Sheila McInerney enters her 30th season as the Sun Devil’s woman’s head tennis coach. McInerney has led the Sun Devils to 18 NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearances and eight quarter final appearances in her tenure. Her teams have made the NCAA tournament in twenty-seven straight years and twenty-nine years total. McInerney’s teams hold a high commitment to academics and had three members named to the PAC-10 All-Academic team as well as being the only team at Arizona State to post a perfect Academic Progress Rate score.
In her collegiate years, McInerney attended USC, where she captained the Trojans during her senior season. The four-time All-American also was a four-time Trojan Spirit Award winner. During her time at USC the Trojans won three national championships. After college she played on the WTA tour and achieved a world ranking in the top seventy-five.
SZ: You have a wealth of experience as a player having played junior, collegiate and professional tennis prior to your coaching career at ASU. What types of coaching did you receive on the mental game of tennis to prepare you for matches, and keeping your focus during matches as a junior?
SM: I’ll be honest I don’t think we received much growing up. When I was growing up my dad was pretty involved in my tennis in a good way. I read a lot of books and one was, The Power of Positive Thinking. I think Norman Vincent Peale wrote it. Through the years as a coach I’ve been to a lot of seminars and listened to Jim Loehr who has contributed a lot to the tennis industry. Loehr emphasizes players having routines, and breathing techniques. Growing up the phrase “sport psychologist” wasn’t really allowed. But now, whether it be tennis or any other sport here at Arizona State we employ a sport psychologist that the player’s go to see. Certainly thirty years ago that service wasn’t available for players. Its really changed.
SZ: You’ve been the head coach at ASU for thirty years. What changes have you introduced over the years to prepare your teams mentally for the tennis season?
SM: Our staff works with the team around goal setting. We meet with the team after the tennis season is over and discuss summer goals, short and long term. When the player’s return in the Fall we check in with them and ask what they’ve done around their goals. We ask them what their short and long term goals are for the Fall. At the end of the Fall we move onto Spring goals, team goals, individual goals. We do a lot of goal setting. I meet individually with the players and work with them to construct individual goals. Then our sport psychologist meets with the team to work on team chemistry, and accountability goals. When I first began coaching I thought I could do everything. I see myself as a positive person and I’ve been involved in tennis all my life. I know how to get a player pretty well in their developmental progression from point A to point B. But then I realized that each player’s at a different starting point regarding being on a team. So from a coaching stand point our staff works with players more on technique, and the mental training we have the sport psychologist provide assistance in team dynamics because that becomes extremely important.
SZ: So the coaching staff sticks closer to more technical, strategic player involvement.
SM: Right, but also match play. I help the players understand momentum during a match. For example, when a player is in a match and they lose a couple of points, they need to slow things down. When they are up 3-1 in a match, that’s the time to keep their foot on the gas and keep up their playing pace. Our staff works with the players on mental match situations that are specific to tennis competition.
SZ: Are any mental skills practiced off court?
SM: In the last three or four years we’ve done a lot more. Basically my experience with players is that they are visual learners. We video practices. Not every practice, but when we play practice matches we video the match. All our competitive matches in season are videoed. The player can now go right onto their i-pad or i-phone and receive instant feedback. That’s been a big help. Technology has made it easy for us as coaches. After matches players can go in and watch the video and we review. Tennis was always a little more difficult because there’s six matches going on at one time. Most schools now days have invested in cameras on every court. We look at technique, strategies, body language, whether the player was performing her routine before starting a point, breathing etc.
I think the players have really benefited from that. During a practice I can tell a player, “Keep your head up on your serve,” and they player may think she is doing that, but when I pull up the video she can see what her head was doing, it’s made a big difference.
SZ: There was a period of time you traveled with Lindsey Davenport and Chanda Rubin who both had successful tennis careers. What mental qualities did they have that gave them a boost over their opponents?
