the knee towards the body’s mid line, is an obvious sign. If knee stabilization is lacking, trainers should focus on programming more pre-hab exercises that will strengthen the athletes’ glutes, hamstring, and core muscles surrounding the trunk (transverse abdominals, erector spinae, obliques etc.) Trainers must also teach both guys and girls how to generate force through their legs. That power will transfer into the ball, which hopefully will limit overuse injuries in the muscles and tendons in the shoulders, elbow, and/or forearms.
In general, tennis players tend to have strong lats, but significant weakness in the scapular region. Strengthening muscles in the mid-traps and rhomboids should be imperative in every trainer’s program. Improvements in scapular stabilization will definitely benefit any tennis player, as it will correct the forward rounding of the shoulders and slight kyphosis in the upper back. Trainers must also ensure that they program an equal ratio of upper body push and pulling movements. Otherwise, they run the risk of neglecting areas in their trainings that can help keep tennis players shoulders healthy.
SZ: How are exercises/work-outs conducted to avoid soft-tissue and bone/joint development injuries?
KJ: Overuse injuries are common in sports. Athletes must listen to their bodies. Fatigue and pain should be warning signs signaling athletes to rest their bodies. With that being said, there is a high incidence of injury during the deceleration phase of movement. Muscle imbalances and muscle weaknesses can negatively impact athletes as they change directions, land from explosive types of movements, or follow through with their rackets on forehand shots and serves. Therefore, acute injuries must be addressed properly. Athletes need proper recovery time so any inflammation, strains or sprains have time to heal efficiently. Returning to sports prematurely can possibly worsen the condition. Once the injury has been diagnosed by an Athletic Trainer or Sports Physician, athletes must be diligent about performing rehabilitative exercises. If the athletic trainer or sports physician has given me the green light, I usually have athletes continue strength training with all of the healthy limbs. This way they do not lose a significant amount of strength during this recovery period.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS6NpjMWhsU
Implementing a proper warm up is important as well. Athletes should perform an active dynamic warm up prior to practice sessions or matches. This will increase the core temperature of the body, and raise the heart rate, which increases blood flow and oxygen to the muscles. Dynamic warm ups also increase flexibility in the muscles and allow the joints to move through ranges of motion that are similar to movements on the court.
Trainers must also be aware of joint pain during growth spurts, and Osgood Schlatters. I train a freshman male tennis player with this condition, and we never squat during our strength training sessions. Instead, we deadlift and occasionally I will program lunging type movements if his pain is not substantial that week. This also means I cannot program many lower body plyometric exercises, since jumping and flexing the knee prove to be too painful. Instead we perform variations of an Olympic Lift called Clean Pulls. The goal is to recruit as many muscles as possible in the least amount of time. We get the same force production through this exercise as we would with plyos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9HYJHolObk
SZ: What are some exercises you find to be useful and fun for the juniors in off court training to increase, reaction time, speed, agility, flexibility, balance, without using weights?
http://youtu.be/XgZXQB4pDBU
KJ: I have found that fun on court agility exercises such as ball drops, competitive relays, and reactive type drills keep kids excited and engaged. Closed drills require an athlete to perform a specific pattern of agility. Open drills are less predictable and they force athletes to think, react, and execute specific movements as fast as possible. At the USTA I would form teams and have players compete for points. I also have the kids help me judge the execution of certain drills so that they can see what it looks like to do drills the right way and the wrong way. They enjoy this because it teaches them to be efficient with their movements.
For instance there is an agility drill called Side Shuffle. One athlete is straddling the center service line on each side of the court facing each other. When I yell go, the athlete side shuffles to the doubles line, crosses over and shuffles back to the other doubles line, and finishes with a crossover and side shuffle back to the center service line. Sometimes athletes side run during this drill. This means their bodies are not square to the net, so the toes are turning out, and the hips are turned diagonally in the direction they are moving. The minute an athlete sees the opposing team side running they alert me and, they can no longer win a point for that rep.
SZ: Competitive junior tennis players spend a lot of time on the tennis court drilling, playing, and practicing. The routine of court to gym can become quite tedious physically and mentally. What are your methods for creating a fun, entertaining, stimulating environment for juniors so they will continue to participate?
http://youtu.be/DZpP12VSx6E
KJ: Using a variety of drills keeps athletes engaged. Monotony will definitely bore the players. I change drills about every two weeks. I program similar drills for the first two weeks of the month, so players can familiarize themselves and work on improvements. Then I switch the exercises for the next two weeks. I also allow players to give input for drills, particularly for agility sessions. Sometimes I will incorporate a different element to a drill of which they are already familiar. For instance, for ball drops, one of my players said he had been working on “touch” with his coach. He asked if he could incorporate hitting the ball with his racket, instead of sprinting to catch the ball before it bounced twice. I enjoyed the new element and welcome that find of feedback. Though not all parts of training are democratic, I think it is great for players to communicate with me about enhancing the specificity of agility drills. Players really enjoy the Mirror Drill as well. They have to react to the person across from them and sprint/shuffle/back pedal to the same cone their competitor sprints to. Usually players go head to head with this drill, but players can also react to a coach as well.
SZ: What psychological role does periodization play in the athletic training experience?
KJ: As players go through different cycles of a periodized program they begin to feel the effects of the training. As their strength grows they experience physical and psychological rewards both on and off the court. Athletes get excited when they move up in weight on exercises because it is a testament to their strength gains. They also notice enhancements in their performance on the court as well. They can hit heavier balls, change directions faster and react to shots quicker than they did before. These are all added incentive to stay consistent in the weight room. Players also become more confident in their ability to compete against strong competitors. As they get stronger and begin to move better on the court they feel they have a better shot at beating opponents who are bigger and stronger. This is why it is important that the strength coach is knowledgeable about the different training cycles (max strength, hypertrophy, power, maintenance), so that it doesn’t negatively effect a players game. There have to be unloaded weeks, so athletes don’t over train and the volume has to be appropriate for the training intensities. If players feel for a second that weight training is making them slower, less flexible, or too tired for their matches, they question the program. Therefore, having athletes buy in is heavily dependent on how well the training is transferring onto the court.
SZ: Do you have any favorite quotes, stories, or tips that have guided you on your path as a professional trainer?
KJ: The biggest lesson I have learned is that you have to be very observant during training. No matter what is programmed for that day, if an athlete is becoming sick, is tired, or burned out, it is up to the strength and conditioning coach to adjust the workout accordingly. Some of the ways to do this include: lowering the volume, decreasing the load/weight, utilizing dumbbells instead of a barbell, decreasing the number of exercises, or even having a recovery day, with foam rolling and/or ice baths instead of a regular workout. Sometimes athletes also have tough practices with their coaches, or days with very long match play. Sometimes they have been studying for tests, or have had a lot of homework and have not been getting much sleep. If trainers are observant of players body language, they can modify workouts, and spare players from placing any extra stress on their bodies.
Kimberly thank you for taking time to share your insights regarding athletic training. This post can also be viewed as published on www.Examiner.com
*Featured guests are not current nor former clients of Susan Zaro
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Dancing at the Palomar
Jeremy Pilling is the owner of the Palomar Ballroom in scenic Santa Cruz, CA. Jeremy has won several Rising Star Rhythm and Open Professional Rhythm competitions during his professional dance career. Jeremy has been teaching and performing ballroom for 11 years. His teaching style is very technique-oriented while still achieving the goal of having fun.
SZ: What events led to your decision to become a professional dancer?
JP: I started dancing at age 8 with tap & ballet, but only for two years. After that, I had no formal training until college where I took my first ballroom group classes. I didn’t become interested in professional dancing until after I completed my internship in corporate fitness, which I needed to do to complete my degree in sport science. I was working in the fitness industry and just dancing socially and a friend of mine who I used to go swing dancing with told me that a nearby studio was looking for male dance teachers. Of course, I didn’t know how to teach, but she said they would train me for free, so I said why not. Six months later, I was teaching beginners to dance.
SZ: What sports did you compete in while growing up? Were you playing these sports and dancing at the same time?
JP: I competed in baseball and basketball in elementary school, soccer, track and basketball in junior high, and track, cross country, and basketball in high school. I wasn’t dancing during my junior high or high school years other than the school dances for fun.
SZ: Who are some of the dancers you’ve admired through the years and why?
JP: My idol and one of my inspirations for dance was Jose DeCamps. He is the current National American Rhythm champion. His musicality, presence on the floor, and Rhythmic dance style is what made me want to dance ballroom. He is very masculine and confident on the dance floor. I used to watch videos of him and his partner.
SZ: A large community of dancers come to the Palomar Ballroom for classes and dance parties. One group are competitive amateur dancers. What are some entry level skills that dancers need to acquire to have a positive experience competing? What basic information and training is useful for people to be aware of prior to participating in competitive dancing?
JP: I have several competitive pro-am students who compete with me. Most of the dance technique is learned over time, some just pick it up faster than others. Two things that help are confidence and personality on the floor. These are things that can be learned, but if a student already has these qualities, they will excel much faster. Things that help set a good foundation for ballroom are other forms of dance including ballet and jazz. Flexibility is also important, so Pilates and yoga can also be beneficial. I believe anyone can compete, but it takes time, practice and of course money to succeed in the long run. Believing in yourself is half the battle.
SZ: Beyond learning the physical steps to dances, timing movement to the music, being in sync with your partner, what are the mental/emotional challenges to competing?
JP: The biggest mental block for most dancers is over thinking. When you step onto the floor to compete, you have to get rid of all the input in your head and focus on just the output, or dancing. As some would say, “putting emotions to motion”. The other thing is being able to “own the floor”. In other words, being confident in what you are doing. Every step or move should have intent, meaning and focus.
SZ: As a professional dancer/teacher you dance competitively with your students. What are frequent tips you offer to students to help them manage their emotional energy during competition?
JP: The hardest part of competition is getting students to relax and enjoy it. Performing in front of people can be nerve-racking and stressful and I always tell my students that the more they perform or compete, the easier it will get. I always encourage them with positive reinforcement and reassuring words before they go on the floor. When students get tense, they tend to hold their breath at times. Breathing and grounding yourself is also important.
SZ: What are common misperceptions people unfamiliar with ballroom dancing have regarding this sport?
JP: 1) "I can't dance." Most people think that because they don't have natural ability that they can't dance, when in fact hard work and dedication is all you need. Time and practice can make a great dancer.
2) "I want to learn to dance in a week/month."
There are many technical elements to learn in dancing, and to be good it takes longer than most people think. It takes a long time to be good at any sport or instrument. You can learn a few things in a month, but you need to use your muscle memory over time to learn posture, footwork, lead and follow techniques, music/timing, character and more.
3)"I need group classes." Personal attention is crucial in the learning process which is why individual attention in private lessons is the best way to supplement your group classes. There are many things that you cannot learn in a group lesson such as technique, lead/follow skills, musicality, etc.
SZ: Do you have a favorite quote, story or tip that has guided you on your professional path as a dancer and instructor?
JP: “Life is a journey, not a destination”…dancing is the same thing, there is always something more to work on, but enjoy each step of the journey.
Jeremy thank you for taking time out of your very busy schedule to participate in this interview.
*Featured guests are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro
SZ: What events led to your decision to become a professional dancer?
JP: I started dancing at age 8 with tap & ballet, but only for two years. After that, I had no formal training until college where I took my first ballroom group classes. I didn’t become interested in professional dancing until after I completed my internship in corporate fitness, which I needed to do to complete my degree in sport science. I was working in the fitness industry and just dancing socially and a friend of mine who I used to go swing dancing with told me that a nearby studio was looking for male dance teachers. Of course, I didn’t know how to teach, but she said they would train me for free, so I said why not. Six months later, I was teaching beginners to dance.
SZ: What sports did you compete in while growing up? Were you playing these sports and dancing at the same time?
