The missteps of cheating in junior tennis

Why do junior tennis players cheat in tennis? This topic came up recently when I attended a USTA Nor. Cal. Coaches Summit. The presenters for the summit included USTA Director of Coaching, Jose Higueres. Other presenters were Kent Kinnear, Director of Player I.D. & Development, Paul Lubbers, Director of Coaching Education and Geoff Russell, Manager of Player I.D. and Development. What lead to our discussion of cheating was a panel discussion about the drop out rate in competitive junior tennis being consistent with the trends of many other sports. Sport participation tends to drop off around age thirteen which is developmentally a critical time for social skills and self-esteem.

Many studies of why children drop out of sports cite the following reasons:

1) The sport is no longer fun.
2) The child moved on to other athletic interests.
3) Coach played favorites or was a poor teacher.
4) As the child moves up in age group specialization and year round training required too much commitment to remain competitive.

Rarely was combating cheating and gamesmanship listed as to why a child drops out of sport. Yet, as a USPTA Elite tennis coach and Sport Counseling Consultant, when I talk with juniors about their competitive play, the issues around cheating are typically a large part of their overall match feedback. When I brought up the issue of cheating in junior tennis as a reason juniors leave the sport, the USTA panel acknowledged that, as they travel around the nation talking with coaches, this topic was a major issue.

I believe that when a more player friendly environment is created by lowering the variety of ways cheating in junior tennis occurs, it can significantly increase the retention rate of this “sport of a lifetime.” There are endless creative ways that juniors use to shift matches by. Some of these include:

1) Deliberating calling balls out that are in during pivotal points during a match.
2) Faked injury time-outs which break-up the momentum of the player who is winning.
3) Bathroom breaks in the middle of a set if the player is losing. Why are bathrooms breaks allowed in the middle of a set instead of when the set is over?
4) Entourages bullying an opponent. Talking to either player by anyone outside the court besides a referee is prohibited.
5) Deliberately hitting a ball over the fence to break match momentum.
6) Changing the flip score cards to the wrong set score during change overs.
7) Not announcing the game score after points, then when questioned about the score saying the wrong score favoring themselves.
8) Parent or coach illegally signaling from the side-lines.

Where are the referees one might ask? Tennis tournaments do have referees but, unlike other sports where only one game is happening at a time, a tennis tournament may have only two roving referees available to monitor four or more courts at a time. When a referee is called to a court to work out a dispute the referee typically only stays long enough to hear the complaint, get the match restarted and stand there for a few points before being called away to monitor another match. Players often report that when the referee walks away the cheating and gamesmanship tactics resume. I believe junior players have enough on their plate playing the game without adding the distraction of cheating.

Parents of players who don’t cheat have become more vocal sharing their disappointment in how the USTA hasn’t stepped up enough to protect young players so they can focus on playing. The parents are upset that their child works hard practicing and playing and when they get to the tournament spend too much time engaged in arguing about line call disputes and needing to call referees over to monitor their matches.

An article titled “Is Cheating Ruining the Game,” by USPTA Tennis Pro Blair Henley addressed this issue. Many parents wrote in to express their thoughts after reading the article. Here are just some of the comments by parents:

“The USTA needs to be like golf and have a zero tolerance for cheating and keep suspending kids and stop listening to parents who say, let the kids figure it out. Some kids are bullies and usually their parents are too.”

Another parent who plays competitive tennis wrote, “Coming from a soccer, baseball, basketball, background, to not have refs at tournaments seems crazy! I won’t be introducing my daughter to tournaments for a long time simply because I believe cheating will take all of the fun out of tennis. I have played a couple of cheaters before and even if I win the cheating drained most of the fun out of the match. So I will try and prepare her for the cheating aspect of the game but I don’t want her dealing with it on a regular basis.”

“I invited some friends to a Level 1 tournament to watch my daughter play in the 12’s two years ago. First junior tournament for them and they were shocked. The amount of cheating and the inability for the cheated player to stop it had them asking me, ”What the heck are you doing this for? Soccer, softball, volleyball, basketball are so much more enjoyable. ”

With the expense of participation in tennis, which includes lessons, tournament fees, equipment, and travel expenses, it not unlikely that with all the other sport choices parents will steer their kids into easier to navigate sport environments. Even though youth sport referees are not always accurate at least they are present and serve to manage the games environments.

For a moment let’s think about the pressure unsupervised players experience when competing in tennis. In a research article titled “You Can’t Be Serious, That Ball Was IN: An Investigation of Junior Tennis Cheating Behavior” Jonathan Cooper, who had been a competitive junior player and a teaching professional, hypothesized that cheating in junior tennis is a result of three influences, the coach, the parent and the personal desire of the junior to win.

Under coach pressure, findings from Cooper’s research indicated that coaches who focused on performance, for example, winning is the most important thing vs. mastery, the focus being on improving skills predicated cheating behavior. The research indicates that ongoing exposure to coaching that emphasizes winning motivates a player to cheat.

The second pressure in Cooper’s research paper was identified as the parent. Robert Giltinan, a junior coach for the Australian National Tennis Association, was quoted in Cooper’s research paper as saying, “The link comes mainly from the parents. Generally ten-year old kids don’t go out there to cheat, they go out there to play the sport and have fun. They are not out there to try to cheat. It’s just that they get pressures from home.”

The third pressure on the player identified in Cooper’s study was personal expectations for high performance and the stress associated with competing. If the player perceives that the match outcome is vital for the future of their career it can lead to cheating as a way to not have the let down and trauma of losing.

People who play and understand the game of tennis know what a great game it is. Most parents are well aware that the probability of their child becoming a touring professional is very slim. What most parents do want for their children is the opportunity for their child to enjoy the benefits of learning the game, developing their skills to the best of their abilities and participating in a competitive environment that allows for accurate feedback of those skills. In the current culture of the sport at the junior level things need to change. Referring back to the comments from parents in the Blair Henley article it is easy to see that there are many good ideas for helping to make this change. Suggestions for reform include:

“The USTA makes 200+ million in revenue during the U.S. Open alone, it seems reasonable that they might cover the cost of additional officials at junior tournaments.”
I would add to this, at all junior tournaments, not just the higher tier tournaments need more officiating.”

