Eric Reveno, took over as University of Portland’s men’s basketball head coach in April, 2006, becoming the 20th coach in Pilot history. He previously served nine successful seasons as an assistant coach at Stanford. Reveno has had remarkable results building up the Pilots basketball team since he took on the head coach job. Reveno led the Pilots to a 21-11 record and second consecutive postseason appearance. The 21 wins matched a school record and the Pilots earned a top 25 ranking in the Associated Press Poll for the first time in 50 years.
An imposing 6-foot, 8 inch figure, Reveno commands respect not with mere presence, but with his passion for, and teaching of, a disciplined style of play. Himself a post player for the Cardinals in the late 80’s under both Tom Davis, and Mike Montgomery, Reveno was described as a fierce competitor on the court. After graduating from Stanford in 1989, he spent four years playing professional basketball in Japan. He returned to Stanford and obtained his M.B.A.
SZ: Coach Reveno you played a major role on the Stanford men’s basketball team as a starting center in the 80’s. Years later you became an associate head coach at Stanford. What awareness/ideas from your previous playing/coaching days made an impression on you regarding the importance and structure of a team’s culture?
Coach Reveno: The most important thing I learned from my playing days at Stanford was the value of productive conflict. The team I played on had the ability to confront each other with honest communication and move forward and grow. As a coach, I am cautious when I see a team that always “gets along”. Like any family, team working so hard together is going to have conflict. We try to make sure that team members are always respectful of each other and that the goals of the team are always the top priority.From this culture of honest communication, growth as a team can take place.
SZ: Since becoming the Head Coach of the Portland Pilots you’ve been recognized as a leader in the use of sport performance analysis technology. What types of technology do you utilize with the players in teaching player development? In what ways is this technology useful to you as a coach and for the player’s?
Coach Reveno: Digital video is the most valuable teaching tool that we use on a daily basis. It starts with digitally capturing all of practice and games including individual player footage. From there we log the video either from a team strategy or individual skill development perspective. The objective here is to have the video log based on how you will use it to teach. Sometimes it may be something like the ability to watch all of a player’s turnovers of missed shots. We try to tailor how we use the video based on what the player needs. Not what the technology allows us to do. Therefore, we are always trying to be more creative in what we watch and how we watch. We email clips, put video on in the locker room, post it on a server they can access and have individual meetings. Each player has different areas to focus on and different ways in which they learn so we try to adapt to them.
SZ: Prior to beginning your career as a basketball coach you completed your M.B.A. In what ways was attending business school useful in preparing you for your future as a head coach?
Coach Reveno: The most fundamental way business school helped prepare me to be a head coach is it teaches how to run a business. A Division 1 basketball program has all the challenges of a small business ranging from human resources to marketing to managing budgets. All the nuts and bolts of a small business exist for a college basketball coach. However, I think the most valuable lessons from business school had to do with defining and solving organizational problems. The training in strategic planning and market positioning are just examples of areas that take advantage of classic MBA training.
SZ:You’ve mentioned your passion for the game and look for this quality in your coaching staff. What are the signature qualities you look for in a staff member who fits your definition of “has a passion for the game?” How do these qualities add to the continued success of your program?
Coach Reveno: I think you have to be what Jim Collins calls “functionally neurotic” in the sense that you are truly driven to be the best you can be. No little element is too small to correct if it will help you be the best coach you can be. That approach is contagious and serves as an example for the players. You also have to be hard-wired to believe that truly great things can really only be achieved with teamwork.
SZ:Some of the preparation for the team season involves, players embracing the team culture, physical training, technological analysis, does the team practice mental performance tools or do the above mentioned items create the foundation of mental conditioning?
Coach Reveno: Unfortunately, we do not consistently do mental training exercises. We consciously work to establish pre-practice and pre-game routines and are very aware of the power of the language we use when teaching but I believe we could take it another step. Part of the constraint has been time and the inability to adequately individualize it based on players needs given both time and expertise constraints.
SZ:You became head coach of the Pilots in 2006 and your leadership gave the program an immediate burst of success that has continued. It’s just as important for the coaches to be in shape mentally as it is for the players. What are some things you do to keep yourself fresh mentally season after season?
Coach Reveno: The thing I do the most consistently is study other coaches, either by going to clinics, reading books or watching games and practices. Things do not get stale because I feel I can always be improving as a coach. In addition, I strongly believe you need to adjust to each team each season and also be constantly adjusting to what each team needs throughout the season. Therefore, no two practices are ever the same. What a team needs on any given day to help achieve its goals is truly unique and you are always in search of that “perfect” practice plan
SZ: Do you have a favorite inspirational quote, story that has guided you on your professional path?
Coach Reveno: I love quotes. Well thought out ideas that help guide us daily. My favorite is the poem by Rudyard Kipling “If” It seems to cover it all.
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!
Coach Reveno, thank you for taking time out of your very, busy schedule
for this interview. Congratulations on another great basketball season.
*featured guests are not former nor present clients of Susan Zaro
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Advocates for Athletes, LLC
Interview with Steve Britschgi, President of Advocates for Athletes, LLC
As a former college athlete and parent of a recruited collegiate basketball player Steve understands what it is like to go through the college recruiting process. He has been in and around sports his entire life. Through A4A, Steve educates families on how to realistically assess their child’s level of athletic talent and provides a path to take full advantage of the educational and life benefits that can be earned through playing sports at the collegiate level.
SZ: Steve what was your motivation to start A4A?
Steve: My motivation was the experience that my wife and I went through with our son’s college recruiting. We had no idea what to do or where to turn to get the answers that we needed to navigate through the process. Like us, most families sit back and wait for college coaches to contact them, when in reality it is the athlete and families that should be contacting the coaches. But how do you know that, how do you know when to start the process or even what to say? We did some research and located some internet based recruiting companies that we interviewed but found them to be very impersonal. We wanted someone who was local (bay area), that we could sit down with face to face and help us with the process. We did not find that and thus we made many mistakes. We then started talking to other parents of high school student athletes that were going through the same thing and found that we all had the same problem. So my motivation came from frustration. That and the verified need for a coaching business that is available to educate and guide student athletes and their families through this process.
SZ: What are the unique services that A4A provide for athletes and their families?
Steve B: What sets us apart is that the A4A team is all born and raised ex-athletes from the local bay area, so we are vested here. We want what’s best for our local student athletes. The whole team has either coached taught or volunteered locally and all have a passion for helping students succeed. Unlike most of our competition, we educate and guide through one-on-one sessions, and that is what makes us unique. By making it a more personal experience, we get to know the athletes better so that we can together find that right college fit, athletically, academically and socially.
SZ: Share a recent story of an athlete who benefited from the A4A program.
Steve: A4A was approached by one particular family this past October. Their athlete was a senior, very late to start the college recruiting process. He had some attention from a couple of colleges, but nothing like a scholarship offer, just a couple letters of interest. The family, like most we have talked to, was not sure where to turn or what to do. They found A4A by asking questions. At the point of our first meeting there had been nothing done to promote the athlete so we got to work quickly. Through hard work and reaching out to coaches the interest started coming in and by the first week of February the athlete had signed a letter of intent to play his sport at the college he wanted to attend, with a very nice financial package. The gratitude, the thank you’s the look in the young man’s face, and the “we would of never been able to do this without you,” was a clear validation.
SZ: Do you partner with other athletic community resources? Or is A4A a stand alone service?
Steve B: Advocates for Athletes is it's own business, but we wanted to be able to provide our clients with other resources. We have aligned ourselves with reputable local businesses and organizations that we can recommend to our clients if the have a specific need or interest. All have stellar reputations in the community and have a sincere passion similar to A4A for helping young student athletes on the peninsula. We are truly proud to be associated with them.
The Riekes Center for Human Enhancement, Mr Test Prep, Breakthrough, The Bay Area Womens Sport Initiative, and Sports Health Counseling.
SZ: Do you have a favorite inspirational quote that has guided you on your professional path?
Steve B: I do, it's by Vince Lombardi. "A man can be as great as he wants to be. If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive, and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be done."
Steve thank you for taking time out of your very busy schedule to explain the services that Advocates For Athletes provides.
Contact information for Steve Britschgi is steve@advocates4athletes.com
www.advocates4athletes.com
*Featured guests are not former nor present clients of Susan Zaro
As a former college athlete and parent of a recruited collegiate basketball player Steve understands what it is like to go through the college recruiting process. He has been in and around sports his entire life. Through A4A, Steve educates families on how to realistically assess their child’s level of athletic talent and provides a path to take full advantage of the educational and life benefits that can be earned through playing sports at the collegiate level.
SZ: Steve what was your motivation to start A4A?