SM: Lindsey was such a good player, a great ball striker. She had fantastic stroke technique and really understood the game. Lindsey did not like to lose. That was a strong point with her. She was young, fifteen, when I traveled with her. Later as she continued to physically and mentally develop she got into great physical shape. When you are in great physical shape you become mentally stronger. I think visualization, and all that stuff is hugely important, but from a mental stand point if you look at tennis in general, you are mentally stronger when you are in great shape.
I look at Novak Djokovic, and you can say all you want about him, sure he’s got great coaching and all but he’s so fit. He has that much more confidence in himself. I see that across the board in all sports. Even the professional golfers are training and working out like never before. Tiger Woods brought this into the sport. Getting back to Djokovic, he’s changed his diet, he’s used one of those CVAC Pods, it’s incredible.
Being physically fit has really taken over the sport of tennis and it’s helped player’s mentally. I find that within my own tennis team that the better shape the player’s are in the more confident they move on the court. One of my favorite quotes by Vincent Lombardi is, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” If a player gets tired out there they will make poor decisions. The player will go for big shots because they are tired and can’t stay in the point. Every player experiences nerves. All the top players in the world admit to it. But once a player gets themselves into great playing shape they feel they deserve to win. The mental and physical preparation is related.
SZ: Year after year in big events such as the Australian Open, The French, Wimbledon and U.S. Open the women often have lopsided matches Many of these in the semi-finals and finals. In your opinion do you see these lopsided results as being more physical or mental defeats?
SM: If you look at the great players like Tracy Austin even at fifteen years old, she always believed she was going to win the U.S. Open. If you look at how Richard Williams brought up his daughter’s Venus and Serena, he gave them the message they were going to be the number one and two female tennis players in the world. They entered their professional tennis career with that mind set. I do think that some of it is mentality. I look at Maria Sharapova, the media and some people don’t care for her tennis. But I have the utmost respect for her because she is not the most natural athlete, yet she works hard, she competes fiercely and rarely loses to someone she shouldn’t lose to. She gets nervous, but is a great competitor, believes in herself and fights to the end. Looking at Serena, she is a pretty confident person. She gets nervous but I think she just sort of toughs it out. Some player’s who are in great physical shape, for example, Ana Ivanovic or Jelena Jankovic move forward but then drop back. So it may be mental lapses.
I find Rafael Nadal interesting because he’s very humble. I recently read an article where he basically said he never thinks he’s better than anyone else. What he does do is work so much harder than his opponents. That’s why his body breaks down. There’s just so many different levels. If you look at the top women overall I think the mental game plays into it a bit. Steffi Graf was another mentally tough player. You have to add to this list Li Na who just won the 2014 Australian Open. Her current coach is Carlos Rodriquez who previously worked with Justine Henin. Li Na said that in the off season her work with Rodriquez was very tough, very strong. So I think mentally this helps players overcome anything. Li Na’s level of play has improved.
SZ: When a player puts that much physical work into their preparation, it develops mental ownership that no-one is going to take this match from me because I’ve put too much work into the preparation. My opponent is going to need to beat me every point.
SZ: Over the years some of your player’s have continued onto the professional tour. What do player’s need to know about the next step? What overall skills do they need physically and mentally to prepare for the next level?
SM: I think the hardest part probably of the transition from college to the pro’s is the lifestyle. I think some of these college players can go out there and do fairly well on the tour but it’s a challenge because they’ve got to love to play. They’ve got to love to compete because the tour is not an easy lifestyle. Media coverage at the Majors highlights the glamor. But making it on the tour starting at the beginning without a ranking is the hard part. It’s lonely, it’s not easy. As I continue to say in my opinion the player has to be in the utmost shape. The beauty of college tennis is that the best player’s have won a lot and they’ve learned how to win matches. Once a player is on tour they have that experience and believe in themselves. Along with that the players need a strong support system. In the old days we’d be on tour and have buddies to practice with. Now it’s a little more of an isolated existence. It’s difficult for a player starting out if they don’t have a lot of financial backing, which is another challenge. The player needs to be really hungry, because it’s going to be challenging.