“The USTA implements mandatory parental meetings to inform parents of parental codes of conduct then empowers tournament directors and officials to enforce the rules of that conduct during tournaments.”

A parent also suggested that a Public Relations team should be hired to implement a sportsmanship award that is voted on by players and referees. The winner would be able to waive the next tournament fee, or be given a USTA stipend to provide an incentive to parents as well.

It would also be useful to educate referees at the junior level more adequately. A common complaint by players and parents is that when a player calls a referee to a match the referee doesn’t always seem to know how to handle situations. There are many incidents of referees being influenced by input from the cheating player or a parent. The ref would be more credible if there was a stronger mandatory system in place for their education. Something similar to a USPTA or USPTR rating for the refs skill level would be useful. It would be an easy task for referees to keep up to date by taking on-line course work provided by the USTA.

Last, this is a wonderful opportunity for the WTA, ATP, USPTA, USTA, USPTR to utilize their resources to reset the culture of the sport. During televised tournaments have well known tour players, collegiate players and coaches appear in public service announcements talking about behavior and values that our sport wishes to promote. Create public service announcements that address guidelines for junior players and parents. Shape cheating into an uncool thing to do. It could be quite a creative campaign with well-known players and coaches talking about the benefits of not cheating. For example, players who don’t cheat have more confidence in their skills and ability to perform at higher levels when people are watching.

Cheaters are not the majority in the game of tennis, but they are disruptors and create enough discomfort for others that it can influence whether a player chooses to continue in the sport. A ten year old has enough to think about and react to without dealing with the shenanigans that to some have become recognized as the “norm” of competition. Let’s make an effort to change the culture of junior tennis so that it reflects the values of competition and fairness that are important for the sport and for the development of young players.

*This article can also be read @ examiner

Moving American tennis forward

Patrick McEnroe is stepping down from his position at the USTA this year. Higueras will continue as USTA Director of Coaching

Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

 

Jose Higueras was hired by Patrick McEnroe in 2008 to oversee all of Player Development’s coaching for the USTA. Higueras brought to the job a wealth of experience as a player and coach. He has worked with a number of the world’s top players. The list includes Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, Roger Federer, Jennifer Capriati and Mary Joe Fernandez. He was also Michael Chang’s coach when he won the French Open in 1989. As a player Higueras won sixteen ATP singles titles and was ranked as high as sixth in the world. He was also played for the Spanish Davis Cup for eight years.

SZ: I read that at age nine you worked as a ball boy at Reial Club de Tenis in Barcelona, Spain. How did you move from being a ball boy to learning to play tennis? Who discovered your talent and gave you the opportunity to train, grow and develop as a player?

JH: I started working at the Reial Club when I was nine. In those days ball boy kids were very poor kids that grew up without going to school. If you go to Mexico you still see that in some parts of South America. In the old days some of the best players or most of the best players in Spain like Manuel Santana, or Manuel Orantes were ex-ball boys like myself. As a ball boy you would work for two or three hours and always had spare time. So the ball boys would make a racket out of anything or a member would give them an old tennis racket.

Inter-club matches were always very big in Spain. There were the under 14’s, 16’s and 18 and under matches. At one point, sometimes the ball boys were better players than the clubs inter-club team. The club got smart and started asking some of the ball kids to participate in the inter-club matches to help the club win. From there on that’s how I got started. I started a little bit later than some of the other guys because I had to work until I was fifteen. I had the opportunity to play in an important inter-club match and ended up winning. From then on the club tried to help me more. Then there was a gentleman that was a tennis teacher at the club who was the most influential person in my tennis life. He was a great teacher and loved kids and loved to help people. He was the one that actually kept helping me all along. Then the Spanish Federation started to help me more and more.

SZ: That’s an amazing sequence of events. It takes that one person.

JH: I was also blessed with having a great family. My parents didn’t know what tennis was. They didn’t know how to keep score or anything about tennis. That was also a blessing because there was never any tennis talk at home. I knew they loved me and once again I was blessed with a great family. Everyone needs support along the way.

SZ: Growing up did you just play tennis or were you involved in other sports?

JH: When we had spare time we played everything. We played soccer, we played marbles, although it’s not a sport but in those days it was popular with kids. We started the day at the club at 8am and depending on how much the members would play, we may ball boy for four or five hours or on some days there wasn’t any ball boy activity. When I first began working at the club I was paid 2 1/2 cents and hour and when I stopped working it was 7 1/2 cents an hour.

SZ: Did you have the opportunity to attend school?

JH: One of the reasons I began working at the club was because we had a neighbor whose son was working there. The club gave us three hours of schooling a day and fed us which was a big thing in those days. But I didn’t go to high school or attend any organized school.

SZ: Your success is incredible.

JH: I am sure there are a lot of people out there that would do the same thing. You think about how much you want to do something and it’s motivational.

SZ: When I think of junior tournaments I think of learning by experience, playing lots of matches, seeing lots of different styles of play. Has the USTA considered the format for juniors 8-12 years old to move to round robin? Smaller tournaments that ensure players will have at least four or five matches per entry? A twelve game format with a tie-breaker?

JH: I am not informed on this because it’s not really what I do in my job position. But I think the main idea is to make tennis more attractive and fun for children by making it more of a team sport. There are so many kids that have so much pressure by their parents and coaches. They play tennis but don’t actually have fun and play implies fun.

SZ: Jose when you were competing as a child were you having fun? Did you feel the pressure of, “this is going to get me out of this situation.”

JH: That was my driving force. The teacher I told you about had some of the ball boys help him during the weekends with his tennis school. He was the best tennis teacher I’ve ever seen with children. He used to place a lot of ex-ball boys at clubs in Spain because his reputation was remarkable all over the country. Frequently clubs would call him and say, “Do you have any players to send us? We have an opening for a tennis teacher.” A lot of kids that were ball boys were placed in clubs as tennis teachers.

SZ: So it was a great opportunity.

JH: It was my only way really to get out of poverty.

SZ: Do you feel the format for junior tennis development in the U.S. is going in the good direction or would you like to see changes?

JH: If there is something that I would change I would expect the kids to have fun. I think having fun is a sign of a good teacher. I think if you have a program and you lose kids, more than likely you can’t look at the kids as being at fault. The kids should look forward to going to the program whether it’s entry level or advanced, the atmosphere has to be there and once again it’s supposed to be fun.