Steve: My motivation was the experience that my wife and I went through with our son’s college recruiting. We had no idea what to do or where to turn to get the answers that we needed to navigate through the process. Like us, most families sit back and wait for college coaches to contact them, when in reality it is the athlete and families that should be contacting the coaches. But how do you know that, how do you know when to start the process or even what to say? We did some research and located some internet based recruiting companies that we interviewed but found them to be very impersonal. We wanted someone who was local (bay area), that we could sit down with face to face and help us with the process. We did not find that and thus we made many mistakes. We then started talking to other parents of high school student athletes that were going through the same thing and found that we all had the same problem. So my motivation came from frustration. That and the verified need for a coaching business that is available to educate and guide student athletes and their families through this process.
SZ: What are the unique services that A4A provide for athletes and their families?
Steve B: What sets us apart is that the A4A team is all born and raised ex-athletes from the local bay area, so we are vested here. We want what’s best for our local student athletes. The whole team has either coached taught or volunteered locally and all have a passion for helping students succeed. Unlike most of our competition, we educate and guide through one-on-one sessions, and that is what makes us unique. By making it a more personal experience, we get to know the athletes better so that we can together find that right college fit, athletically, academically and socially.
SZ: Share a recent story of an athlete who benefited from the A4A program.
Steve: A4A was approached by one particular family this past October. Their athlete was a senior, very late to start the college recruiting process. He had some attention from a couple of colleges, but nothing like a scholarship offer, just a couple letters of interest. The family, like most we have talked to, was not sure where to turn or what to do. They found A4A by asking questions. At the point of our first meeting there had been nothing done to promote the athlete so we got to work quickly. Through hard work and reaching out to coaches the interest started coming in and by the first week of February the athlete had signed a letter of intent to play his sport at the college he wanted to attend, with a very nice financial package. The gratitude, the thank you’s the look in the young man’s face, and the “we would of never been able to do this without you,” was a clear validation.
SZ: Do you partner with other athletic community resources? Or is A4A a stand alone service?
Steve B: Advocates for Athletes is it's own business, but we wanted to be able to provide our clients with other resources. We have aligned ourselves with reputable local businesses and organizations that we can recommend to our clients if the have a specific need or interest. All have stellar reputations in the community and have a sincere passion similar to A4A for helping young student athletes on the peninsula. We are truly proud to be associated with them.
The Riekes Center for Human Enhancement, Mr Test Prep, Breakthrough, The Bay Area Womens Sport Initiative, and Sports Health Counseling.
SZ: Do you have a favorite inspirational quote that has guided you on your professional path?
Steve B: I do, it's by Vince Lombardi. "A man can be as great as he wants to be. If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive, and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be done."
Steve thank you for taking time out of your very busy schedule to explain the services that Advocates For Athletes provides.
Contact information for Steve Britschgi is steve@advocates4athletes.com
www.advocates4athletes.com
*Featured guests are not former nor present clients of Susan Zaro
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Fight or Flight
Many coaches and athletes are familiar with the term fight or flight. The phrase is used to describe an instinctual reaction of fight or flight that occurs when faced with a perceived, real or unreal threat. Common physical/mental reactions in this state include:
• Increased breathing (typically shallow)
• Increased heart rate
• Racing thoughts
• Increased muscle tension
• Time speeds up
The majority of sporting events that most athletes participant in do not pose a physical threat, and most athletes report low to non-existent signs of stress during work-outs or practices. Yet, frequently an athletes physiological/psychological response leading up to or during a competitive event creates an “as if” reaction. When an athlete enters a state of fight or flight their athletic skills and abilities may derail creating additional frustration around sport participation. In extreme situations athletes may decide they are not able to compete any longer and give up participating in their sport competitively.
Although there are rarely quick fixes to this reaction, athletes can develop successful management strategies to lessen the physiological/psychological stress reactions of competition that can precede the state of fight or flight.
Useful management strategies include:
• Preparation for competition. Being well prepared mentally, physically, technically, leading up to a competitive event. Practices should include competitive like conditions to mimic the types of stresses of the upcoming event.
“Stress can occur when athletes are uncertain that they will be able to do what is expected of them and when the outcome is important to them.” Rainer Martens.
• Stress management techniques. Utilizing skills of visualization, controlled breathing, positive inner dialogue and tools which provide balanced mental energy.
• Identify obtainable goals. Process goals vs. outcome goals allow a more balanced gauge of short and long term improvement. Everyone’s outcome goal is to win, but process goals are the steps and details that lead to the wins.
• Healthy support team. Support from coaches, family, friends who care about the athletes goals and support those goals, yet aren’t overly invested in the athletes outcome.
Effective management of fight or flight responses begins long before an athlete steps into the competitive arena. Using management strategies can help alleviate the negative aspects of the fight or flight syndrome and can even be the detour from it occurring.
• Increased breathing (typically shallow)
• Increased heart rate
• Racing thoughts
• Increased muscle tension
• Time speeds up
The majority of sporting events that most athletes participant in do not pose a physical threat, and most athletes report low to non-existent signs of stress during work-outs or practices. Yet, frequently an athletes physiological/psychological response leading up to or during a competitive event creates an “as if” reaction. When an athlete enters a state of fight or flight their athletic skills and abilities may derail creating additional frustration around sport participation. In extreme situations athletes may decide they are not able to compete any longer and give up participating in their sport competitively.
Although there are rarely quick fixes to this reaction, athletes can develop successful management strategies to lessen the physiological/psychological stress reactions of competition that can precede the state of fight or flight.
Useful management strategies include:
• Preparation for competition. Being well prepared mentally, physically, technically, leading up to a competitive event. Practices should include competitive like conditions to mimic the types of stresses of the upcoming event.
“Stress can occur when athletes are uncertain that they will be able to do what is expected of them and when the outcome is important to them.” Rainer Martens.
• Stress management techniques. Utilizing skills of visualization, controlled breathing, positive inner dialogue and tools which provide balanced mental energy.
• Identify obtainable goals. Process goals vs. outcome goals allow a more balanced gauge of short and long term improvement. Everyone’s outcome goal is to win, but process goals are the steps and details that lead to the wins.
• Healthy support team. Support from coaches, family, friends who care about the athletes goals and support those goals, yet aren’t overly invested in the athletes outcome.
Effective management of fight or flight responses begins long before an athlete steps into the competitive arena. Using management strategies can help alleviate the negative aspects of the fight or flight syndrome and can even be the detour from it occurring.
Friday, January 21, 2011
SMI - Sport Injury Treatment
Mark Fadil is clinical director of the Sports Medicine Institute (SMI). SMI offers evaluation and treatment of sports related injuries and provides massage therapy geared towards injury prevention and performance enhancement for individuals and athletes of all abilities.
Sz: Mark what has been your professional path to becoming a certified massage therapist? What’s the training process?
MF: The training has changed as far as certification goes in the state of California. When I became certified right after I completed college I took a basic class at one of the massage therapy schools. At that time all that was required was a 100 hour certification class. I took the class and was fortunate to immediately begin working with Len Debenedictis, who had been my massage therapist when I was a competitive athlete. He took me under his wing and the training was arranged as an internship where he mentored me. Our arrangement was set up where we would both work with a client at the same time. Initially it was me watching him and then I began becoming more active in the sessions. As I learned more I did more of the work on my own. We did this for a year or so before I started working independently with clients.
Sz: Was Len working specifically with athletes?
MF: He was. He did a lot of work with athletes when I was on the Stanford track and field cross country team. That’s how I was introduced to him. He was working with a number of athletes on the Stanford swim team, track and field team and recreational athletes. He had really tapped into that community so it was a great way for me to become involved.
Sz: So you were a competitive collegiate athlete at Stanford.
MF: Yes, I ran the steeple chase and cross country.
Sz: Do you continue to be active in sports?
MF: I still run. I haven’t competed since college but I run and have been road cycling for about two years, for enjoyment, health and to stay in shape.
Sz: Did your experience as a competitive athlete bring you into the field of body work?
MF: Yes, I had an IT (lliotibial band) injury and was hurt for about nine months to the point I couldn’t run more than a mile without experiencing knee pain. I was participating in a lot of conventional therapies. This was back in the early 90’s. The therapies involved basic stretching, doing some strength exercises, and a couple of cortisone injections. My injury wasn’t improving and I ended up going to see Gerard Hartman, a physiotherapist in Gainesville, Florida. I went to Florida to spend ten days with Gerard. He worked out of his home and had his practice set up where clients, primarily runners, would stay with him for two or three weeks at a time. His clients were from around the country and around the world. His method was to work with a client everyday for 2-3 hours. It was deep, aggressive, painful work. The treatment helped and my injury healed. That experience really sparked my interest in body work.
Len whom, I had been working with in the bay area, had been doing more general sports massage on my injury. When I returned home I shared Gerard’s approach with Len and that sparked Len’s interest. He added dealing with injuries as well as general work, injury prevention, and maintenance to his practice.