JP: I competed in baseball and basketball in elementary school, soccer, track and basketball in junior high, and track, cross country, and basketball in high school. I wasn’t dancing during my junior high or high school years other than the school dances for fun.
SZ: Who are some of the dancers you’ve admired through the years and why?
JP: My idol and one of my inspirations for dance was Jose DeCamps. He is the current National American Rhythm champion. His musicality, presence on the floor, and Rhythmic dance style is what made me want to dance ballroom. He is very masculine and confident on the dance floor. I used to watch videos of him and his partner.
SZ: A large community of dancers come to the Palomar Ballroom for classes and dance parties. One group are competitive amateur dancers. What are some entry level skills that dancers need to acquire to have a positive experience competing? What basic information and training is useful for people to be aware of prior to participating in competitive dancing?
JP: I have several competitive pro-am students who compete with me. Most of the dance technique is learned over time, some just pick it up faster than others. Two things that help are confidence and personality on the floor. These are things that can be learned, but if a student already has these qualities, they will excel much faster. Things that help set a good foundation for ballroom are other forms of dance including ballet and jazz. Flexibility is also important, so Pilates and yoga can also be beneficial. I believe anyone can compete, but it takes time, practice and of course money to succeed in the long run. Believing in yourself is half the battle.
SZ: Beyond learning the physical steps to dances, timing movement to the music, being in sync with your partner, what are the mental/emotional challenges to competing?
JP: The biggest mental block for most dancers is over thinking. When you step onto the floor to compete, you have to get rid of all the input in your head and focus on just the output, or dancing. As some would say, “putting emotions to motion”. The other thing is being able to “own the floor”. In other words, being confident in what you are doing. Every step or move should have intent, meaning and focus.
SZ: As a professional dancer/teacher you dance competitively with your students. What are frequent tips you offer to students to help them manage their emotional energy during competition?
JP: The hardest part of competition is getting students to relax and enjoy it. Performing in front of people can be nerve-racking and stressful and I always tell my students that the more they perform or compete, the easier it will get. I always encourage them with positive reinforcement and reassuring words before they go on the floor. When students get tense, they tend to hold their breath at times. Breathing and grounding yourself is also important.
SZ: What are common misperceptions people unfamiliar with ballroom dancing have regarding this sport?
JP: 1) "I can't dance." Most people think that because they don't have natural ability that they can't dance, when in fact hard work and dedication is all you need. Time and practice can make a great dancer.
2) "I want to learn to dance in a week/month."
There are many technical elements to learn in dancing, and to be good it takes longer than most people think. It takes a long time to be good at any sport or instrument. You can learn a few things in a month, but you need to use your muscle memory over time to learn posture, footwork, lead and follow techniques, music/timing, character and more.
3)"I need group classes." Personal attention is crucial in the learning process which is why individual attention in private lessons is the best way to supplement your group classes. There are many things that you cannot learn in a group lesson such as technique, lead/follow skills, musicality, etc.
SZ: Do you have a favorite quote, story or tip that has guided you on your professional path as a dancer and instructor?
JP: “Life is a journey, not a destination”…dancing is the same thing, there is always something more to work on, but enjoy each step of the journey.
Jeremy thank you for taking time out of your very busy schedule to participate in this interview.
*Featured guests are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro
Monday, September 26, 2011
Dr. Erin Boynton - Sport Injuries
Dr. Erin Boynton is the first woman to work as an Orthopaedic Surgeon in Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League and Canadian Football League. She has served as a consultant to many professional athletes and has worked with the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tour for over a decade.
SZ: Did you become an orthopedic surgeon with the intent of working with high level athletes? Or did opportunities arise that led you in this direction?
EB: I became interested in medicine when I was a teenager, after I had sprained my ankle playing basketball. I did not have the specific intent of working with athletes when I first entered my residency in orthopaedics, but I found myself always gravitating to the sports arena. My past experiences as an athlete helped me to understand what the patients were going through and were very compatible with my goal of keeping people moving and doing the activities that they love to do. To me, Life is Motion.
SZ: What are some of the job pressures and challenges of working with professional athletes as a surgeon?
EB: One of the toughest challenges as a surgeon working with professional athletes is the time pressure to return the player back to sport. There can be a major conflict between the mind pressure that the athlete and team places upon the body to perform, and the reality of the physical healing and readiness of the body to compete.
SZ: Are there injuries that professional women tennis players are more prone to that require surgery?
EB: The vast majority of injuries in women's tennis do not require surgery. The shoulder is the joint that most commonly requires surgical intervention. Most injuries are secondary to overuse. Over time repetitive stress to the musculoskeletal system can lead to imbalances in the soft tissues, that is muscles, tendons, joint capsule. The imbalance occurs when the soft tissue becomes too tight and or too weak. This soft tissue imbalance can eventually lead to breakdown of a tendon or joint structure such as a labrum (secondary joint stabilizer). There is a threshold in the soft tissue imbalance that may be tolerated for years, but once the threshold is crossed pain can spiral out of control. Surgery may be required to reestablish structural integrity to the joint. Many patients struggle after surgery if they fail to do their rehab exercises. The key to success after surgery however, is to rebalance the soft tissues and strengthen the muscles surrounding the shoulder girdle so that the structure that was repaired is protected.
SZ: During a season professional athletes are required to adapt to time zones, which can affect sleep schedules, acclimate to various weather conditions, it can be hot weather in one location and the following game or event, cold and windy. The physical stress of constantly adapting to new environments. How much do these factors contribute to the potential for injury?
EB: Sleep deprivation can have significant effects on neurocognitive function and motor performance. There is no question that significant fatigue can interfere with reaction times, and the ability to focus on an activity, possibly leading to poor performance and the potential for injury. Changes in normal eating schedules and diet occur with travel, and dehydration is possible. Ideally, for major events, the athlete should travel early enough to allow for acclimatization, this is not always possible as we observe in most Major League Sporting Events, with teams competing all over the country. Steps should be taken by the individual or team to ensure that extra rest time is available for the athletes and education with regards to proper nutrition and hydration during these changes in environment should be provided.
SZ: I read an article http://ontennis.etondigital.com/news/sharapova-finding-her-game-again where you are quoted as saying, (Maria) Sharapova has a certain laxity that people naturally have in their joints. With how long her arms are, the lever arm and the force she generates on her shoulder and elbow relative to someone who is much shorter and smaller is much greater.” What type of shoulder injuries are more common in shorter players and why? Can athletes tall or short prevent most injuries by proper strength training and stretching?
EB: It is not really the height of the individual that puts them at risk, but the length of the lever arm relative to the strength of the stabilizing muscles that control the specific joint. Individuals, with longer lever arms place more stress on the joints than people with shorter lever arms, but an individual with a short lever arm and weak stabilizing muscles is just as much at risk for injury as a taller player. I will commonly see injuries in young athletes who are going through their growth spurt. When the young athletes arms and legs grow, they often have a relative weakness of the stabilizing muscles around the shoulders, CORE and hips that predisposes the player to injury. The key for these individuals to perform CORE stabilization exercises, and flexibility exercises to maintain proper balance of soft tissues (muscles, tendons, ligaments) around the joints to prevent injury.
SZ: You are an internationally ranked senior tennis player. Are there focus and concentration commonalities you’ve developed as a surgeon that help your experience as a tennis player?
EB: There are definite focus and concentration commonalities between athletics and surgery. I have a tremendous ability to be in my senses while I operate, this allows me to be in the moment and see the anatomy, recognize the pathology and perform the corrective technical surgery. I have found that my ability to “be in the moment” during surgery is a transferable mental skill to tennis. One of the major differences is that in the operating room, I am in control, I control the pace of the surgery, and am in charge of the environment, obviously, the tennis court provides a very different dynamic...no control.... one day I am going to show up to the tennis court in my surgical mask and gown.
SZ: Was tennis the sport you played growing up?
EB: I was an avid athlete, but did not really focus on one particular sport, I did play some tennis in the summers, but focused on other sports in the winter. Winters were spent skiing, playing basketball, volleyball, track and field. I was naturally good at most sports and was voted Athlete of the Year in my High School. I became side tracked with academics and training to become an Orthopaedic Surgeon during my college years, I won the John Copp Bursary at the University of Toronto Medical School for all around athletics and academics.
SZ: Does your knowledge of sport medicine improve your chances of being injury free?
EB: It is one thing to know what to do, it is another thing to do it! I am at an absolute advantage as I know how to address the many sensations of pain that arise during a normal exercise program. My strength however is in my discipline and determination to become the best person that I can be and this involves giving to my body.
SZ: What are your future tennis goals?
EB: I want to be the best tennis player that I can be. I started playing tennis when my daughter was 2 years old (she is now 16), and have played fairly consistently, only missing a couple of years because of work and family commitments. To me tennis has been a great barometer of my mental, physical and spiritual maturation over this past decade. I have faced a number of obstacles, and sport has been a great vehicle for me to learn and understand the relationship between my mind, body and spirit.
Dr. Boynton, thank you for taking time out of your very busy schedule for this interview. Best of luck to you on your upcoming tennis goals.
Dr. Boynton is a mother of two teenage children, she is presently living in Toronto, her career focus has shifted to research, writing and medical legal expertise. Her passion is to keep people moving and performing in the activities that they love.
*Featured guests are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro
SZ: Did you become an orthopedic surgeon with the intent of working with high level athletes? Or did opportunities arise that led you in this direction?
EB: I became interested in medicine when I was a teenager, after I had sprained my ankle playing basketball. I did not have the specific intent of working with athletes when I first entered my residency in orthopaedics, but I found myself always gravitating to the sports arena. My past experiences as an athlete helped me to understand what the patients were going through and were very compatible with my goal of keeping people moving and doing the activities that they love to do. To me, Life is Motion.
SZ: What are some of the job pressures and challenges of working with professional athletes as a surgeon?
EB: One of the toughest challenges as a surgeon working with professional athletes is the time pressure to return the player back to sport. There can be a major conflict between the mind pressure that the athlete and team places upon the body to perform, and the reality of the physical healing and readiness of the body to compete.
SZ: Are there injuries that professional women tennis players are more prone to that require surgery?
EB: The vast majority of injuries in women's tennis do not require surgery. The shoulder is the joint that most commonly requires surgical intervention. Most injuries are secondary to overuse. Over time repetitive stress to the musculoskeletal system can lead to imbalances in the soft tissues, that is muscles, tendons, joint capsule. The imbalance occurs when the soft tissue becomes too tight and or too weak. This soft tissue imbalance can eventually lead to breakdown of a tendon or joint structure such as a labrum (secondary joint stabilizer). There is a threshold in the soft tissue imbalance that may be tolerated for years, but once the threshold is crossed pain can spiral out of control. Surgery may be required to reestablish structural integrity to the joint. Many patients struggle after surgery if they fail to do their rehab exercises. The key to success after surgery however, is to rebalance the soft tissues and strengthen the muscles surrounding the shoulder girdle so that the structure that was repaired is protected.
SZ: During a season professional athletes are required to adapt to time zones, which can affect sleep schedules, acclimate to various weather conditions, it can be hot weather in one location and the following game or event, cold and windy. The physical stress of constantly adapting to new environments. How much do these factors contribute to the potential for injury?
EB: Sleep deprivation can have significant effects on neurocognitive function and motor performance. There is no question that significant fatigue can interfere with reaction times, and the ability to focus on an activity, possibly leading to poor performance and the potential for injury. Changes in normal eating schedules and diet occur with travel, and dehydration is possible. Ideally, for major events, the athlete should travel early enough to allow for acclimatization, this is not always possible as we observe in most Major League Sporting Events, with teams competing all over the country. Steps should be taken by the individual or team to ensure that extra rest time is available for the athletes and education with regards to proper nutrition and hydration during these changes in environment should be provided.