SZ: You were coaching Michael Chang when he won the French Open. The coached Jim Courier during the height of his success. How long had you worked with Chang prior to the Roland Garros Victory? How did you end up meeting Courier and deciding to work together?

JH: I started working with Chang in October of of 1988 and he won the French in 1989. I first met Michael when he was playing at the Orange Bowl. Then at the end of the year I took a part-time job with the USTA. When I took that job I began working with both Michael and Jim. Jim was already in the USTA program and I was still working with Michael then I received a call from Jim who asked me to coach him. Jim was a pretty good player when I began working with him. He was already ranked 30th in the world or some number close to that.

SZ: Do you feel you added you not only added strategic and technical information to their games but also bigger picture life perspective?

JH: I think life will teach you through experiences. What I try to do in my coaching and teaching is work hard, be resilient and patient. Set your goals but you’ve got to be patient.

SZ: Players become nervous before matches. It’s part of competing. When you were playing competitively what techniques if any did you utilize to overcome moments of nervousness in your important matches?

JH: As I became older I began to understand how the mind works. Basically for me it was about knowing that I was ready. That I had done all these things prior to going into tournaments to prepare myself. That was my main sense of security. I was also intrigued in those days about “the zone.” People used to talk a lot about, “He or she is in the zone.” I was intrigued until I came to the conclusion, my conclusion, not proven by any means, I am not an expert in that, but I came to the conclusion that my zone was an empty state of mind. Where the whole process was that I was so focused on what I was doing that there were no worries. That state once I understood how to get there more often brought me more success.

SZ: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi would call this this, “finding flow.” How do you help players get to that state. There is a lot of hoopla that goes along with success these days. Melanie Oudin, Coco Vandeweghe, Sloane Stephens all have had break through tournaments then slowed down their upward trajectory. They become “The New American Hope.” How do you help the young player think about putting that tournament aside and staying focused on their progress particularly when their success triggers a media frenzy.

JH: First of all I make sure that I don’t tell the players what they want to hear but what I think they need to hear in a very nice way. I put things in perspective. For example, when I work with a kid just by the way I go about our practices, I send signals to them in terms of where they are and the way to keep the player going. Normally the good players are really dedicated to playing. At the same time some of the players that think they are committed but the level of commitment isn’t really the level that is needed. In that situation you have a little more issue. But once again it’s about sending the signals and keeping the player very realistic. You are as good as you are. If you are one hundred and fifty in the world at this point you are one hundred and fifty in the world. It doesn’t matter how good people think you can be. Being realistic and at the same time giving the player the confidence that you actually believe that they can be great. Let them know they can be great but at the same time to be great you actually have to do a,b,c and you have to go through the process of achieving that.

SZ: Do you feel that there are more distractions for players when they have some level of success? Whether it’s television interviews, fulfilling endorsement obligations, commitments to corporate sponsorship etc. Do you help them keep those added engagement of their time in perspective?

JH: Obviously things are a little more complicated. Some players live with those things better than others. But once again this is what you do. You have to understand what success brings and what effect it can have on people. Especially children. There are two guys right now Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer that I don’t think we will see two players like this again for many years. They are two of the best champions I’ve ever seen. Not just because of their level of play but because the way they conduct themselves and how well they wear their status.

SZ: What advice do you give to the young players you work with today to settle their nerves prior to big tournament matches?

JH: Normally how you practice is how you will play. When you practice you experiment a little more with whatever it is you are working on. More pace or coming forward or whatever. Everything starts at the beginning which is practice so it becomes habit. Then it’s important to understand sometimes a player doesn’t lose but he/she gets beat. Your opponent plays better than you. I think number one a player should judge his/her results by how he/she played the match. Number two would be to be happy if you play badly but manage to win the match because that’s actually the sign of a good player.

SZ: Your official title with the USTA is Director of Coaching, which means you oversee all of the aspects of player development. I read an interview where you are quoted as saying, “We are lacking competitiveness in our players. They’ve got good backhands and forehands and serves but they lack understanding of how the game needs to be played. We have good coaches but the culture of our players needs to improve.” How has this situation been altered since you’ve come on board as Director of Coaching? Do you still see it as a weakness in American tennis?

JH: To be honest I think it’s still a weakness but it’s a lot smaller. The culture is changing. I think the dialogue in the USTA is changing. I didn’t change it. We all did. We’ve traveled around and have had a lot of interaction with a lot of coaches and players. Traveling around is a million times harder for me than coaching a player. Coaching a player is pretty easy compared to what I am currently doing.

SZ: Because you have a direct ongoing relationship with the player.

JH: Yeah I have 100% control of what I do and the effect that I have when I talk to a player. I think we are getting a lot better in that we have a good group of girls and a really good group of boys coming up. I think you can see slowly as you go like over at the Easter Bowl. The level in general is getting better. When the base gets bigger and gets better then I think we will see more and better players.

SZ: When I think of successful players from the past, I think of their intensity and inner drive to achieve. Besides being a talented athlete what qualities do you look for when thinking about whether a player has a chance to develop into a great player?

JH: Well a couple of things I look for that are important. First off is how badly does the player want to play/compete? I can only see that once I spend some time with the player. I will put them through some work that if they want to play they will go through it. The second aspect is I like to see them play. I like to see them play a set because I can see what kind of a tennis I.Q. they have and how resilient they are. Their character is the most important thing. It’s pretty amazing what an individual can do if he/she actually puts whatever it takes to get as far as he/she can. And that’s something that I think sometimes we over look.

SZ: Jose thank you for taking the time for this interview. I know how busy you are and are preparing to leave for the French Open. Best of luck to your players.

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

Biofeedback for Mental Skills Training

“The key for me is to forget about results and concentrate on execution.” Orel Hershiser,

Los Angeles Dodgers.

How do athletes arrive at this place of letting go of the many distractions and pressures of performance? Many athletes are familiar with playing well in practice but not up to their potential during a game. In practice an athlete is focusing on the task. There isn’t the pressure of an outcome of winning or losing. Their mental focus complements their physical training. When an athlete leaves the practice arena and faces a team or challenging opponent or a game that matters, the athlete often becomes distracted with internal dialogue that sounds like:

*Don’t mess up this game.

*I’m ranked higher, I should win.

*I have to beat this opponent.

*Don’t let the team down.

