Margie Zesinger is our guest for the 21st episode of Baseline Intelligence. Margie is the head of female tennis at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida and was the 2021 PTR member of the year. She has coached numerous players to ITF titles, grand slam championships, and NCAA championships. We talk:1:55 Her role at IMG2:33 Why IMG has male and female programs4:15 Character traits she values8:12 Teaching players to compete10:51 The difference between boys and girls15:55 Saying too little vs. saying too much18:10 Why she became a coach22:08 Why there are more male coaches24:08 Bollettieri sets the standard26:59 Advice she wished she knew earlier29:19 Advice for the 3.5/4.0 player**sound effects by https:www.zapsplat.com

John Isner is our guest for the 20th episode of Baseline Intelligence. John has reached a career high rankings of 8 in the world in singles, and 14 in the world in doubles. He's won 24 ATP titles and has amassed 29 wins against top 10 ATP opponents. He has 5 career wins over "the big 3" and reached the semifinals of Wimbledon in 2018. We talk:2:56 His first leap as a junior tennis player4:25 A pivotal invasion call at Kalamazoo6:48 Why he chose the college path9:19 Learning to work hard at UGA11:30 Our match at national indoors15:32 Playing Federer at the US Open19:10 The most challenging member of "the big 3"23:12 Jumping into the top 10 in the world25:16 Advice for playing tiebreakers26:48 What his experience on tour has taught him30:20 One coaching experience that helped him33:34 The epic Wimbledon match39:33 His best serve tips42:00 Back to back fantasy football championships**sound effects from https://www.zapsplat.com

Kyle Lacroix is our guest for the 19th episode of Baseline Intelligence. Kyle is the Chief Education Officer of SETS Consulting, a coaching and educational service for elite coaches, competitive players and tennis institutions/federations. He is certified by the USPTA and PTR as well as the ITF. He has been a featured speaker at numerous industry conferences and has extensive on court work with ATP and WTA players, as well as top collegiate players. We talk:3:25 His background in tennis7:01 His time at Saddlebrook10:45 What linked Martina Hingis, Jennifer Capriati and Justine Henin12:44 Why he's the "king of failure"15:43 Why people struggle with failure17:34 Connecting with players22:01 Coaching other coaches23:49 Improving coaching professionalism26:36 Coaching pet peeves29:40 Player accountability34:09 Why players lean towards the negative38:14 Advice for the 3.5 player41:32 "Kyle-isms"** sound effects from https:www.zapsplat.comYou can find Kyle and Specialized Educational Tennis Solutions (SETS Consulting) online at www.setsconsult.org.

Alistair Higham is our guest for the eighteenth episode of Baseline Intelligence. Formerly the head of coaching education for the LTA, Alistair is now a leading expert on momentum in sport. He advises professional tennis players, football teams, and coaches on matchplay and momentum. We talk:2:11 What is momentum?6:03 Creating momentum early in the match9:23 Four performance factors11:32 Creating momentum on your own14:45 Limiting turning points against you19:33 Awareness of turning points22:57 Momentum between events25:40 Using tactics to maintain momentum29:16 Using tactics to stop negative momentum34:04 The best pros who use momentum37:58 Why we have a fantastic scoring system**sound effects from https://www.zapsplat.comFor interactive, engaging online courses on matchplay and momentum visit www.coachingedgeuk.com. Mobile and tablet friendly, there are courses for players and coaches. For coaches, there is also an online resource call the "match pack", a step by step guide to deliver his content in your own coaching program. You can find Alistair on his social media channels or can contact him by email at coachingedgeuk@icloud.com.

Alison Riske-Amritraj is our guest for the seventeenth episode of Baseline Intelligence. Alison reached a career high of 18 in singles and 40 in doubles on the WTA tour. She's won three singles titles and reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon where she beat then world number 1 Ash Barty. We talk:3:39 How she's maintained her level for over a decade6:20 The danger or comparing yourself to your peers8:37 Skipping college for the pro tour11:11 Never doubting herself13:58 Being yourself in new/challenging situations18:26 Why she has success on grass20:20 Differences between hard courts21:50 How the surface affects her tactics23:23 How the score affects her tactics25:53 The 30 second tempo drill28:15 Her love for Primanti Brothers sandwiches29:03 Her favorite place to play30:16 Her best advice to a junior player** Sound effects from https://www.zapsplat.com

Tom Gullikson is our guest for the sixteenth episode of Baseline Intelligence. Tom reached a career high of 34 in singles and got as high as 4 in the world in doubles on the ATP tour. He reached the doubles final of Wimbledon in 1983, and then went on to coach the US Olympic team, the US Davis Cup team, and was one of the founding coaches of the USTA Player development team. We talk:1:28 How grass courts differ from hard courts5:29 Timeless tactics at Wimbledon7:11 How to hold serve more often8:16 How to break serve more often10:31 What we can learn from Nadal14:49 Overcoming mental hurdles22:38 What Dr. Jim Loehr taught him25:04 Coaching the US Davis Cup team30:13 His best doubles advice31:10 His best singles advice** Sounds effects from https://www.zapsplat.com

Dr. Larry Lauer is our guest for the fifteenth episode of Baseline Intelligence. Larry is the mental skills specialist for the USTA Player Development program. He was also an assistant coach for Michigan State and helped the team reach the NCAA tournament in 2013.We talk:1:14 What is a mental skills coach?3:07 Mental toughness5:07 Resilience 10:30 Making your practices challenging15:39 Handling match nerves21:35 Seeing the big picture24:26 Taking time to practice mental skills29:59 Why people neglect working on their mindset32:43 Taking practice skills to the match35:19 Maintaining focus during a match36:21 Handling cheaters40:35 Differences between pros and amateurs**sound effects from https:www.zapsplat.com

Howard Joffe is our guest for the fourteenth episode of Baseline Intelligence. Howard is a former All-American for Pepperdine University and is currently the women's head coach for the University of Texas where they've won both the 2021 and the 2022 NCAA championships. We talk:2:09 How he builds his team4:52 What he looks for in a recruit6:28 How a player reveals their passion for the game11:34 When he starts recruiting junior players15:15 The "false self"17:18 What he focuses on with his players21:05 Listening to his players25:16 How his players stay relaxed under pressure27:10 The difficult of defending a national championship31:47 Most difficult aspect of being a head coach33:18 His halftime speeches35:14 His best advice to win more matchessound effects from https://zapsplat.com

In part 2 of our episode with Rick Macci we discuss...1:08 How he comes up with his famous rhymes 4:35 The mind is either for you or against you8:40 A common technical mistake he sees13:55 His best tip for hitting a cleaner ball18:15 The differences between college and pro tennis22:08 The future of tennisSound effects by https://www.zapsplat.com

Rick Macci is our guest for the twelfth episode of Baseline Intelligence. Rick is a 7-time USPTA national coach of the year and has coached Venus and Serena Williams, Andy Roddick, Maria Sharapova, Jennifer Capriati and Mary Pierce. He's also featured prominently in the Oscar winning movie "King Richard".We talk1:30 Where he gets his energy and passion from5:08 How he got started with the Williams sisters14:21 What Richard did well as a tennis parent19:31 How he coaches parents21:00 What he learned from Venus23:49 What he learned from Serena26:14 Why competitive drive is so importantSound effects from https://www.zapsplat.com