Whereas in college, although it’s still an individual sport the players are supplied with coaches everyday on the court, have access to video, a sport psychologist and nutritionist to consult with, pretty much everything they need. After college when the player is off on their own they’ve got to have somewhat of a support system because it’s tough.
SZ: What’s your favorite part of coaching at the collegiate level?
SM: I’m helping 18-22 year olds mature. For some of these player’s it’s their first time away from home for an extended period. It’s a big thing to see them develop as people and players. I think I am a pretty laid back coach. I’m pretty organized and focused as a coach. I think though that some player’s may feel as though I am a tough coach. Whereas I don’t see myself as a tough coach. I think the young players need to learn a certain amount of discipline. Things have changed in coaching. Today’s athlete comes in and has high expectations and the school is providing much more support.
But players arrive at college and they have personal coaches back home, the school provides tutors, sport medicine doctors, trainers, etc. Yet, I don’t always feel player’s are as confident in themselves as they used to be. Young players have so much done for them in their junior years. College may be the first time that they have been on their own and are not the big fish in the small pond anymore. So I think from a confidence stand point it’s very interesting. As coaches we try to encourage the players to be more accountable. We try to help them become more independent. I remember my college days at USC and I would call my parents collect once a week to check in, “Collect call from Sheila,” and hope they would accept the call. (Laughing....). Now the players call their parents three times a day, or text.
As a coach a lot of things have changed. I think the fun part for me is keeping up with the times. I’m much more flexible as a coach than I was when I began years ago. As a tennis staff while working with the players we ask them a lot of questions. If we “tell” the kids it’s in one ear and out the other. Growing up playing tennis I learned to place the ball in the court in response to situations. We find that a lot of young players don’t know the strategic game. We ask the players questions. For example if the ball is hit crosscourt where is the next ball going to go? Where would you expect this next ball to go? But as a coach, I’ve adapted, and have to to stay involved.
We also have our team play a lot more matches than when I first began coaching. You were asking about the mental parts of the game earlier. I find player’s coming in aren’t as competitive, match tough as they used to be. We have our player’s compete more in practice because it’s not the end of the world if they lose in practice. So there are many aspects of a players development I get to see over the four year period.
SZ: Do you have any favorite quotes, stories or tips that have guided your career?
SM: We hand out a lot of quotes to the team. A lot of the time the player’s bring in quotes. Nothing profound but, “If it’s going to be, it’s up to me.” In college tennis whatever team wins four matches wins. So each player needs to take care of their match and not rely on another player to win for the team. “Don’t let your ship come in, swim out to it.” They need to go after what they want. Going back to these player’s having a lot done for them, many just wait and let things happen. The good player’s go after what they want. From a coaching standpoint, “Player’s don’t care how much you know, they want to know how much you care.” As a coach player’s need to know how much I am invested in how they are doing in school, how their family is doing, how life is going. But with that being said it’s got to go both ways. The coaching staff can’t be the only giver, the players need to give back.
SZ: What would you like the public to know about the ASU Sun Devils tennis team and the upcoming season?
SM: We take a lot of pride in their individual and player development. Our players get better as the season goes on. So I think that’s sort of the mantra of our program, “Maximize your ability.” If the players want to get better they will improve through this program because we invest a lot of time in them. Thirty years later I see myself as a much better coach. I think the public needs to know how fortunate student athletes of today are. They come to a division one school and receive great coaching. Athletes receive tutoring, and opportunities through the school such as, internships, leadership programs or mentors. One thing that’s always rankled me a bit, particularly in football, is when I hear, “Are student athletes really athletes?” They are. I mean these schools do so much for the athletes of today. If the player doesn’t finish college, they went pro early, or didn’t put the effort in because the schools are bending over backwards for these athletes. College athletes of today have fantastic opportunities.
SZ: Sheila thanks for taking time for this interview. The Sun Devils play Stanford March, 29th @ Stanford.
*Photos provided courtesy of ASU media.
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