After I graduated from Stanford I decided that this was the field I wanted to be involved in and started the courses to becoming a certified masseuse, then began working with Len.
Sz: Do you feel your experience as an athlete gives you a connection with the competitive athletes and better connection to what they are experiencing?
MF: Definitely. I think that competitive athletes approach things with a certain mentality. It’s hard to understand what that mentality is and how that plays a part of whom they are and how they approach an injury. Not only in regards to an injury but often times the sport or their activity defines who they are and that’s difficult to understand unless you’ve experienced it or been around these athletes a lot.
I had a good friend of mine who was a 1500 meter runner years ago. She was having some knee problems leading up to the Olympic trials a few years ago. She went to see an orthopedists and was working with him a few weeks and her knee wasn’t improving. At one point he said, “Well have you thought about picking up swimming.” Her response was, “Have you thought about picking up pediatrics?” A competitive athlete isn’t participating just for the fun of it. For many athletes competing in their sport defines who they are.
Sz: Describe what massage therapists at SMI do differently from traditional massage therapists.
MF: A vast amount of the body work that therapists do at SMI is to focus on one area. A client presents with a specific shoulder problem. The therapist will spend the appointment focusing on the clients shoulder. From my experience the majority of sport massage therapists will spend additional time on the shoulder area but within the context of a full body massage. Our niche is to focus on the problem area and as a result we see clients with specific injuries. The therapists here also work with the athlete on injury prevention and maintenance. But even there it is usually in the context of working on the specific trouble area. The sessions tend to be very focused and individualized. There’s not a set routine. Our therapists are trained to be in tune with the client needs and streamlining the session for their individual needs.
Sz: Baby boomers and health is a very popular topic in the media right now. Studies show that boomers are actively involved in sports later into their lives than any generation in the past. Has SMI experienced an increase in boomers utilizing the clinics services?
MF: We’ve always had a lot of clients in their 40’s and 50’s. The San Francisco bay area is a very athletically active community and it’s been an active athletic community for a very long time. I’ve been doing body work for fourteen years and ever since I’ve been involved in this work I’ve always seen a number of athletically active clients who are in middle age and beyond.
Sz: Is there a frequent injury the boomers seem to have in common?
MF: It really boils down to the sport they participate in. We see a lot of swimming, cycling, and running clients. The running population has a lot of IT band issues, hamstring problems and planter fasciitis. Cyclists tend to experience neck, and back issues. Swimmers deal with rotator cuffs, shoulder, neck and lower back injuries. The injuries seem to be sport oriented not age specific.
Sz: Sport medicine statistics report that younger athletes are experiencing serious over use injuries. Has the clinic noticed an increase in young athletes needing the clinics services?
MF: We have seen a pick up of clients in the junior high and high school age group. We do have a number of junior and high school athletes coming in on a pretty regular basis, not only for injuries but for injury prevention and maintenance. It probably is a shift to parents being more aware of the potential for injury in younger kids and parents are trying to stay ahead of the game.
Sz: Do you feel the increase in the youth population is because there are a greater number of youths participating on sport teams, or do you feel some of the younger athletes are being over trained and over played in their sports and not introduced to enough cross training and seasonal breaks?
MF: I do think there is over training and over structure of training. I reflect back to my youth and before I began running I played soccer. I played soccer all the time but it was less structured. I participated on a travel team and the season lasted about six weeks. We would take road trips maybe once or twice a season. The rest of my playing consisted of pick up games. I’d go to the field and players would show up and we’d split up the teams and play until we were tired. Now with all the drilling structure it’s seems as though it’s become more like work than play for youth. I think that when kids are just playing they are less likely to get hurt.
Sz: Because they are less stressed physically and mentally?
MF: Exactly.
Sz: As you see athletes going through the injury rehabilitation process and struggling with their psychological response how do you handle these situations?
MF: That can be a challenge. It’s not just dealing with the athlete it’s also working with the parents.
Sz: As a service provider you may see beyond the presenting problem, yet you’ve been hired to perform reparative massage.
MF: We remain respectful. We try to keep the athletes welfare in mind.
Sz: Do you have a favorite inspirational quote that has guided you on your professional path?
MF: I do. It’s a quote from Rudyard Kipling. In addition to being a writer he was also a runner. “If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run yours is the earth and everything that’s in it and which is more you will be a man my son.”
Mark thank you for taking time out of your busy day to talk about the work at SMI.
Mark can be reached at: www.smiweb.org
*Featured guests are not former nor present clients of Susan Zaro
Sz: Mark what has been your professional path to becoming a certified massage therapist? What’s the training process?
MF: The training has changed as far as certification goes in the state of California. When I became certified right after I completed college I took a basic class at one of the massage therapy schools. At that time all that was required was a 100 hour certification class. I took the class and was fortunate to immediately begin working with Len Debenedictis, who had been my massage therapist when I was a competitive athlete. He took me under his wing and the training was arranged as an internship where he mentored me. Our arrangement was set up where we would both work with a client at the same time. Initially it was me watching him and then I began becoming more active in the sessions. As I learned more I did more of the work on my own. We did this for a year or so before I started working independently with clients.
Sz: Was Len working specifically with athletes?
MF: He was. He did a lot of work with athletes when I was on the Stanford track and field cross country team. That’s how I was introduced to him. He was working with a number of athletes on the Stanford swim team, track and field team and recreational athletes. He had really tapped into that community so it was a great way for me to become involved.
Sz: So you were a competitive collegiate athlete at Stanford.
MF: Yes, I ran the steeple chase and cross country.
Sz: Do you continue to be active in sports?
MF: I still run. I haven’t competed since college but I run and have been road cycling for about two years, for enjoyment, health and to stay in shape.
Sz: Did your experience as a competitive athlete bring you into the field of body work?
MF: Yes, I had an IT (lliotibial band) injury and was hurt for about nine months to the point I couldn’t run more than a mile without experiencing knee pain. I was participating in a lot of conventional therapies. This was back in the early 90’s. The therapies involved basic stretching, doing some strength exercises, and a couple of cortisone injections. My injury wasn’t improving and I ended up going to see Gerard Hartman, a physiotherapist in Gainesville, Florida. I went to Florida to spend ten days with Gerard. He worked out of his home and had his practice set up where clients, primarily runners, would stay with him for two or three weeks at a time. His clients were from around the country and around the world. His method was to work with a client everyday for 2-3 hours. It was deep, aggressive, painful work. The treatment helped and my injury healed. That experience really sparked my interest in body work.
Len whom, I had been working with in the bay area, had been doing more general sports massage on my injury. When I returned home I shared Gerard’s approach with Len and that sparked Len’s interest. He added dealing with injuries as well as general work, injury prevention, and maintenance to his practice.
After I graduated from Stanford I decided that this was the field I wanted to be involved in and started the courses to becoming a certified masseuse, then began working with Len.
Sz: Do you feel your experience as an athlete gives you a connection with the competitive athletes and better connection to what they are experiencing?
MF: Definitely. I think that competitive athletes approach things with a certain mentality. It’s hard to understand what that mentality is and how that plays a part of whom they are and how they approach an injury. Not only in regards to an injury but often times the sport or their activity defines who they are and that’s difficult to understand unless you’ve experienced it or been around these athletes a lot.
I had a good friend of mine who was a 1500 meter runner years ago. She was having some knee problems leading up to the Olympic trials a few years ago. She went to see an orthopedists and was working with him a few weeks and her knee wasn’t improving. At one point he said, “Well have you thought about picking up swimming.” Her response was, “Have you thought about picking up pediatrics?” A competitive athlete isn’t participating just for the fun of it. For many athletes competing in their sport defines who they are.
Sz: Describe what massage therapists at SMI do differently from traditional massage therapists.
MF: A vast amount of the body work that therapists do at SMI is to focus on one area. A client presents with a specific shoulder problem. The therapist will spend the appointment focusing on the clients shoulder. From my experience the majority of sport massage therapists will spend additional time on the shoulder area but within the context of a full body massage. Our niche is to focus on the problem area and as a result we see clients with specific injuries. The therapists here also work with the athlete on injury prevention and maintenance. But even there it is usually in the context of working on the specific trouble area. The sessions tend to be very focused and individualized. There’s not a set routine. Our therapists are trained to be in tune with the client needs and streamlining the session for their individual needs.
Sz: Baby boomers and health is a very popular topic in the media right now. Studies show that boomers are actively involved in sports later into their lives than any generation in the past. Has SMI experienced an increase in boomers utilizing the clinics services?
MF: We’ve always had a lot of clients in their 40’s and 50’s. The San Francisco bay area is a very athletically active community and it’s been an active athletic community for a very long time. I’ve been doing body work for fourteen years and ever since I’ve been involved in this work I’ve always seen a number of athletically active clients who are in middle age and beyond.
Sz: Is there a frequent injury the boomers seem to have in common?