SZ: I read an article http://ontennis.etondigital.com/news/sharapova-finding-her-game-again where you are quoted as saying, (Maria) Sharapova has a certain laxity that people naturally have in their joints. With how long her arms are, the lever arm and the force she generates on her shoulder and elbow relative to someone who is much shorter and smaller is much greater.” What type of shoulder injuries are more common in shorter players and why? Can athletes tall or short prevent most injuries by proper strength training and stretching?
EB: It is not really the height of the individual that puts them at risk, but the length of the lever arm relative to the strength of the stabilizing muscles that control the specific joint. Individuals, with longer lever arms place more stress on the joints than people with shorter lever arms, but an individual with a short lever arm and weak stabilizing muscles is just as much at risk for injury as a taller player. I will commonly see injuries in young athletes who are going through their growth spurt. When the young athletes arms and legs grow, they often have a relative weakness of the stabilizing muscles around the shoulders, CORE and hips that predisposes the player to injury. The key for these individuals to perform CORE stabilization exercises, and flexibility exercises to maintain proper balance of soft tissues (muscles, tendons, ligaments) around the joints to prevent injury.
SZ: You are an internationally ranked senior tennis player. Are there focus and concentration commonalities you’ve developed as a surgeon that help your experience as a tennis player?
EB: There are definite focus and concentration commonalities between athletics and surgery. I have a tremendous ability to be in my senses while I operate, this allows me to be in the moment and see the anatomy, recognize the pathology and perform the corrective technical surgery. I have found that my ability to “be in the moment” during surgery is a transferable mental skill to tennis. One of the major differences is that in the operating room, I am in control, I control the pace of the surgery, and am in charge of the environment, obviously, the tennis court provides a very different dynamic...no control.... one day I am going to show up to the tennis court in my surgical mask and gown.
SZ: Was tennis the sport you played growing up?
EB: I was an avid athlete, but did not really focus on one particular sport, I did play some tennis in the summers, but focused on other sports in the winter. Winters were spent skiing, playing basketball, volleyball, track and field. I was naturally good at most sports and was voted Athlete of the Year in my High School. I became side tracked with academics and training to become an Orthopaedic Surgeon during my college years, I won the John Copp Bursary at the University of Toronto Medical School for all around athletics and academics.
SZ: Does your knowledge of sport medicine improve your chances of being injury free?
EB: It is one thing to know what to do, it is another thing to do it! I am at an absolute advantage as I know how to address the many sensations of pain that arise during a normal exercise program. My strength however is in my discipline and determination to become the best person that I can be and this involves giving to my body.
SZ: What are your future tennis goals?
EB: I want to be the best tennis player that I can be. I started playing tennis when my daughter was 2 years old (she is now 16), and have played fairly consistently, only missing a couple of years because of work and family commitments. To me tennis has been a great barometer of my mental, physical and spiritual maturation over this past decade. I have faced a number of obstacles, and sport has been a great vehicle for me to learn and understand the relationship between my mind, body and spirit.
Dr. Boynton, thank you for taking time out of your very busy schedule for this interview. Best of luck to you on your upcoming tennis goals.
Dr. Boynton is a mother of two teenage children, she is presently living in Toronto, her career focus has shifted to research, writing and medical legal expertise. Her passion is to keep people moving and performing in the activities that they love.
*Featured guests are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Jeff Raz - Performing Artist
A decade ago Jeff founded the Clown Conservatory the only comprehensive professional clown training program in the United States. He is now the Bay Area Casting Partner for Cirque du Soleil, the Artistic Director of the Medical Clown Project and a coach with the global consulting firm Stand & Deliver.
A graduate of the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre, Jeff has performed with Cirque du Soleil, The Pickle Circus, Vaudeville Nouveau and Make*A*Circus. In 2007, Jeff spent the year touring the U.S. as the lead character in Cirque du Soleil’s “Corteo.” In 2009, he reprised his role in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka, Japan. He will continue to perform with the company from time to time.
SZ: Jeff you performed as the lead clown in Cirque du Soleil’s “Corteo” how much leeway was provided for creative spontaneity in this role?
JR: I was replacing the man who originated the role and had hoped to make some changes in the routines and add some of my circus skills. Given the complexity of “Corteo” and the fact that most CdS shows run for decades, there is not much room for big changes. That said, I had a lot of leeway with the language, improvising and re-writing sections of my part. Daniele Finzi-Pasca, the director, designed the show for flexibility, asking the performers to bring their own personalities and relationships to the stage every night. This gave the show, and continues to give the show, a freshness that is rare in a long-running production.
SZ: Did your performance transform a lot over the duration of time you played this character? Physically or mentally? Can you offer an example of the transformation you experienced over time?
JR: Yes. For one, I performed the role in English (with little bits of French, Italian and Russian) for 385 shows and then did it mainly in Japanese for another 115 performances. When doing 8 – 10 shows/wk, it is a struggle to be an artist every day and not slip into being a hack (someone who does what they do without intention, without heart.) Every show, I would try to focus on a particular scene or change my approach to a certain moment that had become stale. Luckily for me, “Corteo” is so complex technically that there are often little glitches, glitches that forced me to improvise and kept me from ‘dialing it in’. For example, it was the last show of a 10 show week, 10 minutes before the final bow. I was on the bike, suspended in the wings ready to make my computer controlled flight across the stage – a beautiful picture for the audience that was not much of a strain for me. I was dreaming of my day off. My cue came and went but the bike didn’t move. My mind flew into overdrive, reworking my lines, thinking about ways to get down, etc. Finally, the computer kicked in and I flew across the stage, improvising madly. The glitch saved that scene and kept me honest.
SZ: You’ve been a performance clown for over thirty-five years. What types of physical/mental training is useful in becoming a performance clown outside of performance training? Are there other disciplines you study or studied that have influenced your performance skills?
JR: It takes about 6 hours of practice a day for quite a few years to become a professional juggler. I started when I was 14 and that discipline has helped me immensely as a performer. Acrobatics is more social and the training, while more painful, is not as monotonous. It is, however, dangerous and scary. For an acrobat, the acting concepts of ‘risk’, ‘a life or death situation’ and ‘trusting your partner’ are visceral. If an actor loses focus, the scene dies; if an acrobat loses focus, their partner might die. In the ‘80’s, two partners and I had a company called ‘Vaudeville Nouveau’. We ran the business together. I learned how to write grants, do budgets, set up a not-for-profit, negotiate contracts, etc. These skills are invaluable for a free-lance performer. Finally, my experience as a teacher, which started out of necessity (I had to pay the rent and teaching is often a ‘fill-in’ gig for a performer) has grown to be one of my favorite things to do. When I am performing, I try to follow the advice I give to my students. This can be very hard – I was never a good student and I find I’m no better when I am the teacher.
SZ: While performing a show with a consistent story line show after show for over a year what are engaging elements of performance that feed a performers energy and help keep up the level of excitement for the actors?
JR: A ballerina came up to me after a workshop and said, “I could never do a show over and over like you do.” For her, the joy of being an artist was the variety and challenge of learning and performing 5 – 8 ballets/year. I understand her completely – variety has been a hallmark of my career. So the challenge of a long running show becomes a new artistic horizon. As I mentioned before, technical glitches are gold for a clown (when the sound board crashed and I got to talk with 2800 people without a mic and without competing with the band, I was in heaven.) Cast changes, different audiences, ideas from the director, etc. also kept me awake and alive on stage. Finally, I tried to interact with at least a few audience members before every show, to warm up my heart and ground me in the reality that this show, while old for me, is new for them.
SZ: You are currently a coach and director of the consulting firm “Stand & Deliver.” What are some of the challenges of working with business leaders in developing performance skills?
JR:: Now that I’ve become somewhat familiar with corporate culture, I find that my corporate ‘students’ are facing the same challenges and working on many of the same skills as my professional clown students – How to be fully yourself in front of a bunch of people? How to use all of one’s tools –voice, body, mind and heart – to engage other people and influence them? The moment when I can see a student’s block, name the challenge and watch them become fuller and more dynamic in front of their colleagues’ eyes is as rich a moment in a boardroom as it is in a ring.
SZ: Aside from presenting interesting and relevant material, what is a presentation skill that most people find immediately effective towards capturing the attention of their audience?
JR: Using their bodies to support their material rather than distracting from it; talking with audiences rather than at them; varying the pitch, volume and tempo of their voices to shape the meaning of their words and keep an audience from tuning out.
SZ: What are some of the life perks that have come along with the distinction of being a high level performance clown?
JR: Working with fascinating, skilled, wildly creative people on a regular basis; meeting people who were fans when they were kids become kids again when they see me; visiting interesting places around the world (although I often complain more about the plane trip than crow about the sights); watching my students succeed and surpass me in their skills and careers (now that I am officially an elder of the tribe, my cutthroat ambition has mellowed to mild jealousy mixed with pride.)
SZ: You and your wife psychologist Sherry Sherman recently launched the Medical Clown Project. Can you describe what the organization provides?
JR: Through the therapeutic art of play and humor, medical clowns help patients and their families reduce fear and anxiety while increasing their strength and motivation to cope with illness. The medical clown connects with patients in a way that is markedly different from the rest of their experience in the hospital.
Clowns use expressive therapy modalities such as magic, music, circus and puppetry as part of the healing process with patients, families and medical teams. They provide services in many settings including patient rooms, intensive care, emergency departments as well as in hallways, waiting rooms and elevators.
SZ: Your career embraces a global range of experience. Do you have a favorite quote or story that has guided you on your professional path? Many little stories – I collect and remember them.
JR: My mentor, Jael Weisman, has dropped many pearls over the years, including “If the first half goes well, pretend you really blew it so that you don’t get complacent in Act 2.” A couple of others: Auditioning for a big shot director; he liked me and asked to see more. I got excited and started showing him everything I had – juggling, acrobatics, music… Finally, he said “Stop. I like you now, don’t change that.” I got the part and the show eventually went to Broadway. Whenever I want to throw the kitchen sink at a scene, I remember that one. Another director once said, when I was complaining about something or other, “I agree, it is terrible. The worst thing you can do to an actor is give him a job.” That shut me up and broke off a big hunk of my actor’s cynical armor.
Jeff thank you for your taking time out of your very busy schedule to chat about life as
a performing artist.
Jeff wrote and is performing in the play, “The Road to Hades.” Performances continue at John Hinkel Park in Berkeley through Sept. 11th.
*Featured guests are not current nor former clients of Susan Zaro
A graduate of the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre, Jeff has performed with Cirque du Soleil, The Pickle Circus, Vaudeville Nouveau and Make*A*Circus. In 2007, Jeff spent the year touring the U.S. as the lead character in Cirque du Soleil’s “Corteo.” In 2009, he reprised his role in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka, Japan. He will continue to perform with the company from time to time.
SZ: Jeff you performed as the lead clown in Cirque du Soleil’s “Corteo” how much leeway was provided for creative spontaneity in this role?
JR: I was replacing the man who originated the role and had hoped to make some changes in the routines and add some of my circus skills. Given the complexity of “Corteo” and the fact that most CdS shows run for decades, there is not much room for big changes. That said, I had a lot of leeway with the language, improvising and re-writing sections of my part. Daniele Finzi-Pasca, the director, designed the show for flexibility, asking the performers to bring their own personalities and relationships to the stage every night. This gave the show, and continues to give the show, a freshness that is rare in a long-running production.
SZ: Did your performance transform a lot over the duration of time you played this character? Physically or mentally? Can you offer an example of the transformation you experienced over time?