*If I don’t play well the coach will bench me.

*There are scouts in the stands today. I have to perform well.

These types of distractions trigger a fight, flight, freeze primal response in the body. Athletes are typically unaware of the extent to which thoughts influence physiology and the impact it has on performance. Biofeedback is an easy training tool that provides real time data to athletes regarding how the body is responding to the mental dialogue and physiological response to the environment.

A simple Psychophysiological Stress Test helps the athlete recognize the link between thoughts and the perceived stress of competition and reaction time, the ability to think clearly under pressure, and emotional management. Once the athlete has an individualized blueprint of the stress cues that negatively influence their performance, an individualized biofeedback training program can be designed that will enable the athlete to more effectively address and manage these issues.

For additional information regarding biofeedback,arranging for a Psychological Stress Test or a free 30 minute phone consultation contact Susan Zaro, LMFT, BCB @

www.susanzaro.com

Taylor Fritz USA's rising tennis talent

Taylor Fritz is the son of two tennis pros. His father Guy Fritz was the University of San Diego’s first tennis All-American in 1972 and spent seven years on the pro tour. His mom, Kathy, was ranked as high as number ten on the WTA tour. Taylor has been making large strides towards his goals of becoming a touring ATP player in the years to come. Taylor’s ranking has climbed as high as #4 in ITF world rankings, and a career-high no. 912 ranking on the ATP pro tour. Last year Taylor reached the semi-finals of Junior Wimbledon. Recently he was seeded #3 during the Junior Australian Open.

Examiner: This year was your first Australian Open. You were seeded #3 in the junior tournament. What was it like playing in such a large venue for the first time? Were there a lot of distractions and peripheral issues to deal with such as the weather, scheduling courts etc? Or was it fairly easy to ease into the environment and just focus on your matches?

TF: It was fairly easy to get into the rhythm of the tournament because it was similar to a lot of the other junior slams. I thought the wind was going to be an issue because during the warm-up tournaments leading up to the Open the wind was pretty heavy. But it calmed down during the Open and it was great to play at such a big event.

Examiner: Were there a lot of distractions because it’s such a large venue and and there is so much going on? Or do you have a tournament routine and just knew to stick with your tournament routine?

TF: It was pretty routine because like I mentioned it’s the same type of environment as the other junior slams that I’ve been to. I have a whole routine down for that.

Examiner: Did you do anything different to prepare yourself for the Australian vs. other ITF tournaments you’ve played in? What are the things a player needs to prepare themselves for?

TF: Well I arrived in Australia early to make sure my sleeping schedule and all that was in sych with the time zone. The way I had to prepare in the days leading up to the Australian was different compared to how I usually prepare because I injured my shoulder and wasn’t able to serve or play for three or four days prior to the Australian Open. So my routine leading up to the tournament was spent trying to get my shoulder healthy rather than practicing or playing sets which I normally do.

Examiner: I looked at the doubles draw and noticed your name wasn’t there, was this because of your shoulder?

TF: Yeah, I pulled out of the doubles because I wanted to make sure my shoulder was going to be okay. I was advised that if I take some days off my shoulder should be able to hold up. But if I over played it would worsen.

Examiner: So part of your daily routine was to nurture your shoulder, going to the training room etc.

TF: I was just doing what I could to make sure I was ready to play.

Examiner: Both of your parents played tennis professionally and have taken an active part in your tennis development. What are the plus’s and what are potential drawbacks if any having parents who know the game and you so well?

TF: The plus’s are they always have my best interests in mind. They aren’t trying to do anything for the wrong reasons. They are always trying to help and they are always there. That’s what’s great about it. The minus’s are just sometimes it’s tough to have your parents coach you. I mean parenting and coaching, it’s two different things.

Examiner: At age seventeen your ITF ranking has climbed as high as #4 in the world. What has been some of the best tennis advice you’ve received so far regarding your career going forward?

TF: Going forward the best advice is probably to stay healthy and not injure myself. Not to over do it. When you are a highly ranked junior you have a good chance of transitioning into the pro’s and getting injured is just something that could completely ruin everything. Staying healthy is super important.

Examiner: Have you altered your practice routine going forward to protect your shoulder?

TF: I took some time off and saw some doctors to make sure I knew what I needed to do to take care of my shoulder. Now that I am playing and serving again I’m not going to change my regular practice schedule because it was never too much for my body to handle.

Examiner: All players need mentors/role models. Besides your parents who are your go to mentor/role models who help you see the path you wish to take a little clearer?

TF: Besides my parents I have coaches, Woody Blocher and Christian Groh. They both help me personally. For a role model obviously it’s Roger Federer because he’s just....I mean it’s pretty obvious.

*Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images

Examiner: A big issue during matches for tennis players is to have an active but focused mind. Winning and losing points can create big emotional ups and downs during match play. Novak Djokovic found meditation and made other adjustments in his life which seems to have helped him a lot. Andy Murray struggles with his emotional composure. Do you utilize any mental skills training to help you stay focused during matches?

TF: No not really. I just try and attend every practice with one hundred percent intensity and just focus and concentrate. As far as getting on the courts and having a mental game on the court during a match I don’t really think that is something that can be taught. I think you’ve got to just experience it. It’s kind of just experience and how you handle it.

Examiner: So through experience over time you develop a way to handle yourself on the court.

TF: I feel like most people are just born with the mental side where they don’t get too nervous. I feel it’s tough to teach that versus experience it.

Examiner: Do you have any favorite quotes or tips that keep you motivated during tough times? Tough times being when your shoulder is bugging you a bit or a tournament didn’t go quite as well as you wanted.

TF: I just move on with things. I don’t really have any problems with confidence or anything. I don’t get too down on myself. After a loss I kind of just say, “Alright well next time I’ll be better. It’s not a problem.”

Examiner: What is next on your schedule? Where will you be playing?

TF: This upcoming week I’m playing qualifying at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

Examiner: Best of luck to you Taylor! Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to talk with me.