MF: It really boils down to the sport they participate in. We see a lot of swimming, cycling, and running clients. The running population has a lot of IT band issues, hamstring problems and planter fasciitis. Cyclists tend to experience neck, and back issues. Swimmers deal with rotator cuffs, shoulder, neck and lower back injuries. The injuries seem to be sport oriented not age specific.
Sz: Sport medicine statistics report that younger athletes are experiencing serious over use injuries. Has the clinic noticed an increase in young athletes needing the clinics services?
MF: We have seen a pick up of clients in the junior high and high school age group. We do have a number of junior and high school athletes coming in on a pretty regular basis, not only for injuries but for injury prevention and maintenance. It probably is a shift to parents being more aware of the potential for injury in younger kids and parents are trying to stay ahead of the game.
Sz: Do you feel the increase in the youth population is because there are a greater number of youths participating on sport teams, or do you feel some of the younger athletes are being over trained and over played in their sports and not introduced to enough cross training and seasonal breaks?
MF: I do think there is over training and over structure of training. I reflect back to my youth and before I began running I played soccer. I played soccer all the time but it was less structured. I participated on a travel team and the season lasted about six weeks. We would take road trips maybe once or twice a season. The rest of my playing consisted of pick up games. I’d go to the field and players would show up and we’d split up the teams and play until we were tired. Now with all the drilling structure it’s seems as though it’s become more like work than play for youth. I think that when kids are just playing they are less likely to get hurt.
Sz: Because they are less stressed physically and mentally?
MF: Exactly.
Sz: As you see athletes going through the injury rehabilitation process and struggling with their psychological response how do you handle these situations?
MF: That can be a challenge. It’s not just dealing with the athlete it’s also working with the parents.
Sz: As a service provider you may see beyond the presenting problem, yet you’ve been hired to perform reparative massage.
MF: We remain respectful. We try to keep the athletes welfare in mind.
Sz: Do you have a favorite inspirational quote that has guided you on your professional path?
MF: I do. It’s a quote from Rudyard Kipling. In addition to being a writer he was also a runner. “If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run yours is the earth and everything that’s in it and which is more you will be a man my son.”
Mark thank you for taking time out of your busy day to talk about the work at SMI.
Mark can be reached at: www.smiweb.org
*Featured guests are not former nor present clients of Susan Zaro
Thursday, January 6, 2011
2011 Fitness Resolutions
Have you written down and begun acting on your New Year Resolutions? Becoming more fit is always one of the top New Year’s Resolutions and a recent online survey rated fitness as number two this year right behind spending more time with family and friends. It makes sense that this choice is a high priority for people as the benefits of exercise and fitness are heavily supported by research. The Mayo Clinic lists seven benefits of regular physical exercise as;
1) Improves mood.
2) Combats chronic disease.
3) Helps manage weight.
4) Boosts energy level.
5) Promotes better sleep.
6) Can put the spark back into your sex life.
7) A way to have fun.
Many people who wrote “better fitness” as a resolution for the New Year are probably already aware of the benefits of fitness and exercise. Heading into the second week of January there are a group of people hot in their pursuit of their commitment to succeed in becoming more fit. Another group may have already slipped back into their pre-resolution habits and routines, meaning they thought about beginning a fitness routine but haven’t begun. Another group may have begun and is now starting to feel the pull of life distractions that can hijack their efforts to integrate fitness into their daily lives.
Here are six ideas for supporting your New Years fitness resolutions.
1) Create variety in your routines. Frequently people join a gym and within a few weeks become bored with the routine. When you join a gym find one that compliments your schedule and interests. Most gyms offer a large array of fitness equipment and free classes ranging from, aerobic and step classes, cycling, kick boxing,Zumba, water exercises and more. A gym or work-out facility that offers both, variety in fitness programs and provide peer camaraderie is a good way to stay physically and mentally committed to your fitness routine.
2) Engage your friends. Find friends who will join you for a day of kayaking, hiking,bicycling, jogging or even dance lessons. A base cardio work out routine
is useful but unless you are training for a specific race or event in which you need
specific weight, speed or agility training, there is no need to go to the gym
for all your fitness work-outs. In the bay area there are ample opportunities to join social/recreational league teams. These league teams typically offer a selection of several skill level categories, beginner, intermediate, advanced. There are basketball leagues, tennis leagues, ultimate frisbee leagues, soccer leagues and
many other sports. If you prefer to keep your exercise noncompetitive there are social bicycling, hiking, walking and running clubs.
3) Join or begin a healthy cooking class or group. People often begin an exercise program and neglect to alter their diets. Fitness and diet are best in combination. Taking a health conscious cooking class can enlighten and empower your nutritional choices and creativity. If taking a class doesn’t fit your schedule think about starting a group with friends. One format could be each month pick whose home will host and what the recipe theme will be for that meeting.
4) Know your distractions. Take a piece of paper and draw a line down the center of the page. On the left side of the page write down a list of past distractions that have drawn you away from your previous resolutions to become more fit. On the same side of the page continue your list of additional distractions that could emerge during the days, weeks ahead. Examples of this could be, couldn’t get to the gym because of work, family commitments, too tired etc. On the right side of the page write down solutions to the distractions that you wrote from the left side of the page. If you can’t think of a solution, ask friends or family for solutions to help you think of new ways to keep to your goals. The answers needn’t be perfect. The idea is to help you think of these problems in new ways.
5) There will be bumps in the road. Avoid minimizing your progress or giving up your goals on the days and weeks you fall short. For example if the plan is to exercise three times a week and for whatever reason you only exercise two times that week, move onto the next week with the same goal. Trying to make up for the lost day by adding an extra exercise day the following week may become a recipe for failure. If it works out great do it. But avoid the mentality of trying to catch up on lost days. Let it go and move on. When people begin to fall behind and the list of things they need to catch up keeps growing the goal becomes unobtainable and typically they quit.
6) Have fun! There is no reason a fitness program needs to be drudgery.
Understand that change occurs gradually and it is easy to become discouraged particularly in the early stages of beginning a new behavior. To improve your odds of succeeding stay proactive in combating the discouraging stages. Create variety in your routines, participate in activities that are fun, be flexible, engage in new activities, know your distractions, and build a support group of people to participate along with you as you to continue taking action towards achieving your New Year resolution of fitness.
1) Improves mood.
2) Combats chronic disease.
3) Helps manage weight.
4) Boosts energy level.
5) Promotes better sleep.
6) Can put the spark back into your sex life.
7) A way to have fun.
Many people who wrote “better fitness” as a resolution for the New Year are probably already aware of the benefits of fitness and exercise. Heading into the second week of January there are a group of people hot in their pursuit of their commitment to succeed in becoming more fit. Another group may have already slipped back into their pre-resolution habits and routines, meaning they thought about beginning a fitness routine but haven’t begun. Another group may have begun and is now starting to feel the pull of life distractions that can hijack their efforts to integrate fitness into their daily lives.
Here are six ideas for supporting your New Years fitness resolutions.
1) Create variety in your routines. Frequently people join a gym and within a few weeks become bored with the routine. When you join a gym find one that compliments your schedule and interests. Most gyms offer a large array of fitness equipment and free classes ranging from, aerobic and step classes, cycling, kick boxing,Zumba, water exercises and more. A gym or work-out facility that offers both, variety in fitness programs and provide peer camaraderie is a good way to stay physically and mentally committed to your fitness routine.
2) Engage your friends. Find friends who will join you for a day of kayaking, hiking,bicycling, jogging or even dance lessons. A base cardio work out routine
is useful but unless you are training for a specific race or event in which you need
specific weight, speed or agility training, there is no need to go to the gym
for all your fitness work-outs. In the bay area there are ample opportunities to join social/recreational league teams. These league teams typically offer a selection of several skill level categories, beginner, intermediate, advanced. There are basketball leagues, tennis leagues, ultimate frisbee leagues, soccer leagues and
many other sports. If you prefer to keep your exercise noncompetitive there are social bicycling, hiking, walking and running clubs.
3) Join or begin a healthy cooking class or group. People often begin an exercise program and neglect to alter their diets. Fitness and diet are best in combination. Taking a health conscious cooking class can enlighten and empower your nutritional choices and creativity. If taking a class doesn’t fit your schedule think about starting a group with friends. One format could be each month pick whose home will host and what the recipe theme will be for that meeting.
4) Know your distractions. Take a piece of paper and draw a line down the center of the page. On the left side of the page write down a list of past distractions that have drawn you away from your previous resolutions to become more fit. On the same side of the page continue your list of additional distractions that could emerge during the days, weeks ahead. Examples of this could be, couldn’t get to the gym because of work, family commitments, too tired etc. On the right side of the page write down solutions to the distractions that you wrote from the left side of the page. If you can’t think of a solution, ask friends or family for solutions to help you think of new ways to keep to your goals. The answers needn’t be perfect. The idea is to help you think of these problems in new ways.