JR: Yes. For one, I performed the role in English (with little bits of French, Italian and Russian) for 385 shows and then did it mainly in Japanese for another 115 performances. When doing 8 – 10 shows/wk, it is a struggle to be an artist every day and not slip into being a hack (someone who does what they do without intention, without heart.) Every show, I would try to focus on a particular scene or change my approach to a certain moment that had become stale. Luckily for me, “Corteo” is so complex technically that there are often little glitches, glitches that forced me to improvise and kept me from ‘dialing it in’. For example, it was the last show of a 10 show week, 10 minutes before the final bow. I was on the bike, suspended in the wings ready to make my computer controlled flight across the stage – a beautiful picture for the audience that was not much of a strain for me. I was dreaming of my day off. My cue came and went but the bike didn’t move. My mind flew into overdrive, reworking my lines, thinking about ways to get down, etc. Finally, the computer kicked in and I flew across the stage, improvising madly. The glitch saved that scene and kept me honest.
SZ: You’ve been a performance clown for over thirty-five years. What types of physical/mental training is useful in becoming a performance clown outside of performance training? Are there other disciplines you study or studied that have influenced your performance skills?
JR: It takes about 6 hours of practice a day for quite a few years to become a professional juggler. I started when I was 14 and that discipline has helped me immensely as a performer. Acrobatics is more social and the training, while more painful, is not as monotonous. It is, however, dangerous and scary. For an acrobat, the acting concepts of ‘risk’, ‘a life or death situation’ and ‘trusting your partner’ are visceral. If an actor loses focus, the scene dies; if an acrobat loses focus, their partner might die. In the ‘80’s, two partners and I had a company called ‘Vaudeville Nouveau’. We ran the business together. I learned how to write grants, do budgets, set up a not-for-profit, negotiate contracts, etc. These skills are invaluable for a free-lance performer. Finally, my experience as a teacher, which started out of necessity (I had to pay the rent and teaching is often a ‘fill-in’ gig for a performer) has grown to be one of my favorite things to do. When I am performing, I try to follow the advice I give to my students. This can be very hard – I was never a good student and I find I’m no better when I am the teacher.
SZ: While performing a show with a consistent story line show after show for over a year what are engaging elements of performance that feed a performers energy and help keep up the level of excitement for the actors?
JR: A ballerina came up to me after a workshop and said, “I could never do a show over and over like you do.” For her, the joy of being an artist was the variety and challenge of learning and performing 5 – 8 ballets/year. I understand her completely – variety has been a hallmark of my career. So the challenge of a long running show becomes a new artistic horizon. As I mentioned before, technical glitches are gold for a clown (when the sound board crashed and I got to talk with 2800 people without a mic and without competing with the band, I was in heaven.) Cast changes, different audiences, ideas from the director, etc. also kept me awake and alive on stage. Finally, I tried to interact with at least a few audience members before every show, to warm up my heart and ground me in the reality that this show, while old for me, is new for them.
SZ: You are currently a coach and director of the consulting firm “Stand & Deliver.” What are some of the challenges of working with business leaders in developing performance skills?
JR:: Now that I’ve become somewhat familiar with corporate culture, I find that my corporate ‘students’ are facing the same challenges and working on many of the same skills as my professional clown students – How to be fully yourself in front of a bunch of people? How to use all of one’s tools –voice, body, mind and heart – to engage other people and influence them? The moment when I can see a student’s block, name the challenge and watch them become fuller and more dynamic in front of their colleagues’ eyes is as rich a moment in a boardroom as it is in a ring.
SZ: Aside from presenting interesting and relevant material, what is a presentation skill that most people find immediately effective towards capturing the attention of their audience?
JR: Using their bodies to support their material rather than distracting from it; talking with audiences rather than at them; varying the pitch, volume and tempo of their voices to shape the meaning of their words and keep an audience from tuning out.
SZ: What are some of the life perks that have come along with the distinction of being a high level performance clown?
JR: Working with fascinating, skilled, wildly creative people on a regular basis; meeting people who were fans when they were kids become kids again when they see me; visiting interesting places around the world (although I often complain more about the plane trip than crow about the sights); watching my students succeed and surpass me in their skills and careers (now that I am officially an elder of the tribe, my cutthroat ambition has mellowed to mild jealousy mixed with pride.)
SZ: You and your wife psychologist Sherry Sherman recently launched the Medical Clown Project. Can you describe what the organization provides?
JR: Through the therapeutic art of play and humor, medical clowns help patients and their families reduce fear and anxiety while increasing their strength and motivation to cope with illness. The medical clown connects with patients in a way that is markedly different from the rest of their experience in the hospital.
Clowns use expressive therapy modalities such as magic, music, circus and puppetry as part of the healing process with patients, families and medical teams. They provide services in many settings including patient rooms, intensive care, emergency departments as well as in hallways, waiting rooms and elevators.
SZ: Your career embraces a global range of experience. Do you have a favorite quote or story that has guided you on your professional path? Many little stories – I collect and remember them.
JR: My mentor, Jael Weisman, has dropped many pearls over the years, including “If the first half goes well, pretend you really blew it so that you don’t get complacent in Act 2.” A couple of others: Auditioning for a big shot director; he liked me and asked to see more. I got excited and started showing him everything I had – juggling, acrobatics, music… Finally, he said “Stop. I like you now, don’t change that.” I got the part and the show eventually went to Broadway. Whenever I want to throw the kitchen sink at a scene, I remember that one. Another director once said, when I was complaining about something or other, “I agree, it is terrible. The worst thing you can do to an actor is give him a job.” That shut me up and broke off a big hunk of my actor’s cynical armor.
Jeff thank you for your taking time out of your very busy schedule to chat about life as
a performing artist.
Jeff wrote and is performing in the play, “The Road to Hades.” Performances continue at John Hinkel Park in Berkeley through Sept. 11th.
*Featured guests are not current nor former clients of Susan Zaro
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Rennae Stubbs - A passion for playing - Part 4
Rennae Stubbs just short of her 40th birthday is enjoying a career of semi-retirement from professional tennis. Stubbs the longest serving member of the Australian Federation Cup team has made her professional tennis mark as a doubles specialist. Over her twenty year career on the tour she has chalked up sixty tournament wins, including six grand slam doubles titles. Stubbs made history this year by becoming only the fourth player in World Team Tennis history to be on five Championship teams. Stubbs participated as the co-captain on the Washington Kastles. The team was the first in WTT’s 36 year history to have an undefeated season. Rennae’s tennis career is not over but as she winds down she’s been shifting into a new role as a t.v. commentator.
This is the final installment of an interview with Rennae held during the WTA Mercury Insurance tournament at La Costa Resort and Spa.
SZ: What do you think is helpful for young players and parents to know and be aware of when they are making the decision to commit to a professional life in tennis?
RS: I don’t want to pigeon-hole tennis. I think sports in general, I’ll go as far as to say that I think tennis is the most difficult sport. The reason I say that is not because I did it, but because tennis is the truly the only global sport.
SZ: Golf?
RS: If you are an LGPA player you are essentially playing in the States. The LGPA is now going a little bit more to Asia. There is the Evian and British Open, but I don’t court 5-6 weeks in another country or on another continent as a world wide sport. I say this because one of my closest friends is Karrie Webb and she does not travel anything like the players on the WTA. We have Europe, the States, Asia, I feel tennis is the most global sport in the world.
I think it’s difficult for a kid to be really good at because they have to be away all the time and a long way from home. It’s expensive to fly to Europe and back, stay in hotels, while taking mom or dad with you.
SZ: Is it tougher now or just different?
RS: Just different because you are getting paid more now but things are more expensive. It’s all relative. The most important thing is that your kid has to enjoy it. They have to love what they do. In any sport they have to love what they do. They have to love being on the road and being away from their friends. If they aren’t social it’s tough.
I see players come and go in three years because they are miserable. They have to love the competitive part of it and they have to love the ups and downs and dealing with adversity. It’s not easy. I try and say that to give kids a reality check. "You’re about to embark on something that’s so difficult and only a small percentage of the world will get to do this in a lifetime, so be realistic about what your chances are. If you are on the cusp of making it then you need to push yourself even harder to be successful because before you know it you will turn 25-30 years old and not have a dollar in the bank and no education." Good luck! I feel like the grim reaper but on the flip side I want them to experience what I’ve experienced and get something out of it and be happy at the end of playing, not feel like they wasted their youth. Unless you’re getting something out of it’s a bummer. Not just monetarily but feel like “I’m so lucky doing this”, that’s winning.
SZ: Did you feel this way in the beginning of your career? Was there ever a time you thought, “Do I want to be doing this?”
RS: I think everyone does at some stage of their career in life. I sort of didn’t give myself an opportunity to fail. When I was young and at the Institute of Sport in Australia in my last year I wanted to go and play Challenger Events in the States. I was told that they wouldn’t pay for me to go, I hadn’t warranted it, it didn’t have the results. I basically said, “I’m going to go anyway.” My dad got me a visa and said, “Best of luck,” and gave me the money. He always tells the story that I came back from that trip and I paid him back and never owed him a dollar since. It’s kinda like you step up to the plate and you do it and my goal was to pay my own way and do it because I loved it. I enjoyed the social part which was important for me. That got me through a lot of early times. I also appreciated being my own boss. That’s been the best. Maybe it’s something my parents instilled in me or maybe I can’t handle authority. It’s probably a combination which is why going into t.v. and things upcoming you have to toe the line in certain things.
SZ: You have the credibility to push and expand an audiences awareness.
RS: True I am allowed to be a little bit creative but still you’ve got to be here on time. You’ve got to be at production meetings.
SZ: You’ve got good company. You already know the people in the booth. You’re not really dropping into a void you know these people. You have many years of shared experiences. Do you have a favorite quote or story that’s helped you on your professional path?
RS: I love telling this story. My dad tells a story when I was a kid he knew I was going to be okay in life because when I was young and a competitive swimmer he said I was the only one in the 10 and under’s who would get up on the big starting block at the beginning of races. Most kids would start on the pavement because the block feels like a 20 foot drop when you’re 10 years old and he said I was the only swimmer in the race that got up on the big block and I looked over at him and gave him the thumbs up. He said, “I knew from that moment in your life that you would be okay.”
I just think the most important thing is to love what you do and truly embrace the whole package of what goes along with it because the reward is immeasurable.
SZ: Rennae thank you for taking time out of your very busy schedule to chat about life on the professional women’s tennis tour. I’ll check back in a year and see how your broadcasting career is working out.
This is the final installment of an interview with Rennae held during the WTA Mercury Insurance tournament at La Costa Resort and Spa.
SZ: What do you think is helpful for young players and parents to know and be aware of when they are making the decision to commit to a professional life in tennis?
RS: I don’t want to pigeon-hole tennis. I think sports in general, I’ll go as far as to say that I think tennis is the most difficult sport. The reason I say that is not because I did it, but because tennis is the truly the only global sport.
SZ: Golf?
RS: If you are an LGPA player you are essentially playing in the States. The LGPA is now going a little bit more to Asia. There is the Evian and British Open, but I don’t court 5-6 weeks in another country or on another continent as a world wide sport. I say this because one of my closest friends is Karrie Webb and she does not travel anything like the players on the WTA. We have Europe, the States, Asia, I feel tennis is the most global sport in the world.
I think it’s difficult for a kid to be really good at because they have to be away all the time and a long way from home. It’s expensive to fly to Europe and back, stay in hotels, while taking mom or dad with you.
SZ: Is it tougher now or just different?
RS: Just different because you are getting paid more now but things are more expensive. It’s all relative. The most important thing is that your kid has to enjoy it. They have to love what they do. In any sport they have to love what they do. They have to love being on the road and being away from their friends. If they aren’t social it’s tough.
I see players come and go in three years because they are miserable. They have to love the competitive part of it and they have to love the ups and downs and dealing with adversity. It’s not easy. I try and say that to give kids a reality check. "You’re about to embark on something that’s so difficult and only a small percentage of the world will get to do this in a lifetime, so be realistic about what your chances are. If you are on the cusp of making it then you need to push yourself even harder to be successful because before you know it you will turn 25-30 years old and not have a dollar in the bank and no education." Good luck! I feel like the grim reaper but on the flip side I want them to experience what I’ve experienced and get something out of it and be happy at the end of playing, not feel like they wasted their youth. Unless you’re getting something out of it’s a bummer. Not just monetarily but feel like “I’m so lucky doing this”, that’s winning.