*Featured guests are not current nor former clients of Susan Zaro
*This article can be read @ Examiner

*Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Coco Vandeweghe making an impact

Coco Vandeweghe has begun her 2015 WTA season by making an impact. She moved up to a career high of #32 in the world after she reached the third round of the recent Australian Open. In the last twelve months Vandeweghe moved up over eighty spots in the rankings. She made her WTA debut in the 2007 Acura Classic in San Diego. In 2014 she won her first WTA tournament at the Topshelf Open grass tournament in the Netherlands, beating Zheng Jie in the final. Since her strong showing at the Australian Vandeweghe has been selected to the USA Fed Cup which will be played on the outdoor red clay courts at the Pilara Tennis Club in Buenos Aires, Feb. 7-8. When I spoke with Vandeweghe she was on the way to the airport to catch a plane to Argentina where she will join her Fed Cup team-mates, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Taylor Townsendand seventh year Fed Cup captain Mary Joe Fernandez.

SZ: I read that you played competitive basketball until you were fifteen years old. What events shifted your attention to tennis full-time?

CV: I always played tennis, basketball and multiple sports. Basketball was a sport I always played. My mom didn’t really want me to continue to play basketball because she loves tennis. She fell in love with tennis after her sporting career in volleyball and swimming were over. She felt that tennis would be a better outlet for me in the sporting world which I came to agree with later. At first I thought my mom just didn’t want me to play basketball anymore which being a 14/15 year old kid drove me to play even more. But then there was a season where I ended up missing a couple of team practices for tennis and vice versa missing tennis practice for basketball. The girls began to take on the attitude I wasn’t committed to the team. So I wasn’t getting the ball passed to me. I was getting shunned out a bit. At that point I decided I didn’t need this and that I could play tennis which doesn’t require team-mates.

SZ: Is basketball part of your cross training? 

CV: I still play sometimes. I don’t participate in pick up games or anything to protect myself from being hurt. But my coach, Maciej Synowka likes to play so I get him to play every once in awhile.

Examiner: Now that you have been a touring professional full time for a few years how has your coach/player relationship changed from the juniors to the pro’s? Who sets your training goals and directs the course on what you need to improve on to become an impact player?

CV: The way I’ve been doing this in the past year and a half with Maciej is we set our goals before the season begins. I write out what I think I can accomplish and he writes out what he thinks I can accomplish and we develop a mix of both of our goals. That dictates the training regime of what we are going to do. Maciej is in charge of the training on the court. Off court I have another trainer who works with me.

SZ: Does the training include nutrition?

CV: Everything is included and everyone is on the same page being aware of all my goals. The trainer in the gym knows my tennis goals and Maciej even though he is my tennis coach knows the goals I want to accomplish in the gym.

SZ: If anything shifts during the season like your great results at the 2015 Australian Open and now this invitation to represent the USA in the Fed Cup do you re-set the goals?

CV: I reset them. My goals at the start of this year was to make the third round at a Grand Slam event. To this point I hadn’t gone that far in a Slam. Once I accomplished that it means we reset our goals. For example, let’s see if reaching the second week of a Slam is in the cards for this year, stuff like that. We definitely reset the goals after the accomplishments are reached.

SZ: The goals are flexible through-out the season.

CV: Definitely.

SZ: Does Maciej travel with you full time or just attend the big events?

CV: He travels with me full time.

SZ: What are the responsibilities of a traveling coach to help you prepare for matches and during the tournament?

CV: Basically to make my life as easy as possible. He books the practice courts and makes sure that I am still on the practice list, scouts opponents, books transportation to and from the tournament site and basically all the miscellaneous things that a player needs to do to be ready to play. He takes the weight off my shoulders.

SZ: What personality traits do you value the most in Maciej that helps you play up to your potential?

CV: Well he’s sitting in the back seat right now, (laughing). His philosophy is more of what I grew up with. My first coach was my mother. She was my volleyball coach even though I didn’t last long in volleyball. She was always coaching and she definitely had a stern coaching philosophy from her own sporting life. (Tauna Vandeweghe swam for team USA during the 1976 Summer Olympics in Canada).My mom’s philosophy was that if you’re not working then someone else is working harder than you. There is always more you can dig out of yourself. That was kind of the parameters I grew up with. Maciej being from Poland has that Eastern European mentality, kind of old school thinking. He doesn’t coddle my feelings. We are out there to achieve our goals. I also think a big factor, which you have to grow into over time in working or traveling with a coach is the trust factor. That the coach is putting everything that they have into your success, just as much as you are.

SZ: It’s a professional team investment and partnership. As a touring pro your schedule takes you all over the world which means different time zones, temperatures, playing surfaces etc. There are all sorts of apps available on the market to log sleep, hydration, work-outs etc. Do you use any of these devices to keep track of these off court statistics?

CV: I work with a company called APS. They provide me with electrolytes, protein powder and other vitamins that I may need depending on where I go. I am pretty consistent taking my vitamins in the morning and making sure I get enough sleep. I just go about doing what I would do at home and try to keep things as normal as possible.

SZ: You had a significant win during this years Australian Open against Sam Stosur. Coming into the Australian had you prepared any differently?

CV: Yeah it was a pretty difficult off court season that I had. We were really focusing on our goals and I had a huge ranking jump last year 2014. I started the year at #120 and finished the year in the top 40. That’s a significant leap in a year. I also won my first title and reached a lot of the goals and dreams that I had as a kid. Reaching my goals was a great accomplishment last year. But then it’s 2015 and a new year and we need to improve. So we sat down before the season started and set goals. We looked at what I thought hadn’t worked well in the 2014 season and what I thought I could improve on. We looked at the game tactics my opponents were using against me. We devised a plan and tried to execute it as well as we could.

SZ: Do you watch video of opponents to identify play patterns?

CV: I watch a lot of my own videos and notice how I played against opponents seeing both the good and bad match outcomes. It’s not always fun to watch the disappointing matches but I sit down and watch even during the off season. I watch my performance during good and bad matches and study the different types of players, the hard hitters to the counter punchers and everyone in between that we have video on.

SZ: In your interview at the Australian Open you mentioned that during your first round match against Francesca Schiavone you were quite nervous. Your coach said he doesn’t train you to be nervous out on the court. Do you have a system that you use to mentally prepare yourself?