5) There will be bumps in the road. Avoid minimizing your progress or giving up your goals on the days and weeks you fall short. For example if the plan is to exercise three times a week and for whatever reason you only exercise two times that week, move onto the next week with the same goal. Trying to make up for the lost day by adding an extra exercise day the following week may become a recipe for failure. If it works out great do it. But avoid the mentality of trying to catch up on lost days. Let it go and move on. When people begin to fall behind and the list of things they need to catch up keeps growing the goal becomes unobtainable and typically they quit.
6) Have fun! There is no reason a fitness program needs to be drudgery.
Understand that change occurs gradually and it is easy to become discouraged particularly in the early stages of beginning a new behavior. To improve your odds of succeeding stay proactive in combating the discouraging stages. Create variety in your routines, participate in activities that are fun, be flexible, engage in new activities, know your distractions, and build a support group of people to participate along with you as you to continue taking action towards achieving your New Year resolution of fitness.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Dick Gould reflects on creating a winning team environment
For 38 years beginning in the fall of 1966, Dick Gould was the Stanford men's tennis coach. During that reign his teams won 17 NCAA team championships. For thirty-five years every four year member of the team earned at least one NCAA team championship ring. The most well recognized names from these teams being John McEnroe, who became #1 in the world in both singles and doubles, Mike and Bob Bryan, who are the current #1 in the world men’s doubles players.
In 2004, Gould retired as head coach but remains active on campus as the John L. Hinds, Director of Tennis.
SZ: You’ve said, “Great players have tremendous egos.” Through the years how did you manage these talented players with egos and keep them focused on the team goals?
Gould: When you say, ego’s I don’t want to mistake that, they had tremendous belief in themselves. As a coach I wanted to continually try to help players become better. To do that I had to continue to pump them up and help them feel good about themselves. It was hard for me to take a player who was already very cocky and had supreme belief in himself and try to bolster them. I felt one thing I was able to do well was to make the team part very important. It’s a very important lesson for them in life because they were going to be a part of a team eventually, whether in business later in life. If they couldn’t function on a team, if they couldn’t give up for the team, if they couldn’t sacrifice for the team, if they couldn’t make the team better, by what they do, if they couldn’t lead the team, they were not going to be effective with what they did later on. This is a really big thing for people who are involved in individual sports to learn.
I was with these players all the time three, four hours a day six days a week easy days, tough days, stressful days, all kinds of situations for most of the year and I really got to know them well. One of the beauties of coaching tennis is you can treat each player differently. My greatest strength as a coach is that I could be flexible with the team and the individual needs of my players.
When I first began coaching at Stanford my goal was to win a national championship within five years. I was so caught up in winning the national championship that I was not a good coach because I made that the team goal. There are so many other things you’ve got to do before you get there. Once I won the first championship in 1973, I became a much better coach because I didn’t care if I won another one, but we did. Then I stopped talking about winning national championships and I just started talking about trying to be sure that my players felt that they were improving individually. If you ask me for a blueprint for winning national championships I couldn’t give you a formula. Every year we did it differently, but I think that flexibility and adaptability as a coach is relevant.
I'd like to thank Coach Gould for taking the time to chat about his team philosophies and his many years of excellence as head coach at Stanford.
*Featured clients are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro
In 2004, Gould retired as head coach but remains active on campus as the John L. Hinds, Director of Tennis.
SZ: You’ve said, “Great players have tremendous egos.” Through the years how did you manage these talented players with egos and keep them focused on the team goals?
Gould: When you say, ego’s I don’t want to mistake that, they had tremendous belief in themselves. As a coach I wanted to continually try to help players become better. To do that I had to continue to pump them up and help them feel good about themselves. It was hard for me to take a player who was already very cocky and had supreme belief in himself and try to bolster them. I felt one thing I was able to do well was to make the team part very important. It’s a very important lesson for them in life because they were going to be a part of a team eventually, whether in business later in life. If they couldn’t function on a team, if they couldn’t give up for the team, if they couldn’t sacrifice for the team, if they couldn’t make the team better, by what they do, if they couldn’t lead the team, they were not going to be effective with what they did later on. This is a really big thing for people who are involved in individual sports to learn.
I was with these players all the time three, four hours a day six days a week easy days, tough days, stressful days, all kinds of situations for most of the year and I really got to know them well. One of the beauties of coaching tennis is you can treat each player differently. My greatest strength as a coach is that I could be flexible with the team and the individual needs of my players.
When I first began coaching at Stanford my goal was to win a national championship within five years. I was so caught up in winning the national championship that I was not a good coach because I made that the team goal. There are so many other things you’ve got to do before you get there. Once I won the first championship in 1973, I became a much better coach because I didn’t care if I won another one, but we did. Then I stopped talking about winning national championships and I just started talking about trying to be sure that my players felt that they were improving individually. If you ask me for a blueprint for winning national championships I couldn’t give you a formula. Every year we did it differently, but I think that flexibility and adaptability as a coach is relevant.
I'd like to thank Coach Gould for taking the time to chat about his team philosophies and his many years of excellence as head coach at Stanford.
*Featured clients are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Alcemy of Excellence
Parents and juniors frequently ask me, “What skills and dedication is required to become a really great tennis player?” There are many paths to reaching the top tiers of junior and professional tennis. Nick Saviano, who is one of the leading developmental coaches and founder/director of Saviano High Performance Tennis Academy, in Plantation Florida, reflects on his formula for helping players achieve excellence.
Sz: What are the favorite parts of running a world class tennis training academy for players who aspire to compete at the collegiate and/or professional levels? Are all the players training at the academy striving to achieve the goal of collegiate or world class play?
NS: Virtually every student is a tournament player even in the early stages as young as 8-9 years old. They are all aspiring to play at least collegiate tennis. Most will play collegiate division 1 tennis others have a dream of playing world class tennis.
To understand what I enjoy most working with these young people, you have to understand my philosophy. My philosophy is that working with young people is a sacred trust. It’s a sacred trust to the children and it’s a sacred trust to the parents and you always have to honor that trust. In that context, what I enjoy the most is helping the young people learn the principles of striving for excellence and learning life skills that will help them through their lifetime. Tennis in this situation is the vehicle by which to do that. It’s a long process.
If you are out on the court and if you are just working on forehands and backhands and neglecting the bigger issues of work ethic, of appropriate preparation, of dealing with adversity, all those life skills that are required to strive for excellence, then you are missing the most rewarding part. So in a long winded way it’s teaching the young players how to strive for excellence. Educating them on that and then the enjoyment comes from seeing the growth and the relationship over the years, particularly as the kids get older and you can see there is a deep appreciation and understanding for the fact they know you never steered them wrong. That you never took advantage of them, and that you were always trying to make decisions in their best interest.
Sz: It must be incredibly gratifying at this stage in your career to see how many kids have come through your academy and experiencing that growth in relationship through the athletic process.
NS: Yes, it’s immensely gratifying. You take some players that, and I don’t profess to be the only person that’s worked with certain individuals, I don’t take ownership of young people or as they’ve grown into adults, or whatever, but people who I’ve had a significant influence and involvement over the years, when you see someone like Jim Courier whom I’ve known extremely well since he was fifteen and spent time with him, and traveled with him starting when he was fifteen. I spent fifteen weeks on the road with him when he was seventeen and remained close through out his career. He was gracious enough during his induction into the Tennis Hall of Fame to fly my wife and I up to the induction ceremony. And now he is the Davis Cup Captain. It’s neat to see the cycle. I’ve maintained close relationships with a whole host of other player’s through-out their careers as well.
Sz: Tennis is a great sport for individuals. The sport promotes an environment of making decisions for oneself and owning responsibility for the outcome. This is both the beauty and the challenge of playing tennis. It’s not unusual for developing juniors, particularly teens and professional player’s to hit ebbs and flows of confidence and motivation. At times breaking through to new levels of skill and achievement take longer than anticipated. What types of strategies have you found useful for players when progress becomes stuck and the confidence and motivation in their game falters?
NS: If progress is stagnating that’s a red flag and there is a reason. Progress should not stagnate. If it does something needs to be addressed. In my opinion healthy goal setting is predicated with far more emphasis on performance goals as opposed to the outcome goals and therefore if the goals are working properly you should see good and steady progress. Sometimes slower, sometimes faster, but it should not stagnate. If it is, then you look at; is the training appropriate, is there something going on in their personal life, are they fatigued? Whatever it is the onus is on the coach when he sees that progress is not developing at a healthy rate.
Sz: Do you look at a player’s progress, statistically? How do you track the progression of a 12 year old girl who is competing in tournaments and doesn’t feel she is getting to a new level of ability?