SZ: Did you feel this way in the beginning of your career? Was there ever a time you thought, “Do I want to be doing this?”
RS: I think everyone does at some stage of their career in life. I sort of didn’t give myself an opportunity to fail. When I was young and at the Institute of Sport in Australia in my last year I wanted to go and play Challenger Events in the States. I was told that they wouldn’t pay for me to go, I hadn’t warranted it, it didn’t have the results. I basically said, “I’m going to go anyway.” My dad got me a visa and said, “Best of luck,” and gave me the money. He always tells the story that I came back from that trip and I paid him back and never owed him a dollar since. It’s kinda like you step up to the plate and you do it and my goal was to pay my own way and do it because I loved it. I enjoyed the social part which was important for me. That got me through a lot of early times. I also appreciated being my own boss. That’s been the best. Maybe it’s something my parents instilled in me or maybe I can’t handle authority. It’s probably a combination which is why going into t.v. and things upcoming you have to toe the line in certain things.
SZ: You have the credibility to push and expand an audiences awareness.
RS: True I am allowed to be a little bit creative but still you’ve got to be here on time. You’ve got to be at production meetings.
SZ: You’ve got good company. You already know the people in the booth. You’re not really dropping into a void you know these people. You have many years of shared experiences. Do you have a favorite quote or story that’s helped you on your professional path?
RS: I love telling this story. My dad tells a story when I was a kid he knew I was going to be okay in life because when I was young and a competitive swimmer he said I was the only one in the 10 and under’s who would get up on the big starting block at the beginning of races. Most kids would start on the pavement because the block feels like a 20 foot drop when you’re 10 years old and he said I was the only swimmer in the race that got up on the big block and I looked over at him and gave him the thumbs up. He said, “I knew from that moment in your life that you would be okay.”
I just think the most important thing is to love what you do and truly embrace the whole package of what goes along with it because the reward is immeasurable.
SZ: Rennae thank you for taking time out of your very busy schedule to chat about life on the professional women’s tennis tour. I’ll check back in a year and see how your broadcasting career is working out.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Rennae Stubbs - A passion for playing Part 3
Rennae Stubbs just short of her 40th birthday is enjoying a career of semi-retirement from professional tennis. Stubbs the longest serving member of the Australian Federation Cup team has made her professional tennis mark as a doubles specialist. Over her twenty year career on the tour she has chalked up sixty tournament wins, including six grand slam doubles titles. Stubbs made history this year by becoming only the fourth player in World Team Tennis history to be on five Championship teams. Stubbs participated as the co-captain on the Washington Kastles. The team was the first in WTT’s 36 year history to have an undefeated season. Rennae’s tennis career is not over but as she winds down she’s been shifting into a new role as a t.v. commentator.
This is the 3rd installment of an interview with professional tennis player Rennae Stubbs
held during the WTA Mercury Insurance Tournament at La Costa Resort and Spa.
SZ: Playing on the tour you are away from home for great stretches of time. What do you do to relax mentally and physically to stay fresh on the road?
RS: It depends on where you are. I do think it depends on how much you are playing, winning or losing. If you are losing you’re on the practice court a lot in the day.
SZ: You don’t take a day off when things aren’t going well?
RS: I would need to take a mental day. I have the tendency to churn over losses and need to get away. There are some players who just want to get back out there and practice. It depends on your personality. Some people like to chill out in their room and get on the computer. When I began the tour there wasn’t the computer so I’d read. At a tournament like La Costa I can go surfing. A couple of times I won here and I surfed everyday, or played golf. But not every tour stop is La Costa. If I am in Berlin I can go to see some history or something to get away.
SZ: Is it fatiguing going out to see the sights while you are traveling?
RS: It is. People don’t realize how draining it is. People assume we are so lucky traveling and seeing the world. To be honest of the great places I’ve been I haven’t really seen the cool parts. A lot of that is because it’s too physically and mentally draining. People ask me what I mean when I say this, but I say, “When you go on vacation and you go to all those sights that day aren’t you tired at night?” When tennis players have to play a match the next day sight seeing is not easy to do. When you are out of a tournament you are on a plane and onto the next event because if you’ve lost early in the tournament you’ve got to pull it together and prepare for the next tournament. If you’ve had a great tournament you’re straight on a plane to the next event and playing within a day. There’s a lot of down time on the tour but not a lot of that can be utilized in ways that most people would when they have time off. It’s more about conserving your energy.
SZ: Do you plan extra days at some locations so you can have chill time before the next stop?
RS: If depends where you are. If you’re in San Diego you’ll see the players hang around for a day or two. You can’t really plan because you don’t know how you will do. I remember talking with Steffi Graf about this and she said if there’s one thing she wish she had done more of is to have enjoyed her wins, but you don’t have time.
SZ: The responsibilities.
RS: Yes, the responsibilities. The pressure to do well the following week. When you are doing well there are more demands. You get to the end of the event, you win it, you have that moment where you see players cry they are so happy, you give them a couple of hours of joy and the trophy, sit around and talk about the week and then it’s bang, straight onto the next week.
SZ: The slate starts clean.
RS: It’s, “Get over it because you’ve got to play tomorrow at the next event.” It’s constant ups and downs. If you lose you’re upset for three days or you keep thinking about the shots you missed. I can’t tell you how many times at the next practice if I missed a certain ball during a match and I miss it again in practice, deja vu, it’s not fun.
Then you slowly let it go. Then you get into the next week. It’s a tough cycle.
SZ: Did you plan down time and go home?
RS: Having down time, getting away from tournaments and focusing on practicing things or working on fitness is as important as winning matches. When you are doing really well it’s as important as ever to give yourself a day or two to not think about tennis and stress. It feels as though you’re tuned in from the first moment of the year of playing to the very end. During the season you don’t feel like you have down time. I always saw the day after the Tour Championships as the day I could breathe without stressing, because I knew I had six weeks before the Australian Open began.
SZ: Did you ever work with a sport psychologist during your career?
RS: I didn’t. I did when I was at the Institute of Sport in Australia because it was stressed upon us. I think it’s an individual thing. I think it’s really helped some players. I talk to players and friends about how to handle situations. I have found that to be more beneficial to me. For me it was difficult to listen to a sport psychologist when it felt like, “You don’t know how I feel. You don’t know what it feels like to have break point and not think about the outcome of that". You can tell me to breathe and do certain things, maybe it’s just my personality. I’m combative. Whereas if a player says to me, “Listen this is what I did in this moment, this is what benefited me.” Then I think to myself, “Oh I’ll try that.” It’s an individual thing.
SZ: The tour is unique in that players start it at a very young age and this is the only environment they are immersed in for many years. Then they get outside that and someone can see that a player is strong in certain areas of their lives but outside these boundaries, a lot is missing.
RS: Yes, it’s something the WTA is trying to do, to teach more life skills. I don’t think this gets talked about enough. I talk to players about it because you’re in such a microcosm of the world and you’re such a small part of life. You don’t get life skills. Simple things like how do you pay your bills? You get parents looking after the details for you and suddenly you turn 30 and wonder what have I been doing with my life? It’s scary for players that have been on the tour since they were sixteen. Everything is catered to like booking your hotel room. The tournaments make it easy for players. On the flip side there are certain things a normal 17 or 18 year old girl can’t fathom what we go through. So it is what it is. But I think life skills aren’t part of the tour. You’re taught everyday to wake up and work hard, practice, hit the ball and everything else will be okay. There are many players I talk to and ask them what they are going to do when they are done playing and they don’t know. Even for someone like me, I’ve always taken an interest in television. I’ve always been quite social and networked yet it’s still scary for me. It’s so different.
SZ: It’s a transition of who you know yourself to be.
RS: You’re receiving this accolade, you’re hearing people tell you how impressed they are you’re a professional tennis player and it shifts to you’re a normal person again, and that’s hard.
SZ: That’s interesting because it doesn’t matter what you are doing, you have value as a person. You've enjoyed this stage and the highlights of this commitment you've given to tennis and the success of your professional involvement. You’ve demonstrated great competence. You have great resources, connections and people have tremendous respect for you and what you’ve been doing the last twenty years.
RS: It’s always been the plan to think of life after tennis. It’s funny because I’ve thought I’ve always done that really well but to not play professional tennis, it’s been the biggest part of my life and not have that any more when it’s time to stop it’s like jumping off a cliff into safety but where? The unknown is always a bit scary for anyone.
SZ: What has been the transition path from being a competing player to the next stage of your career? You’ve been participating as a t.v. commentator for awhile now.
RS: I started in broadcasting when I was eighteen. A well known Australian broadcaster asked me what I was going to do when I am done playing tennis? I said I would love to work in television.
SZ: Early on you had an opportunity.
RS: Yes, the broadcaster said, “Well come up to the booth tomorrow.” My first reaction was,
“You’re kidding.” He said “Come on do it”. So I did and the first piece I did I was on camera. I remember the match. I remember who played.
SZ: Was it fun?
RS: Yes, I loved it. I worked the finals of the Australian Open for ESPN in 1997, with Cliff Drysdale when I hurt my wrist. I worked a bit with Pam Shriver during Fed Cup and we did Chicago together. This was when they were a little less professional about tennis. Now they’ve got their team and I’m just trying to slowly fit into that team. I work a lot for Australian t.v. now and have sporadic work with the Tennis Channel.
SZ: Has the transition been easy or a steep learning curve?
RS: It’s a process because I am still competing professionally on the tour part-time. I still play team tennis.
SZ: You can’t drop right off the cliff.
RS: Some player’s like Steffi, she was completely done. She just stopped cold turkey.
SZ: She had Andre (Agassi). It wasn’t like she was walking into a total void.
RS: That’s very true. I think that’s very important. I think people say well you shouldn’t stop playing because of someone else or stop because you don’t want to travel anymore but sometimes that's a big reason to stop. Even for me settling down and not wanting to be on the road all the time. But we’ll see what happens. It’s part of the learning curve.
Next week final segment, advice for parents and young players thinking about a life on the tour.
* Featured guests are not current nor former clients of Susan Zaro
This is the 3rd installment of an interview with professional tennis player Rennae Stubbs
held during the WTA Mercury Insurance Tournament at La Costa Resort and Spa.
SZ: Playing on the tour you are away from home for great stretches of time. What do you do to relax mentally and physically to stay fresh on the road?
RS: It depends on where you are. I do think it depends on how much you are playing, winning or losing. If you are losing you’re on the practice court a lot in the day.
SZ: You don’t take a day off when things aren’t going well?
RS: I would need to take a mental day. I have the tendency to churn over losses and need to get away. There are some players who just want to get back out there and practice. It depends on your personality. Some people like to chill out in their room and get on the computer. When I began the tour there wasn’t the computer so I’d read. At a tournament like La Costa I can go surfing. A couple of times I won here and I surfed everyday, or played golf. But not every tour stop is La Costa. If I am in Berlin I can go to see some history or something to get away.
SZ: Is it fatiguing going out to see the sights while you are traveling?
RS: It is. People don’t realize how draining it is. People assume we are so lucky traveling and seeing the world. To be honest of the great places I’ve been I haven’t really seen the cool parts. A lot of that is because it’s too physically and mentally draining. People ask me what I mean when I say this, but I say, “When you go on vacation and you go to all those sights that day aren’t you tired at night?” When tennis players have to play a match the next day sight seeing is not easy to do. When you are out of a tournament you are on a plane and onto the next event because if you’ve lost early in the tournament you’ve got to pull it together and prepare for the next tournament. If you’ve had a great tournament you’re straight on a plane to the next event and playing within a day. There’s a lot of down time on the tour but not a lot of that can be utilized in ways that most people would when they have time off. It’s more about conserving your energy.