CV: I think you’re always going to have some nerves, some level of adrenaline pumping, because of the excitement of competing. If I’m not feeling that then I feel like something isn’t right. Either I didn’t prepare or I’m just not ready to play in some form. The Australian is the first Grand Slam of the year and playing a complex player who was top ten in the world and a Grand Slam Champion (Francesca Schiavone won the 2010 French Open Singles), and a player I had never beaten it was kinda….I mean we worked on it for the next match when I played Stosur because she was another difficult opponent. That match was also played on an even bigger stage as we played on one of the tournament show courts and playing Stosur the hometown favorite. You just have to manage what you can. During my match against Francesca it was very simple I was not going to change any game tactics. I was keeping it as simple as hitting every ball crosscourt. It didn’t matter to me if she hit five hundred times to my backhand. I was going to hit five hundred more times back to her backhand. I wasn’t going to change anything because at this point in time I didn’t know where my feet were landing. I had no idea what was going on at the end of the match. I couldn’t tell you what the score was. I just knew I had won. It was an unbelievable kind of feeling out there that I had never quite felt of nerves. But it was the best I had managed them.

So before my match against Stosur my coach said, “We don’t train for you to put all those hours in the gym and potentially for you to make a huge mistake and blow your opportunity because you’re nervous. Play like you can’t miss a ball.” That’s how I was thinking when I was playing Stosur. I went on the court prepared to play like I can’t miss a ball. This is my court the surface I train on when I am home. I wasn’t going to miss a ball. Whatever she hits I can’t miss it. That’s all I was thinking about.

SZ: So you don’t do any mental training like breathing, slowing things down, or defining a focal point on the court to re-center yourself between points?

CV: I actually learned those skills from my grandfather (Ernie Vandeweghe, played for the New York Knicks), he always would tell me to play fast when you’re winning and slow it down when you are losing.

SZ: It allows you a longer presence on the court to figure out how to get back into the match. It sends the message “I’m staying to play and figure this out. You will need to beat me.” Every sport has a form of this. In football when a field goal kicker comes on the field and prepares to set-up to kick often an opposing team calls a time out. It’s called “Icing the kicker.” Game tactics.

CV: I learned about breathing during my time playing basketball shooting free throws because I never practiced enough to be confident in shooting free throws and making ninety percent of them. So I learned to develop a rhythm and routine. In tennis every time I set up for a return of serve I stick to my rhythm, routines. Those are things an opponent can’t touch or move. As a player it’s all under my control.

SZ: The following round you lost to Madison Brengle who is ranked below you in the WTA this year. After your win against Stosur what was the rest of your day like? Did you have time to process and and plan for the match against Brengle or were you still processing the match and the high of your win against Stosur? What was the atmosphere like for you?

CV: It was quite a bit different. My match with Stosur finished after midnight because we were the second evening match. I didn’t get to bed until probably 3:30am. What many people don’t realize is that after a match player’s are responsible to meet with the press and other obligations. Along with that is to fit in your match recovery which for me is an ice bath and other things I need to get done with the physio. It takes time. I spent two hours just taking care of my own recovery process, and also finding food. Normally I’m in bed by 9:30pm. I typically don’t stay up late. The next day I had t.v. interviews to do and different media responsibilities that I normally don’t have. The change in routine messes up your daily rhythm.

SZ: Do you think that those things influenced your readiness against Madison Brengle?

CV: Yeah, I mean you’re at such a high and everything like that, that if you’re not used to doing something everything is so new so it puts you a bit out of your comfort zone.

SZ: Your wins against Schiavone and Stosur were a nice validation of your skills and abilities. Your next event is participating as a Fed Cup player in the match against Argentina which is being played Feb. 7 & 8. What’s the plan to acclimate?

CV: I wasn’t planning on playing Fed. Cup because I was asked pretty last minute. I had been preparing for Dubai and Doha which are on hard courts. Right now the plan is to get to Argentina and get some practice reps on clay. I thought I had two and a half weeks to prepare for the next tournaments instead of four days. We’ll see what happens.

SZ: From Argentina are you going to Dubai?

CV: I have a tournament in Dubai, Feb. 16th, and in Doha Feb. 23rd. Then I return home to prepare for Indian Wells.

SZ: Coco I appreciate you taking the time for this interview. Best of luck at Fed. Cup and the rest of your season you’re off to a great start.

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

*This article can also be read @ Examiner

*Thank you to Getty Images & Hannah Peters for photos

Jason Fass, CEO, Zepp Labs

Jason Fass is the CEO, at Zepp Labs located in Los Gatos, CA. The Zepp sensor is a new sport technology that enables, baseball players, tennis players, golfers and their coaches to analyze data from a players swing. Players at any level can use the app as a training tool. Prior to becoming the CEO at Zepp, Fass held positions in product management for Apple, Cisco and Jawbone. Fass recognized a huge opportunity to develop sensor-based products that change the way people practice, play and experience sports. The Zepp multi-sport sensor and training system is used for baseball/softball, golf and tennis and is sold in retail stores around the world including Apple, Best Buy, Verizon and Amazon. 

SZ: What sports did you participate in growing up? Would a Zepp device been helpful to you then?

JF: I’ve always loved sports! As a kid I played football, soccer and even baseball, but really loved to ride my skateboard and bmx bike. And today I’m still really passionate about board sports and absolutely love riding my bike (mountain bike these days). I wish I had a Zepp sensor when I was a kid to help me improve my game, prefect my tricks, and connect with pro athletes.

SZ: In 2012 you were inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records for the fastest crossing of the English Channel by a kite boarding team. What was your role in this feat? What type of technology metrics were involved both on the kite board and by the support team that helped your team achieve this accomplishment?

JF: I was one of the 9 riders to cross the channel. We used GPS trackers to time the crossing and all of us were outfitted with safety equipment.

SZ: How does Zepp technology work? What is in the device that captures metrics such as racket speed, ball speed potential, spin, backswing time and impact time? How accurate are the measurements?

JF: Each sensor has 2 accelerometers and a high performance Gyro that all work together to capture 1000 data points per second for your sports. All of this data is processed by our Zepp motion engine and sent via Bluetooth to your mobile device where you can see very helpful information to help you improve your game. The measurements are extremely accurate.

SZ: The golf and baseball app feature a very cool 3D model that shows the swing from start to finish and has the ability to rotate the figure 360 degrees to catch every angle of the move. The tennis app has this feature for the serve. Will the tennis app be developed to have the 3D model for groundstrokes and volleys in the near future?