NS: You can get lost in statistics. If someone is struggling with a stroke or something, that’s different. If you are talking about specific performance and how they are able to perform that skill I look at, is the player performing and competing well? Are their skills becoming more consistent? But I also focus more generally on what I see when they are performing in a competitive environment and also how they are performing skills when they are training.
I don’t have a definitive plan for saying okay if they aren’t progressing I’m going to chart this. If you are talking about someone struggling with the serve then that would be something you can get some empirical data on. You can then say okay you’re only getting 50% of your serves in. But then from my perspective, I would already know that based on what I’m seeing in training and so on. I would know whether they are making the type of progress I want. Also, progress sometimes doesn’t manifest itself in simply statistical form. A player could be making a certain amount of mistakes but the quality of what they are doing is much higher and they have to continue to refine what they are doing.
Sz: How do you help players notice their progress? Particularly when you notice that they have improved but they don’t notice the improvement because it isn’t translating into winning matches.
NS: You have to get the thought process on the right things. You have to clearly articulate what constitutes success. The success isn’t measured directly and the goal is not the winning. The winning is a by product of being successful over time. For example if I have someone who has improved their groundstrokes and I keep putting them in competition or practice against people with skills that are superior to them where they don’t have a chance to derive some competitive success or success in the drills, then I’m not doing a good job of developing them.
Sz: You put the player in a situation where the environment supports their skill levels and they can evaluate for themselves how they are progressing.
NS: It gives them part of the evaluation. For example you don’t want them going much below a 2-1 loss ratio. You want the player to stay within a 2-1, 3-1 win/loss ratio. If you have a child playing a tournament and they keep losing first round each week, I don’t care how well they are hitting the ball, I don’t care if it is Roger Federer, he’s going to run into trouble with his confidence and his development, and that’s an accomplished adult. Conversely with a player if their win/loss record is 5/6 to 1 they probably aren’t playing enough quality opponents. They aren’t learning the skill of being challenged and managing a losing situation. That is a part of the skill in developing a player. It’s all fine to practice with quote better players, but if that is in lieu of a person ever winning you are going to have a problem with that. This applies to the training skills of a young professional as much as it is a twelve year old.
Sz: Do you create this ratio by placing them in appropriate tournaments?
NS: Yes, and that’s a critical part of being a developmental coach. You have to be able to manage that with the parents, even when they are little tots just getting started. If you get a young child and you put him in any game and they have no perceived success for a length of time what is that kid going to do? They are going to quit and go play something else. Even when they are little munchkins you’ve got to allow the player to have some success. You have to create environments where they experience an amount of perceived success in order to psychologically feel good about what they are doing. Otherwise, it gets discouraging for them or any of us, who wouldn’t be discouraged?
Sz: Competitive juniors spend an abundant amount of time with their parents being driven to practices, tournaments etc. Normal teen development shifts towards behavioral independence, spending more time with peers; pushing further out to explore the world independently. What role shifts are important for parents to remain involved, supportive yet respectful of the developmental stages of a child athlete?
NS: I think it’s consistent with the increase of independence and decision making that they would give their child in a normal developmental environment. A parent obviously is not going to allow a nine year old to make a tremendous amount of decisions on their own. They should be allowed to make some decisions but not a great deal. When the child is 14 or 15 years old they should be allowed to make far more decisions and a little more independence and it moves progressively. The key is you want the young person to cultivate a sense of ownership of what they are doing and take increased responsibility. So it’s a progression that varies with circumstances of where someone lives, their background, their cultural background and so on. But I think it should to great extent mirror the natural developmental process and parental decisions that one would make whether they participate in a sport or not.
Sz: Do you find tennis parents, in a protective way more engaged in the decision making process? Or are your programs designed to address this?
NS: In our program the parents are part of the developmental team period. In tennis given the extraordinary amount of time that parents spend, the profound impact that any parent has on their child’s overall development, you have to realize that they are a part of the developmental team in order to effectively cultivate the skills and the talents of the young person.
By including the parents as part of the team you have discussions with them and you go over even basic things about how they are going to deal with a child’s wins and losses. You need to understand their basic philosophies, what’s their plan, what’s their emphasis? The parental role always must be respected. My feedback to parents is that they should emphasize to their children, the life skills and the life principles that are congruent with their personal philosophies, work ethic, sportsmanship, preparation, all that those basics. The parent needs to make it clear to their kids that they demand certain things, not necessarily results, but they demand effort, commitment etc., in order to allow them to continue with the privilege of playing tennis.
Sz: How do you prepare parents to deal with their child’s wins and losses? Is this part of the program that the parent receives in the overall development plan of the player?
NS: It’s a mutual thing. If the child loses and the parent is frustrated, whenever you discuss with them certain things that you think are really critical, I explain in advance, “look your child seems to be getting upset, or anxious here, here’s what I am picking up, these are some of my suggestions for this situation. This is how I would handle it, and this is how I think we should handle it.”
Sz: So you are interacting directly with the parent around these issues?
NS: Yes, absolutely.
Sz: Nick, in your article “Developing World Class Fundamentals” you mention, “every young aspiring player should balance his time striking tennis balls with other activities that promote his or her athletic development. How essential do you feel it is for players to participate in multiple sport activities as an integral part of their athletic development?
NS: There are different forms of other sport activities. There are formalized and informal. It varies significantly with various players. There isn’t a specific answer. Between the ages of 7-12 years old that rough area is a huge window for an athlete’s development. During this time the player should be doing a lot of different athletic activities. Even if they are playing a great deal of tennis they should have some other athletic endeavors in order to cultivate and physically train in a lot of different ways, to develop their coordination, rhythm, timing and all those skills. That should be done a great deal during the younger ages and maintained through-out. Obviously as they get more serious about tennis the emphasis is more and more on striking the tennis ball, but I believe that they should be doing an hour a day of physical training in addition to the tennis. At the age of twelve for every couple of hours of tennis played the player should include 45 minutes to an hour of other activities a day.
Sz: Are you talking about sports like, soccer, basketball?
NS: Soccer, basketball or if they have a physical training program where they are doing core strength work. I believe that’s a critical part of the development.
Sz: Is this during the ages of 7-12?
NS: Yeah, it depends on how serious they are. You have to understand when we talk about 12 years old there is 12 and there is twelve. There are kids that are developing nice levels of junior tennis locally and there are players that at 11-12 their families have moved to warm weather climates and are making a complete commitment to their children to become world class players. I won’t try to quantify it in specific time but suffice to say that I don’t think somebody who is 10 years old should be playing four hours of tennis a day but I think that if they are playing a couple of hours a day that they need to be doing significant physical training in addition to tennis, in other areas.
Sz: Is this weight bearing or non weight bearing activities?
NS: Agility, timing, rhythm, coordination, it could be juggling, it could be jumping rope, it could be dance, it could be yoga, it could be core strength work, or basketball, soccer etc. You will be hard pressed to find any player in the top 10 in the world or the top 20 in the world, currently, that wasn’t actively involved in a lot of athletic endeavors whether formal or informal training in other sports during their early years. You just won’t find them.
Sz: Was Maria Sharapova involved in other sports?
NS: She was extremely involved in physical training at a young age.
Sz: Distraction and concentration strategies, positive competitive focus, positive inner dialogue, imagery, managing emotional energy etc. are basic mental skills training tools. Mental skills training is frequently on the low end of a player’s “to do” list. How do you explain the value of mental skills training to player’s and parents so it doesn’t get left off in the training process?
NS: It should be an active part of every training session.
Sz: On-court and off-court?
NS: It should be an active part of every training session. In other words you talk with the player on the court. You talk with them off the court. The whole mental approach to training, everyday the player trains you’ve got to be cultivating the proper approach to competing. Striving for excellence, is asking, what are you doing, are you focused, are you playing at 100% intensity, are you distracted by your parents being here? It’s ongoing in day to day training and also there should be talks and literature especially for the parents. I find that really speaking with the parents becomes critical.
Sz: How do you do that? Do you hold private sessions with the parents?
NS: Not necessarily. I will if there is a problem. But it’s consistent discussions with parents either in groups or with their child or just in casual conversations on the side of the court.
Sz: Do the player’s engage in formalized mental training? Visualization, writing in journals etc?
NS: Yes, I have a lot of the players do visualization. They write out goals. They focus on certain things on the court. We give them literature to read. We give the parents literature to read that kind of thing.
Sz: So, let’s say a player is becoming frustrated on the court and they are yelling or doing something that’s unproductive, specifically, do you teach them breathing techniques and some of the standardized things, like focusing on their strings, tying their shoe, taking a breath and brushing off distractions?
NS: Yes, also when someone is yelling, we don’t allow that disruption. If a player is having trouble controlling their emotions there are two ways to address it, one, to give them tools to help address the symptoms of the issue and then you have to make sure you are constantly discussing the core reasons for the issue.
Sz: Who are some of the people over the years that have significantly influenced your coaching philosophies? In what ways have they influenced your philosophy of coaching?