SZ: Do you plan extra days at some locations so you can have chill time before the next stop?
RS: If depends where you are. If you’re in San Diego you’ll see the players hang around for a day or two. You can’t really plan because you don’t know how you will do. I remember talking with Steffi Graf about this and she said if there’s one thing she wish she had done more of is to have enjoyed her wins, but you don’t have time.
SZ: The responsibilities.
RS: Yes, the responsibilities. The pressure to do well the following week. When you are doing well there are more demands. You get to the end of the event, you win it, you have that moment where you see players cry they are so happy, you give them a couple of hours of joy and the trophy, sit around and talk about the week and then it’s bang, straight onto the next week.
SZ: The slate starts clean.
RS: It’s, “Get over it because you’ve got to play tomorrow at the next event.” It’s constant ups and downs. If you lose you’re upset for three days or you keep thinking about the shots you missed. I can’t tell you how many times at the next practice if I missed a certain ball during a match and I miss it again in practice, deja vu, it’s not fun.
Then you slowly let it go. Then you get into the next week. It’s a tough cycle.
SZ: Did you plan down time and go home?
RS: Having down time, getting away from tournaments and focusing on practicing things or working on fitness is as important as winning matches. When you are doing really well it’s as important as ever to give yourself a day or two to not think about tennis and stress. It feels as though you’re tuned in from the first moment of the year of playing to the very end. During the season you don’t feel like you have down time. I always saw the day after the Tour Championships as the day I could breathe without stressing, because I knew I had six weeks before the Australian Open began.
SZ: Did you ever work with a sport psychologist during your career?
RS: I didn’t. I did when I was at the Institute of Sport in Australia because it was stressed upon us. I think it’s an individual thing. I think it’s really helped some players. I talk to players and friends about how to handle situations. I have found that to be more beneficial to me. For me it was difficult to listen to a sport psychologist when it felt like, “You don’t know how I feel. You don’t know what it feels like to have break point and not think about the outcome of that". You can tell me to breathe and do certain things, maybe it’s just my personality. I’m combative. Whereas if a player says to me, “Listen this is what I did in this moment, this is what benefited me.” Then I think to myself, “Oh I’ll try that.” It’s an individual thing.
SZ: The tour is unique in that players start it at a very young age and this is the only environment they are immersed in for many years. Then they get outside that and someone can see that a player is strong in certain areas of their lives but outside these boundaries, a lot is missing.
RS: Yes, it’s something the WTA is trying to do, to teach more life skills. I don’t think this gets talked about enough. I talk to players about it because you’re in such a microcosm of the world and you’re such a small part of life. You don’t get life skills. Simple things like how do you pay your bills? You get parents looking after the details for you and suddenly you turn 30 and wonder what have I been doing with my life? It’s scary for players that have been on the tour since they were sixteen. Everything is catered to like booking your hotel room. The tournaments make it easy for players. On the flip side there are certain things a normal 17 or 18 year old girl can’t fathom what we go through. So it is what it is. But I think life skills aren’t part of the tour. You’re taught everyday to wake up and work hard, practice, hit the ball and everything else will be okay. There are many players I talk to and ask them what they are going to do when they are done playing and they don’t know. Even for someone like me, I’ve always taken an interest in television. I’ve always been quite social and networked yet it’s still scary for me. It’s so different.
SZ: It’s a transition of who you know yourself to be.
RS: You’re receiving this accolade, you’re hearing people tell you how impressed they are you’re a professional tennis player and it shifts to you’re a normal person again, and that’s hard.
SZ: That’s interesting because it doesn’t matter what you are doing, you have value as a person. You've enjoyed this stage and the highlights of this commitment you've given to tennis and the success of your professional involvement. You’ve demonstrated great competence. You have great resources, connections and people have tremendous respect for you and what you’ve been doing the last twenty years.
RS: It’s always been the plan to think of life after tennis. It’s funny because I’ve thought I’ve always done that really well but to not play professional tennis, it’s been the biggest part of my life and not have that any more when it’s time to stop it’s like jumping off a cliff into safety but where? The unknown is always a bit scary for anyone.
SZ: What has been the transition path from being a competing player to the next stage of your career? You’ve been participating as a t.v. commentator for awhile now.
RS: I started in broadcasting when I was eighteen. A well known Australian broadcaster asked me what I was going to do when I am done playing tennis? I said I would love to work in television.
SZ: Early on you had an opportunity.
RS: Yes, the broadcaster said, “Well come up to the booth tomorrow.” My first reaction was,
“You’re kidding.” He said “Come on do it”. So I did and the first piece I did I was on camera. I remember the match. I remember who played.
SZ: Was it fun?
RS: Yes, I loved it. I worked the finals of the Australian Open for ESPN in 1997, with Cliff Drysdale when I hurt my wrist. I worked a bit with Pam Shriver during Fed Cup and we did Chicago together. This was when they were a little less professional about tennis. Now they’ve got their team and I’m just trying to slowly fit into that team. I work a lot for Australian t.v. now and have sporadic work with the Tennis Channel.
SZ: Has the transition been easy or a steep learning curve?
RS: It’s a process because I am still competing professionally on the tour part-time. I still play team tennis.
SZ: You can’t drop right off the cliff.
RS: Some player’s like Steffi, she was completely done. She just stopped cold turkey.
SZ: She had Andre (Agassi). It wasn’t like she was walking into a total void.
RS: That’s very true. I think that’s very important. I think people say well you shouldn’t stop playing because of someone else or stop because you don’t want to travel anymore but sometimes that's a big reason to stop. Even for me settling down and not wanting to be on the road all the time. But we’ll see what happens. It’s part of the learning curve.
Next week final segment, advice for parents and young players thinking about a life on the tour.
* Featured guests are not current nor former clients of Susan Zaro
Monday, August 15, 2011
Rennae Stubbs - A passion for playing - Part 2
Rennae Stubbs just short of her 40th birthday is enjoying a career of semi-retirement from professional tennis. Stubbs the longest serving member of the Australian Federation Cup team has made her professional tennis mark as a doubles specialist. Over her twenty year career on the tour she has chalked up sixty tournament wins, including six grand slam doubles titles. Stubbs made history this year by becoming only the fourth player in World Team Tennis history to be on five Championship teams. Stubbs participated as the co-captain on the Washington Kastles. The team was the first in WTT’s 36 year history to have an undefeated season. Rennae’s tennis career is not over but as she winds down she’s been shifting into a new role as a t.v. commentator.
This is the second installment of an interview with professional tennis player Rennae Stubbs, held during the WTA Mercury Insurance Tournament at La Costa Resort and Spa.
SZ: A singles match can be played as early as 11 in the morning while a featured doubles match may not go on court until 9 or 9:30 in the evening. How do you negotiate planning your day?
RS: When you are young it’s easier because your body responds. One big reason I stopped playing singles because I was hurting myself in singles to the point it was affecting my doubles. I was losing matches because either I had bursitis in my knee and I couldn’t really move the way I wanted on the court. I knew I had to concentrate on getting my body healthy and then I could be prepared in the doubles. Yes, physically it’s tough, really tough. Some players like Lisa Raymond have been blessed with good genes and have had few injuries. I think about players that I know that were never in the training room for injuries. Then some players are in there all the time.
SZ: Do you go to the gym while on tour?
RS: Usually every event has a gym either at the courts or at the hotel. Players, depending on how long their match is will do a cool down, maybe a work-out if they are only playing doubles they’ll do a training session after. It’s governed by how much you’re playing. If you are playing a lot of matches, if you feel like you are in shape you need to stay at a certain level or if you feel like you’re getting slow. There were times when I felt like I wasn’t getting up for my overheads or not getting to the first volley and I needed to do more explosive work. It depends on how you are.
SZ: Do you have a trainer at home who sends you work-out programs? Or do you have enough knowledge to do it yourself?
RS: In the last few years it’s narrowed down to me being disciplined enough to do it in the gym myself. When I was playing at my prime I would go home and really have training periods and then go on the road and maintain as much as I could. I also like to push myself in practice. I would always push myself on the court during practice and I think that always helped me.
SZ: Because you were more prepared when you got on the court?
RS: I just liked to push myself out on the court. Steffi Graf was like that. She just worked so hard on the court nothing was harder than that.
SZ: It shows, that’s why you’re Grand Slam Champions.
RS: It wanes, you have your up and down periods where sometimes you are working harder in the gym than other times. It’s a long season. Sometimes you see players working a lot at the start of the year and then at the end they are just trying to maintain their health. A lot of players just do yoga or things that keep themselves fresh. It depends on your body type and what works.
SZ: What do you consider to be your professional title. You just retired this year?
RS: I haven’t officially retired. There was bit of a misconception of my retirement at the start of this year because the Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley asked me if this is my last Australian Open. I said it is, and he said Tennis Australia wanted to do something for me during the Australian Open because I am so rarely at home.
I never retired and haven’t retired from the WTA so when I saw a ticker at the bottom
of the Tennis Channel saying I had retired, I was like “No, no it’s my last Australian Open.” I’ve also said I wouldn’t play Australian Fed Cup anymore because I’ve always made myself available for Fed Cup. I wanted to give the other players an opportunity. Having said that if they said, “We really want you to play, would you play?” I probably would have.
SZ: Can you see yourself coaching Fed Cup for Australia?
RS: I’d love to. I’ve always said if I were asked I would be honored and I would love to do that but I’m not going to boot anyone out. I think everyone is doing a great job.
SZ: Did you enjoy participating on Fed Cup?
RS: Absolutely.
SZ: You’re a team player.
RS: No question. I was orange girl, or hitting partner, or showed up to stand in the corner and do whatever was asked. “Rennae, we need you to serve a hundred balls to a player, or we need you to go out there and win our 5th rubber.” It was just sort of like whatever you need me to do.
SZ: That’s one feature that makes you a great player. You love your environment. You love what you are doing.
RS: I think tennis players are selfish and in their own world. I just love the team environment of Fed Cup. It’s a very Australian thing the mate mentality and I just love it. It’s been really great to play and we have so much fun. I mean our team dinners, the stories, the matches some of the memories from Fed Cup are irreplaceable.
SZ: So it would be be neat if you had an opportunity at some point to be involved with Fed Cup Australia on the coaching side?
RS: No question, it'd be great.
SZ: You are one of the consistently successful players on the tour. In your opinion what are mental toughness qualities that help talented professional players become successful week after week, year after year? Part of it sounds as though it’s just the passion for the game.
RS: I think it’s the passion for the game. The respect for the outcome in the game itself.
SZ: The history?
RS: A little bit. More than anything for me it was about a legacy every time I walked onto the court I wanted to give 100% and never tanked a match. I never threw a match. It was always very obvious that I wanted to win and I think you have to love to win but hate to lose more.
SZ: You have purpose when you play.
RS: You have to have purpose in practice. I tell kids now that I hit with that are sort of half-assing it in practice, “Listen I just want you to know that this is the way you are going to play for the rest of your life, because you can’t practice one way and turn it around in a match. If you can’t do it now you’ll never be able to do it in a match.” Just being around Steffi Graf and some other greats through-out the years I saw that. I’m a pretty jovial kidding person but when I walked onto the court I was very serious about what I did. I think you’ve got to have this yearning to be good everyday. You’ve got to surround yourself with the right people who also want success.
SZ: Who were your early role models and mentors, the people that enriched your life and appreciation of tennis and life?
RS: As a young Australian Liz Smylie was a big influence. She was doing well in doubles, won Wimbledon doubles and was a good singles player. I just sort of hung out with her a lot and practiced with her and Kathy Jordan. They took me under their wing and we would practice and they would make me feel like I had potential to be as good as them. There’s little things I’ve grasped from people. I remember Kathy Jordan yelling at me in practice because I’d hit a volley a certain way and she said, “Don’t ever hit that volley there,” and that resonated in me. I probably say the same thing to younger players now. I just think that’s the great thing about life it’s exposing what you’ve gone through in your life to someone younger and seeing the fruition of it.