JF: There’s a lot we can do with our 3D technology and we may add it to your groundstrokes in tennis, however tennis is a very dynamic game. It’s different than golf or baseball (batting) where the athlete is stationary and working on dialing in a very specific movement. In tennis, this scenario and learning model is most applicable to the serve. However we are looking to make some very cool updates to the tennis app this year that we think players are going to love!

SZ: Zepp has partnered with several major league players and golfers from the PGA so Zepp clients can match their swing from any angle against players like David Ortiz in baseball or golfer Keegan Bradley. Swing technology is one component of a sport do you see Zepp branching out their partnerships to include nutrition, physical training or sport psychology so clients can track all their sport performance data in one place? For example if an athlete’s nutrition is lacking it can easily impact their ability to focus on the ball and hit at full capacity. Or if an athlete is not mentally focused he/she can easily be distracted and not watch the ball well enough to hit it consistently.

JF: Everything we’re doing now is to help players and coaches improve. I think that mission has a natural extension into things beyond the swing analysis we’re doing now. The sports technology market is enormous and full of opportunities.

SZ: Senior players ages 45+ have natural decreases in their swing speed, and their muscles reduce strength with age. Will there be a Masters level swing analysis for older players?

JF: We’ve designed Zepp to be used by players of all ages. In fact, you can customize your goals in the apps based on your age and/or ability.

SZ: What are the psychological advantages you see in an athlete using a Zepp as part of their overall training?

JF: While we’re not quite measuring the psychological advantages yet, we hear from athletes every day who are feeling more confident in the their skills and improving their games.

SZ: What are some surprising things you didn’t anticipate from client experiences using a Zepp to help their athletic skill development?

JF: We’ve been blown away by the interest in using Zepp by the coaching communities in baseball, softball, golf and tennis. While a lot of technology companies talk about “replacing the coach” I like to think we’re embracing the coach. You’re going to see a wealth of new features and functionality along these lines coming from Zepp in the near future.

SZ: Jason thank you for taking time out of your busy day for this interview.

*Featured guests are not current nor former clients of Susan Zaro
*This article may also be read @ Examiner

S.J.S.U. football coach Ron Caragher

Ron Caragher is the current head coach of the San Jose State Spartans football team. Originally from Morgan Hill, CA. Caragher played college football at U.C.L.A. and later became an assistant coach for U.C.L.A. football, first as a graduate assistant then as a wide receivers coach. Caragher served as a running back coach for the Kentucky Wildcats and was part of the 2006 Music City Bowl championship coaching staff.

He first became a head coach at the University of San Diego in 2007 and remained in that position until 2012. During his coaching career there the Toreros won three Pioneer Football League championships. In 2012 then S.J.S.U. football coach Coach Mike MacIntyre left S.J.S.U. for the head coaching position at the University of Colorado, and S.J.S.U. hired Caragher beginning in 2013.

SZ: Is it good to be back in the bay area? 

RC: Yes, it’s nice to be home. I grew up here and my mom lives in the same house in Morgan Hill. It’s good to be back home.

SZ: How old were you when you began playing football? Who were your athletic role models growing up?

RC: I was in fourth grade. My first experience was flag football. But probably the first big influence in my life was in fifth grade playing Pop Warner football for the Morgan Hill Raiders. I ended up having chicken pox and missed two weeks of practice. When I came back the games had started and I just got plugged in at corner back. The next year I came back to Fall camp and had a chance to practice. The coach put me at tail back which was fun because you get to carry the ball. A funny story that goes with this is our quarterback was really the best athlete on the team but he kept forgetting the plays. One day I was throwing the football back and forth with him and our coach Ernie Hill comes over and says, “Ronnie - Brian come here I want to try something. Ronnie I want to put you at quarterback and Brian you are going to play tail back.” This coaching move changed my life.

SZ: That’s amazing isn’t it.

RC: It’s amazing because I would not have gotten a scholarship to college playing tail back. I’m not that kind of athlete. I would have fizzled probably in high school. I really enjoyed the quarterback position and ended up getting a scholarship to U.C.L.A. So I always think my role as a coach is player identification, player evaluation, player assessment and putting guys in the right position so they can succeed. It goes back to me personally when I was in the fifth grade.

SZ: Who were some of the sports figures you admired when you were growing up?

RC: I was a sports junkie as a kid. I loved football, basketball, baseball. On the football side of things I admired Joe Montana. He was a big professional role model for me when I was in middle school. I remember John Elway playing at Stanford. I loved following the N.B.A. and Doug Collins who played for the 76ers. Also Rick Barry who played for the Warriors.

SZ: What were the qualities of these player’s you admired?

RC: The qualities that stood out is the ability to play in a big time arena and be able to keep their poise. That comes to mind obviously with Joe Montana. He was able to take the team on a two minute drive under pressure with all the adversity and a big crowd and I just envied that. It was my dream to be able to do that and be like those guys. I was also influenced during my time walking the campus at U.C.L.A. Each day I’d walk through Pauley Pavilion and I’d look up and see those banners from Coach John Wooden. It led me to start reading some of Coach Wooden’s books. The first one, “They Call Me Coach,” just jumped out at me. I realized that athletes are at college to help build a foundation for success in their lives. I loved Coach Wooden and studied his pyramid of success. I loved that he is a great man and nice guys don’t have to finish last. They can actually be champions. From then on I think that kind of made a big impression on me. The college players I coach aren’t all going to play professional football. Their career is going to end some day. But we want for them that when it does end that they can go on and live productive lives, as husbands, fathers and community leaders.

SZ: You received an athletic scholarship to U.C.L.A. and played back up to future Pro Football Hall of Famer, Troy Aikman during your college years. Did you know going in that there would be a chance you’d be a back-up? What did you do during those years to remain motivated, engaged and ready to play each week?

RC: I went in full speed ahead wanting to be the starting quarterback at U.C.L.A.

SZ: Was Troy already there?

RC: No he wasn’t. Troy transferred in from Oklahoma. It quickly became apparent how good he was. It was a tough blow. It was probably one of the toughest things I’ve ever had to deal with. I was knocked off track from what I wanted. But yet it was the best opportunity to grow and develop as a young man. I just learned a lot through they whole thing. I can’t say that I learned it all then and there. I learned that you have to come prepared. You have to bring your best effort and some things are beyond your control. You have to be able to adjust. Attitude is everything and it’s so important that we keep our attitude. I learned not be be defined. Up until then I had made the mistake of letting myself be defined by how I preformed in a sporting event. I think I came to realize I can’t be defined by that. No-one should be defined by their performance or their outcome. It shouldn’t determine our self-esteem or confidence. I think it was a tremendous learning experience for me and one that I’m thankful for as challenging as it was at the time.