NS: There are a lot of people over the years. There were coaches, like Poncho Segura, who was a great help in learning strategy and tactics. Other people were brilliant technicians. I’ve enjoyed such an unusual and unique background progressing from playing juniors, to playing college tennis at Stanford, to playing world class tennis on the tour for nine years, after playing competitive tennis, coaching privately, then becoming a national U.S.T.A. coach for five years, then director of men’s coaching and coaching education at the U.S.T.A. I’ve interacted with literally thousands of coaches over the years. There are so many people that I’ve grown from and been influenced by I couldn’t possibly narrow it down to one or two.
Sz: What an amazing career so far.
NS: I feel like I’ve really been blessed. I wake up everyday and genuinely give thanks for the blessing of being able to be healthy, and just doing something that I’m enjoying. I work extremely hard, and people don’t realize how much work and effort goes into it. I share with the players, my mistakes and try to use myself as an example. I share with them, “look it’s not easy,” and if you go into things thinking or expecting it to be easy, you’re missing the point. If you are striving for excellence by virtue of doing that you must accept that there will be struggle because without struggle and the effort to expand yourself there is no excellence. If something comes without any kind of struggle or extraordinary effort then it’s not really that special. The nature of striving for excellence means you must be willing to rise above adversity and challenges, frustrations, and all of the stuff that comes with it.
I tell the players, I love what I do. I am still passionate about it. But believe me there are days when it’s not easy. So you educate them in that way. It’s a slow process and they learn it’s gratifying. There is a young man who first came to work with us when he was 13 ½ and was 70 in the state of Florida. By the time he left the academy to attend Duke University on a full scholarship he had won 2 national boy’s 18 titles and reached as high as #2 in the nation. On a school break he came back to the academy to work out and I could see the maturity the growth in him and it was really good to see. It’s a lot of fun.
Sz: Do you have any favorite inspirational quotes that have guided you on your professional path?
NS: There are a few. One is from Aristotle, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act but a habit.” Essentially it means, excellence is a learned skill.
The other one which I think is one of the most profound and simple statements about life and I use for the parents. “Enjoy the journey because the journey is the reward.” And it’s so much deeper than what it says. The journey is the reward the opportunity is today and today is what your life is today. You must grasp the moment and make the day the best you can.
Nick thank you for taking the time out of your incredibly busy schedule to chat with me and share your formula for success and excellence.
Nick Saviano is internationally recognized as one of the top developmental coaches and coaching educators in the sport of tennis. Over the past 24 years, he has coached and helped develop many male and female players who have gone on to become some of the best in the world including Grand Slam winners in both singles and doubles.
Nick can be reached through the Saviano High Performance Tennis Academy in
Plantation Florida.
www.savianotennis.com
*Featured guests are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro
Sz: What are the favorite parts of running a world class tennis training academy for players who aspire to compete at the collegiate and/or professional levels? Are all the players training at the academy striving to achieve the goal of collegiate or world class play?
NS: Virtually every student is a tournament player even in the early stages as young as 8-9 years old. They are all aspiring to play at least collegiate tennis. Most will play collegiate division 1 tennis others have a dream of playing world class tennis.
To understand what I enjoy most working with these young people, you have to understand my philosophy. My philosophy is that working with young people is a sacred trust. It’s a sacred trust to the children and it’s a sacred trust to the parents and you always have to honor that trust. In that context, what I enjoy the most is helping the young people learn the principles of striving for excellence and learning life skills that will help them through their lifetime. Tennis in this situation is the vehicle by which to do that. It’s a long process.
If you are out on the court and if you are just working on forehands and backhands and neglecting the bigger issues of work ethic, of appropriate preparation, of dealing with adversity, all those life skills that are required to strive for excellence, then you are missing the most rewarding part. So in a long winded way it’s teaching the young players how to strive for excellence. Educating them on that and then the enjoyment comes from seeing the growth and the relationship over the years, particularly as the kids get older and you can see there is a deep appreciation and understanding for the fact they know you never steered them wrong. That you never took advantage of them, and that you were always trying to make decisions in their best interest.
Sz: It must be incredibly gratifying at this stage in your career to see how many kids have come through your academy and experiencing that growth in relationship through the athletic process.
NS: Yes, it’s immensely gratifying. You take some players that, and I don’t profess to be the only person that’s worked with certain individuals, I don’t take ownership of young people or as they’ve grown into adults, or whatever, but people who I’ve had a significant influence and involvement over the years, when you see someone like Jim Courier whom I’ve known extremely well since he was fifteen and spent time with him, and traveled with him starting when he was fifteen. I spent fifteen weeks on the road with him when he was seventeen and remained close through out his career. He was gracious enough during his induction into the Tennis Hall of Fame to fly my wife and I up to the induction ceremony. And now he is the Davis Cup Captain. It’s neat to see the cycle. I’ve maintained close relationships with a whole host of other player’s through-out their careers as well.
Sz: Tennis is a great sport for individuals. The sport promotes an environment of making decisions for oneself and owning responsibility for the outcome. This is both the beauty and the challenge of playing tennis. It’s not unusual for developing juniors, particularly teens and professional player’s to hit ebbs and flows of confidence and motivation. At times breaking through to new levels of skill and achievement take longer than anticipated. What types of strategies have you found useful for players when progress becomes stuck and the confidence and motivation in their game falters?
NS: If progress is stagnating that’s a red flag and there is a reason. Progress should not stagnate. If it does something needs to be addressed. In my opinion healthy goal setting is predicated with far more emphasis on performance goals as opposed to the outcome goals and therefore if the goals are working properly you should see good and steady progress. Sometimes slower, sometimes faster, but it should not stagnate. If it is, then you look at; is the training appropriate, is there something going on in their personal life, are they fatigued? Whatever it is the onus is on the coach when he sees that progress is not developing at a healthy rate.
Sz: Do you look at a player’s progress, statistically? How do you track the progression of a 12 year old girl who is competing in tournaments and doesn’t feel she is getting to a new level of ability?
NS: You can get lost in statistics. If someone is struggling with a stroke or something, that’s different. If you are talking about specific performance and how they are able to perform that skill I look at, is the player performing and competing well? Are their skills becoming more consistent? But I also focus more generally on what I see when they are performing in a competitive environment and also how they are performing skills when they are training.
I don’t have a definitive plan for saying okay if they aren’t progressing I’m going to chart this. If you are talking about someone struggling with the serve then that would be something you can get some empirical data on. You can then say okay you’re only getting 50% of your serves in. But then from my perspective, I would already know that based on what I’m seeing in training and so on. I would know whether they are making the type of progress I want. Also, progress sometimes doesn’t manifest itself in simply statistical form. A player could be making a certain amount of mistakes but the quality of what they are doing is much higher and they have to continue to refine what they are doing.
Sz: How do you help players notice their progress? Particularly when you notice that they have improved but they don’t notice the improvement because it isn’t translating into winning matches.
NS: You have to get the thought process on the right things. You have to clearly articulate what constitutes success. The success isn’t measured directly and the goal is not the winning. The winning is a by product of being successful over time. For example if I have someone who has improved their groundstrokes and I keep putting them in competition or practice against people with skills that are superior to them where they don’t have a chance to derive some competitive success or success in the drills, then I’m not doing a good job of developing them.
Sz: You put the player in a situation where the environment supports their skill levels and they can evaluate for themselves how they are progressing.
NS: It gives them part of the evaluation. For example you don’t want them going much below a 2-1 loss ratio. You want the player to stay within a 2-1, 3-1 win/loss ratio. If you have a child playing a tournament and they keep losing first round each week, I don’t care how well they are hitting the ball, I don’t care if it is Roger Federer, he’s going to run into trouble with his confidence and his development, and that’s an accomplished adult. Conversely with a player if their win/loss record is 5/6 to 1 they probably aren’t playing enough quality opponents. They aren’t learning the skill of being challenged and managing a losing situation. That is a part of the skill in developing a player. It’s all fine to practice with quote better players, but if that is in lieu of a person ever winning you are going to have a problem with that. This applies to the training skills of a young professional as much as it is a twelve year old.
Sz: Do you create this ratio by placing them in appropriate tournaments?
NS: Yes, and that’s a critical part of being a developmental coach. You have to be able to manage that with the parents, even when they are little tots just getting started. If you get a young child and you put him in any game and they have no perceived success for a length of time what is that kid going to do? They are going to quit and go play something else. Even when they are little munchkins you’ve got to allow the player to have some success. You have to create environments where they experience an amount of perceived success in order to psychologically feel good about what they are doing. Otherwise, it gets discouraging for them or any of us, who wouldn’t be discouraged?
Sz: Competitive juniors spend an abundant amount of time with their parents being driven to practices, tournaments etc. Normal teen development shifts towards behavioral independence, spending more time with peers; pushing further out to explore the world independently. What role shifts are important for parents to remain involved, supportive yet respectful of the developmental stages of a child athlete?