SZ: The tour is an unusual place because players come and go. It’s the opportunity to be mentored by this flexible family of people.
RS: It’s true. I’ve had different people just sort of tell me different things through-out my career that I grabbed ahold of and used to help me through big matches. Todd Woodbridge would tell me things during mixed doubles matches that I would remember on the doubles court. Todd had told me he would play with me if I reached number one in the world in women’s doubles. I got to number one in the world and he didn’t play with me. I had to beat him in the Australian Open final before he agreed to play with me. We ended up winning the U.S. Open (2001) together which is pretty special.
SZ: You haven’t experienced huge gaps in your career, you’ve been consistent.
RS: Yeah, I take pride in that. In 2009 when I played with Samantha Stosur and we made the finals of Wimbledon and the finals of some big events we ended up not winning a tournament that year, although we made the end of the year Tour Championships. We had a good year but it was the first time since 1992 I hadn’t won a tournament. I said the year I don’t win a tournament is the year I quit. I got to the end of 2009 and thought I had such a good year it would be a bummer to stop on this note so I played on in 2010 and Lisa Raymond and I won the tournament at Eastbourne which made it 60 tour titles for me and 70 titles for her. It was kinda cool. You don’t think about it until people begin saying 60 tournaments, it’s a lot of tournament wins.
Sandra Cecchini was an Italian singles player and she won an event every year she played on the tour. When I heard that I thought that would be an awesome accomplishment. I thought it was a good goal.
Thursday, part 3 of the 4 part interview, do players relax on tour, how
sport psychology fits for players, and thoughts about her career transition.
Featured guests are not current nor former clients of Susan Zaro
This is the second installment of an interview with professional tennis player Rennae Stubbs, held during the WTA Mercury Insurance Tournament at La Costa Resort and Spa.
SZ: A singles match can be played as early as 11 in the morning while a featured doubles match may not go on court until 9 or 9:30 in the evening. How do you negotiate planning your day?
RS: When you are young it’s easier because your body responds. One big reason I stopped playing singles because I was hurting myself in singles to the point it was affecting my doubles. I was losing matches because either I had bursitis in my knee and I couldn’t really move the way I wanted on the court. I knew I had to concentrate on getting my body healthy and then I could be prepared in the doubles. Yes, physically it’s tough, really tough. Some players like Lisa Raymond have been blessed with good genes and have had few injuries. I think about players that I know that were never in the training room for injuries. Then some players are in there all the time.
SZ: Do you go to the gym while on tour?
RS: Usually every event has a gym either at the courts or at the hotel. Players, depending on how long their match is will do a cool down, maybe a work-out if they are only playing doubles they’ll do a training session after. It’s governed by how much you’re playing. If you are playing a lot of matches, if you feel like you are in shape you need to stay at a certain level or if you feel like you’re getting slow. There were times when I felt like I wasn’t getting up for my overheads or not getting to the first volley and I needed to do more explosive work. It depends on how you are.
SZ: Do you have a trainer at home who sends you work-out programs? Or do you have enough knowledge to do it yourself?
RS: In the last few years it’s narrowed down to me being disciplined enough to do it in the gym myself. When I was playing at my prime I would go home and really have training periods and then go on the road and maintain as much as I could. I also like to push myself in practice. I would always push myself on the court during practice and I think that always helped me.
SZ: Because you were more prepared when you got on the court?
RS: I just liked to push myself out on the court. Steffi Graf was like that. She just worked so hard on the court nothing was harder than that.
SZ: It shows, that’s why you’re Grand Slam Champions.
RS: It wanes, you have your up and down periods where sometimes you are working harder in the gym than other times. It’s a long season. Sometimes you see players working a lot at the start of the year and then at the end they are just trying to maintain their health. A lot of players just do yoga or things that keep themselves fresh. It depends on your body type and what works.
SZ: What do you consider to be your professional title. You just retired this year?
RS: I haven’t officially retired. There was bit of a misconception of my retirement at the start of this year because the Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley asked me if this is my last Australian Open. I said it is, and he said Tennis Australia wanted to do something for me during the Australian Open because I am so rarely at home.
I never retired and haven’t retired from the WTA so when I saw a ticker at the bottom
of the Tennis Channel saying I had retired, I was like “No, no it’s my last Australian Open.” I’ve also said I wouldn’t play Australian Fed Cup anymore because I’ve always made myself available for Fed Cup. I wanted to give the other players an opportunity. Having said that if they said, “We really want you to play, would you play?” I probably would have.
SZ: Can you see yourself coaching Fed Cup for Australia?
RS: I’d love to. I’ve always said if I were asked I would be honored and I would love to do that but I’m not going to boot anyone out. I think everyone is doing a great job.
SZ: Did you enjoy participating on Fed Cup?
RS: Absolutely.
SZ: You’re a team player.
RS: No question. I was orange girl, or hitting partner, or showed up to stand in the corner and do whatever was asked. “Rennae, we need you to serve a hundred balls to a player, or we need you to go out there and win our 5th rubber.” It was just sort of like whatever you need me to do.
SZ: That’s one feature that makes you a great player. You love your environment. You love what you are doing.
RS: I think tennis players are selfish and in their own world. I just love the team environment of Fed Cup. It’s a very Australian thing the mate mentality and I just love it. It’s been really great to play and we have so much fun. I mean our team dinners, the stories, the matches some of the memories from Fed Cup are irreplaceable.
SZ: So it would be be neat if you had an opportunity at some point to be involved with Fed Cup Australia on the coaching side?
RS: No question, it'd be great.
SZ: You are one of the consistently successful players on the tour. In your opinion what are mental toughness qualities that help talented professional players become successful week after week, year after year? Part of it sounds as though it’s just the passion for the game.
RS: I think it’s the passion for the game. The respect for the outcome in the game itself.
SZ: The history?
RS: A little bit. More than anything for me it was about a legacy every time I walked onto the court I wanted to give 100% and never tanked a match. I never threw a match. It was always very obvious that I wanted to win and I think you have to love to win but hate to lose more.
SZ: You have purpose when you play.
RS: You have to have purpose in practice. I tell kids now that I hit with that are sort of half-assing it in practice, “Listen I just want you to know that this is the way you are going to play for the rest of your life, because you can’t practice one way and turn it around in a match. If you can’t do it now you’ll never be able to do it in a match.” Just being around Steffi Graf and some other greats through-out the years I saw that. I’m a pretty jovial kidding person but when I walked onto the court I was very serious about what I did. I think you’ve got to have this yearning to be good everyday. You’ve got to surround yourself with the right people who also want success.
SZ: Who were your early role models and mentors, the people that enriched your life and appreciation of tennis and life?
RS: As a young Australian Liz Smylie was a big influence. She was doing well in doubles, won Wimbledon doubles and was a good singles player. I just sort of hung out with her a lot and practiced with her and Kathy Jordan. They took me under their wing and we would practice and they would make me feel like I had potential to be as good as them. There’s little things I’ve grasped from people. I remember Kathy Jordan yelling at me in practice because I’d hit a volley a certain way and she said, “Don’t ever hit that volley there,” and that resonated in me. I probably say the same thing to younger players now. I just think that’s the great thing about life it’s exposing what you’ve gone through in your life to someone younger and seeing the fruition of it.
SZ: The tour is an unusual place because players come and go. It’s the opportunity to be mentored by this flexible family of people.
RS: It’s true. I’ve had different people just sort of tell me different things through-out my career that I grabbed ahold of and used to help me through big matches. Todd Woodbridge would tell me things during mixed doubles matches that I would remember on the doubles court. Todd had told me he would play with me if I reached number one in the world in women’s doubles. I got to number one in the world and he didn’t play with me. I had to beat him in the Australian Open final before he agreed to play with me. We ended up winning the U.S. Open (2001) together which is pretty special.
SZ: You haven’t experienced huge gaps in your career, you’ve been consistent.
RS: Yeah, I take pride in that. In 2009 when I played with Samantha Stosur and we made the finals of Wimbledon and the finals of some big events we ended up not winning a tournament that year, although we made the end of the year Tour Championships. We had a good year but it was the first time since 1992 I hadn’t won a tournament. I said the year I don’t win a tournament is the year I quit. I got to the end of 2009 and thought I had such a good year it would be a bummer to stop on this note so I played on in 2010 and Lisa Raymond and I won the tournament at Eastbourne which made it 60 tour titles for me and 70 titles for her. It was kinda cool. You don’t think about it until people begin saying 60 tournaments, it’s a lot of tournament wins.
Sandra Cecchini was an Italian singles player and she won an event every year she played on the tour. When I heard that I thought that would be an awesome accomplishment. I thought it was a good goal.
Thursday, part 3 of the 4 part interview, do players relax on tour, how
sport psychology fits for players, and thoughts about her career transition.
Featured guests are not current nor former clients of Susan Zaro
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Rennae Stubbs -A passion for playing
Rennae Stubbs just short of her 40th birthday is enjoying a career of semi-retirement from professional tennis. Stubbs the longest serving member of the Australian Federation Cup team has made her professional tennis mark as a doubles specialist. Over her twenty year career on the tour she has chalked up sixty tournament wins, including six grand slam doubles titles. Stubbs made history this year by becoming only the fourth player in World Team Tennis history to be on five Championship teams. Stubbs participated as the co-captain on the Washington Kastles. The team was the first in WTT’s 36 year history to have an undefeated season. Rennae’s tennis career is not over but as she winds down she’s been shifting into a new role as a t.v. commentator.
This is part 1 of a 4 part interview with Rennae that spans her starting out as a tour player, training on the road, goals, players who mentored her, the challenges of life on the tour, career transition, and advice for parents and players thinking of about a career as a professional athlete.
SZ: It was kind of you to offer Sloane Stephens, (rising young American tennis player), encouragement after losing her match this afternoon.
RS: For me it always translated better when it came from a peer rather than a coach because you see a coach as a coach but you don’t see a coach as a peer unless of course if you’re being coached by someone who’s been there and done that. When I heard it from peers I was a little bit more receptive. It sunk in more.
SZ: Early on you played doubles with Helena Sukova?
RS: Yes, I won my first WTA event with Helena.
SZ: Did it help you recognize your talent as a player that she asked you to play as her doubles partner?
RS: Of course. I felt like I could lean on somebody out there, because I felt she could sort of get me through something that I didn’t understand and I could sort of lean on her or sort of feel like you’re just running behind them, and they are going to clear the air for you a bit and make it easier.
SZ: So you trusted her.
RS: When you are playing with someone who’s achieved so much you just think it’s routine for them and if I just sort of do what I’m doing, she’ll tell me if I’m not doing it right. Then I’ll know I’m not doing it right. Whereas if she is encouraging me then I’m
probably doing something right. So you just sort of keep doing your thing.
SZ: You have an enviable professional career doubles record. Did you envision yourself as a career doubles player?
RS: I sort of felt before I even walked on the court with Helena for the first tournament that she felt I was worthy to be out there. It’s a funny story. I had played against Helena in Tokyo and I guess she saw something in me that there was potential to be a pretty decent partner. She she came up to me and asked if I would be interested in playing in Osaka the following week. I mean when she asked I instantly thought to myself, “Oh my god no way that’s too much pressure.” I didn’t have any plans to go to Osaka so my instant reaction was, “No, I’m not playing there.” But inside I think it was more like, “Helena Sukova just asked me to play doubles and I’m not ready for that.” I don’t think I was mentally ready for it. About twenty minutes went by and I was sitting with myself going, “What the hell have I done? What am I joking one of the best doubles players that have ever played the game has just asked me to play a doubles event. So I went “Okay this is my chance, take it.” I remember walking back and saying to her, “Helena have you found a partner for Osaka?” She said, “No.” So I told her I would go and play with her and we ended up winning the tournament.