SZ: What did you do during those years to remain motivated, engaged and ready to play each week?

RC: I realized that I am one play away and I have to be ready. I remember a quote by John Wooden, “I will get ready and then my opportunity will come.” Because it can’t be once my opportunity comes I will get ready. That’s too late. I do remember that quote and I remember just working hard with the hope that the opportunity will come.

SZ: What are the mental skills an athlete in your situation needs to develop to stay sharp mentally since you may not be called upon? Or conversely to be called upon after sitting for thirty or more minutes watching from the sidelines? It’s such a unique challenge.

RC: Coach Terry Donahue said to me, “Hey Ronnie, I want you to chart the plays and chart the coverages of the defense. Lo and behold did I know that was the start of my coaching career. I was the quarterback with the clip board and I’d break down coverages of the defense. It kept me mentally in the game so that if the opportunity arose I certainly had a feel for the coverages the opponent was playing. During the week at practices I threw the ball but the back up quarterback does not get as many reps as the starting quarterback. I remember the coaches telling me that if I wasn’t getting the physical reps I could get the mental reps. By that they meant for me to be watching Troy. So I watched him like a hawk so I could see what he was seeing and the decisions he was making. I was getting mental reps. It’s not the same but it could be almost as good.

SZ: Your first head coaching opportunity was at the University of San Diego where you are credited with building the program into a winning team. As head coach of S.J.S.U. you are currently in a re-building phase. What are the key components to transitioning into your position?

RC: Getting everyone to buy in and get on the same page. There are different ways to succeed. You can run a spread option offense, a wishbone offense or a run and shoot offense. They are all different ends of the spectrum. The key is to get guys to buy in and do their position as best they can. That’s what makes transition difficult because when you step into a program sometimes the veteran players who might have tasted success doing it another way need to buy into doing it differently. Not that the previous way was wrong or that there is a right or wrong way but there are alternative ways and getting everyone on the same page is the key.

SZ: Football teams consist of teams within teams being coached by different coaches at each position. What do teams do to create team chemistry?

RC: We have the position coaches that coach specific positions. Then there are coordinators. An offensive coordinator calls offensive plays, defensive coordinators call defensive plays and a special teams coach coordinator who calls those plays. I oversee the whole team and you are right it is a challenge because you can have many groups within the groups. You can have fractions and you don’t want that. What we try to do is to integrate the team and one thing we do is call them families. We may have ten different families and one family is comprised of a player or two from each position on the team. We have get togethers with these groups of player representatives (families) or sessions during Fall camp or in August when the team is in a preparation stage. Sometimes we gather in different groups and we’ll talk abut issues and talk about what our goals should be as a team and how we can accomplish those goals.

We try out different ways of integrating the team. I think we took the team every year to Dave & Buster’s just to have some fun. I took a team while I coached at USD to a paint ball park. It was really fun but let me tell you it hurts. It hurts and you don’t wear a t-shirt when you go to one of those things because you get a welt on your arm for a week. When we travel as a team and go to a unique city I do try and show the team something that’s special about the city so they can take something back above and beyond football.

SZ: Does sport psychology have a place in the training program? Is there a place that’s part of the training program in terms of a player’s preparation or recovery?

RC: Most definitely. I was a psychology major and I find it fascinating. I try and read things of value that I can pass on to my team. I try and do visualization with our players and have seen it to be very effective with these young men. I can improve and do a better job in this area but I do think it’s important. We’ve all seen very talented athletes, very skilled but lacking the mental toughness and drive, those intangibles that make the difference in a very successful athlete from an average athlete.

SZ: Who have been influential coaching mentors along your way in becoming a head coach? Has coaching football changed significantly in the last five/seven years?

RC: Terry Donahue, my football coach at U.C.L.A., John Wooden who I met and had a chance to visit when he was alive had a big impact on me. I had the pleasure of meeting Bill Walsh and driving him home from U.C.L.A. when he was down there visiting. Those guys were all very influential and impressionable on me.

Yes, coaching the game has changed in the last several years. It’s sped up. Instead of the traditional football huddle up, send a player in with the play, give the quarterback the play, he calls it in the huddle, break the huddle, go up to the line of scrimmage and start the play, it is now all up tempo. Many teams run a no huddle offense where it’s all about speed and get the next play off. From a coaches perspective you have to factor in the wear and tear of the players. Offenses now average eighty to ninety snaps a game instead of sixty-five. Teams are also playing twelve or more games, thirteen with a bowl game. The schedule can take a toll on the body. Football has become a year round training sport and we have to consider how much our players can handle and have proper recovery.

SZ: There are many hats you wear as a head coach. Do you have any favorite quotes, tips or stories that keep you focused on your role as head coach?

RC: I’m a quote guy. As a team we went through a tough time this past season. We have our challenges here at S.J.S.U. But one quote jumps out because of it, “The bigger the challenge the bigger the reward.” I like telling the players, “A rising tide lifts all ships.” Meaning as a player increases his level of play the accolades come at the end of the year when the team does better as a whole. It’s not about individual accolades those will come thereafter. I love the saying, “Iron sharpens iron.” it’s a biblical quote. Competition can bring out the best in all of us. As we compete and battle we’re making our opponent better and he’s making us better and it raises the bar.

SZ: Is there anything you’d like to add?

RC: Sports can be and are a pretty fascinating preparation for life. I think we can learn almost more during losses than we do during wins. After a loss you reflect back and get introspective. It was a tough year for S.J.S.U. football and to look back at what we did and how we can do it differently, keeping our players healthy and developing players makes for introspection. When you lose you really dig down trying to learn about yourself. Another quote on that note is, “Tough times don’t last, tough people do.” So I can say that and know that this challenge we will overcome.

SZ: Thank you Coach Caragher for taking the time out of your busy schedule for this chat.

*Featured guests are not current nor former clients of Susan Zaro
*This article can also be read @ Examiner
*Picture credits: Terrell Lloyd, San Jose State University athletics