NS: I think it’s consistent with the increase of independence and decision making that they would give their child in a normal developmental environment. A parent obviously is not going to allow a nine year old to make a tremendous amount of decisions on their own. They should be allowed to make some decisions but not a great deal. When the child is 14 or 15 years old they should be allowed to make far more decisions and a little more independence and it moves progressively. The key is you want the young person to cultivate a sense of ownership of what they are doing and take increased responsibility. So it’s a progression that varies with circumstances of where someone lives, their background, their cultural background and so on. But I think it should to great extent mirror the natural developmental process and parental decisions that one would make whether they participate in a sport or not.
Sz: Do you find tennis parents, in a protective way more engaged in the decision making process? Or are your programs designed to address this?
NS: In our program the parents are part of the developmental team period. In tennis given the extraordinary amount of time that parents spend, the profound impact that any parent has on their child’s overall development, you have to realize that they are a part of the developmental team in order to effectively cultivate the skills and the talents of the young person.
By including the parents as part of the team you have discussions with them and you go over even basic things about how they are going to deal with a child’s wins and losses. You need to understand their basic philosophies, what’s their plan, what’s their emphasis? The parental role always must be respected. My feedback to parents is that they should emphasize to their children, the life skills and the life principles that are congruent with their personal philosophies, work ethic, sportsmanship, preparation, all that those basics. The parent needs to make it clear to their kids that they demand certain things, not necessarily results, but they demand effort, commitment etc., in order to allow them to continue with the privilege of playing tennis.
Sz: How do you prepare parents to deal with their child’s wins and losses? Is this part of the program that the parent receives in the overall development plan of the player?
NS: It’s a mutual thing. If the child loses and the parent is frustrated, whenever you discuss with them certain things that you think are really critical, I explain in advance, “look your child seems to be getting upset, or anxious here, here’s what I am picking up, these are some of my suggestions for this situation. This is how I would handle it, and this is how I think we should handle it.”
Sz: So you are interacting directly with the parent around these issues?
NS: Yes, absolutely.
Sz: Nick, in your article “Developing World Class Fundamentals” you mention, “every young aspiring player should balance his time striking tennis balls with other activities that promote his or her athletic development. How essential do you feel it is for players to participate in multiple sport activities as an integral part of their athletic development?
NS: There are different forms of other sport activities. There are formalized and informal. It varies significantly with various players. There isn’t a specific answer. Between the ages of 7-12 years old that rough area is a huge window for an athlete’s development. During this time the player should be doing a lot of different athletic activities. Even if they are playing a great deal of tennis they should have some other athletic endeavors in order to cultivate and physically train in a lot of different ways, to develop their coordination, rhythm, timing and all those skills. That should be done a great deal during the younger ages and maintained through-out. Obviously as they get more serious about tennis the emphasis is more and more on striking the tennis ball, but I believe that they should be doing an hour a day of physical training in addition to the tennis. At the age of twelve for every couple of hours of tennis played the player should include 45 minutes to an hour of other activities a day.
Sz: Are you talking about sports like, soccer, basketball?
NS: Soccer, basketball or if they have a physical training program where they are doing core strength work. I believe that’s a critical part of the development.
Sz: Is this during the ages of 7-12?
NS: Yeah, it depends on how serious they are. You have to understand when we talk about 12 years old there is 12 and there is twelve. There are kids that are developing nice levels of junior tennis locally and there are players that at 11-12 their families have moved to warm weather climates and are making a complete commitment to their children to become world class players. I won’t try to quantify it in specific time but suffice to say that I don’t think somebody who is 10 years old should be playing four hours of tennis a day but I think that if they are playing a couple of hours a day that they need to be doing significant physical training in addition to tennis, in other areas.
Sz: Is this weight bearing or non weight bearing activities?
NS: Agility, timing, rhythm, coordination, it could be juggling, it could be jumping rope, it could be dance, it could be yoga, it could be core strength work, or basketball, soccer etc. You will be hard pressed to find any player in the top 10 in the world or the top 20 in the world, currently, that wasn’t actively involved in a lot of athletic endeavors whether formal or informal training in other sports during their early years. You just won’t find them.
Sz: Was Maria Sharapova involved in other sports?
NS: She was extremely involved in physical training at a young age.
Sz: Distraction and concentration strategies, positive competitive focus, positive inner dialogue, imagery, managing emotional energy etc. are basic mental skills training tools. Mental skills training is frequently on the low end of a player’s “to do” list. How do you explain the value of mental skills training to player’s and parents so it doesn’t get left off in the training process?
NS: It should be an active part of every training session.
Sz: On-court and off-court?
NS: It should be an active part of every training session. In other words you talk with the player on the court. You talk with them off the court. The whole mental approach to training, everyday the player trains you’ve got to be cultivating the proper approach to competing. Striving for excellence, is asking, what are you doing, are you focused, are you playing at 100% intensity, are you distracted by your parents being here? It’s ongoing in day to day training and also there should be talks and literature especially for the parents. I find that really speaking with the parents becomes critical.
Sz: How do you do that? Do you hold private sessions with the parents?
NS: Not necessarily. I will if there is a problem. But it’s consistent discussions with parents either in groups or with their child or just in casual conversations on the side of the court.
Sz: Do the player’s engage in formalized mental training? Visualization, writing in journals etc?
NS: Yes, I have a lot of the players do visualization. They write out goals. They focus on certain things on the court. We give them literature to read. We give the parents literature to read that kind of thing.
Sz: So, let’s say a player is becoming frustrated on the court and they are yelling or doing something that’s unproductive, specifically, do you teach them breathing techniques and some of the standardized things, like focusing on their strings, tying their shoe, taking a breath and brushing off distractions?
NS: Yes, also when someone is yelling, we don’t allow that disruption. If a player is having trouble controlling their emotions there are two ways to address it, one, to give them tools to help address the symptoms of the issue and then you have to make sure you are constantly discussing the core reasons for the issue.
Sz: Who are some of the people over the years that have significantly influenced your coaching philosophies? In what ways have they influenced your philosophy of coaching?
NS: There are a lot of people over the years. There were coaches, like Poncho Segura, who was a great help in learning strategy and tactics. Other people were brilliant technicians. I’ve enjoyed such an unusual and unique background progressing from playing juniors, to playing college tennis at Stanford, to playing world class tennis on the tour for nine years, after playing competitive tennis, coaching privately, then becoming a national U.S.T.A. coach for five years, then director of men’s coaching and coaching education at the U.S.T.A. I’ve interacted with literally thousands of coaches over the years. There are so many people that I’ve grown from and been influenced by I couldn’t possibly narrow it down to one or two.
Sz: What an amazing career so far.
NS: I feel like I’ve really been blessed. I wake up everyday and genuinely give thanks for the blessing of being able to be healthy, and just doing something that I’m enjoying. I work extremely hard, and people don’t realize how much work and effort goes into it. I share with the players, my mistakes and try to use myself as an example. I share with them, “look it’s not easy,” and if you go into things thinking or expecting it to be easy, you’re missing the point. If you are striving for excellence by virtue of doing that you must accept that there will be struggle because without struggle and the effort to expand yourself there is no excellence. If something comes without any kind of struggle or extraordinary effort then it’s not really that special. The nature of striving for excellence means you must be willing to rise above adversity and challenges, frustrations, and all of the stuff that comes with it.
I tell the players, I love what I do. I am still passionate about it. But believe me there are days when it’s not easy. So you educate them in that way. It’s a slow process and they learn it’s gratifying. There is a young man who first came to work with us when he was 13 ½ and was 70 in the state of Florida. By the time he left the academy to attend Duke University on a full scholarship he had won 2 national boy’s 18 titles and reached as high as #2 in the nation. On a school break he came back to the academy to work out and I could see the maturity the growth in him and it was really good to see. It’s a lot of fun.
Sz: Do you have any favorite inspirational quotes that have guided you on your professional path?
NS: There are a few. One is from Aristotle, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act but a habit.” Essentially it means, excellence is a learned skill.
The other one which I think is one of the most profound and simple statements about life and I use for the parents. “Enjoy the journey because the journey is the reward.” And it’s so much deeper than what it says. The journey is the reward the opportunity is today and today is what your life is today. You must grasp the moment and make the day the best you can.
Nick thank you for taking the time out of your incredibly busy schedule to chat with me and share your formula for success and excellence.
Nick Saviano is internationally recognized as one of the top developmental coaches and coaching educators in the sport of tennis. Over the past 24 years, he has coached and helped develop many male and female players who have gone on to become some of the best in the world including Grand Slam winners in both singles and doubles.
Nick can be reached through the Saviano High Performance Tennis Academy in
Plantation Florida.
www.savianotennis.com
*Featured guests are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro
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