SZ: Fate and Destiny?
RS: I think in some respects I would have been a good player eventually anyway because I felt like I had the skill. But I think that everything happens for a reason and I think my sort of taking the bull by the horns and saying, “yes” in the end and taking the responsibility that if we didn’t win the tournament it would be my fault. That’s how I felt. If we don’t win the tournament it’s 100% because of me. I’m the one that sucks between the two of us. That’s what you think when you’re young and you haven’t achieved anything. So when we won it I was pretty pleased.
SZ: Was there more pressure going forward?
RS: No because the next tournament I won was with Steffi Graf in Germany. So that’s pressure! Basically I learned that the secret to doubles is picking people who are much better than you. That’s the secret.
SZ: Is there a bit of humbleness going on?
RS: No. I always say pick someone as good as you or better.
SZ: Does it motivate you to show up?
RS: I think when I was younger of course when Steffi asked me to play the doubles event in Hamburg, again I said, “No.” Playing with Steffi in Germany, even though we were friends I was still like, that’s pressure. I was playing club tennis for her club in Germany at the time and really needed to be back for a match on Saturday. It was a match against a rival club team and she said, “Don’t worry you’ll be back for the semis because we play, Jana Novotna and her partner second round, so we will lose.” These were Steffi’s words, “So we will be out of the tournament and you’ll be back in time to play the club match.” So we win our first round and end up upsetting Jana Novotna and her partner in the second round. I went back and played the club match near Frankfurt and then flew back to Hamburg in the same week. I played the semi-final club match which we won then I told Steffi she had to tell the guy I was playing for at her club, that ended up being her manager, that I can’t get back to play the big club rival final and it’s her fault because we were in the finals of the tournament. Steffi and I ended up winning the tournament.
SZ: You have an amazing career record of winning 60 doubles titles, 6 of them grand slams. Many people have no idea how incredible your doubles record has been over the years yet ninety-seven percent of people who come to watch professional tournaments are social recreational players who play doubles. As you shift into your burgeoning career as a t.v. commentator do you envision making doubles a premiere part of your broadcasting future?
RS: Most people watch singles because they see these players on t.v. and in print media. People who follow tennis know who I am and sort of know what I’ve done through the years. Certainly when I played with Lisa Raymond or Cara Black we loved going to events like San Diego, and Eastbourne and different events around the world that really appreciated who we were as a doubles team. The audience would share with us how much they loved watching us play and that’s sort of one of the reasons you keep playing, because the people really appreciate what you do and they can’t believe the shots you can make because they play doubles.
Doubles is a different game. Even Serena Williams has said to me when we were playing WTT, she wasn’t returning very well one night and she said, “Returning in doubles is so much harder than in singles.” So you know there are things about doubles that are much more difficult than in singles. The physicality in singles is obviously more difficult because you are essentially covering the whole court and you are out there by yourself. Doubles is tactically much more difficult than singles. Anticipation, having the courage to move at net on balls that are just sitting there. The timing and ability to take a ball quickly out of the air, and there’s obviously the precision in returning serve. If you look at where a opponent is standing at the net there’s only a few spots in the court where you can hit a clean winner. That would be a perfect return down the line which is over the highest part of the net which is difficult to do. Or a clean winner inside out and then you’ve got to get past the volleyer so it’s very precise. Doubles is a very different game than singles. I don’t think it’s explained to people enough how difficult it is. As Serena said it’s so much harder to return in doubles because in singles you can hit the return of serve back into the middle of the court. In doubles the middle of the court is the worst shot. So it will be nice to promote and educate to help people understand how difficult it is to do what the really good doubles players do.
SZ: Did you have an idea you would be involved in doubles for your professional career or were you hoping to be more involved in singles?
RS: I don’t think any player starts out thinking they are going to make their living playing doubles. I was always a better doubles player. I played a lot of doubles as a kid in team events in Australia. The weekends were filled up with a lot of doubles for me. I think it just lends itself to my nature, my game and it just came naturally. Singles I had to really work on. Then I got some pretty bad injuries that affected me. When I came back and trying to qualify for singles events I was always doing well in doubles so the problem was I couldn’t really go and play qualifying at some of the events for singles. So that’s another reason why some players only go into doubles because they are making money doing it that way and then they have to forfeit essentially doing well in doubles to go and play a qualifying event in singles. That becomes difficult because the player ends up giving up a guaranteed decent pay check to go and possibly get another one in singles. It’s hard because you are paying your own way and I had bills to pay. I was on my own so those decisions you make over time. I mean I didn’t quit playing singles until I was 29 so I played a long time but it was hard for me because I was always doing so well in doubles. I had to make a decision and when I did it was when I really started to excel in doubles.
Tomorrow, Rennae reflects on training on the road, goals, players who mentored her.
Featured guests are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro
This is part 1 of a 4 part interview with Rennae that spans her starting out as a tour player, training on the road, goals, players who mentored her, the challenges of life on the tour, career transition, and advice for parents and players thinking of about a career as a professional athlete.
SZ: It was kind of you to offer Sloane Stephens, (rising young American tennis player), encouragement after losing her match this afternoon.
RS: For me it always translated better when it came from a peer rather than a coach because you see a coach as a coach but you don’t see a coach as a peer unless of course if you’re being coached by someone who’s been there and done that. When I heard it from peers I was a little bit more receptive. It sunk in more.
SZ: Early on you played doubles with Helena Sukova?
RS: Yes, I won my first WTA event with Helena.
SZ: Did it help you recognize your talent as a player that she asked you to play as her doubles partner?
RS: Of course. I felt like I could lean on somebody out there, because I felt she could sort of get me through something that I didn’t understand and I could sort of lean on her or sort of feel like you’re just running behind them, and they are going to clear the air for you a bit and make it easier.
SZ: So you trusted her.
RS: When you are playing with someone who’s achieved so much you just think it’s routine for them and if I just sort of do what I’m doing, she’ll tell me if I’m not doing it right. Then I’ll know I’m not doing it right. Whereas if she is encouraging me then I’m
probably doing something right. So you just sort of keep doing your thing.
SZ: You have an enviable professional career doubles record. Did you envision yourself as a career doubles player?
RS: I sort of felt before I even walked on the court with Helena for the first tournament that she felt I was worthy to be out there. It’s a funny story. I had played against Helena in Tokyo and I guess she saw something in me that there was potential to be a pretty decent partner. She she came up to me and asked if I would be interested in playing in Osaka the following week. I mean when she asked I instantly thought to myself, “Oh my god no way that’s too much pressure.” I didn’t have any plans to go to Osaka so my instant reaction was, “No, I’m not playing there.” But inside I think it was more like, “Helena Sukova just asked me to play doubles and I’m not ready for that.” I don’t think I was mentally ready for it. About twenty minutes went by and I was sitting with myself going, “What the hell have I done? What am I joking one of the best doubles players that have ever played the game has just asked me to play a doubles event. So I went “Okay this is my chance, take it.” I remember walking back and saying to her, “Helena have you found a partner for Osaka?” She said, “No.” So I told her I would go and play with her and we ended up winning the tournament.
SZ: Fate and Destiny?
RS: I think in some respects I would have been a good player eventually anyway because I felt like I had the skill. But I think that everything happens for a reason and I think my sort of taking the bull by the horns and saying, “yes” in the end and taking the responsibility that if we didn’t win the tournament it would be my fault. That’s how I felt. If we don’t win the tournament it’s 100% because of me. I’m the one that sucks between the two of us. That’s what you think when you’re young and you haven’t achieved anything. So when we won it I was pretty pleased.
SZ: Was there more pressure going forward?
RS: No because the next tournament I won was with Steffi Graf in Germany. So that’s pressure! Basically I learned that the secret to doubles is picking people who are much better than you. That’s the secret.
SZ: Is there a bit of humbleness going on?
RS: No. I always say pick someone as good as you or better.
SZ: Does it motivate you to show up?
RS: I think when I was younger of course when Steffi asked me to play the doubles event in Hamburg, again I said, “No.” Playing with Steffi in Germany, even though we were friends I was still like, that’s pressure. I was playing club tennis for her club in Germany at the time and really needed to be back for a match on Saturday. It was a match against a rival club team and she said, “Don’t worry you’ll be back for the semis because we play, Jana Novotna and her partner second round, so we will lose.” These were Steffi’s words, “So we will be out of the tournament and you’ll be back in time to play the club match.” So we win our first round and end up upsetting Jana Novotna and her partner in the second round. I went back and played the club match near Frankfurt and then flew back to Hamburg in the same week. I played the semi-final club match which we won then I told Steffi she had to tell the guy I was playing for at her club, that ended up being her manager, that I can’t get back to play the big club rival final and it’s her fault because we were in the finals of the tournament. Steffi and I ended up winning the tournament.
SZ: You have an amazing career record of winning 60 doubles titles, 6 of them grand slams. Many people have no idea how incredible your doubles record has been over the years yet ninety-seven percent of people who come to watch professional tournaments are social recreational players who play doubles. As you shift into your burgeoning career as a t.v. commentator do you envision making doubles a premiere part of your broadcasting future?
RS: Most people watch singles because they see these players on t.v. and in print media. People who follow tennis know who I am and sort of know what I’ve done through the years. Certainly when I played with Lisa Raymond or Cara Black we loved going to events like San Diego, and Eastbourne and different events around the world that really appreciated who we were as a doubles team. The audience would share with us how much they loved watching us play and that’s sort of one of the reasons you keep playing, because the people really appreciate what you do and they can’t believe the shots you can make because they play doubles.
Doubles is a different game. Even Serena Williams has said to me when we were playing WTT, she wasn’t returning very well one night and she said, “Returning in doubles is so much harder than in singles.” So you know there are things about doubles that are much more difficult than in singles. The physicality in singles is obviously more difficult because you are essentially covering the whole court and you are out there by yourself. Doubles is tactically much more difficult than singles. Anticipation, having the courage to move at net on balls that are just sitting there. The timing and ability to take a ball quickly out of the air, and there’s obviously the precision in returning serve. If you look at where a opponent is standing at the net there’s only a few spots in the court where you can hit a clean winner. That would be a perfect return down the line which is over the highest part of the net which is difficult to do. Or a clean winner inside out and then you’ve got to get past the volleyer so it’s very precise. Doubles is a very different game than singles. I don’t think it’s explained to people enough how difficult it is. As Serena said it’s so much harder to return in doubles because in singles you can hit the return of serve back into the middle of the court. In doubles the middle of the court is the worst shot. So it will be nice to promote and educate to help people understand how difficult it is to do what the really good doubles players do.
SZ: Did you have an idea you would be involved in doubles for your professional career or were you hoping to be more involved in singles?
RS: I don’t think any player starts out thinking they are going to make their living playing doubles. I was always a better doubles player. I played a lot of doubles as a kid in team events in Australia. The weekends were filled up with a lot of doubles for me. I think it just lends itself to my nature, my game and it just came naturally. Singles I had to really work on. Then I got some pretty bad injuries that affected me. When I came back and trying to qualify for singles events I was always doing well in doubles so the problem was I couldn’t really go and play qualifying at some of the events for singles. So that’s another reason why some players only go into doubles because they are making money doing it that way and then they have to forfeit essentially doing well in doubles to go and play a qualifying event in singles. That becomes difficult because the player ends up giving up a guaranteed decent pay check to go and possibly get another one in singles. It’s hard because you are paying your own way and I had bills to pay. I was on my own so those decisions you make over time. I mean I didn’t quit playing singles until I was 29 so I played a long time but it was hard for me because I was always doing so well in doubles. I had to make a decision and when I did it was when I really started to excel in doubles.
Tomorrow, Rennae reflects on training on the road, goals, players who mentored her.
Featured guests are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro
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